Cops alone cannot end left wing extremism

Jubilee Hills: HJ Dora, former DGP of AP & Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Govt. of India, on Friday delivered the 'Sri P. Srinivas Memorial Lecture' on 'How to Tackle Left Wing Extremism (LWE)' at the 94th Foundation Course (FC) for All India Services and Central Civil Services officer trainees, at Dr MCR HRD Institute of Telangana. Harpreet Singh, ADG of Institute, and P K Sharma, Chief Consultant, 94th FC, also graced the occasion.

M Venkateshwaran spoke about the life of late P Srinivas, who was a distinguished officer of the 1979 batch of Indian Forest Service of Karnataka cadre. He was martyred in his pursuit of arresting the notorious bandit, poacher, and Sandalwood smuggler, Veerappan, on November 10, 1991. He was posthumously awarded the second highest peace time gallantry award of the country, the Kirti Chakra, by the Government of India in 1992.

Dora paid tributes to the martyred Forest Officer and praised his courage and determination to nab the notorious Veerappan. He said that he was a role model to the young officers.

On tackling the LW extremism in the country, he that total unanimity in understanding the problems of LWE by the political parties in power and the bureaucracy, and a joint commitment on their part to respond to it with professionalism, were greatly instrumental in enabling the combined State of Andhra Pradesh in putting an end to this menace and in emerging as a role model for the LWE-afflicted States, across the country.

A strong political and administrative will was the hallmark of the strategy to successfully grapple with the problem of LWE. He also paid rich tribute to the brave hearts who laid down their lives in the service of the country while battling LWE.

"There was no place for dilemmas, inconsistencies, and tendency to succumb to pressures in the campaign against LWE," he said and added that democracy and extremism cannot go together. Dora said, with a sense of confidence, that the phenomenon of political interference in the working of police in dealing with insurgency is a mere myth rather than a reality.

"Do not blame politicians. Instead, have dialogue with them. And in an overwhelmingly large number of cases they would appreciate your point of view, which, in turn, would add to your strengths," he emphasised to the trainees.

Dora stated that enriching the competence and commitment of police personnel at all levels was on the top of the agenda to enhance their motivation and morale. Towards this, he added, continuous training became an integral part of man management. "Launching of a generous scheme of accelerated promotions and providing an array of facilities, including night vision goggles, GPS, maps, etc.

motivated them to come forward to work in the areas affected by LWE and also in contributing their best to their jobs," he said with a sense of pride. "The trust of people in the better equipped police personnel as their protectors proved to be the mantra in effectively tackling LWE," he added.

"As regards countering insurgency, police response alone is not enough," said Dora and added that the government simultaneously focused on providing good governance on all fronts that matter to people in rural areas in order to ensure that they do not fall prey to the LWE. On the occasion, Dora gave away prizes to the winners of elocution and quiz competitions. Ranjeeta Sharma, IPS (OT), proposed a vote of thanks.