IAEA-Questionable Indian Nuclear Safety

By Zaheerul Hassan

On February 28, 2012 an expert committee appointed by the Tamil Nadu government on submitted its report on the safety aspects of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNNP) to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, marking a crucial stage in the debate over the project. At the same time, the State government invited the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) representatives for talks on next day i.e. Feburary29, 2012.

However, on above mentioned report visible clashes has been noticed between government sponsored scientists and private but straight former scientists who were really worried about the lives of the local living around the project. In this regard M.R. Srinivasan, a former chairman of Indian Atomic Energy commission and member of experts committee while talking to the media reporters said that  “Let the government have a cool view of the report,”  but  “ I have not taken back my words on the issue despite that few government officials are satisfied over the issue.”

He further explained that on February 20, after visiting the nuclear plant and holding talks with PMANE representatives in Tirunelveli, Dr. Srinivasan had said the state-of-the-art safety features incorporated in the reactor had made it a ‘third generation plus’ reactor.  S. Iniyan, Director of Centre for Energy Studies, Anna University, D. Arivuoli, Professor, Department of Physics, Anna University and former IAS office L.N. Vijayaraghavan are the other members on the committee.

Meanwhile, Mr. Udayakumar has sent a legal notice to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for insinuating that the anti-Kudankulam protests were funded by United States and the Scandinavian non-government organisations. Advocate M. Radhakrishnan, who sent the notice on behalf of Mr. Udayakumar, said the Prime Minister had made a “false statement with an intention to harm his client’s reputation”.

Notably, security of Indian nuclear programme always remained questionable remained. Number of accidents, theft cases ,killing of   scientists and staff through  torturing ohave been  observed  on various Indian nuclear plants . Whereas Pakistan being a responsible atomic power,  has adopted strict measures at its nuclear plants so as to save the lives of their employees and the nearby population, yet India’s record of poor nuclear safety has surprised the international community in the era of ongoing nuclear age. In this respect, in the end of November 2009, more than 90 Indian workers suffered radiation due to contamination of drinking water at the Kaiga Atomic Power Station in Karnataka. Indian media got the story when many suffered persons were hospitalised, and it became impossible for New Delhi to conceal the tragedy.

The Nuclear Power Corporation, which runs Kaiga plant, did not reply to the media queries over the nuclear accident, while Indian Atomic Energy Chairman, Anil Kodkar called the mishap at Kaiga an act of sabotage. Afterwards, an internal probe by Nuclear Power Corporation indicated possibility of mischief by an insider who had deliberately added some heavy water containing tritium to the drinking water cooler. So it is most alarming that anyone can cause any mischief at Indian any nuclear facility. This raises more questions regarding the poor safey of Indian all nuclear plants.

In short , Indian nuclear power installations have not been practising the right safety methods along with rigid security measures. The incident at Kaiga Atomic Power Station is not the first one, On July 27, 1991; a similar incident took place at the heavy water plant run by the Department of Atomic Energy at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan. Nuclear radiation had affected and injured many labourers there. Indian past record shows various kinds of security lapses in relation to various nuclear plants and the related sensitive materials. Coupled with other events of nuclear theft, smuggling and killing has become a regular feature of Indian atomic plants and facilities.

In July 1998, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seized eight Kg. of nuclear material from three engineers in Chennai. It was reported that the uranium was stolen from an atomic research center. The case still remains pending. On November 7, 2000, International Atomic Agency (IAEA) disclosed that Indian police had seized 57 pounds of uranium and arrested two men for illicit trafficking of radioactive material. IAEA had said that Indian civil nuclear facilities were vulnerable to thefts.

On January 26, 2003, CNN pointed out that Indian company, NEC Engineers Private Ltd. shipped 10 consignments to Iraq, containing highly sensitive equipments entailing titanium vessels and centrifugal pumps.

In February 2004, India’s Ambassador to Libya, Dinkar Srivastava revealed that New Delhi was investigating that retired Indian scientists could possibly be engaged in “high technology programs” for financial gains during employment in the Libyan government.

In December 2005, United States imposed sanctions on two Indian firms for selling missile goods and chemical arms material to Iran in violation of India’s commitment to prevent proliferation. In the same year, Indian scientists, Dr. Surendar and Y. S. R Prasad had been blacklisted by Washington due to their involvement in nuclear theft.

