Operation Greenhunt, the UPA government’s branded effort to quell the challenge posed by “the gravest internal security threat”, i.e. the Maoists, has suffered its biggest humiliation, yet, with the dastardly slaying of 74 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a lone head constable of the Chhatisgarh police.
The attack came just days after the Harvard-educated lawyer-home minister P. Chidamabaram called the Naxals “cowards” and reminded the West Bengal government about where the “buck” stops. And it comes a couple of months after he and the naxals had publicly exchanged phone and fax numbers.
The attack takes the sheen off Chidambaram’s aggressive, “hot-pursuit” approach that has come in for much praise from the urban media (and the BJP), as opposed to a slow, measured, all-things-considered approach, and it poses a big question mark on the man many believe is positioning himself to replace Manmohan Singh if push comes to shove.
The high price paid by the jawans implementing Chidambaram’s act-first-think-later approach, which also triggered off the Telegana mess, also raises questions about the “CEO of the war”, as author Arundhati Roy has dubbed him, because he is alleged to be fighting a proxy war for his former corporate clients.
What is the one question you’re dying to ask Thiru Palaniappan Chidambaram?
Please keep your enquiries smooth, well oiled and civil.
Photograph: courtesy The Hindu
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Tags: Arundhati Roy, Churumuri, Congress, Harvard, Manmohan Singh, Operation Greenhunt, P. Chidambaram, Priyanka Gandhi, Sans Serif, Shivaraj Patil, UPA
7 April 2010 at 4:25 pm
Dear PC,
When are you going to launch an operation to nab maoists like Arundhati Roy in concrete jungles?
And please continue operation green hunt.
Thank you.
7 April 2010 at 4:49 pm
Asking questions of smart aleck lawyers is no use unless you are a judge and he is appearing before you.
7 April 2010 at 5:16 pm
The minister has become coward just using words which would make headlines but no headways in real terms.
On one side we see a policemen in hot pursuit of a scooterist without a helmet and on the other side a group is in war with the nation and our PC is sleeping. so much for Congress’s nationalism
7 April 2010 at 5:23 pm
Why doesn’t he stop MNC’s unlawfully exploiting forest of Chhatisgarh, first?
7 April 2010 at 5:47 pm
People died in AP after your comment on Gifting Telagana, now CRPF are killed after your comment. Whose life is lost , not your children who are harvesting money in TN. You kill people with your words and say sorry. Who is accusing Modi?? Where are the Congress spoke persons now. We will discuss on a round table about all issues and allow our innocent youngsters killed!
What next, Mr Prof Chidambaram, which region next????
7 April 2010 at 6:43 pm
Why are “Fathers” showing interest in the adivasis?
http://www.ucanews.com/2010/04/06/jesuits-condemn-arrest-of-tribal-activists/
Harvesting of souls?
7 April 2010 at 7:52 pm
let mr chidambaram, the darling of the well heeled try to rush economic and social equity to the masses in the hinterland instead of the military (who are literally mercenaries for the vested interests)
7 April 2010 at 8:46 pm
When are you going to fight thugs with overwhelming force? In other words when do we start using close air support to bomb these thugs to smithereens? The ugly secret of COIN is overwhelming force works and very well. Look forward to the day when a well targeted 1000 kg bomb wipes out a few 1000 forest thugs. Until then we will keep having these headlines
7 April 2010 at 8:51 pm
Agree with dharma here.
Lives of CRPF men, Afghan Indians, telangana students etc are very cheap. They come very low in class structure.
Infact they have remuneration in LIC and other insurances after a decade or so.
Money rules. Foreign exchange, shareholders, english rules.
If you drive from Bengloor to Pune till Karnataka border the golden roads are damaged with two way on a single side and you still pay toll even after road tax and all the taxes to govt and nobody can question the kerosene lamp educated Manmohan singh on that. We have to follow rules and pay to the lords of delhi. give our lands when they attack and remain as Indians.
7 April 2010 at 9:55 pm
The whole of karnataka is blinking without power at the time of exams!!
and then they talk of competition and elections of 44% voting and majority.
Naxalism are not a minority anymore. they are the enlightened.
7 April 2010 at 10:05 pm
Will this internal strife swallow the country from within even before we realise? 74 yesterday, 744 tomorrow?
7 April 2010 at 11:44 pm
Mr Chidambaram,
What is the “protection money” you are getting (in terms of promoter quota shares!!) from the steel, aluminium & power companies in central india for providing the services of the indian military/crpf to protect their private empires?
7 April 2010 at 11:44 pm
kaangeya,
How about putting you in lockup and giving your airplane treatment for writing seditious things on blogs? When will that happen in your book? Look forward to the day when 1 kaangeya is put in lockup without any question for writing nonsense on blogs.
8 April 2010 at 12:15 am
@kaangeya,
didn’t you know? they are one of our own. How can you even think of bombing ‘misguided youth’.
But this attack and a similar attack in AP couple of years ago smacks of intelligence failure and shows utter lack of security in their planning and function.
Nothing will happen till the entire security structure is changed starting with getting rid of crpf. There should be local police with their special ops units and the next stage should be military… they can have their inland-enternal divisions. But this paramilitary crap should end… they are absolutely useless.
