By IANS,
New Delhi : Giving the lie to the theory that lack of development was fuelling the Maoist movement in the country, Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday said the rebels were the “worst enemies” of progress.
“Naxalites (Maoists) are the worst enemies of development,” he declared during question hour while detailing the steps being taken to counter the ultras.
“You talk about lack of development? We build a school building and the Naxalites blast it. We build a road and the Naxalites blast it. We build a telephone tower and the Naxalites bring it down.
“I, for one, am not so na�ve as to believe the lack of development is responsible for the spread of the Naxalite movement,” Chidambaram added.
He also cautioned against speaking in the same breath about India’s Left parties and leftwing extremism, saying the two were far removed from each other.
“Don’t mix leftwing politics with the extremists. The extremists don’t preach communism, they preach anarchy and chaos,” the home minister maintained.
His response came when a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP asked in jest: “You once had the support of the Left parties. How will you now take on the leftwing extremists?”
Large parts of states like Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar, among others, are in the grip of Maoists.