In December 2006, a container packed with radioactive material had been stolen from an Indian fortified research atomic facility near Mumbai.

On July 14, 2010 again created panic and sounded alarm in Mumbai when apparently Chlorine Gas leakage occurred at 4 a.m and over 80 people were taken to the hospital in a critical condition. The leakage took placed from a cylinder near the Bombay Port Trust in Sewri area.  According to the reports “It’s a huge cylinder down below various other cylinders (from which the gas is leaking).  However, the signs of victims’ personals created doubt about the types of the gas in the locals. On the conditions of anonymity some of the renowned locals and businessman gave serious reservations and claimed that in fact the leaked cylinder was part of the consignment that was supposed to be transported to chemical industries which are world over known for production of biological and chemical weapons. The claim of locals could be true since as per page 24 of Section -1 of NBC Proliferation Challenges, Indian has already acknowledged its chemical warfare program in 1997 and stated that related facilities would be open for inspection. India has a sizable chemical industry which could be source of dual-use chemicals for countries of proliferation concern. U.S. Department of Defense, Proliferation has also confirmed the facts in their various reports too.

Unfortunately, in 1984 accident at Bhopal plant also left unforgettable miseries where in  Bhopal Union Carbide Pesticide Plant,  over 8000 innocent people killed and more than 5000 suffered with serious injuries as a result of gas leakage in 1984. The affected individuals of Bhopal have still not been compensated and keep on crying for their rights in even in the highest courts.  The entire discussions confirm that Indian scientists and authorities are lacking expertise in handling sensitive and dangerous material related to nukes and gases.

Nevertheless, the nukes experts always have shown strong concern over Indian poor safety and nuke arrangements on the nuke plants and handlers.  In this regard New Delhi    never paid heed to IAEA concerns over nukes safety and security. Almost 160 cases of theft, loss and misplacement of radioactive source have been registered in the local police.

I would like to express that Nuke Watchdog IAEA has not yet carried out detailed inspection of Indian Nuclear plants.  The opinion of locals, customs officer, businessmen referred reposts in the article and gas leaking incident of Mumbai   do confirm   that India is preparing chemical and biological weapons. World community should ask India to stop further expansion of their nuclear and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programme.  Pakistan should also discuss the matter of nuclear proliferation with Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna in ongoing SAARC Interior Ministers Conference at Islamabad.

The majestic and ravishing landscape of the Kashmir Valley is so enchanting that whosoever happens to visit it gets spell-bounded and overawed by its natural beauty and longs to revisit it. The fairy land is rich in gem stones, timber and is laden with juicy fruits of all kinds; the men are fair colored, handsome, hardworking and skilled in handicrafts; and the women are beautiful and charming. The valley is rightly called the paradise on earth. It is, however, irony of fate that its beauty, fruits and freshness of air have only been enjoyed by foreign invaders and by tourists and not by the inhabitants of Kashmir. All the conquerors treated the people of Kashmir like slaves. This serene and enthralling valley has been converted into virtual hell for the Kashmiris. Except for 1-2% affluent Kashmiris, it is difficult for the rest to keep body and soul together.

Notwithstanding the cruel rules of earlier rulers, Kashmir was subjected to worst excesses in 1846 AD, when she passed into the hands of Dogra chieftain Maharaja Gulab Singh for a paltry sum of seven and a half million rupees through infamous Sale Deed of Amritsar, executed by the British conquerors of Sikh territory. The Dogra Hindu rule extending over more than a hundred years from 1846 till 1947 was one of the blackest periods in the history of Kashmir. Gulab Singh (1846-56) sucked the very life blood of the people. The last of the autocratic Dogra rulers was Hari Singh who had to abdicate power on 26 October 1947 in the face of freedom movement launched by Azad forces of Kashmir and tribal lashkar. The latter had come to the rescue of Kashmiri Muslims on 24 October 1947 after learning that they were being brutally butchered by Dogra Army and Hindu terrorist gangs.

By that time Pakistan had come on the world map but was only two months old. 80% of Muslim subjects of Kashmir under the leadership of Ghulam Abbas, chairing Muslim Conference had aspired to join up with Pakistan and had moved a resolution to that effect. But for the wily role of pro-Indian National Conference leader Sheikh Abdullah who was duped by Nehru, machinations of Congress leaders and Mount Batten would have failed.