Full time aerial surveillance, with close air support to ground troops can put an end to this infestation.
8 April 2010 at 2:35 am
Why don’t we simply allow the Home Minister to do his job. If he had taken the “slow, measured, all-things-considered approach…’’ the ‘not-so-urban-media’ would have dubbed him inert and indecisive and flushed him down the sewer lines. Now that he acts with a purpose you condemn him as being in “hot pursuit” – cobbling up a rather flawed and hurried strategy. The fact is that Chidambaram by vocation was a corporate lawyer and what is the need to hold that against him. Roy, labeling him as the “CEO of the war” fighting a proxy battle for his clients is most juvenile, and stems from a hackneyed ideology that is periodically packaged in ‘ Booker prose’ and thrust rather unimaginatively along predictable lines. Surely, the former Finance Minister, the present Home Minister and the soon-to-be-PM (if “push comes to shove”) would have other avenues to endear himself to his former clients. He wouldn’t be dimwitted – like the illustrious Roy – to trifle with the Maoist-conundrum, an issue that is of significant consequence to the Indian government, an issue that is multi-dimensional in its complexity. Roy should stop sauntering into the killing fields of Dantewada in search of creative fulfillment, in search of subjects for her essays. She should instead stick to familiar terrain, another book on Kerala perhaps…The “farting cows ” “strutting hens” “laal salaam” and other such profundities would be more palatable then.
And yes, after the sheer magnitude and intensity of the latest ambush – the Maoists ARE India’s “gravest internal security threat”… or does Roy have another pithy epithet
8 April 2010 at 4:28 am
What the **** are you doing?
8 April 2010 at 6:35 am
Where are the “self declared” Human rights activists? The lives of CRPF jawans is not human? The very same set of self styled intellectuals openly support the cause of leftist organizations, have no emotions when these young soldiers are killed brutally. However when forces encounter naxals/ their supporters…these intellectuals go on the overdrive, talking about human rights!!!
Cruel joke was left parties condemning the killing of jawans!
8 April 2010 at 9:25 am
Talk less work more, this adage is apt for our HM. It is like shouting inside the lions den. If at all he is that aggressive he could have secretly planned for a pre-empt strikes. Our country has so many security issues and he could have easily added medals to his sleeve.
Imaging if this happens in US, UK or other country and maoists would have been history.
One single soldier is worth a thousand politician and imagine what a loss.
8 April 2010 at 10:11 am
Mr.PC, is the value of life of every CRPF Jawan dead is only Rs.50000?
38 lakhs for 76 Jawan’s death is Kadlekai… Double standards… While Carlton Tower Fire Tragedy Victim or an Accident Victim will get more than 50K, we treat our Jawans like Beggers…Very Sad
8 April 2010 at 10:59 am
greatbong -
http://greatbong.net/2010/04/08/the-invisible-civil-war/
8 April 2010 at 11:14 am
Red Corridor in india should be equated to Pak sponsored terrorism.
Let us take our own state. We dint had Moasism in 80′s, but later it started to grow in 90′s. Thanks to Gowri Lankesh, Kalkuli Vittala Hegde, Komu Souhardha Vedike and its president K L Ashok who are all threats to Karnataka.
We may have a light red color moasism in our state at present, but it may go dark brigh color in future if not curbed.
8 April 2010 at 1:19 pm
When extremists are killed they are killed in encounter. When CRPF is killed they are killed in an Ambush. When a battalion is sent in to the forest, PC knows very well that they are not sent for a picnic but on operation green hunt, that is to kill or to be killed. Then why Mr. PC you are feigning innocence that these CRPF personnel are not supposed to be killed?
9 April 2010 at 6:31 pm
“it poses a big question mark on the man many believe is positioning himself to replace Manmohan Singh if push comes to shove.”
atleast this contender is putting his reputation at stake and doing something about it. what about the mataji and yuvraj? where are they in all this?
19 May 2010 at 8:19 pm
PC is doing what Nehru did when he was the ‘proud’ PM of Independent India. Clad in white cloths with red rose pinned, he was flying the ‘peace parrots’ while our military sleuths were killed by Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the year 1962. How PC can ask Vendata CEO’s to take back their ideas when he as a advocate had defended them in a tax cheating case? shame on you pc and your government…
30 August 2010 at 5:39 pm
I’m Deepak P.B from Kanchipuram. I’m from middle class family. My father is master weaver. I’ve got 90% marks in +2. My aim is to become a Commercial pilot. I ‘ve got DGCA Class II medical license which is eligibe for pilot training. Also i got admission in Chimes Aviation Academy in Madhya Pradesh. The total course fee is 22 lakhs. I approached for bank loan . Bank manager asking equal property . But we don’t have that much property sir. We are having ten lakhs property only sir. Though i got good marks i can’t achieve my aim because of money. I kindly request you to help for my loan to study further wIth that 10 lakhs property sir. I’ll assure i’ll repay loan sincerely!! please help for my studies sir!!
Banks i approached – Union Bank of India, State bank of India. These two banks have the scheme to give loan for pilot training!!