Hyderabad, January 05: Ahead of the all-party meeting on the Telangana issue tomorrow, the security establishment is learnt to have made it known to the political leadership that smaller states have so far only benefited the Maoists and this should be factored in while taking any such step in Andhra Pradesh.
In discussions at the highest level over the past couple of days, top government sources said the assessment from security agencies is that carving out Telengana would help Maoists regroup in the Andhra region.
“Remnants of the Maoist movement are strongest in Telengana so any break-up of the state (Andhra) will help them,” said a source.
According to the security assessment given to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the creation of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand helped Maoists entrench better, as they took advantage of administrative problems in a new state.
Officials say Telangana forms a “geographically contiguous unit” with Maoist strongholds in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.
Maoist leaders have repeatedly called for a mass militant movement to get a separate state. CPI (Maoist) leader Mallojula Koteswar Rao has been quoted in the local media as saying no one but the Maoists were serious about the Telangana cause.
Significantly, following the resignation of N D Tiwari after the sex tape scandal the government asked Chhattisgarh Governor E S L Narasimhan, former Director of Intelligence Bureau, to hold additional charge. Given the Maoist undercurrent to the Telangana movement, this was a move to ensure that the security angle is not overlooked in the deliberations ahead.
At the same time, sources said, the political aspect of the movement has made the issue complicated for the Centre which is striving to obtain a consensus. The hope is that other political parties — and leaders within the Congress, too will appreciate the gravity of the situation and endorse restraint rather than any hurried movement.
While the political leadership will be at the forefront of the negotiations, the security assessment will weigh heavily on their minds as the government moves to step up operations against the Maoists.
Contrary to earlier plans of a massive offensive, sources said, the effort is now to pick up a few areas, provide additional Central forces and conduct intelligence-based specific operations. In this context, it is important that “fresh sanctuaries” are not created as they could hamper these efforts.
-Agencies