Despite the mismatch, Pakistan forces put up a valiant fight and succeeded in keeping Kashmir a disputed territory requiring resolution through a fair and free plebiscite under the supervision of the UN so as to allow right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir. One-third of Kashmir which is known as Azad Kashmir was retained by Pakistan, which acts as the operational base for the freedom struggle in two-third Indian occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan had laid claims on Kashmir on the basis of ideological, religious, political and geographical linkages. Pakistan shared with Kashmir three of its rivers namely Indus, Chenab and Jhelum which originate from Himalayan part of Kashmir and form the backbone of its agriculture and literally the aqua vital. The other three rivers flowing into West Pakistan were Ravi, Sutlej and Beas had its origins in Indian Territory. Pakistan being a lower riparian was placed at a distinct disadvantage at the very outset particularly when viewed in context with India’s bellicosity and expansionist designs and its failure to reconcile with existence of Pakistan. Hindu leaders had agreed to the creation of Pakistan under the illusion that it would live as a satellite under the gigantic shadow of Indian military, or would beg for re-integration into Indian Union within six months of its birth.

The 15-month 1948 war ended in January 1949 as a result of UNSC arranged ceasefire which was requested by India. Nehru agreed to stop the war after he assessed that major part of Kashmir including the enchanting vale, Jammu and origins of three rivers had been annexed, and that Pakistan being a lower riparian would be perpetually at its mercy. Liaquat Ali Khan accepted the ceasefire since at that time fledgling Pakistan was too deeply immersed in host of intractable problems. Prolongation of war would have been at the cost of survival of Pakistan. He was sure that the pledges given by Nehru and UNSC to hold a free and fair plebiscite under the auspices of the UN would be honored.

Nehru however made a u-turn on his promises and not only disregarded the UN resolutions but also started integrating Kashmir into Indian Union through deception, fraud and use of brute force. India’s negative attitude and flagrant disregard of UN resolutions on Kashmir thwarted all attempts to settle the dispute by peaceful means. Instead of reaching an amicable settlement with Pakistan, it all along tried to pressurize Pakistan into giving up its demand for a just and fair settlement of the issue. Its obduracy and bellicosity led to 1965 Indo-Pak war and even the 1971 war was a result of unsettled Kashmir dispute. The two sides came close to war in 1990-91 and clashed with each other in Dras-Kargil sectors in the summer of 1999 due to Kashmir. Decision of the two countries to go nuclear in 1998 was also motivated by Kashmir, India wanting to retain its illegal hold over it and Pakistan wanting a just solution.

Laws framed by the US on terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11 suited India and Israel the most. Encouraged by the US, the two terrorist and expansionist states involved in massive human rights against Palestinians and Kashmiris respectively for decades became more barbaric. Pakistan by agreeing to become a front line state at the behest of USA to combat global terrorism got completely distracted from Kashmir and got deeply immersed in fighting its own people. Indo-Pak peace treaty signed between Gen Musharraf and Vajpayee in January 2004 gave new hopes of resolution of Kashmir dispute and other core issues. However, tall promises made by India proved elusive since it wasted time in futile CBMs and kept the core issues on the sidelines. India availed the elusive peace along the LoC to its advantage by intensifying its atrocities against marooned Kashmiri Mujahideen, devoid of support from Jihadi groups based in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan.

When India could no more drag its feet and situation in Occupied Kashmir became explosive following dispute over Shri Amarnath land, India’s RAW in connivance with Mossad and CIA engineered Mumbai attacks drama on 26 November 2008, blamed Pakistan, stalled composite dialogue and reverted to its old hostile posture. Whole-hearted support of the US, western world and Israel as well as of Afghanistan together with easy induction of sophisticated weaponry from advanced world made the Indian leaders highly belligerent and uncompromising. Its military leaders openly talked of resorting to Cold Start doctrine to overrun Pakistan.

