The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Curbing naxal menace

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Saturday, Dec 22, 2007
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Curbing naxal menace

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s call to the States to set up special units to crush naxalites (Dec. 21) is welcome. The country has suffered the naxalite menace for a long time. Our security forces certainly have the potential to root it out. The only thing that has been lacking is the political initiative.

Hitesh Choudhary,

Indore

* * *

Instead of spending crores of rupees to cripple the naxalites, the nation can spend money on the uplift of our most backward and suffering communities such as the tribals. The way to cripple the naxal forces are economic development, enhancement of skills, and improving the quality of life of the backward sections.

S.V.K. Chandran,

Thiruvananthapuram

* * *

I have been following the news of the jailbreak in the Dantewada prison of Chhattisgarh, in which almost 300 prisoners (many of them naxal activists) escaped after overpowering the guards. The Hindu alone has given extensive coverage to the incident and followed it up with an editorial and cartoon.

No doubt the State government is responsible for the jailbreak but the Centre is equally to blame.

Why has it not constituted a special task force to fight the naxal menace? Why is it more concerned about issues outside the country? First, it should look into the problems of the naxalite-affected villages. Malaysia and Sri Lanka can wait.

Aalok Patel,

New Delhi

* * *

The lesson in the escape of nearly 300 prisoners from the Dantewada prison is that similar groups should not be kept in large numbers in the same jail. It provides them the opportunity to conspire.

M. Shanmuga Priya,

Chengalpattu

* * *

That just two days after the Dantewada jailbreak, over 350 Maoists lodged in Patna’s Beur Central Jail went on the rampage and forced other inmates to join the protest against prison authorities after a fellow prisoner allegedly committed suicide is shocking.

The incident has exposed the precarious conditions inside jails. It is the duty and moral responsibility of the prison authorities to take care of the inmates.

Manish Kumar Thakur,

New Delhi

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