Brigadier Basant Kumar Ponwar (Retd), a distinguished veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak War and the visionary behind India's modern jungle warfare strategies against Maoist insurgency, has passed away at 77. His extensive career spanned over five decades, contributing significantly to national defence through both the Indian Army and police forces, including founding the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College.
Sanjukta Parashar, an IPS officer with a formidable background in counter-insurgency, has made history by becoming the first woman inspector general of the CRPF's elite CoBRA force.
Brigadier Basant Kumar Ponwar, the army's counter-Naxalite expert and director of Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College, tells R Krishna Das that this is the right time to destroy the rebels militarily and dismantle their network.
The Chhattisgarh Police is planning to train a new batch of street dogs for anti-Naxal operations after the canines delivered good results by detecting over 350 Improvised Explosive Devices and landmines in the past two years.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan emphasized the need for constant high military preparedness, citing Operation Sindoor as an ongoing example. He also highlighted the importance of 'information warriors, technology warriors and scholar warriors' in future warfare.
'Defence, development and democracy is the formula to defeat Naxalism.'
Manipur needs an integrated politico, military, socio-economic approach, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
