Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called them the single biggest internal security threat to the country. Figures -- depending on what data you are holding -- say they control nearly 165 of India's 602 districts in the country. They are the Maoists.
A movement that began in 1967 and has since seen many ebbs and tides. But now it has assumed such huge proportions that the State has no control over huge tracts that is called the Red Corridor.
On Thursday, various experts, analysts, retired intelligence officers and serving officers from 14 Naxal-affected states came together in the Chhattisgarh capital Raipur to discuss and find a solution to the Maoist threat.
As soon as the conference, organised by the Institute for Conflict Management, on 'Maoist Insurgency: Assessment of Threat and Doctrines and Strategies of Response' began, the Maoists set off an improvised explosive device in nearby Dantewada district, killing five people.
With the air of people who have all along known that the problem will take such proportions, the delegates warned that it is high time the central government understood that it is not an issue faced by 14 individual states but a national threat.
"The state governments are just not equipped, prepared or competent to combat the problem," said former chief secretary of Chhattisgarh R P Bagai, adding, "The people of Delhi must understand that this is truly an all-India threat. The Centre has to understand this and formulate a policy."
Raman Singh, chief minister of the heavily-affected Chhattisgarh, agreed.
Singh said: "Naxalism has adversely affected India's freedom. In their journey from 1966 to 2006, the Naxalites have constantly expanded their influence territorially, politically, socially and economically. If the Maoist Communist Centre and People's War Group can unite, why can we not act in unison?"
"It is neither a local law and order problem, nor a problem of a single state. It is a national challenge that demands a comprehensive strategy. This strategy must take into account not only the policing or the military aspects, but also the economic, social and cultural dimensions," he added.
Setting the alarm bells ringing further, independent writer and analyst Sudeep Chakravarti said that if not contained now, the Maoists will creep into the urban areas as well.
"If they enter these urban areas -- like say the slums of Mumbai -- then we are looking at total chaos. And this will happen if the Centre
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