Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In a high level meeting called by Home Minister P Chidambaram to deal with the increasing Naxal menace in India, the Govt decided against deployment of army against the Maoists, saving it as the final resort.
Admitting that Naxalism had become a major threat to the country’s security, Defence Minister AK Antony said that the government will deal firmly with the problem.
"Whether in West Bengal or any other area, our view is
that employing armed forces for internal security is the last
resort. Only as the last resort we will deploy armed forces
in Naxal areas," he said.
His comments on Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's demand
in this regard came at a media interaction on the sidelines of
a Coast Guard Commanders' conference here.
Antony said law and order issues should be handled by
respective state governments and ruled out talks with Maoists
before they abjure violence. The government would "not
tolerate" attacks by the Left extremists, he said.
"What we are asking them is to abjure violence," Antony
said replying to queries if talks with the Naxals should be
unconditional.
He said the government was of the view that tribal and
Maoist-affected states needed more development.
"But that is not an excuse for violence and bloodshed. The
government will not tolerate anyone taking law into their
hands," he said.
In the meeting the Government also decided to hold a detailed review of the coastal security to coincide with 26/11 Mumbai terror attack anniversary.
Concerned over the situation in Af-Pak region and its spillover effect on India, Antony said that the government will take steps to ensure better coastal surviliance.
The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor MK Narayanan, Intelligence Bureau chief and Home Secretary GK Pillai.
The Naxals who have been virtually holding the country at ransom, by carrying out attacks one after the other from the past few days, have raised serious security concerns in the country besides causing major loss to life and property.
While yesterday the Maoists had sieged the Bhubaneshwar bound Rajdhani express, triggering a high drama and a fierce gunfight that left a policeman injured and two PCPA men killed, today a bomb was found in the railway tracks of a remote town in Jharkhand and in another incident an armed group of suspected Maoists abducted a Circle Officer of Keredari in Jharkhand.
Targetting the state machinery, particularly the police and the railways, the Naxals have been agitating against the arrest of their top leaders and government crackdown.
First Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 15:44