12-12-2008, 09:20 PM
<b>My hands were tied: Chhattisgarh DGP</b>
<b>The rejection of the Maoistsâ dictates of the poll boycott saw the Naxal-affected regions of Chhattisgarh reposing their faith in the political system in a big way. The BJPâs stupendous show in the Naxal belts is seen as a clear reflection of the peopleâs endorsement of the Salwa Judum movement.</b>
In a freewheeling interview to Navin Upadhyay, the Director General of Chhattisgarh, Vishwa Ranjan, who has done seminal work in breaking the backbone of ultra movements, hits out at the âsystemâ, wherein his âhands were tiedâ and which came in his way to hold a completely incident-free poll
Pioneer: First of all let me congratulate you for conducting the elections successfully in the Naxal belt of Bastar and Surguja zones. It is for the first time we have seen such low levels of violence...
DGP: Thank you very much for being so kind. You must also thank the officers and jawans of Chhattisgarh Police, the STF of Chhattisgarh, the Special Police Officers, the Officers and Jawans of BSF, CRPF, SSB, RPF, CISF, Punjab Police, Gujarat Police, West Bengal Police, Haryana Police, Andhra Pradesh Police, Bihar Police, Karnataka Police, Meghalaya Police, Tamil Nadu Police and Uttarakhand Police who came to assist us. The elections in Naxal belt could have been completely violence-free had those, who had no knowledge and understanding of police deployment, strategies and tactical maneuvers, given me and my force the freedom to deploy the forces according to my plans.
People who are mentally deficient to understand strategic planning of force deployment became the arbiter in this specialised area. I suspect an element of cursedness was also operating the way these people were behaving with me, my senior officers and SPs in the field, threatening them of dire consequences. Iâm the seniormost bureaucrat (1973 batch) in Chhattisgarh. During this election, I felt so humiliated that there was a period when I sincerely felt proceeding on leave. In my career spanning 37 years, no one had ever questioned my impartiality or knowledge of professional matters.
Are you suggesting that the Election Commissioners were interfering in actual deployment and use of force in Naxal areas during elections?
No. The Chief Commissioner and the two commissioners of the Election Commission are very experienced ex-bureaucrats. When they had visited Raipur, I had given a presentation about the Naxal situation, the increase in Naxalsâ armed cadres due to heavy migration of their cadres from Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra in Bastar area and from Jharkhand in Sarguja area. I had explained how we intend to deploy the forces in these areas to ensure incident-free elections and I had requested exemption from the deployment plan of the Election Commission, which I thought was good for non-combat or otherwise peaceful zone but not feasible in Naxal areas. The CEO and other commissioners had agreed with me. The problem was that officers connected with the Election Commission and election office in the state at middle and lower levels and many of those drafted to become observers from various states did not understand my operational requirements in Naxalite area. When I attempted to assert, I was told that Iâm on temporary deputation to the election commission (which was factually correct) and I cannot even talk to my SPs about how to conduct elections without obtaining permission of the Chief Electoral officer of the State.
Earlier, only people like Ramchandra Guha used to question how a lowly stupid DGP of the state could take on intellectuals of his caliber. For the first time, I was also made to realise that there are others who feel the same way. How can a lowly 1973 batch DGP take on the âknow-allsâ of 1984, 1994 or 2004 batches in the bureaucratic set up? Life has queer ways of emphasising the shudrahoodâ of a police officer.
But surely you could have complained to the Chief Election Commissioner...
Look, the date of the elections could not have been postponed. There was hardly any time to pick up quarrels. There were polling booths which were 40 to 60 km away from the district headquarters. In fact, three of the polling booths were over 100 km from district headquarters. I could not have kept fighting over the deployment plan. I had to give in. How can a puny DGP fight the âGods Almightyâ of the set-up? But my officers and I knew that the deployment finally put in place was not the best. So I instructed my officers to make optimum use of the force which was already with me to dominate the area as far as possible to ensure that Naxalites are kept at bay. My officers were leading the operations from the front. In one such operation one of my IGPs was hit by Naxalite bullet and my SP nearly escaped being hit. Instead of praising their efforts they were receiving show cause notices for omission here and there which would have not taken place had I been allowed to put my operational plan in place completely.