Pakistan tardily realized that it had been deceived by India under the garb of peace treaty and its real motive was to proceed with its covert war from Afghanistan and cultural war from its own soil so as to encircle Pakistan in a three-directional pincer and make it powerless. FATA and Balochistan were made volatile to play the Balochistan and Pashtunistan cards and to force Pakistan to give up Kashmir. Water war was operationalized by building dams over the three rivers flowing into Pakistan from Occupied Kashmir to choke Pakistan.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had rightly termed Kashmir as the jugular vein of Pakistan since cutting of the jugular vein causes instant death to a person, and if it is pressed hard, it renders the person half-dead. Sensing the wicked designs of the Hindu leaders, Jinnah could foresee that if the jugular vein gets severed in the process of partition of India, it would cause death to Pakistan, and if it is choked it would make Pakistan comatose. An enemy grip on the hill courses of these three rivers could starve West Pakistan. Furthermore, it could enable India to either flood Pakistanis living in low lying West Punjab, or choke water flow and cause drought and kill them, or flood or dry up canals suiting its military design during war.

He had rightly decided to stand up to the Indian aggression in 1948 irrespective of the fact that in that timeframe newly born Pakistan was engulfed in multi-dimensional problems. Had the two ill-equipped infantry brigades together with Azad forces and tribesmen not resisted Indian military’s Summer Offensive launched in April 1948, whole of Kashmir would have been annexed by India. And had we not agreed to ceasefire as desperately demanded by India and continued fighting, our forces could have pushed out the thoroughly demoralized and exhausted Indian forces from Kashmir.

His apprehensions have come true and India is doing exactly what he had visualized in 1947. Despite signing Indus Basin Treaty in 1960, which gave exclusive water rights of Western Rivers Jhelum, Chenab and Indus flowing down from Occupied Kashmir to Pakistan, India in blatant violation of the said treaty has not only usurped the full quota of the three eastern rivers namely Beas, Sutlej and Ravi, but taking full advantage of the jugular vein which is in its iron grip is pressing it from many points by building dozens of dams to suffocate Pakistan to death or to make it gasp for life and thus forget about Kashmir.

India has ventured upon an ambitious plan worth $120 billion to divert waters of Rivers Jhelum, Chenab and Indus flowing from north to south and turn fertile lands of Pakistan into a desert. So far, it has built 65 dams and headworks, but has plans to build a total of 300 small and big size dams so as to gain total control over the three rivers. It is constructing a 3800 km long canal in order to divert water from River Indus to River Sutlej. This project will be completed by 2014. In addition, construction of series of canals measuring 14000 km is also in the pipeline, which will help connect 14 rivers of India. From 2008 onwards, West Punjab’s standing crops are getting severely damaged due to water shortage caused by Baghliar dam.

Violation of Indus Basin Treaty is in line with India’s national policy of backtracking from its pledges and breaking international agreements and defying the UN. India intends to complete its water denial plan to Pakistan by 2016 after which Pakistan will get deprived of its share of water. Pakistan’s condition will become worse than Somalia and Ethiopia, the two drought ridden countries. If India opens the gates of these illegal dams, it can sink Pakistan within 48 hours.

With no end to its malevolence, India has now managed to coax its strategic partner Afghanistan to build dams over River Kabul and has offered its full assistance. This would further worsen water problem of Pakistan. India has full backing of USA, UK and Israel as well as the western world as a whole since none has ever taken notice of this most pitiless form of terrorism against humanity. Among host of coercive tactics applied by the gang of six based in Kabul, water terrorism is one of the cruelest forms to overawe Pakistan and break its will to resist. I wonder what the preachers of Aman-ki-Asha who are spending their entire energies to present the soft image of India have to say about the excessive human rights violations of Indian security forces against the Kashmiris including teenagers and water terrorism against Pakistan, which will suck the very life blood of the people of Pakistan. Brahman Hindus are far crueler than Hindu Dogras in Kashmir.

Unlike India which starts howling like a spanked child on slightest suspicion, or procurement of a weapon by Pakistan, or a terrorist attack and makes a mountain out of a mole, and the US led western world rush forward to extend their wholehearted support to anguished India lamenting over cooked up grievances, our leaders on the other hand for unexplained reasons remain tightlipped even when the very survival of Pakistan is at stake. Our lackadaisical approach encouraged India to build dams in contravention to the treaty. India managed to build so many dams illegally since we didn’t make noise and failed to take up the case with international bodies in time. Jamaat Ali Shah, deputed to protect Pakistan’s water interests remained in a laid-back position thereby allowing India to complete construction of Baghliar dam and now the Kishinganaga dam. He has gone in exile.

