Something is rotten in the state of Chhattisgarh

    

Modern war strategists and traditional ones, including key chapters devoted to it in Kautilya's Arthashastra, have always counseled that the military which is the sword arm of any state and its final defence frontier, be used sparingly, particularly in cases where its own citizenry needs to be kept in check.

Try telling that to the Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh or any of our wise men sitting in South Block or state secretariats.

At a high-level meeting one fine day in Raipur, Singh told his top civilian and police administrators that handling the Maoist menace was beyond them all and it is the Indian Army whose services would be requisitioned.

Soon enough the state government had officially approached the centre for using the army to curb a civil disorder, a job best left to specialists in the police and intelligence.

The traditionally apolitical military has responded with caution and has spurned attempts so far to rope them in this dangerous and self-damaging exercise, but have nonetheless been forced to pitch in a camp in Chhattisgarh's Abuj Marh area, a territory marked by dense forests, intractable ravines and high hills.

According to officials, 1,200 soldiers attached to the Central Command in Lucknow have been pressed into service in Abuj Marh, by all accounts the epicentre of the Maoist movement in Chhattisgarh and some say, even India.

General Officer Commanding (GoC) Central Command Lt. Gen. KK Ahluwalia told reporters, "The presence of the army should not be treated like an anti-Naxalite operation, we have gone there purely for training purposes. We believe that the Naxalites are also our own people, but obviously, if our forces are attacked by anti-social elements there, we will respond.''

The decision to use the army, even if symbolically, is by no means only of the state government. Chhattisgarh, which has emerged as the hotbed of Ultra Red activities in an elongated tribal belt that begins in Jharkhand, has long held parleys with the central government, including home and defence ministers, P Chidambaram and AK Antony, for roping in the army to fight the Maoist menace.

Antony has justified the presence of the army in Abuj Marh on grounds that since it needs more training in jungle warfare, the site was found to be ideal.

If however, at a later stage, it was felt that the army can be used in such operations, it could be deployed, Antony said highlighting the two-point advantage of using the military not on the country's borders in the north and the north east, but in central India.

The decision to call in the army had the backing of senior BJP leaders from the centre and the state, officials say.

According to well placed officials in the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi, the army "under great pressure'' has sounded out the government to define rules of engagement and guidelines for what is essentially a combat role. According to officials, the army has given detailed presentations to the defence and home ministries.

     

Army chief Gen VK Singh has met Chidambaram to brief him about their  assessment of the internal security situation and the army's plan to step into a combat situation in India's heartland.

According to officials, the army would enter in a combat role only after it has been given sufficient legal and constitutional cover like promulgation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

In addition, there are other issues. The army would like the government to define its area of responsibility and nature of its interaction with the civil administration which would be crucial.

The army, according to officials, have asked for standard operating procedures (SOPs) which includes phased induction into affected areas after reconnaissance and understanding the terrain with reliable intelligence back up.

The army has a presence in Chhattisgarh after the formation of the Chhattisgarh-Odisha Sub-Area (COSA) which has a training facility for tank movements and jungle war fare.

While the director general of police, Chhattisgarh, Vishwaranjan guardedly said that the "army is not needed,'' the decision to call in the army is a tacit admission that the state police has failed, the kind of argument that got India into serious trouble in Kashmir in the late 1980s when the local police best trained to detect, was reduced to being a poor supplicant whose services were thought to be dispensed with.

Already, a few preliminary exercises with state police jawans in tow, are underway. Anti-guerilla tactics, the use of ambushes and sophisticated deep search mine detectors are on top of the training agenda.

   

Para-military forces involved in anti-Naxalite operations have suffered heavy casualties on account of the use of improvised electronic devices (IEDs) in Chhattisgarh and neighbouring states and the army is aware of it.

Already the Chhattisgarh government has been in the throes of making war-like preparations against the Maoists. The state government has ordered procurement of German MP5s which are meant to be a strong riposte to the AK 47 assault rifles that Naxalite groups are using.

The state government has ordered special helicopter ambulance services for para-military forces and in Abuj Marh itself, the government plans to introduce night searches.

This is in addition to the 27 CRPF battalions with more than 25,000 jawans who are deployed in the deadly Maoist-infested forests.

To be sure, the army in Abuj Marh is already in the process of influencing people and winning friends. Within a month of their posting, they have cleaned up two village ponds, have organised health care camps and undertaken some night-time patrolling provide a sense of security to the local population.

In Jharkhand, where 14 districts out of 24 have been declared ultra-sensitive and the state police has practically thrown up its hands in its fight against the Maoists, the state government is examining the feasibility of using artillery and field guns to intensify its battle against the Maoists.

Jharkhand home secretary JB Tubid told TSI that the central government has cleared the use of two IAF choppers to detect extremist hideouts in the state's thick jungles.

According to officials in the know, Jharkhand's home department has prepared a detailed request and put it before the state government for approval.

However, even Tubid says that the problem may be grave "but not enough to involve the army.'' In Chhattisgarh's Bhilai - home to one of the country's largest steel plants - the Indian Air Force (IAF) is setting up a base camp. While officials remain tight lipped about their presence, one official said that it could be used "in future operations.''

All told, for the first time in independent India, the military is being used in those parts of the country where  civilian mechanisms to tackle disorders have proved to be quite adequate, so far. If the army has to be used in areas where lesser force was found inadequate, it tells us that all is not well in some parts of the Indian republic.