Is the Telangana government's benevolence towards its people the result of Maoist struggle?
Naxalites are reported to be spreading the word in the interior areas of Adilabad that the government has taken up welfare programmes like food security, social pensions and employment generation only due to the struggle waged by the outlawed outfit in support of the poor.
A dalam of Maoist extremists currently involved in an indoctrination campaign in villages on the fringes of the Mangi forest area in Tiryani and Rebbena mandals is said to be invoking enthusiasm among Adivasi youth by claiming to have influenced the government to address people's problems.
“The aim obviously is to recruit fresh blood,” opined a source in the Police Department who is involved in anti-Naxalite operations in the eastern part of the district. According to sources, the much sighted armed dalam which was twice engaged in exchange of fire with police last year, visited the Sonapur, Parsa Nambala and Khairiguda in Rebbena mandal and Dorli village in Tiryani mandal in the first week of this month.
The extremists conducted separate indoctrination classes attended by about 15 youths from each of these villages for 3 to 4 days curiously hinging much of their talk on the performance of the first government in Telangana.
“The Maoists are also reported to have drawn comparisons between the past and present governments while trying to drive home their point,” the sources pointed out.
“The dalam leaders also seem to have stoked passions among the gullible youngsters by exhibiting their sophisticated firearms,” the sources added.
Meanwhile, the police are puzzled over the continued movement of the extremists in the district despite the heat generated by their pursuit of the underground cadres during the last few months. The dalam however, seems to have been truncated to seven members now with Atram Shobhan alias Charles, Adilabad Area Committee Secretary and Mylarapur Adellu alias Bhaskar and his wife Kanthi Lingavva, both Area Committee members, in the lead. The police are also surprised over the fact the dalam, of late, has been seen in villages rather than its movements being noticed in forest areas.
The area of movement of the extremists spans between Gangapur in Kadem mandal and Rebbena, the sources said.