Twelve Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans were killed and 28 injured when suspected Maoists triggered a landmine blast at Pushtola in Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra, on Tuesday.
Home Minister R.R. Patil told the Assembly here that eight of the injured were in a serious condition and shifted to a private hospital in Nagpur.
“Some companies of CRPF were to be posted at Pomke Gatta on Tuesday. That is why the CRPF battalion was on its way from Karvafa to Gatta for road opening and area domination. When they were near Pushtola village between 11.30 a.m. and noon, the naxalites blasted the landmine,” Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Viresh Prabhu said. The jawans were travelling in a bus.
Two choppers were immediately pressed into service to shift the injured to hospital. While eight seriously injured jawans were sent to Nagpur, the rest were taken to the city civil hospital in Gadchiroli.
CRPF head Vijay Kumar, who is on an official tour of the State, was in Gadchiroli when the blast took place.
Keywords: Naxal landmine blast, CRPF jawans, Pushtola, Gadchiroli district
Does a just movement gets hijacked by hard liners. Aka Stalin in Russia, possibly prabhakaran in SL and so on. Tragic story. @shekar have the Maoists lost path as moderate approaches failed to deliver. Is it convenient to lay the blame on Indian leader for lack on concern. From the messages get a sense that the Indian public who vote support the leaders. I thought India and Bharat existed in the White Tiger. Can someone guide to a good article on the Maoist problem - a balanced view.
This is a war going on between two parties and casualties are bound to
happen,yes,there is a term called "war crimes" but that doesn't apply
here,as per the article one side's battalion was on it's way for "area
domination" and the other side obviously didn't want that, resulting
in these casualties.Now,how can the vociferation against the human rights groups be justified in this case,are they(naxals) raping the women/minor girls from the family or villages of the jawans/policemen,are they burning down the villages,are they doing something analogous to fake encounter i.e. first capturing and then killing in cold blood after the torture? I have seen these human right groups condemning naxals whenever there is any civilian casualty allegedly from their side,so please don't throw away the one and only slight advantage that these Human rights groups/intellectuals providing you in the short term arguments against left extremism by criticizing them for whatever the little they are doing.
@ Ram, society was made out of necessity by humans and not vice-versa
therefore the maintenance of social order can never be given priority
over individual rights. alas, the order of the day seems to be to force
even those who don't want to align with a particular section of society(
nation in this case) or with the society as a whole are either forced to
drink poison or hung. the mechanism made by humans has overshadowed
human beings under tapestries of nations, religions and whatever else
can be dished out.
This is a combat situation with combatants on both sides trained to kill and not to be killed. The issue of human rights in the ordinary sense does not apply. Also, this is a blast with an improvised explosive and not an ambush. It would have become an ambush if the blast were followed by fire from pre--assumed positions.
The incident not only shows the lack of concern among the leaders in India towards the plight of poor people in rural areas, but also shows that the Maoists have lost the path of social transformation for which the Maoist struggle started. Instead the Maoists are now no more than mercenaries because it is the poor people, for whom Maoists claim to be fighting, who are suffering from this nonsense and meaningless violence. The tragedy is that in the midst of this violence the real issue of the rights of rural and tribal people has vitiated.
There is immediate need of drastic measures to restore the pride of
nation. It's high time Government starts giving importance to each and
every soldier alive and stops the hypocrisy of giving compensation to
dead soldiers. To America and Britain, every soldier, in fact, every
citizen is important. I would much rather work for them than work for
this country unless there is some improvement in the patriotic attitude
of Government of India. Vengeance will be more tranquilizing than
compensation to the sad families and soldiers.
Is it surprising that people like Arundhati Roy exercise selective
silence and amnesia over atrocities committed by Naxalites and Maoists,
and separatists? Shame, shame, shame. Agreed that the State should not
abuse its power, but supporting lawlessness in the name of human rights
is nothing short of insanity.
Agree with ram....When LTTE terrorist killed civilians in Sri Lanka with
indiscriminate bomb blasts in public places, the so called Human right
groups never uttered a word about human rights of those innocent
civilians. Those NGO backed groups never went to UNHRC to complain. When
terrorism was finally eliminated by Sri Lankan government,these very
same groups complain of human rights violations. This is
hypocrisy.Perhaps, same thing happening here in maharashta.
@Bhagat I agree that Human rights are watchdogs for govt. But at the same time human rights of an individual should not be taken to an extreme where the social harmony of the society is compromised. I think upholding order of society is more important than upholding the rights of an individual
Very Well said ram. These people'll never raise voice for these poor
soldiers who sacrifice their life for the Nation. They're more
worried about the criminals & rebel forces who're trying to
overthrow the government. Human rights it seems. These rights should
be for the citizens of the country who live according to the rules &
regulations prevailing in the country, not for maoists, naxals & other criminals. Attack on Police forces & death of personnel is adjustable for the press here and also for advocates of the so called HUMAN RIGHTS, but if a dreaded maoist or some another criminal is shot dead, asap Human right is violated, police brutality & what not. These people consider themselves Citizens of this Great Nation.? Are they working to make India a welfare state or lawless state. The rebel forces working in the country should be wiped out. There is no violation in that. Our Country should be safe & peaceful. There is law to make it safe, implement it..
@Bhagat:But the problem is that human rights groups DON'T condemn violence by Naxals. Even if they do, they sprinkle it with innumerable ifs and buts, and even seem to justify the abhorred activities of secessionism and terrorism. Moreover, they tend to pretend they are superior to the judiciary and indulge in one-sided propaganda.
Human rights organizations are watchdogs of Government and work to make
sure Government which is suppose to protect the people and law cannot
overstep it. However, Naxalites are vigilantes who don't believe in
justice and rule of law and what is point of raising human rights with
them? It is silly argument by ignorant people who don't understand the
basics of human rights. Many human rights activists condemn all violence
but you refuse to see everything and choose to believe only one side of
the story.
well said Ram. I would even say many of those Human Rights groups are probably funded by foreign hands to spread a sense of lawlessness in the country, and there by causing frustration and distrust among common people for our defense forces. The point of talks and discussion with these Naxals is of no point, as they are proving it day by day.
still ministers of Mahashtra will have been thinking of step forward by Anna Hazare. They really don't want look at these basics aspects need of hour.They want to remain in power with money and not by development.
What happened to human rights group ? are they available in India or gone on overseas tour? If a Naxalite or a bank robber is killed by the police they would surface and make enquires. Some of them would move the court. Poor police, military and para military Unwept unsung heores
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