Indian police, not army, to tackle Maoists: PM
(AFP) – 17 hours ago
MUMBAI — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday he would use civilian security forces, not the military, to take on Maoist rebels who pose a growing threat to the country's security.
Singh vowed to quell the Naxalites -- as they are known in India -- after 17 policemen were gunned down last week in a forest village in Maharashtra state, near the border with Chhattisgarh state where the rebels have their stronghold.
"We are not in favour of using India's armed forces for this purpose as there are plenty of other instruments like the police and the paramilitary forces and they are adequate to tackle this problem," he said.
The Maoist movement, which has claimed more than 600 lives this year, has spread to 15 of India's 29 states since it began as a peasant uprising in 1967.
The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor, but officials accuse them of using intimidation and extortion to collect money and to control impoverished villagers.
"No group of individuals has the right to take the law into their own hands and so we will take effective measures to counter that," Singh said while campaigning in Mumbai ahead of local elections in Maharashtra.
The prime minister reiterated his belief that the Maoists "are the single biggest internal security threat to India."
Little is known about the movement's leaders or its strength, though it is said to number between 10,000 and 20,000 followers.
In June, the government formally banned on the left-wing rebels and officially designated them terrorists.
(AFP) – 17 hours ago
MUMBAI — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday he would use civilian security forces, not the military, to take on Maoist rebels who pose a growing threat to the country's security.
Singh vowed to quell the Naxalites -- as they are known in India -- after 17 policemen were gunned down last week in a forest village in Maharashtra state, near the border with Chhattisgarh state where the rebels have their stronghold.
"We are not in favour of using India's armed forces for this purpose as there are plenty of other instruments like the police and the paramilitary forces and they are adequate to tackle this problem," he said.
The Maoist movement, which has claimed more than 600 lives this year, has spread to 15 of India's 29 states since it began as a peasant uprising in 1967.
The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor, but officials accuse them of using intimidation and extortion to collect money and to control impoverished villagers.
"No group of individuals has the right to take the law into their own hands and so we will take effective measures to counter that," Singh said while campaigning in Mumbai ahead of local elections in Maharashtra.
The prime minister reiterated his belief that the Maoists "are the single biggest internal security threat to India."
Little is known about the movement's leaders or its strength, though it is said to number between 10,000 and 20,000 followers.
In June, the government formally banned on the left-wing rebels and officially designated them terrorists.
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