Digvijay Singh opposes use of air power against Maoists

MIRZAPUR - Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh Tuesday said he was not in favour of using air power in anti-Maoist operations.

“It’s not appropriate in my view as those conducting the air strikes would not be in a position to differentiate between insurgents and the tribals of a particular area,” Singh told reporters here.

A day after Maoists massacred 31 people in Chhattisgarh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram had supported the idea of providing air surveillance to help security forces hunting for the insurgents in forested areas.

Digvijay Singh held the state governments responsible for not thwarting Maoist attacks.

“It’s all due to wrong policies of the state government. The central government sends paramilitary forces in the Naxal-infested regions, but the government doesn’t deploy the force properly, and as a result the Maoist menace continues,” he said.

The senior Congress leader said that the government should first look into the demands being made by Maoists before allowing them to join the mainstream.

“Within the framework of the Indian constitution, strategy needs to be evolved to enable the Maoists join the mainstream of development,” said Singh.

Digvijay Singh had earlier said that while Maoist activities are criminal and totally unacceptable, the Left guerrillas should not be called “terrorists”.