But you still managed to keep Naxals under check except the incident where a helicopter of the Air Force came in line of fire of the Naxals...
My sadness emanates from the fact that things could have been better. Regarding bullets hitting the Air Force chopper, I will tell you an aviation joke. When the pilot dies in an aviation accident the enquiries always conclude that it was pilotâs error, but whenever the pilot survives it is either mechanical failure or some other failure. In this case we are being blamed......
What do you account for the outstanding showing of the BJP in Naxal dominated areas?
<b>This is a loaded question with political overtones. I would not answer this question as the DGP. But as an individual who has faith in the democratic system I believe that no one wants to be forced to make decisions under threat -- threat of guns, threat of Naxalite guns and violence. Since the police managed to push out Naxalites from villages to a very large extent, the voters pitched in for the party which in their perception has openly and consistently kept an anti-Naxal stand.</b>
But donât you think it is also a victory for Salwa Judum?
<b>If we remove politics from Salwa Judum movement for a moment, then we can safely say that the Madias of Bijapur and Dantewada district rose in revolt against Naxal oppression. The retaliatory violence by the Naxalites led to springing up of relief camps and the Salwa Judum movement. The Naxal killing of Salwa Judum supporters has continued. Obviously, one cannot expect Salwa Judum seafarers or relief camp dwellers to vote for leaders who in their perception have taken up a stand which can only embolden the Naxalites. After all, why do relief camp inhabitants and Salwa Judum activists dislike members of civil liberty bodies and human rights groups? </b>In their perception these bodies are pro-Naxalites. It is not important whether what they think is true or false. It is their perception. The demand of civil liberty bodies to disband relief camps is interpreted by them as a design to force them to embrace death at the hands of the Naxalites. The general population of Bastar and Surguja area is also fed up with Naxal atrocities and violence.
We have information that not all Salwa Judum or relief camp dwellers were allowed to vote because not all could be given photo-identity cards even as other documents to establish their identity were not accepted. Such stringent measures were not imposed in other parts of the state. Was it to ensure that BJP candidates were put at a disadvantageous position?
This is again a politically loaded question and I refuse to answer it. Whether this was intentionally done to deprive BJP candidates of votes I cannot say. I would not like to even think that the Election Commission could have such ulterior motives.
But surely the Election Commission cannot have two sets of rules for two groups of people...
I would not like to comment. I think you are trying to trap me into making a political comment. I would not like to be trapped. If a candidate feels that the rules were implemented in a partial way he can knock the doors of the court.
Violence-hit
As many as 12 paramilitary personnel were killed on the day of filing nominations even as two BJP leaders were lynched while campaigning for the two-phase Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh. An Inspector General of Police was critically injured in an ambush just a couple of days before the first phase of polls on November 14 in the Naxalite-affected Bastar and Raipur divisions (barring Raipur district). The Maoists, who had given a call for poll boycott, lived up to their threats. The banned outfitâs cadres looted 18 electronic voting machines (EVMs) and triggered low-intensity explosions. The Naxalites fired at an Indian Air Force Mi-8 helicopter ferrying sealed EVMs, killing a flight engineer.
