The editorial “India's flawed fight against Maoists” (Feb. 19) was brilliant. It highlighted the miserable plight of policing in the country. The facts speak for themselves. The Indian police need a much larger manpower that should be put through state-of-the-art training. This will no doubt cost a lot of money. The country can afford it. With a proactive and dynamic Home Minister at the Centre, the States should exploit his vision and willingness to help establish professional policing. Political differences should not come in the way of strengthening this vital service to the law-abiding citizen.
R.K. Raghavan, Chennai
That Maoists are able to strike at will is disturbing. The situation today is similar to the 1950s when the Chambal Valley dacoits had a free run. Our policy is not to deploy the army against Maoists. But the police are ill-equipped and unequal to the task of fighting them.
All naxal-infested States should form an elite counterinsurgency force like the Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh. The Centre should extend the necessary help and guidance.
M.K.B. Nambiar, Mahe
The government seems to have no clue on how to fight the Maoists, even though the losses are huge every time they launch an attack. All the States affected by Maoist insurgency should constitute a combined force. It should be trained well to take on the challenge.
S. Lakshmi Narayanan, Cuddalore
India's incompetence to fight terror is well known. The same is true of its ability to fight internal terrorism unleashed by Maoists. There is need for a paradigm shift in the government's strategy. It can either empower every State to fight Maoists or enable the ultras to come to the mainstream by educating them.
Abhishek Angad, Bangalore
Mindless violence will yield nothing. The way the Maoists have been conducting themselves betrays an utter lack of foresight and maturity. It is time they gave up violence and came to the negotiating table. Only discussions can produce fruitful outcomes.
Rahul Jain,New Delhi
We have no political will to fight the Maoists. Our security forces are ill-equipped and poorly trained. A time-bound, combined effort by all naxal-infested States, and steps aimed at elevating the living standards of the economically and socially marginalised sections alone can help us win the fight against the ultras.
Air Commodore V.V. Nair (retd.), Manipal
The movement led by Maoists ceased to be a people's struggle long ago. Today, it has become a fight between the police and the anti-police forces. Maoists are equipped with the most modern weapons and have advance information on the movement of security forces. But there is hardly any cooperation among the States affected by insurgency. They need to fight the menace together.
M. Somasekhar Prasad, Kadapa
