Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday suggested that if the Congress comes to power, it would redistribute wealth of people to Muslims and cited former PM Manmohan Singh's remark that the minority community had the first claim on the country's resources.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will visit Raipur on Monday to monitor the coordination of strategies to combat Left-wing extremism in the region. Chidambaram will emphasis the importance of verifying and forwarding intelligence inputs to the Centre. He will hold a coordination meeting with the director-general of police and the joint director of the Intelligence Bureau posted in Raipur.
If things have come to such a pass in the heartland, which has some of the poorest parts of the country, blame the sustained failure of policing as well as of politics and development strategy. Now we have to deal with the consequences, and there are no soft options left.
Author Sudeep Chakravarti compares the India of today with Rajiv Gandhi's India, and talks of issues of the day like corruption and the direction the Maoist conflict will take in the coming months.
All the seven states hit by Left wing extremism have agreed on a joint action to confront the menace firmly and decisively, and the Centre will provide them full support in terms of security forces and funds, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) V K Singh opposed deployment of the Army in Maoist-affected areas on Tuesday, saying that the use of armed forces against "our own citizens" would "tarnish" its image.
In his annual Vijayadashmi address, the RSS chief also spoke about "urban maoism", the Sabarimala row and the need to strengthen the country's borders.
The case pertains to the organisation of Elgar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017 which promoted enmity between various caste groups and led to violence, resulting in the loss of life and property and statewide agitation in Maharashtra, an NIA spokesperson said.
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters were killed on June 4, 1989 in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square as the People's Liberation Army launched a brutal crackdown on those demonstrating there against the ruling Communist Party of China for weeks.
Shah said the BJP-led government had only brought an amendment to the law which was enacted by thr Congress and whose provisions were later made stringent.
Indian intelligence agencies have often claimed that left-wing extremists are trying to make inroads in the militancy-hit regions of north-east to foment further unrest. But Jaideep Saikia, noted terrorism and conflict analyst, claims, "People who speak of Maoism taking roots in the north-east have not read history".
In a veiled attack on Jawaharlal Nehru, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country's destiny would have been different if Sardar Patel had become the first prime minister.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh said the Chhattisgarh government led by Raman Singh deserves compliment for dealing effectively with Maoists despite not getting the desired support from the Centre.
Condemning the Maoist attack on a Congress rally in Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that Maoism is a serious challenge to Indian democracy and joint efforts are being made to combat it.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the state governments have been asked to identify Rohingya refugees in their regions and collect their biometric details.
The official premise that Maoism is India's 'greatest internal security threat' is profoundly mistaken. The Maoists aren't about to capture power, destroy India's unity, or undermine her security. They pose a civil law-and-order problem, which should be tackled by normal police methods, says Praful Bidwai.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has in fact gone to the extent of claiming that Pakistan's external intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, was helping Maoists in the state. "The Maoists are spreading in Assam. The ISI has also joined hands with them," Gogoi told journalists after a meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram earlier this week.
Kidnapped collector Alex Paul Menon's wife Asha, in an exclusive first person account, gives glimpses of her husband's softer side, and requests the Maoists to release him.
Naxalism is a wake-up call for the country, former Union home secretary G K Pillai said in New Delhi, while blaming poor governance for the rise in the problem.
In an interview with CNN-IBN, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee spoke on a range of issues including her party's tiffs with the United Progressive Alliance, her six-month rule in the state and her plans to tackle Maoism.
A former Maoist speaks to Shobha Warrier
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad held that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who has described Maoists as "biggest terrorists", responsible for the spread of Maoism in his state.
There seems to be a free-for-all in the ruling party, with senior leaders publicly disagreeing with each other on policy issues, which is unusual for a party like the Congress.
From Naxalbari to Jan Militia, the Naxal movement has assumed worrying proportions today. Veteran cop Mahendra Kumawat assesses the Naxal phenomena and states that negating the romantic appeal of Maoism and convincing the teeming millions that their problems would be addressed could lead to a lasting solution to the Naxal issue.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has called for creating a new-age policeman who is more professional, better-motivated, suitably empowered, well-trained, one who places greater emphasis on technology for investigation and other tasks.
Journalist and author Sudeep Chakravarti he explains that today's Maoists aren't motivated so-much by a desire for full revolution or for more money, so much as they are motivated by a desire for equality, purpose and dignity.
'Revolution is the target. They will organise the people and ask them to revolt against the State,' says Satnam who has interacted with the Maoists.
Communism and its unruly offshoots Naxalism and Maoism will continue to lose public support in India but a solution to the Naxal problem is still a few years away, writes Pramod Kumar Buravalli.
Hundreds of ABVP supporters on Wednesday marched from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar to denounce "anti-nationals".
Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil, 54, a resident of Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, is an associate professor in the Department of English
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi's move was aimed at helping a few of his 'crony capitalist friends' and had 'destroyed' the Indian economy, prompting a strong response from the BJP which said the exercise was an 'attack' on corruption and black money that were rampant during the 'lost decade' of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
'If Kerala votes back the LDF, if Tamil Nadu brings the DMK and if Bengal votes for the Trinamool, we will project a formidable opposition to the BJP.'
Support from the committee gives Xi an indefinite extension on the reins of power, which will surely result in hawkish and insular policies. It does not bode well for relations with the USA, or with anyone else who does not bow the knee to Beijing, for that matter.
Besides weakening the Maoists' lethal capacities and reducing violence, it is essential to ensure that governance is improved, so that those prone to sympathising with, or supporting, the Maoists would, in the long run, realise the needlessness and futility of doing so, says P V Ramana and Raj Bala Rana.
On January 1 in 2018, violence erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle, leaving one dead and several injured, including 10 policemen.
Govt looks to take cooking gas to tiger reserves, Naxal-hit areas
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece "Panchjanya" has alleged that Jawaharlal University is home to "a huge anti-national block which has the aim of disintegrating India."
The raging row over nationalism was at the centre of Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah's inaugural address at the party's national executive meeting on Saturday as he asserted that it will not tolerate criticism against the country and that freedom of expression cannot be a plea for shouting anti-national slogans.
'Is Xi's China stable?'
'No one can say whether the regime will fall all at once or if its leaders are devising a new solid and competitive -- anything but democratic -- model.' A fascinating excerpt from Francois Bougon's Inside The Mind of Xi Jinping.
'There is need to invent another enemy.' 'If you can add Maoists to Muslims, the tukde-tukde thread will tie in nicely.' 'You might even have a 'nation in grave danger' story by the summer of 2019,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
