Hyderabad:
A well-armed specialised force, the Greyhounds, was raised almost 20 years ago.
Trained to neutralise the Naxals' guerilla army - the key to Andhra's so-called success in war against Naxals - the Greyhounds had a focused purpose.
Its men were chosen carefully, well-trained, well-paid and well-looked after.
They were performing a risky job demanding skill and expertise that was recognised.
They needed specific weaponry and arms Like night vision glasses, bullet proof vests, sleeping bags and dry rations. And they got it.
Greyhounds emerged a force the state has reason to be proud of, a force that Naxal sympathisers accuse of being cold-blooded.
",They have unaccounted money. This is not to be accounted in the Assembly. These things are not accountable even to the Home Minister. The SIB chief is answerable only to the Chief Minister,", said Varavara Rao, a revolutionary writer and poet.
The Andhra Pradesh government prefers to say that they fought the Naxal menace at different levels.
Maoist strategy usually aims to cut off areas from development and communication and isolate them into islands where they could run a parallel administration.
To Andhra Pradesh's credit it managed to disrupt that Maoist ideal.
",You couldn't travel a state like Chattisgarh or former Madhya Pradeshby road. Places like Abujmad still don't have a road. On the other hand, one can go in a Mercedes Benz in every small village of Andhra Pradesh. You don't even require a jeep. So much is the development at least in the border areas. May be pot road but have a road,", said M V Bhaskar Rao, former DGP, Andhra Pradesh.
The government also came forward to distribute 1,00,000 acres of land to landless people in the state in 2005. It was the largest such exercise anywhere in the country since Independence.
It was hoping to steal the Naxal thunder whose maxim was land to the landless.
But in a war, no one can afford to act complacent. If the state changed strategy so did the Maoists.
",The recent Congress had decided that it is a mobile struggle. In a mobile war, the headquarters will be shifted naturally. So it is only shifting of headquarters. It is not shifting of their strategy, it is not shifting of their war,", said Varavara Rao.
Experts say what set the clock back for the security forces was the decision of the Andhra government to go for peace talks with extremists who don't believe in peace.
",In that time they increased the base of extortion, they were able to get better weapons. They had conducted a reconnaissance of various areas and they had a lot of information by which they could really hit the police and rattle the government,", said Swaranjit Sen, former DGP, Andhra Pradesh.
A status report from the Union Home Ministry admitted that barring Andhra Pradesh security forces in other states are simply not equipped to deal with the Maoist menace.
On 29 June, 2008, 38 Greyhounds were killed during search operation in Malkangiri, Orissa. But in its 20 year history, the most severe setback to the Greyhounds was not in Andhra but in neighbouring Orissa.
",The Central government should use its resources as well as their long experience. They will have to guide the state governments and may be even I would like to go to the extent of saying, arm twist the state governments to take it very seriously because it has all India ramifications and impact,", said M V Bhaskar Rao.
The successive deadly blows in Malkangiri have shown that even experienced elite forces cannot be stretched beyond a point. What it shows is that states cannot be treated as isolated islands.
So, what we need is a unified response and national strategy to ensure that violence is put down with an iron hand and a healing touch is provided wherever required.
Trained to neutralise the Naxals' guerilla army - the key to Andhra's so-called success in war against Naxals - the Greyhounds had a focused purpose.
Its men were chosen carefully, well-trained, well-paid and well-looked after.
They were performing a risky job demanding skill and expertise that was recognised.
They needed specific weaponry and arms Like night vision glasses, bullet proof vests, sleeping bags and dry rations. And they got it.
Greyhounds emerged a force the state has reason to be proud of, a force that Naxal sympathisers accuse of being cold-blooded.
",They have unaccounted money. This is not to be accounted in the Assembly. These things are not accountable even to the Home Minister. The SIB chief is answerable only to the Chief Minister,", said Varavara Rao, a revolutionary writer and poet.
The Andhra Pradesh government prefers to say that they fought the Naxal menace at different levels.
Maoist strategy usually aims to cut off areas from development and communication and isolate them into islands where they could run a parallel administration.
To Andhra Pradesh's credit it managed to disrupt that Maoist ideal.
",You couldn't travel a state like Chattisgarh or former Madhya Pradeshby road. Places like Abujmad still don't have a road. On the other hand, one can go in a Mercedes Benz in every small village of Andhra Pradesh. You don't even require a jeep. So much is the development at least in the border areas. May be pot road but have a road,", said M V Bhaskar Rao, former DGP, Andhra Pradesh.
The government also came forward to distribute 1,00,000 acres of land to landless people in the state in 2005. It was the largest such exercise anywhere in the country since Independence.
It was hoping to steal the Naxal thunder whose maxim was land to the landless.
But in a war, no one can afford to act complacent. If the state changed strategy so did the Maoists.
",The recent Congress had decided that it is a mobile struggle. In a mobile war, the headquarters will be shifted naturally. So it is only shifting of headquarters. It is not shifting of their strategy, it is not shifting of their war,", said Varavara Rao.
Experts say what set the clock back for the security forces was the decision of the Andhra government to go for peace talks with extremists who don't believe in peace.
",In that time they increased the base of extortion, they were able to get better weapons. They had conducted a reconnaissance of various areas and they had a lot of information by which they could really hit the police and rattle the government,", said Swaranjit Sen, former DGP, Andhra Pradesh.
A status report from the Union Home Ministry admitted that barring Andhra Pradesh security forces in other states are simply not equipped to deal with the Maoist menace.
On 29 June, 2008, 38 Greyhounds were killed during search operation in Malkangiri, Orissa. But in its 20 year history, the most severe setback to the Greyhounds was not in Andhra but in neighbouring Orissa.
",The Central government should use its resources as well as their long experience. They will have to guide the state governments and may be even I would like to go to the extent of saying, arm twist the state governments to take it very seriously because it has all India ramifications and impact,", said M V Bhaskar Rao.
The successive deadly blows in Malkangiri have shown that even experienced elite forces cannot be stretched beyond a point. What it shows is that states cannot be treated as isolated islands.
So, what we need is a unified response and national strategy to ensure that violence is put down with an iron hand and a healing touch is provided wherever required.
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