Terror must end

For long India has seen many lives being taken in the crossfire between Maoist and states.
The outfit, formed in 2004 following the merger of the CPI(M-L) People’s War and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) — both of which were centrally-banned organisations — has been at the forefront of an armed people’s struggle. Maoist has been banned, but that hasn’t stopped the guerrillas in the Naxalite zone from operating with impunity.
Before the Centre declared, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, the most affected in the country imposed the ban under their own laws soon after the CPI (Maoist) came into existence.
Once an organization is banned, the members cannot carry out other activities allowed in a democratic process. The bank accounts of the organisations are frozen, their assets seized. Even warrants are not required to arrest their members and getting bail is almost not heard of.
To add to all of it, persons considered sympathizers or suspected to be abetting their activities also come under the purview of the law.
Some states have given sweeping powers to their police to clamp down on the Maoists with stringent provisions.
Andhra Pradesh Public Security Act, under which the outfit has been banned in the state, gives the police extraordinary powers. They can arrest any activist or anyone suspected to have Maoist links without a warrant and interrogate anyone without formally arresting them.
But the ban has not been well received by the many.
Many feel that is state-sponsored repression in rural areas, arresting innocent people on false charges. Basic amenities like water, power and even rice supplies have been cut off to tribal villages suspected to be providing shelter and food to the rebels and people are being picked at random on suspicion.
Now the Centre and state need to ensure that in the bid to clamp down, common people are not harassed.
A dialogue must be initiated and terror being unleashed by the organizations and states need to end.