Former Army General stresses challenges due to insurgency

Metro India News | DELHI

General Anil Chauhan, former Chief of the Defense Staff (CDS) and Director, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) highlighted insurgency as an important national-security challenge, particularly for a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-linguistic society like India.

The foundation hosted the release and discussion of the book titled “India’s Maoists: Glimpses into Red Insurgency”, authored by Dr. P. V. Ramana, examining the evolution, geographical spread and security dimensions of Maoist insurgency in India. Quoting Chanakya, General Chauhan identified four types of threats: “internal threat, external threat, internal threat with external abetment and external threat with internal abetment.” He underscored the necessity of understanding these multi-dimensional threats to maintain internal national stability.

Dr. P. V. Ramana, author, discussed regions including undivided Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Karnataka and West Bengal, tracing the Red Corridor and North-South Corridor, different phases of insurgency across the decades, and critical attacks that had a major impact on the movement, while placing these developments within the longer history of communist movements since Independence. Dr. Arvind Gupta, former Deputy NSA and former Director, VIF, congratulated Dr. P. V. Ramana, describing the book as “a delight to read” and authentic.

Former Director General (DG) of the Border Security Force Pankaj Singh took the audience through the chronology of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), from its first phase in West Bengal in the late 1960s to its subsequent movement towards South India. He discussed the developments of the 2000s, including how Central Armed Police Forces operated in unfamiliar terrain and conducted counter-insurgency operations.  Followed by an interactive Q & A session, the discussion offered perspectives on the historical trajectory, geographical spread and changing phases of the Maoist movement, as documented in Dr. Ramana’s book.