Army training 50,000 men for anti-Maoists operations, potential role conflicts

18 June 2010 8ak: Even though the Indian army expressed its apprehensions of taking up direct combat role in tackling the Maoists, citing its commitments in the valley and the north-east, Times of India reports that the Indian army is doing what it does the best – preparing for an eventuality of playing an active and direct role in combating the Maoist threat. 

As part of the strategy, the Lucknow-based Central command headed by Lt Gen Ahluwalia, has been given the responsibility of training 50,000 soldiers in specializing in anti-Maoist operations and extending aid to the civil authorities. 

India Newz reports that the new training capsule will focus on rigorous training schedule aims to re-orient troops, conditioned to fight hostile nations as well as insurgents of J&K and northeast, for a battle which is to be fought in the heartland and against an enemy adept at blending into the population.   

Speaking to 8ak on the condition of anonymity, a senior officer posted in Lucknow, said “There has been a lot of pressure on the army for playing a wider role in tackling the naxal problem, this has been resisted by the service chiefs due to issues like command clarity, extensive duty of armed forces along the LOC and north-eastern sector, acute shortage of officers and above all the reluctance of the army to fight Indian citizens, keeping the collateral damage in mind, as we are a very emotional nation.” 

Adding further he said “But it seems the time has come that we finally step in to root out the problem as all other mechanisms are failing, thus, the army on its part is preparing itself and the new training module is just a part of that exercise, so that the army can deliver if it’s called out at a short notice.”   

Another officer told 8ak that a unified command is also being mooted to increase coordination between the civil forces and the military. However, the police are not too enthusiastic about the proposed idea because a senior army officer posted in the command will undermine their seniority. On its part the army says that posting a junior officer will reduce the effectiveness of the command because at command levels you need officers with varied and extensive experience and at ground level you need agile legs to convert the planning into reality.  

Maoist group claims responsibility for attack on train in Bengal, ~100 dead

29 May 2010 8ak: Xinhua quoted a police source saying that "People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), has claimed responsibility for the Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express train accident in West Bengal which has so far killed close to 100 people. IBN reports that railway authorities are at a loss on how to tackle this situation since it is near impossible to detect non-technical faults and tracks are very easy to blow up. A large number of deaths were due to a goods train ramming in to the coaches of the one derailed. These could have been prevented had the staff been properly trained and followed simple procedures explained in IndiaToday. So it points to poor staff training and lack of a basic communications network that would have notified other train drivers in the area. 

Both the Army and Defence Ministry were not keen for a military solution to the issue but with the maoists now targeting civilians, all gloves are off. The Army Chief V.K. Singh has met Home Minister P.C. Chidambaram and there an increasing call to use the Air Force against the naxals. 

ToI reports that in the last 3 years naxals have killed 474 security personnel and 391 civilians. India Today pointing to the Chidambaram Vs Mamata issue reported that in 2009 that 58 cases of railway accidents were linked with Naxals. 

Maoists blow civilian bus killing 44, and the problem of corruption

18 May 2010 8ak: Maoists have blown up a bus in Dantewada is an LTTE style attack, claims Rediff. The article says that an IED was planted by digging a tunnel under the road so as not to damage the road. This time the target was the Special Police Officers who are mostly recruited from the local population. The details of the intelligence gathering and quick reaction by the Maoists is reported on NDTV. 

After the last Dantewada massacre of 73 CRPF personnel, the government had appointed, E N Rammohan, former director-general of BSF to conduct an enquiry in to the incident. Not surprisingly, in an interview with Times of India, he blasted the government for its unwillingness to tackle corruption which he believes is the root cause of the issue. Pointing to the exploitation of the tribals he said "I am told the spin-offs from sale of tendu leaves in Chhattisgarh and AP reaches right up to Delhi."

This view of corruption coming directly from the centre is supported by BJP's Jaitley who accussed the Congress leadership of restraining the CBI from prosecuting Mayawati in return for her support during an opposition sponsored cut-motion.  

The Organiser goes further saying that the UPA government is selectively using exposes to tame non-conforming politicians. As examples it cites the IPL case and the limited initial foucs on Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel which was quickly withdrawn.  

A few stories in the last 30 days alone give some idea of the rot in the system:

• TOI: CBI registers 2439 cases of corruption against Babus 
• Organiser: Ketan Desai, President of Medical Council of India caught with Rs 2,500cr and 1,500kg of gold. (US$1m = ~4.5 crores)
• PTI: O Ravi, Joint Secretary (Disaster Management), Ministry of Home Affairs caught in CBI raid 
• Financial Express: Telecom Minister A. Raja's 2G scam cost government 26,000 crore (US$578m)  
• PTI: Anti-Corruption Bureau raid finds IAS officer posted as Joint Collector with 20 crore in Andhra Pradesh 
• PTI: Uma Shankar Patra, Dy Director (Poultry) of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services in Orissa 
• IndiaToday: Babus ground ethics for aviation jobs
• Two CRPF men caught supplying arms to Maoists 

In an interview with Barkha Dutt, the Home Minister P.C. Chidambaram stated that he only has limited powers and his leadership style is one of consensus/collectivism. Looking at the caste-bases census issue, it is clear that the government has little consensus even on core issues where the right decision is simple. To be successful, the home minister must be empowered to take decisions, over-ride vested interests and be willing to tackle widespread corruption.

