A day after Maoists gunned down 75 security personnel in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram yesterday said there will be no halt in the offensive against Maoists and the government may have to reconsider its stand of not using the Air Force.
Chidambaram also said there is no proposal to deploy Army for the anti-Maoist operations.
Maintaining that a "war" has been thrust on the government by Maoists, Chidambaram said "at this moment we must remain calm and hold our nerves" in the fight to rid India of the grave threat of Maoists and to save democracy.
Chidambaram, who flew to Chattisgarh to assess the situation, told reporters that government still believes that the state police backed by central paramilitary forces are sufficient to counter the Maoist threat.
"There is no proposal to use the army. We think the state police assisted by federal paramilitary forces are sufficient to overcome the Maoist threat. It is our present assessment of the threat," he said.
However, answering another question, he said, "at present there is no mandate to use the Air Force or any aircraft. But, if necessary, we will have to revisit the mandate to make some changes".