State machinery has collapsed: CPM

NEW DELHI: The CPM on Friday joined the Opposition’s attack on the Congress-led government in Maharashtra, saying that the law and order machinery in the state had collapsed. CPM leader Jyoti Basu, who led the attack on the Maharashtra government, said the state’s leadership has failed in tackling the menace of terrorism.

That terrorists have made Maharashtra their new home was evident from the heightened activities of banned organisations. The mushrooming of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Marathwada region had recently come into focus after huge haul of RDX and AK-47s.

The banned Simi, too, has significant presence in the Marathwada region, particularly Beed, Parbhani and Aurangabad. Intelligence agency sources say that jehadis are recruited from these districts after the crackdown in Gujarat.

Intelligence agecies say that terror camps in Marathwada are being used for storing arms and explosives. These camps have also been sheltering members of the sleeper cells, trained by their handlers in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The increased terror activities recently prompted the state government to promise setting up of another anti-terror squad base in Aurangabad.

Islamic terrorism is not the only trouble confronting the state. Its easterm districts are gripped by Naxalite violence for the past few years.

According to the state government, six districts of the state — Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Gondia, Yavatmal and Nanded — are contiguous with the Naxal-affected areas of Andhra Pradesh and Chatttisgarh, and prone to Naxal violence.

Although the state government has been taking some measures to contain the problem, the drift in the management of internal security has been affecting the state.

The Union home ministry and its managers, who have not been able to put in place an effective security paradigm is being blamed for the situation at the ground level. The state government has not been able to act against Islamic organisations because of pressure from within the ruling alliance.