India relieved as Kasab gets death sentence for Mumbai terror attacks

07 May 2010 8ak:  After Special Court judge M.L. Tahaliyani pronounced Kasab guilty of his role in 26/11 Mumbai attacks and termed the act as waging a war against India, the verdict to send Kasab to the gallows was a well received in India, but there was disappointment that two of his alleged helpers, Ansari and Sabahuddin, were set free citing lack (fabrication) of evidence. A good DNA report about how the judge ruled that the maps found in the pockets of one of terrorists killed in the attack, Abu Ismail, may have been inserted by the Indian police to frame the duo. This led TOI to report that "India's rules of evidence are too strong and forces police to falsify evidence. 

What this case does show is that India's judiciary is capable of making decisions based purely on evidence and can avoid public & political pressure. This also puts added pressure on the Americans to give access to Headley who is now, even more likely to have done the reconnaissance prior to the attacks.  

The Hindu reports that Kasab has been sentenced to death on five counts: murder, abetment to murder, waging war, criminal conspiracy and committing terrorist acts. He was also awarded life imprisonment on five counts: attempt to murder in furtherance of a common intention, kidnapping and abducting in order to murder, conspiracy to wage war, collecting arms with the intention of waging war and causing explosion thus endangering life and property.

Times of India reports that the manner in which the trial was conducted was laudable and spoke volumes about New Delhi’s legal and ethical perspective. While the verdict is out, the citizens of India will have to wait to witness the hanging of Kasab as the sentence by the special session court will have to be ratified by Maharashtra High Court, followed by an appeal to the nations apex court in all likelihood and thereafter a mercy petition to the President of India, which can take years. The time taken to dispose the mercy petition is certainly not encouraging, considering the mercy petition of Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in attacking the Indian parliament in 2002 is still pending. 

The latest case of execution was of Dhananjay Chatterjee who killed a 14 year old Hetal Parikh on March 5, 1990 at her apartment residence in Bhowanipur. Chatterjee was kept in Alipore jail for 14 years before his mercy petition was rejected by then President A.P.J Abdul Kalam.

Sify reports that more than 300 convicts are awaiting execution across India. In a reply to a question in Lok Sabha in December 2009, Union Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran, said that 'as on Dec 31, 2007, 308 convicts are lodged in various jails facing death penalty in the country, while 52 death convicts have approached the Rashtrapati Bhawan with a mercy petition.

Union Law Minister Moily, in an interview to CNN-IBN assured that the case won’t go the Afzal Guru way and would be treated differently. Meanwhile, Pakistan has refused to comment on the judgement. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at his weekly press briefing that “Legal experts are analyzing the detailed verdict of Ajmal Kasab's case and after reviewing the verdict, Pakistan will record its reaction," reports Economic Times.

Failed car bomb in New York

02 May 2010 8ak: As the US led various other embassies in India to issue terror attack alerts in Delhi markets, a car bomb was instead found in New York City but failed to go off. The Telegraph (UK) reported that an alert Vietnam-war veteran alerted the police about smoke coming from an unoccupied car.  

On Apr 22, 8ak reported that the cartoon series South Park had taken on Islam by depicting the prophet Mohammad. The proximity of the car next to the Viacom building, makers of South Park, has raised the possibility of a connection. Maybe another reason for the U.S. to consider strengthening ties with India. A big step in this direction was taken recently when the U.S. resolved hurdles for India getting full access to David Headley the Pakistani origin, suspected U.S. double agent involved in the Mumbai terror attacks.

Dealing with the Maoist IED threat - MRAPs, UAVs, Robots

28 Apr 2010 Akshay Kumar: According to The Hindu, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are responsible for 70% of troop deaths in India since Jan 2008 to Mar 2010. Dealing with these is a major part of the challenge faced by the government in Counter Insurgency Operations (COIN). The surge in use of IEDs clearly indicate a paradigm shift in the Maoist's ploy to fight the government, which was based on direct combat by attacking small police or paramilitary groups in large numbers. 

The Maoists seem to be learning fast from the Taliban in Afghanistan and other terror groups operating in Iraq who are constantly evolving the IEDs to combat the technical superiority of the US forces. A top Intelligence Bureau (IB) official told 8ak that the use of IEDs by the Maoists has been on a rise since 2007 and after the strong government response to their recent success in Dantewada, the Maoists will certainly intensify their use of IEDs. Hence, it is very important to devise ways to find countermeasure.

The IB officer's point is supported by recent reports of police finding IEDs. The first case was reported from Kuthi district in Jharkhand in February where the police officials recovering 40 kg of explosives planted on a road. In the second, more recent case  the Jharkhand police on 13 April, once again recovered a container containing 45 kg of explosives in a container planted beneath a metalled road. 

MRAP
The Indian government and the security agencies have lagged behind in developing a doctrine to fight the IED threat of the Maoists. Neither do they have the right equipment. Making a strong case for MRAP induction on large scale into the police and the paramilitary is former IB Chief, Ajit Doval who said, “IEDs not only threaten the safety of our men, but also considerably hamper the speed of operations because the security forces, fearing IEDs, usually walk in the Maoists prone areas as they do not have the latest Mine Protected Vehicles, which can guard from such threats.”