Bihar Police killing Naxals softly

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"Rishwat na lena shamyawad, shoshan ka khatma shamyawad, tab main hu sahi shamyawadi, main hu asli Maowadi (If not taking bribe is communism, if fighting oppression is communism, then I am a true communist, and a true Maoist)”

Patna: The singer claiming to be a true-blue Naxal is not a fiery member of the cadre, it’s the Deputy Inspector General of Magadh range in Bihar, Arvind Pandey.

No, Pandey has not joined hands with the rebels. His song, symbolising a new revolution in the Naxal-hit state, is part of a psychological warfare against the rebel army.

The Bihar Police is using Naxal warfare techniques against the rebels themselves.

Their strategy is simple. They use all the techniques used by Naxals to swing public opinion in rural Bihar in their favour.

This includes distributing handbills that reveal how Naxals are exploiting villagers in Bihar, monetarily and socially.

The new tactic of is certainly proving more effective than guns.

“MCC ke ranveero ko, farji pakhandi hero ko, chehre se dur nakab hua, dekho to pardafash hua, ye lof watan ke hai dushman, baas lut rahe janta ka dhan (The mask has been removed from the face of so-called MCC heroes, they have been exposed. They are enemies of the nation)”, Pandey sings.

The police tactic is definitely making a difference. CNN-IBN team witnessed the impact of this campaign in a Naxal court in rural Gaya.

In the hearing being held to punish a man who tried to molest a girl, villagers started questioning back the Naxals about the high levy tax being collected from them.

Though the Naxals did not allow the sequence to be shot on camera, it was apparent that they felt cornered.

DIG Arvind Pandey is using all sorts of methods for the negative publicity of the Maoists. But we are right in whatever we are doing,” the Maoist area commander said.

Meanwhile, Pandey remains on a song, quite literally.

"Janta ki vibhatsa istithi jo baan rahi hai, uska pardafas hum log kaar rahe hai, aur unke virudh ek kranti hogi" (We are trying to expose the plight of the people. This is a sort of revolution), he says.

It's this judicious use of gun and public propaganda that has begun yielding results.

If the strategy proves effective, the model can be replicated in other Naxal-affected states as well.

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