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From
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 18, Dated 05 May 2012 |
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‘The state has to stand up and should never negotiate with terrorists’
EN Rammohan, Former Director General, BSF
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EN Rammohan
Photo: Naveesh Tejpal |
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You’ve been opposed to using military might against the Maoists. How do you read the Alex Paul Menon and MLA Jhina Hikaka situation?
It is a cardinal rule that in an insurgent situation, no person who can be a target should go and operate in these areas without taking necessary precautions. In this particular case, Menon visited an interior area along with two security guards. This is the height of foolishness. Did he not get any advice from the CRPF or the BSF? Now those two boys have been killed and he has been kidnapped and the government is in an embarrassing situation. The second rule is that you never negotiate with a terrorist. So if the collector was foolhardy enough and got kidnapped, okay, you do what you want with him, we can get 100 collectors. It is not easy to take a decision like this but there are instances in the history of the world where decisions like this have been taken.
Why do you think the State continues to look at it through a single lens?
The State doesn’t have the guts to stand up and tell its senior officers what the law on the ground is.
In military operations where CRPF jawans have been killed or even hostage situations, what are the lacunae responsible for the government’s lack of coordination?
A corrupt political leadership and a cowardly bureaucracy. Why can’t a collector stand up and say this is the law of the land? What is a forest secretary doing to help fight this? Why doesn’t he stand up to his minister and say you have no power to give this lease for mining? Why are you not appointing a Tribal Advisory Council in every state? In a counter-insurgency situation, you’ve to operate according to certain principles that are laid down during training and you have to take precautions.
What is your take on the Maoists demand that Hikaka should step down?
Naturally, because he is a tribal and he is on the wrong side. He should be protecting the tribals. Being an MLA, why is he not asking the chief minister to enforce the Fifth Schedule? So the Maoists are saying, you step down, that is all.
Shonali Ghosal is a Correspondent with Tehelka.
shonali@tehelka.com
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