The Maoist threat should be taken with utmost seriously and the menace should be dealt with in every possible way, political leaders in Jharkhand opined.
"Appeals for a dialogue with them (Maoists) has passed away. Now it's time for action," Congress leader P N Singh said while condemning the CPI (Maoist's) attack on the Congress convoy in neighbouring Chhatisgarh killing 27 persons on Saturday night.
"Mahendra Karma was a close friend of mine ... their (Maoists) cruelty reflected in the gruesome murder of Karma and others," Singh said.
Independent MP and former Jharkhand Assembly speaker Inder Singh Namdhari said, "We can't deny that somewhere the political system in the country has missed its attention in some areas where development has not yet reached, giving the Maoists to exploit the people there."
Strongly pitching for punishment against Maoists for such daring actions, Namdhari said 'just imagine' five or ten security personnel guarding a leader and facing thousand of Maoists in yesterday's incident.
"How can common representatives face the threat to their lives ... there should be a basic change in the political system, like creating a new political environment to address all plaguing problems," said Namdhari, who himself survived a Maoist attempt on his life in December, 2011 in Latehar.
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha's Lok Sabha member Ajoy Kumar claimed, "governance is nil in naxal-affected areas, even in my Jamshedpur Lok Sabha constituency. Bureaucratic laxity and corporate exploitation of minerals in tribal areas have been responsible for the growth in naxalism."
Claiming that 65 lakh tribals had been displaced in Jharkhand, Kumar alleged, "In Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh, some politicians, bureaucrats and corporate sectors have benefited while the two states remained poor over the years."
He demanded that basic amenities like schools, health centres, irrigation, employment and roads should be provided in those neglected areas.
"The state-of-the-art technology should be used to mine underground coal instead of going for open cast mines, which will help prevent displacement of tribals, the major cause for disappointment," Kumar, a former IPS officer, advised.
BJP's Jharkhand unit President Ravindra Rai said the Chhatisgarh incident should not be taken on party lines, because any leader could be the target of the Maoists.
"The Chhatisgarh incident is a cause for concern and should be dealt with without considering party lines as it could be any leader of any party, it may be the CM himself one day. So it's a challenge for the political system believing in the democratic system to face," Rai added.
