Sunil Mahato, the Jharkhan Mukti Morcha MP from Jamshedpur, was shot dead by Naxalites.
Sunil Mahato of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was killed while watching a football match in Jharkhand, which has been the scene of a Maoist insurgency. Two security guards and a party leader were also killed in the shoot out.
A day later they stuck in Andhra Pradesh killing a Congress leader. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the growing Naxal menace as “the single biggest threat to country’s security”. However, we don’t see many people unduly concerned by it. Is it because ‘all Muslims are not terrorist but all terrorist are Muslims’ the ‘in-thing’ in India and consequently gets much more coverage than it actually deserves?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
One reason could be that Naxals haven’t attacked public places in big cities and have still now concentrated in their own area or to some high profile politicians/social workers/officers.
Cheers,
HP
HP,
Thanks for the comment.
Naxals have attacked high profile targets before especially in AP. They have been spreading their influence over the past so many years and we are mostly oblivious of this huge internal security threat. Are we waiting for them to strike much more viciously and only then will we hear them?
Mohib
@Mohib,
I agree to that. Nobody can contest the fact that the growing NAXAL activities in India are a growing cause of concern and if I may say, the biggest internal security threat.
But, I was just trying to answer the question as to why there have been less hype and anger over the Naxals.
When I meant by big city attacks, I referred to the Naxals triggering off bombs, say in an Hyderabad local bus or in a crowded marketplace in Nashik/Nagpur. Unless and until, they attack the media consuming public’s assets, they are not going to receive the same attention as the others who are doing them. Not that I wish for these attacks, just thought of putting forth my views.
Cheers,
HP
@ HP
Yes, I agree that media tend to focus more so on the bigger cities than otherwise.
@Mohib,
I don’t know if you noticed, but this post was featured in Mumbai Mirror’s Blog Corner.
Cheers,
HP
No, I didn’t know about that. I didn’t get any traffic from them.
Can you please provide a link, if possible?
Thanks,
Mohib