Opinion - News Analysis   

Conciliation gives way to confrontation

K. Srinivas Reddy

The police-Maoist confrontation in Andhra Pradesh has worsened.

THE SOUTH West monsoon has brought not only rain to Andhra Pradesh but also made the work of policemen involved in anti-Maoist operations more difficult. The State's top police brass is busy revising a counter-insurgency strategy to stay a step ahead of the Maoists.

During the summer, which peaked during April and May, the police launched aggressive combing operations in the jungles. No jungle proved impossible to penetrate. Be it the Nallamala tracts in the south or the agency areas bordering Orissa. The Maoists were forced to shift their bases. As police teams scoured the jungles, fighting an occasional gun battle, the rebels withdrew deep inside or crossed over into Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Orissa. The Maoist "action teams," however, stayed put. These small bands, on "shoot and scoot" missions, killed 140 people — mostly political activists or those affluent in villages, and unsuspecting policemen.

The police hit back in the plains — `neutralising' squads and action team members in incidents that civil liberties activists branded `cold-blooded' killings.

Of the 140 killings this year by the naxalites, 84 took place in Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Prakasam, Kurnool, Guntur, and Cuddapah districts, which are on the fringes of the Nallamala forest — the focus of the police operations. The lone exception is Karimnagar, which is outside the Nallamala area. Fourteen persons were killed in the district.

The scenario has changed. The rain has brought the vegetation back to life. The now verdant foliage offers excellent cover to the Maoists who are back in the forests in strength. The police, too, have revised strategies. In addition to field assaults, they are focussing on seizing weapons and "exposing" organisations they believe are Maoist outfits.

In the last two months 70 weapons — carbines, self-loading rifles, and bolt-action rifles — have been seized by the police, some from naxal dens in Hyderabad.

However, many of the actions of the police have come in for criticism. For example, at least 12 hours before Jana Shakti leader Riaz and three others died in an `encounter' in Karimnagar district, his party colleagues called up the media to say he had been whisked away by the police in Hyderabad. Riaz was on the naxalite team that participated in talks with the Government.

Clearly, the police stand hardened as violence by the naxalites increased. Activists of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), an ally of the ruling Congress, had to flee their villages after they were told to either resign their posts or face death. The Government seized on the opportunity to justify the severe crackdown not only on the Maoists but also on their "front organisations."

In a move that affected the image of the three former emissaries of the Maoists, police released documents that exposed the differences of opinion among the trio — Varavara Rao and Kalyan Rao of the Revolutionary Writers Association (RWA), and Gadar of the Jana Natya Mandali.

Damaging observations

More damaging was some writings by Mr. Varavara Rao to others in the movement that he was not happy about the scale of naxalite violence. These were made public and Mr. Varavara Rao and his two comrades found themselves in an embarrassing situation.

It was not only the publicising of these documents that showed the police were concentrating on the `front organisations.' A State Committee member of the CPI (Maoist), Gunti Prasadam, was arrested along with N. Venugopal, a journalist known for his Left leanings. Mr. Venugopal's arrest led to a debate on the propriety of the action, but police argued that he had not been meeting the naxalites in the pursuance of his journalistic obligations, but as a sympathiser of the party.

The Maoists firmly believe the revolutionary process can only be advanced by intensifying physical attacks. The police are leaning heavily on the military option. The result: Andhra Pradesh sits on a powder keg.

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