A CRPF personnel was also killed in Dantewada district when the Naxalites attacked security forces accompanying poll officials. Gun battles between the police and Maoists were reported in Bijapur, Dantewada and Antagarh. Encounters were also reported from Pakhanjoor, Bhariamgarh Bijapur, Konta and Antagarh. Maoists blocked roads by trees and large stones in remote areas of Bijapur, Konta and Dantewada. The sensitivity of the region led the Election Commission to fix the polling between 7 am and 3 pm to ensure poll personnel and EVMs reached the headquarters before sunset. But except for an incident like unidentified persons attacking former Chief Minister Ajit Jogiâs vehicle in his Marwahi constituency, the second round of polls on November 20 passed off peacefully even though the Naxalite threat persisted in Surguja.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/142854/My-hand...isgarh-DGP.html
<b>The rejection of the Maoistsâ dictates of the poll boycott saw the Naxal-affected regions of Chhattisgarh reposing their faith in the political system in a big way. The BJPâs stupendous show in the Naxal belts is seen as a clear reflection of the peopleâs endorsement of the Salwa Judum movement.</b>
In a freewheeling interview to Navin Upadhyay, the Director General of Chhattisgarh, Vishwa Ranjan, who has done seminal work in breaking the backbone of ultra movements, hits out at the âsystemâ, wherein his âhands were tiedâ and which came in his way to hold a completely incident-free poll
Pioneer: First of all let me congratulate you for conducting the elections successfully in the Naxal belt of Bastar and Surguja zones. It is for the first time we have seen such low levels of violence...
DGP: Thank you very much for being so kind. You must also thank the officers and jawans of Chhattisgarh Police, the STF of Chhattisgarh, the Special Police Officers, the Officers and Jawans of BSF, CRPF, SSB, RPF, CISF, Punjab Police, Gujarat Police, West Bengal Police, Haryana Police, Andhra Pradesh Police, Bihar Police, Karnataka Police, Meghalaya Police, Tamil Nadu Police and Uttarakhand Police who came to assist us. The elections in Naxal belt could have been completely violence-free had those, who had no knowledge and understanding of police deployment, strategies and tactical maneuvers, given me and my force the freedom to deploy the forces according to my plans.
People who are mentally deficient to understand strategic planning of force deployment became the arbiter in this specialised area. I suspect an element of cursedness was also operating the way these people were behaving with me, my senior officers and SPs in the field, threatening them of dire consequences. Iâm the seniormost bureaucrat (1973 batch) in Chhattisgarh. During this election, I felt so humiliated that there was a period when I sincerely felt proceeding on leave. In my career spanning 37 years, no one had ever questioned my impartiality or knowledge of professional matters.
Are you suggesting that the Election Commissioners were interfering in actual deployment and use of force in Naxal areas during elections?
No. The Chief Commissioner and the two commissioners of the Election Commission are very experienced ex-bureaucrats. When they had visited Raipur, I had given a presentation about the Naxal situation, the increase in Naxalsâ armed cadres due to heavy migration of their cadres from Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra in Bastar area and from Jharkhand in Sarguja area. I had explained how we intend to deploy the forces in these areas to ensure incident-free elections and I had requested exemption from the deployment plan of the Election Commission, which I thought was good for non-combat or otherwise peaceful zone but not feasible in Naxal areas. The CEO and other commissioners had agreed with me. The problem was that officers connected with the Election Commission and election office in the state at middle and lower levels and many of those drafted to become observers from various states did not understand my operational requirements in Naxalite area. When I attempted to assert, I was told that Iâm on temporary deputation to the election commission (which was factually correct) and I cannot even talk to my SPs about how to conduct elections without obtaining permission of the Chief Electoral officer of the State.
Earlier, only people like Ramchandra Guha used to question how a lowly stupid DGP of the state could take on intellectuals of his caliber. For the first time, I was also made to realise that there are others who feel the same way. How can a lowly 1973 batch DGP take on the âknow-allsâ of 1984, 1994 or 2004 batches in the bureaucratic set up? Life has queer ways of emphasising the shudrahoodâ of a police officer.
But surely you could have complained to the Chief Election Commissioner...
Look, the date of the elections could not have been postponed. There was hardly any time to pick up quarrels. There were polling booths which were 40 to 60 km away from the district headquarters. In fact, three of the polling booths were over 100 km from district headquarters. I could not have kept fighting over the deployment plan. I had to give in. How can a puny DGP fight the âGods Almightyâ of the set-up? But my officers and I knew that the deployment finally put in place was not the best. So I instructed my officers to make optimum use of the force which was already with me to dominate the area as far as possible to ensure that Naxalites are kept at bay. My officers were leading the operations from the front. In one such operation one of my IGPs was hit by Naxalite bullet and my SP nearly escaped being hit. Instead of praising their efforts they were receiving show cause notices for omission here and there which would have not taken place had I been allowed to put my operational plan in place completely.