Pakistan should immediately take up this grave matter in the UNSC and International Court of Justice and under the UN deputed unbiased Commission carryout on spot inspection of all the spots on Rivers Chenab, Jhelum and Indus where dams have been/are being built and put an end to India’s madness.

Asif Haroon is a retired Brig and a freelance defence analyst and a columnist. He commanded heaviest infantry brigade in Lipa-Pandu-Pir Kanthi sectors in Azad Kashmir during the Indo-Pak military standoff in 1990-91. Email:[email protected]

Foundation Day of UNLF

The Unlf observed its foundation day today. A statement of UNLF said, November 24, 2011 marks the 47th birth anniversary of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), Manipur. On this day, the Central Committee of the UNLF salutes our compatriots who have supported the armed struggle spearheaded by the UNLF for the liberation of Manipur from Indian colonial occupation. The Central Committee also takes this opportunity to place the Annual Report for 2011 for your deliberation.
Our motherland Manipur has been one of the independent and sovereign countries in Western South East Asia for thousands of years. After World War II, the British began to let free, one after another, many countries it had colonized. Manipur, too, had regained its independence in 1947 and embarked on a democratic journey by holding an election in July, 1948, under a newly drafted Constitution. But this experiment was abruptly cut short in 1949 when India occupied Manipur through force and duplicity.
Post 1949, when India annexed Manipur, the image and idea of Manipur have been chipped away bit by bit. During the British rule, the unity of Manipur had been prised open by placing the hill areas under a separate administrative regime. The trend has been continued by India till today. Under the influence of this „divide and rule policy, the long tradition of peaceful interdependence between and among the communities have given way to suspicion and hostility. This has discouraged solidarity and peaceful coexistence amongst the communities as well as stood athwart against the historical evolution of a united armed struggle for forging a new sense of nationhood.
After India occupied Manipur, the principle contradiction has been the national contradiction between India, on one hand, and the people of Manipur as a whole, on the other hand. The only way to resolve this Annual Statement – 2011 irreconcilable contradiction is to forge an armed struggle cutting across ethnic affiliations to wrest independence from India.
UNLF reiterates solemnly that it will continue to abide by its declared policy of “Autonomy at all levels” that respects and fosters languages, cultures, religion, economic development and identities of the communities, irrespective of their size, to ensure a life of dignity. In consonance with this principle, the UNLF condemns bigger entities trying to forcibly assimilate smaller ones. It is the firm belief of the UNLF that different communities with diverse cultures rubbing shoulders with one another under a regime that respects and promotes co-existence and co-prosperity of communities is a precondition for the birth of a larger national culture as well as a collective national identity.
The regime of impunity sought to be justified in the name of containing armed struggle combined with India s policy of economic exploitation have tended to choke off the drive and creativity of the people and society. India s education policy which has no synergy with the tradition, heritage and lifeworld of the affinal groups inhabiting Manipur is deliberately promoting an environment and value system averse to questioning the hegemonic policies that India practices in Manipur and adjoining areas. Those who conform are rewarded suitably; those that resist are intimidated by use of force, including arbitrary arrests and death in “staged encounters”. The colonial system has alienated each of us, individually as well as collectively, from the geography and history that we have co-habited together through centuries and from each other to the extent that collectives are unable to acknowledge and accept the spirit forged through mutual association through centuries.

Indian Maoist/ Naxal insurgency

The Maoist or Naxalite insurgency in India is gnawing away India’s roots and has become a cause of major concern of its administration.

Let us briefly examine this uprising. The term ‘Naxalite’ draws its origin from an organized armed peasant resistance against the landlords that began in March 1967 in a small village called Naxalbari in the state of West Bengal. It signaled the birth of a new movement and since then, all forms of armed struggle with socio-economic development of the downtrodden as the cause have come to be termed ‘Naxalite’. Other terms that are used to describe the movement are ‘leftwing extremism’ and ‘radical Maoism’.

