The Week India – January 26, 2024mountain warfare himalayan dare devils

The killing of Naxal leader Vikram Gowda on November 18, followed by the surrender of six Naxals on January 8, has set off a political slug fest in Karnataka. The opposition B]P has questioned the “spectacle” of Chief Minister Siddar-amaiah “welcoming” the left-wing extremists at his home-office in Bengaluru.
A last-minute change of plan led to the six Naxals who were to surrender before the Chikkamagaluru deputy commissioner-embarking on a five-hour drive to Bengaluru. Siddaramaiah gave them roses and a copy of the Constitution, before declaring that Karnataka was “almost Naxal-free” He also said that they would get a rehabilitation package, which the opposition viewed as Siddaramaiah’s “soft corner” for Naxals.
Gowda was named in around 20 cases of subversive activities in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru districts, had evaded arrest at least three times and was opposed to the Karnataka government’s surrender policy. He was once rumoured to have killed journalist-activist Gaur Lankesh, who was part of the Citizens Initiative for Peace, a group that has been mediating between the government and the Naxals. Last year, when the Kerala government intensified combing operations, Gowda crossed over to Karnataka with seven others. When he went to collect groceries from a house in Udupi’s Hebri
the state’s Anti-Naxal Force reportedly shot him dead.
The BJP slammed Siddaramaiah for offering the surrendered Naxals a rehabilitation package and assuring legal aid to fight cases. “This is alarming to the civil society and demoralising for the police, said B]P state general secretary Sunil Kumar, who represents Udupi, once a hotbed of Naxalism. “This surrender is a farce. This will onlyhelp the forest Naxals become.