But you still managed to keep Naxals under check except the incident where a helicopter of the Air Force came in line of fire of the Naxals...
My sadness emanates from the fact that things could have been better. Regarding bullets hitting the Air Force chopper, I will tell you an aviation joke. When the pilot dies in an aviation accident the enquiries always conclude that it was pilotâs error, but whenever the pilot survives it is either mechanical failure or some other failure. In this case we are being blamed......
What do you account for the outstanding showing of the BJP in Naxal dominated areas?
<b>This is a loaded question with political overtones. I would not answer this question as the DGP. But as an individual who has faith in the democratic system I believe that no one wants to be forced to make decisions under threat -- threat of guns, threat of Naxalite guns and violence. Since the police managed to push out Naxalites from villages to a very large extent, the voters pitched in for the party which in their perception has openly and consistently kept an anti-Naxal stand.</b>
But donât you think it is also a victory for Salwa Judum?
<b>If we remove politics from Salwa Judum movement for a moment, then we can safely say that the Madias of Bijapur and Dantewada district rose in revolt against Naxal oppression. The retaliatory violence by the Naxalites led to springing up of relief camps and the Salwa Judum movement. The Naxal killing of Salwa Judum supporters has continued. Obviously, one cannot expect Salwa Judum seafarers or relief camp dwellers to vote for leaders who in their perception have taken up a stand which can only embolden the Naxalites. After all, why do relief camp inhabitants and Salwa Judum activists dislike members of civil liberty bodies and human rights groups? </b>In their perception these bodies are pro-Naxalites. It is not important whether what they think is true or false. It is their perception. The demand of civil liberty bodies to disband relief camps is interpreted by them as a design to force them to embrace death at the hands of the Naxalites. The general population of Bastar and Surguja area is also fed up with Naxal atrocities and violence.
We have information that not all Salwa Judum or relief camp dwellers were allowed to vote because not all could be given photo-identity cards even as other documents to establish their identity were not accepted. Such stringent measures were not imposed in other parts of the state. Was it to ensure that BJP candidates were put at a disadvantageous position?
This is again a politically loaded question and I refuse to answer it. Whether this was intentionally done to deprive BJP candidates of votes I cannot say. I would not like to even think that the Election Commission could have such ulterior motives.
But surely the Election Commission cannot have two sets of rules for two groups of people...
I would not like to comment. I think you are trying to trap me into making a political comment. I would not like to be trapped. If a candidate feels that the rules were implemented in a partial way he can knock the doors of the court.
Violence-hit
As many as 12 paramilitary personnel were killed on the day of filing nominations even as two BJP leaders were lynched while campaigning for the two-phase Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh. An Inspector General of Police was critically injured in an ambush just a couple of days before the first phase of polls on November 14 in the Naxalite-affected Bastar and Raipur divisions (barring Raipur district). The Maoists, who had given a call for poll boycott, lived up to their threats. The banned outfitâs cadres looted 18 electronic voting machines (EVMs) and triggered low-intensity explosions. The Naxalites fired at an Indian Air Force Mi-8 helicopter ferrying sealed EVMs, killing a flight engineer.
A CRPF personnel was also killed in Dantewada district when the Naxalites attacked security forces accompanying poll officials. Gun battles between the police and Maoists were reported in Bijapur, Dantewada and Antagarh. Encounters were also reported from Pakhanjoor, Bhariamgarh Bijapur, Konta and Antagarh. Maoists blocked roads by trees and large stones in remote areas of Bijapur, Konta and Dantewada. The sensitivity of the region led the Election Commission to fix the polling between 7 am and 3 pm to ensure poll personnel and EVMs reached the headquarters before sunset. But except for an incident like unidentified persons attacking former Chief Minister Ajit Jogiâs vehicle in his Marwahi constituency, the second round of polls on November 20 passed off peacefully even though the Naxalite threat persisted in Surguja.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/142854/My-hand...isgarh-DGP.html