Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management, made a telling point on Times Now last night. He said when the state does not have a strategy it goes in for operations. Something the central forces seemed to be doing by rushing to take the Maoists head on in the Dantewada forests, a territory they knew little about and ended up losing 76 jawans. Sahni suggested that the government should develop a comprehensive response. This would mean building a capacity to take on the Maoists before actually taking them on.

The capacity building would involve understanding the Maoist ideology, their belief system and the way they conduct warfare. This would mean
developing necessary intelligence and raising a police or paramilitary force which is trained in guerilla tactics and jungle warfare. Once these elements are in place, it is time to strike. Do you agree with this prescription? Do you think the government is jumping headlong into half-baked operations without a full-fledged strategy?