Children being used by Maoists
in propaganda war
By
Nityanand Shukla
Indo-Asian
News Service
Ranchi,
Nov 10 (IANS) Children as young as 12 are being recruited
by Maoist rebels in Jharkhand in their propaganda war against
the government and security forces. At least 300 children
are being trained by the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) group and also being provided training in small
arms, police say.
The
CPI-Maoist is preparing a Child Liberation Army (CLA), according
to police reports. The CLA children are trained by the Maoist
organisations to turn into hard core rebels. The children
inducted into the CLA are between 12 and 18 years.
The
state intelligence department has alerted authorities in Maoist-affected
districts to be alert and prevent children from joining the
CLA. According to police sources, the CLA members are being
trained in the bordering jungle areas of Dhanbad and Giridih
districts of the state. These children are trained to collect
information about the movement of security forces and pass
it on to the outlawed group.
"The
Maoist rebels use children in their propaganda war against
the government and security forces," S.N. Pradhan, spokesperson
of Jharkhand Police, told IANS. "It is human nature for
people to pay attention to the talk of children. The propaganda
war is launched through drama and other methods by gathering
people in villages."
He
said: "In Maoist organisations, the desertion rate is
high among youth in the age group 20 and 30. Youth are able
to gauge the designs of the rebels."
"Children
are vulnerable as they can be brainwashed by anyone. Maoists
tune the minds of the children according to their requirement,"
he said.
According
to police sources, there are six Maoist groups in Jharkhand.
The CPI-Maoist is the only organisation that is inducting
children in large numbers.
Maoists
are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state. In the
last seven years, more than 1,300 people, including civilians
and Maoist rebels, have been killed.
Indo-Asian
News Service
Prabuddha
Bharata>>>
Vedanta
Kesari>>>
Vedanta
Mass Media>>>
|