Telangana and AP wiped out Left wing extremism: Anurag Sharma

HYDERABAD: Former director general of police and advisor to Telangana government, Anurag Sharma, said both Telangana and AP, the only two states have succeeded in eliminating the left wing extremism in the states while it was spreading tentacles to multiple states.

The former DGP of Telangana said that local police should be empowered to take complete responsibility in maintaining law & order in left wing extremism-afflicted areas and stated that deploying paramilitary forces for this purpose is not a viable solution.

Speaking at Dr P Srinivas Memorial Lecture on “National Security- Challenges of Tackling the Extremism”, organized by Dr MCR HRD Institute of Telangana as part of the 93rd Foundation Course for trainee civil servants, he said the key ingredient of their strategy was to deploy Greyhounds, a professionally trained and well-equipped force that specializes in countering the guerrilla warfare tactics of the left wing extremists. “This strategy has created a buzz in all other left wing extremism-afflicted states across the country”, he said.

Anurag Sharma paid rich tributes to the brave police personnel, who had laid down their lives in the service of the country while battling left wing extremism and said that the a rehabilitation package for their families being implemented in the state which was helping in boosting the morale of policemen in general.

“As regards countering insurgency, police response alone would never suffice, but an integrated approach is a must”, said Anurag Sharma. He underlined the importance of good governance by local administration aimed at developing rural areas to ensure availability of all basic facilities, including education health, infrastructure and above all, putting an end to the age-old practice of exploitation of rural poor by landlords which is at the root of giving rise to extremism. To ensure that youth does not fall prey to the left wing ideology, the advisor called upon the trainee civil servants to make proactive efforts to expose its shallowness as a model of development.

He advised the trainee civil servants to maintain a live contact with people, especially their elected representative, listen to their grievances, and find solution to them. Before thaat he paid rich tributes to Dr P Srinivas, a great martyr, who was brutally murdered by Veerappan on November 10th, 1991. He said that Dr. Srinivas laid down his life upholding the values of honesty, dedication to duty, and courage to stand by principles.

Special Chief Secretary to Government & Director General of Dr MCR HRD Institute BP Acharya and Anurag Sharma released the research publications of the Centre for Human Security Studies.