Documentary - "Inside: Red terror: India's biggest threat to democracy?" - Times Now

Aditya Raj Kaul, In Darbha Village, Bastar (Chattisgarh)

 

 (Part 1)

Heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on May 25, killing 27 people including Congress leader Mahendra Karma, ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar, state unit chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son. 32 others, including senior party leader V C Shukla, were injured. The audacious assault carried out by Maoists on Congress workers in Chhattisgarh appears to be the first major organised attack on the leadership of a political party by ultras. Chhattisgarh is considered as hot-bed of left-wing extremists. The Maoist attack on the democracy of India is a grim reminder of how red terror has made a comeback. There is outrage across the nation even as the self-appointed peacemakers continue their crusade. The biggest challenge for the security forces is to ensure a peaceful atmosphere in the Naxal infected Chhattisgarh state.

Rattled by the incident in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, top leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi visited the state. Banned outfit CPI (Maoist) claimed responsibility for the massacre of Congress leaders in Bastar region and demanded immediate suspension of all operations against it across the country. CPI (Maoist) in a statement accused slained leaders Karma, architect of Salwa Judum (people's movement against naxalism) and Nand Kumar Patel, Pradesh Congress Chief of corruption and implementing anti-people policies in Chhattisgarh. The outfit accused senior Congress leader V C Shukla, who sustained serious injuries in the attack and at present undergoing treatment in a hospital in Gurgaon, of playing an "active role" in framing pro-industrialist measures in the state. While condemning the attack by Naxals on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, the People's Union for Civil Liberties has said the government must understand the grim human rights situation prevailing in the area before launching a counter-offensive. Left parties condemned the brutal Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh saying they disapproved violent retribution against political opponents, but opposed the killings of and atrocities against innocent tribals there.

(Part 2)