Naxals will be dealt with iron hand'

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi called upon the political parties and the public to extend their cooperation for rooting out Naxalite menace from Tamilnadu. The government along with the police force has been taking all steps to prevent the spread of Naxalites in the State.

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Karunanidhi was replying to the call attention motion in the Assembly Tuesday over the shooting of an extremist in Kodaikanal hills after the question hour. Raising the issue, O Panneer-selvam, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, cited reports that the shooting down of Naxalite Navin Prasad in Kodaikanal on 19 April had led to the escape of 15 of his colleagues from their hideouts. Though Dharmapuri was considered as the hot bed for Naxalites, there were reports that nine other districts in Tamilnadu have come under the grip of this extremist menace, he said. Further, he said in the previous AIADMK regime, the extremists were hunted down with iron hand and forest brigand Veerappan was shot dead, thus bringing an end to his atrocities, Panneerselvam said. ‘Whereas during the DMK rule, extremist forces have begun spread across Tamilnadu thus posing grave threat to law and order. Instead of taking care of law and order, the police under the orders of the ruling party had clamped down on the political activities of the Opposition,’ charged Panneerselvam. Joining the debate, Congress MLA Peter Alphonse called upon the government to find the reason for the rise of extremism and pave the way for the return of the alienated rural youth to the democratic path. He said youth were taking up the cause of Naxalism after they had to face social injustice in the form of unemployment and discrimination in many walks of life. Echoing similar views, PMK member Arumugam said the police and the law-enforcement agencies have to take preventive measures against the spread of Naxalism. CPI-M MLA Balabharati said his party would extend all help to the government to curb the menace of Naxalism which was the result of hegemonistic political leading to social discrimination. Flaying the AIADMK view that law and order had worsened in the State, CPI MLA Sivapunniyam said the reasons for the mushrooming of extremism should be found and suitable actions should be taken by the government. Replying to the views of the members, Karunanidhi said the government has taken up a series of measures following outbreak of extremist violence in neighbouring States. These measures include preventive, monitoring steps, fortifying the border points of the State, installing check posts at vulnerable pockets of the border to prevent infiltration of naxalites from other States and taking care to avoid the possibility of Naxal growth in forest belt and coastal zones, he explained. Further, Karunanidhi said during this government 24 extremists were arrested so far, including two under the National Security Act. He assured the members that the government would look into the reason for the youth taking up arms and find means to wean them away from the path of extremism. For the government to achieve success in its endeavour to curb Naxalism, he sought the cooperation of political parties and public.