Naxalites are backed by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). According to Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, Naxalites’ extremism today constitutes the single most important internal security threat to India. The Naxal groups have spread their activities to as many as 22 out of 28 states in the country. In East Bengal the Naxal movement was immensely popular with not only the radical sections of the students movement in Calcutta, but the whole student body of Bengal undeniably were sympathetic about them since the mainstream Communist ideology had proved itself to be hypocritical and farcical in practice, as they stand to this day. The state machinery of India systematically annihilated this student support baseline from the whole movement as international human rights watchdog bodies picked up frantic calls of disappearances of students and intellectuals. Between 1969 and 1979 an estimated 5000 students and intellectuals disappeared or were killed under mysterious conditions. The West Bengal Left Front maintains that these students and intellectuals left their education to join violent activities of the Naxalites. Charu Majumdar progressively changed the tactics of CPI (ML), and declared that revolutionary warfare was to take place not only in the rural areas but everywhere and spontaneously. Thus Majumdar’s ‘annihilation line’, a dictum that Naxalites should assassinate individual “class enemies” as a part of the insurrection, was exploited by state media and the Bengal Left Front to infuse a sense of demonic identity into Naxals and over thirty years portrayed them as a social evil.

Naxalites

Whereas the statistical data refers to the theory being only practiced against such elements in civil society who were deemed to be “class enemies”: the police, landlords, and corrupt politicians cutting across mainstream party lines. Throughout Calcutta, schools were shut down. The strategy of individual terrorism soon proved counterproductive. Eventually, the Chief Minister, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, began to institute counter-measures against the Naxalites. The West Bengal police and the state sponsored CPI (Marxist) cadres fought back to stop the advancement of Naxalites. The student part of the movement was cruelly repressed by numerous disappearing s, staged encounters, and a doldrum of state sponsored media allegations tarnishing the image of the Naxalite movement and this massive and relentless public brain washing campaign was partly successful in hijacking public opinion sympathetic of the Naxalite ideology to that of misinformed ‘fear’. The human rights violations on the West Bengal police went unabated for decades after this to attain the demonic proportions of the eighties and nineties where they have been appropriately termed as the ‘uniformed mafia’. Buddhadev Bhattacharya tactically led from the front line as the police and home minister of West Bengal during the same period to turn the evil nexus of CPIM and the West Bengal Police into a feared repressive regime which was the most effective counteractive agent against the onslaught of Naxalites.

Significantly, aside from the internal dynamics of the Maoist/ Naxal insurgency India also perceives an external element to it. Indian security and intelligence agencies maintain that the Maoists are receiving weapons from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and China through illegal channels So far Indian security forces have tried to suppress the rebellion with brute force; there is an increasing need of a serious dialogue with all the groups involved in the Maoist/Naxal insurgency. The dialogue which has taken place so far with the Maoists is deemed to be a mere ploy by the government to buy time before launching a stronger offensive against the Maoists for which a number of internal security measures have been taken recently which include: trawling the international arms market to upgrade the country’s counter-insurgency capabilities by India’s security agencies; floating global tenders for more than 800 bulletproof vehicles by the Indian military, which are likely to be given to security agencies involved in counter-insurgency operations in Moist effected areas; allocating an additional 10 billion dollars by the Indian government to upgrade its homeland security by 2016. This upgrade envisages affordable technology comprising laser-guided armaments, light vehicles and drones as priority purchases. India has also drawn up a multi-pronged strategy that will target top leaders, win people through a propaganda war and offer cadres a surrender-and-rehabilitation policy while launching an extensive armed operation in Maoist strongholds across the country.

The Indian Central government has also asked the State governments to speed up development works and employment generation programmes in the Naxal-affected areas so as to counter left wing extremism with development. A military advisor has been appointed to prepare an action plan for dealing with Maoists. Indian Central Government is actively considering setting up brigade headquarters or Army cantonments in interior areas of Naxal affected states.

India’s Red Army — Naxals/Maoists

If Indian media reports are credible, the Indian government is preparing to launch full-fledged anti-Naxal operations at three different areas, considered tri-junctions of worst Naxal-affected states. The tri-junctions identified for the offensive are Andhra Pradesh-Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh; Orissa-Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh and West Bengal-Jharkhand- Orissa. The Maoists are enjoying popular support in the poorer area of rural, central and eastern India. Any full fledged anti-Naxal operation will be a great challenge to the Indian Security establishment.

India is hosting the 2010 Commonwealth games for the first time and in the backdrop of acute threats from the Naxalites, its security forces face a major challenge. Unless it can curb or pacify the Naxalites in the meanwhile, it may be nigh impossible to host the games without exposing the participants from 71 nations to extreme danger.

—Sultan M Hali