Review anti-naxal campaign in Bastar: Digvijay

Raipur, Apr 16 (UNI) AICC General-Secretary Digvijay Singh today called for review of Salwa Judum, the ongoing anti-naxal campaign in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said all political parties must review the situation arising out of Salwa Judum and arrive at a consensus to deal with naxalism.

''It is not a problem of any particular party. The issue concerns the people of the state as well as every party,'' he said, adding that the views of affected areas' residents should be taken into consideration.

Mr Singh, who has served as chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh, said the government's lack of communication and sensitivity towards masses' problems was a cause for spread of naxalism in tribal areas.

Referring to Salwa Judum, he said Bastar's denizens launched the historic movement against the rebels but Chhattisgarh's BJP regime did not fathom the spirit behind it.

''As a result, those who raised their voices against insurgents became refugees on their own land and had to shelter in relief camps. Tribals had to desert villages,'' he added.

Mr Singh alleged that the recent spurt in extremist violence in the region clearly indicated that the police and paramilitary forces were not proactive and they were more concerned about their own security.

Suggesting that the government must take appropriate steps to ''minimise'' involvement of contractors in the region, the former chief minister said the local populace must be trained so that work in the forested and hilly region could be entrusted to them.

The government of undivided Madhya Pradesh ''eliminated'' middlemen and contractors from the tendu leaf trade but they had returned to the business. Decentralisation of powers and strengthening of the Panchayati Raj system in tribal areas were also necessary to tackle the problem, he said.

UNI