TOPIC – Persistent mindlessnessThe deaths of over 20 paramilitary personnel in an encounter with the Maoists in the Tarrem area near Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district once again put the spotlight on the longrunning conflict in this remote tribal region. Reports indicate a Maoist
ambush of the paramilitary personnel from different units – the Special Task Force, the District Reserve Guard of the Chhattisgarh police besides the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)’s
elite COBRA unit — who had proceeded to perform combing operations in Maoist strongholds. The units had
embarked upon their combing exercise at a time when Maoists were trying to disrupt the construction of a road near SilgerJagargunda. The lack of road and telecommunications infrastructure in these remote areas has been one of the reasons for the Maoists being able to use the terrain to their advantage. Questions will be asked as to how such a large force failed to anticipate the ambush and were attacked by insurgents reportedly belonging to the Maoists’ “1st Battalion” led by a tribal, Hidma. The encounter has raised the number of security forces killed in Bastar to more than 175 since the killing of 76 CRPF personnel in the Chintalnar attack in April 2010. It is now quite clear that despite facing losses to its cadre and leadership across central and east India and being hemmed into possibly its only remaining stronghold of south Chhattisgarh, the Maoists are still a
formidable military threat. The Maoist
insurrection which began first as the Naxalite movement in the 1970s and then intensified since 2004, following the merger of two prominent insurgent groups, remains a mindless guerrilladriven militant movement that has failed to gain adherents beyond those living in remote tribal areas either untouched by welfare or are discontents due to state repression. The Maoists are now considerably weaker than a decade ago, with several senior leaders either dead or
incarcerated, but their core insurgent force in south Bastar remains intact. The recourse to violence is now little more than a
ploy to invite state repression which furthers their aim of gaining new adherents. While the Indian state has long since realised that there cannot only be a military end to the conflict, the Chhattisgarh government’s inability to reach out to those living in the Maoist strongholds remains a major hurdle, which has resulted in a
protracted but violent stalemate in the area. The Tarrem attacks came in the wake of a recent peace march held by civil society activists who had urged a dialogue between the Maoists and the Chhattisgarh government to end the violence that has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2000 alone, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. While a military response and recriminations will inevitably follow the ambush, the civil society plea must not be ignored if a long-lasting solution to the conflict is to be achieved.
The Hindu Editorial Words with meanings, synonyms, and antonyms
Elite (noun)-the richest, most powerful, best-educated
Synonyms – aristocracy, nobility, gentry, exclusive, royalty
Antonyms – worst, ordinary, proletariat, rabble, riffraff
Embark (verb)-proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
Synonyms – board, venture, ship, entrain, flee
Antonyms – disembark, leave stop, cessation, consummate
Formidable (adjective)-extremely impressive in strength or excellence
Synonyms – mighty, terrific, tremendous, herculean, prodigious
Antonyms – weak, feeble, harmless, trivial, unimpressive
Insurrection (noun)-violent action against the rulers of a country or the government
Synonyms – rebellion, revolt, mutiny, revolution, insurgence
Antonyms – obedience, compliance, loyalty, declension
Incarcerate (verb)-to put somebody in prison or in another place from which he/she cannot escape
Synonyms – imprison, confine, detain, immure, intern
Antonyms – liberate, emancipate, unfetter, manumit
Ploy (noun)-something that you say or do in order to get what you want or to persuade somebody to do something
Synonyms – ruse, stratagem, subterfuge, gambit, dodge
Antonyms – accuracy, authenticity, candor, vitiate, veracity
Protracted (adjective)-relatively long in duration
Synonyms – prolonged, extended, lingering, spun out, interminable
Antonyms – fast, abrupt, fleeting, condense, agile
