Female commandos set to launch anti-Naxal op

Bhopal: The nature of nearly two-decade-long counterinsurgency warfare in Chhattisgarh’s conflict zone of Bastar may witness a significant change in the coming days with the Central Reserve Police Force gearing up to deploy the female commandos of “Bastariya Battalion”, the newly raised special unit of CRPF comprising solely local tribal youths in independent anti-Naxal operations.

CRPF’s plan to deploy all-woman combat units in counterinsurgency operations in Bastar may take shape if its proposal gets the nod from the ministry of home affairs.

“The proposal to deploy female commandos of Bastariya Battalion in independent counterinsurgency operations has been submitted to the MHA recently. We are hopeful of an early clearance of the proposal,” a CRPF officer posted in state headquarters of the Central Para Military Force at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, disclosed to this newspaper on Thursday.

The proposal has envisaged special commando training of the female combatants of Bastariya Battalion before their deployment in independent anti-Maoist operations, the CRPF officer revealed.

The women commandos would be sent for 5-month-special commando training in any of the jungle warfare training centres, established by CRPF at Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, Belgaon in Karnataka and Silchar in Assam, in batches.

This would be the first time in the country that an all-woman combat unit would take on the Maoists independently, if the plan took shape.

Currently, the five platoons, comprising 30 commandos each, of Bastariya Battalion have been deployed in joint anti-Naxal operations along with the male units in south Bastar districts of Dantewada, Sukma, and Bijapur.

The female commandos are currently deployed in combat as well as peace-keeping roles in Bastar.

“The female commandos have been found successfully sustaining hostile weather and terrains in jungles of Bastar. They have also been deployed in anti-Naxal operations in the forests at night,” CRPF deputy inspector general (DIG) D.N. Lal, currently posted in Dantewada district, told this newspaper.

The female commandos of Bastariya Battalion have also launched joint operations along with women wing of district reserve group (DRG), an anti-Naxal tribal force raised by Chhattisgarh police in Bastar.

The women wing of Bastariya Battalion has also played a key role in bridging trust deficit prevailed between security forces and local tribals in Maoist-strongholds in Bastar, according to Mr Lal.

Male members in a village used to flee their homes leaving behind their women folk and children whenever security forces visited their area, fearing retribution from them for supporting rebels.

The members of the female platoons have been reaching out to the womenfolk in the villages during search operations to connect with them and gain their trust. They engage the women of the villages in conversations for hours to make them feel at ease.

Presence of female commandos in the search party has saved women from sexual harassment by the security forces in some cases. It has also helped counter Maoist propaganda of torture and excesses on innocent tribals by the troopers.

“The female commandos, being locals, could connect easily with the women in the villages. The tribals visited by the members of the female platoons no longer feel insecure in the presence of security forces,” the CRPF officer said.

Besides, impressed by good life being led by women security personnel, the female members in the villages have been seen mounting pressure on their kin who have joined Maoist cadre to surrender and return to the mainstream.

“That’s why there is a sudden spurt in incidents of neutralisation of insurgents in Bastar either by way of surrenders or eliminations in encounters,” he added.

Sources in State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) in Chhattisgarh police dropped hints that security forces have of late been able to strengthen their intelligence network in remote Bastar, leading to increase in intelligence-based operations in the Naxal strongholds.

This was the first time in three-decade-long history of Leftwing insurgency in Bastar, Maoists had suffered heavy casualties at the hands of security forces during the observation of annual “martyrs’ week” by them in August. At least a dozen Naxals were gunned down in two separate encounters during the period, dealing a severe blow to the Maoists.