New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) The government made it clear Wednesday that it did not favour non-state players tackling the Maoist menace as the effort was best left to the administration of the area where the scourge existed.
The government view, articulated in the Rajya Sabha by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, was clearly aimed at the Chhattisgarh government whose state-funded, anti-Maoist Salwa Judum militia has been widely criticized for its human rights violations.

“I am not in favour of non-state elements taking on the Naxalites (Maoists). We want the state to take them on,” Chidambaram said during the question hour.

Replying to a supplementary, the minister said: “I was asked a specific question about Salwa Judum and I have given a specific reply. I am not in favour of any non-state players taking on extremism.”

“The chief minister (of Chhattisgarh Raman Singh) now more or less accepts my line,” Chidambaram added.

The home minister admitted that the central and state governments had been tardy in tackling the challenge posed by Leftwing extremism.

“Regrettably, we did not challenge the threat of Leftwing extremism adequately. Today, this poses a grave challenge. We are preparing to take on this challenge but the details cannot be disclosed,” the minister added.

“I have personally visited the (extremist-affected) states. We will be holding a meeting in August (to discuss the roadmap for taking on the extremists),” Chidambaram said, adding: “We now have a military advisor to help us draw up our plans.”

Noting that the issue “essentially has to be answered by the states as this is linked to the lack of development”, he said the “most recent manifestation of this” was in Lalgarh in West Bengal, where Maoists had declared a “liberated area” till the security forces mounted a major offensive against them.

“The issue has to be tackled two-fold. First, there is police action to re-establish the writ of the state followed by developmental activities,” Chidambarm said.