Jagdalpur/Raipur (Chhattisgarh): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday underlined that lasting success against Naxalism (Maoism) was possible only because of the right intentions backed by the right policies.
Addressing security forces in Bastar, he said a series of firm decisions were taken in the interest of national security, some of which remain unknown to the public even today.
These measures, the Prime Minister stated, dealt a major blow to the funding networks of Naxalites and separatists.
Networks circulating counterfeit currency were systematically dismantled. This shattered their financial strength and disrupted their entire supply chain. As a result, the flow of weapons was halted, and the movement and recruitment efforts of the Naxalites were effectively curtailed.
PM Modi recalled the heavy price paid by the security forces over the decades. He said that the soil of the region had been stained red with the blood of brave soldiers, yet influential leaders living in comfort offered neither a word of grief nor a single tear.
Attacks occurred almost every day for years, he said, and more than 1,000 security personnel were martyred in Chhattisgarh alone. He pointed out that data from 2004 to 2013 showed more security personnel being killed each year than Naxalites.
Previous governments, he observed, treated Naxalism as an incurable ailment and chose to leave it unaddressed.
“A nation cannot confront its enemies while operating under the assumption that the status quo is inevitable and must simply be accepted,” the Prime Minister said.
The battle was far from easy, he noted. Naxalites had even stripped people of their right to vote. At one stage, the number of attacks reached 2,000 a year. In 2010, 76 CRPF personnel were martyred in an encounter in Dantewada, while another incident in the same year claimed the lives of 44 innocent civilians.
PM Modi said the situation began to change after 2014, when the people gave him the opportunity to serve as ‘Pradhan Sevak’.
For the first time in 47 years, a significant milestone has been achieved. Over the past year, not a single CRPF soldier has lost his life while on duty. He described this as a victory of the nation’s sound policies and firm resolve, and above all a triumph of the valour, courage and restraint shown by the security forces.
(IANS)
