New Delhi: A study sponsored by the Union Home Ministry has recommended that Naxal sympathisers should be "left alone" to the confinement of seminar halls rather than persecuting them.
"Distinction needs to be made between Naxal activists and the cheerleaders, between incitement and advocacy and between criminal conspiracies and ideological sympathises.
While the state can go all out against the Naxal overground activists, alleged persecution of the cheerleaders would provide no operational benefit.
"It would only endorse the Naxal description of the state as an intolerant oppressor. As long as the cheerleaders are confining their activities to the limits of the seminar halls, they should be left alone," the study conducted under
the aegis of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) said in its action plan for Left-wing extremism hit areas.
BPRD does studies on policing subjects under the command of the Home Ministry and this study was titled "Social, Economic and Political Dynamics in Extremist Affected Areas."
The findings of the study, conducted in Naxal affected states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, have been submitted to top security establishment in the country including the Home Ministry and the National Security Advisor.
"A sensible policy to target the Naxalite bandwagon needs to be evolved. In recent times, Naxalites have been described to benefit from support they have managed to generate from key intellectuals in the society. While the state governments in the past have tried to muzzle the voices of these activities, such policies have not worked," the study said.
PTI
