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DURING the last four weeks, India has not only faced bone-chilling, westerly winds but also witnessed nerve- jerking incidents of rape, mutilation and beheading of its soldiers. The unbelievable and barbaric acts include the gang-rape of a young woman in a moving bus in Delhi; the killing and beheading of two soldiers on LoC in J and K by Pakistan Army intruders and massacre of 11 CRPF Jawans and the sewing of an IED device on one of the bodies in Jharkhand by Maoists. All three incidents have sent shivers down the spines of more than one billion people in India and millions abroad. How unfortunate! Instead of debating on rising inflation; decline in industrial output; steep fall in exports; phenomenal escalation in petroleum prices and other serious issues, the whole nation is deliberating over the worst incidents of cruelty and violence. The spate of ugly happenings has not only shaken the conscience of the nation, but has also shamed humanity. The more we condemn such indignity to humans, the lesser it would be.
The brutal incidents, one after the other, have created massive disgust and anger forcing people to come out onto the streets. While some have been seeking immediate death penalty for the rapists, others demanded strict action against Pakistan and combing out of Maoists. The perpetrators have established that they have neither any regard for the human rights nor for the dignity of human values and human lives. They know only how to create terror and how to cause damage.
The clouds of rage and anger over the heinous rape of Nirbhaya and mutilation and beheading of Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj by 29 Baloch Regiment troops of Pakistan were yet to settle down, when yet more shocking news of the massacre of 11 CRPF surfaced. The last news was received with more shock and awe as it was for the first time that a 1.5 kg bomb was planted by Maoists inside the stomach of 29-year old CRPF Jawan Babulal Patel, killed in an encounter with the rebels in Latehar district of Jharkhand to cause further devastation. Such a ghastly mutilation on the dead body of a soldier was unheard off, at least in the anti-Naxal operations theatre in the country. In fact, planting an IED inside the dead body of a departed soul is highly condemnable and it has crossed all limits of cruelty.
As if that savage torture was not enough, the Maoists have not only killed, but also gouged out their eyes, chopped off heads and slit their tongues. This is what was done to Jawans not by the enemy across the border, but by our own people, Maoists.
Undoubtedly, the largest threat that the Indian Government faces today is Naxalism, which has infested itself in more than four states of the country. A pertinent question arises as to who is responsible for making Jawans vulnerable to Naxals within and Pakistan Army on the borders? Of course, it is the politics and indecision that are proving costly to our security personnel. Due to the weak policies of our leaders, our soldiers become fodder to enemies within and on the borders. The soldiers ready to sacrifice for country, anywhere and anytime, are bearing all the atrocities silently despite their ability to act against the perpetrators.
There is no denying the fact that if the government fails to act in time; such incidents would demoralise our Jawans. The fact remains that some of the soldiers in the para-military forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have started wagging tongues that they are being used as scapegoats by government in the war against the Naxals. The CRPF Jawans lament that they are not being given the latest weapons and even that there are no doctors to cure injured Jawans.
There are specific rules to fight Naxals, but Jawans are always asked to exercise restraint by the leaders having soft corner for pro-communists activists. What is the purpose of any law that can only bark and not bite? How crimes could have gotten this bad that no civilised country can take it lying down. In view of the unprecedented spur in Naxal activities in states such as Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and West Bengal, India needs to evaluate how well the law and action should act as deterrents.
Moreover, all human rights groups should come out and jointly criticise Maoist brutality. Human rights are not just for Naxals, but also for the police and our soldiers. Though the Centre has now indicated that it will send in more CRPF battalions to Latehar, it also needs to take a serious view of this incident and work with the state governments to deal with it.
It is high time government take serious steps to end the Maoists inhuman activities. The loss of innocent lives is heart-breaking.
The brutal incidents, one after the other, have created massive disgust and anger forcing people to come out onto the streets. While some have been seeking immediate death penalty for the rapists, others demanded strict action against Pakistan and combing out of Maoists. The perpetrators have established that they have neither any regard for the human rights nor for the dignity of human values and human lives. They know only how to create terror and how to cause damage.
The clouds of rage and anger over the heinous rape of Nirbhaya and mutilation and beheading of Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj by 29 Baloch Regiment troops of Pakistan were yet to settle down, when yet more shocking news of the massacre of 11 CRPF surfaced. The last news was received with more shock and awe as it was for the first time that a 1.5 kg bomb was planted by Maoists inside the stomach of 29-year old CRPF Jawan Babulal Patel, killed in an encounter with the rebels in Latehar district of Jharkhand to cause further devastation. Such a ghastly mutilation on the dead body of a soldier was unheard off, at least in the anti-Naxal operations theatre in the country. In fact, planting an IED inside the dead body of a departed soul is highly condemnable and it has crossed all limits of cruelty.
As if that savage torture was not enough, the Maoists have not only killed, but also gouged out their eyes, chopped off heads and slit their tongues. This is what was done to Jawans not by the enemy across the border, but by our own people, Maoists.
Undoubtedly, the largest threat that the Indian Government faces today is Naxalism, which has infested itself in more than four states of the country. A pertinent question arises as to who is responsible for making Jawans vulnerable to Naxals within and Pakistan Army on the borders? Of course, it is the politics and indecision that are proving costly to our security personnel. Due to the weak policies of our leaders, our soldiers become fodder to enemies within and on the borders. The soldiers ready to sacrifice for country, anywhere and anytime, are bearing all the atrocities silently despite their ability to act against the perpetrators.
There is no denying the fact that if the government fails to act in time; such incidents would demoralise our Jawans. The fact remains that some of the soldiers in the para-military forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have started wagging tongues that they are being used as scapegoats by government in the war against the Naxals. The CRPF Jawans lament that they are not being given the latest weapons and even that there are no doctors to cure injured Jawans.
There are specific rules to fight Naxals, but Jawans are always asked to exercise restraint by the leaders having soft corner for pro-communists activists. What is the purpose of any law that can only bark and not bite? How crimes could have gotten this bad that no civilised country can take it lying down. In view of the unprecedented spur in Naxal activities in states such as Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and West Bengal, India needs to evaluate how well the law and action should act as deterrents.
Moreover, all human rights groups should come out and jointly criticise Maoist brutality. Human rights are not just for Naxals, but also for the police and our soldiers. Though the Centre has now indicated that it will send in more CRPF battalions to Latehar, it also needs to take a serious view of this incident and work with the state governments to deal with it.
It is high time government take serious steps to end the Maoists inhuman activities. The loss of innocent lives is heart-breaking.
