THE assertion of Bastar Inspector General of Police Sunderraj P. that the Binagunda-Korragutta encounter dealt a huge blow to the supply network of the Naxalite ecosystem, marks a specific point of gain about which the Security Forces had not talked much in the past. This time, however, the high-ranking Police officer has insisted upon talking about how the supply-chain of the Naxalites got hit hard. However, it must be said that the point Mr. Sunderraj P. made suggests only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of the depth to which the Naxalite system has gone in firming up its position as a tough challenger of the governmental establishment. For, even as the Security Forces kept putting up a tough fight against the Naxalites for nearly fifty years and eliminated countless ultra-Left wingers, there were only scant references to the supply-chain management of their ecosystem that flourished in the country’s forested hinterland. Seen from this angle, the specific reference to how the Naxalite supply-chain got hit following the Kanker encounter, assumes an altogether different distinction. Operating from deep jungles where access is very difficult, the Naxalites could mass up arms and ammunition and food and medical supplies in a fairly fine manner. This organisational capability was so good that the Naxalites never seemed to run out of weapons and their fodder as well as other essential supplies.

 

The Security Forces knew all that, of course, and yet chose to remain silent on those aspects. However, this appears to be one of the rare moments when the Security Forces have insisted upon talking about how hard the Naxalite supply-chain might have got hit. Obviously, it can be surmised from the IGP’s assertion that the Security Forces had made elaborate plans to hit the Naxalites the hardest -- to be able to claim subsequently that the Naxalite supply-chain might have got hit badly. This also can mean that the Government wishes to take the fight against Left Wing Extremism (LWE) to the next level where the challenge will be met professionally and strategically. The fine points of the Kanker encounter, even though not made public in complete detail, suggest that the Security Forces had taken a no-nonsense approach to dealing with the Naxalites. This does suggest in turn that the Security Forces are acting as per a national plan of retaliation with a clear target of wiping out the Naxalite challenge altogether in some time -- as asserted by Union Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah following the Kanker encounter. For decades on end, the Security Forces fought tough, point-to-point battles against the Naxalites with only a touch-and-go approach to snapping the supply-chains of the ultra-Left-wingers.

 

Now, that approach appears to have changed at least to certain extent -- which is indicated by the IGP’s assertion to that effect. In other words, the Security Forces appear to have redefined their approach to fighting the Naxalites and reinvented their overall strategy. It is common comprehension that the Naxalites often got their supplies of arms and ammunition from extended international networks of drugs and crime. Despite this knowledge, the Government had not thought specifically about demolishing those international linkages. That led to a point when the people started thinking that the Naxalites have eternal supply-chains operating all the time, in the process making them almost invincible. This will no longer be the case from now on. For, when the Naxalite supply-chain is hit hard, the ultra-Left-wingers will not be able to fight the Security Forces capably. This leads us to a satisfying thought that the Naxals are now in variably reaching their end-game from which they may never emerge.