A film to expose Maoists

Ranchi, Dec 17 (IANS) The Jharkhand police have drawn up a plan to fight a psychological war against Maoist rebels.

The Jharkhand police had sent a proposal to the state home department in November, seeking permission to launch a psychological war against Maoist rebels through television, radio and newspapers.

'A proposal has been sent to the state home department which includes making of a 30-minute film to expose the crimes of Maoist rebels. Radio and newspapers will also be used to expose their misdeeds,' a police official told IANS.

He said 'the proposal was sent to the home department after formal discussion with the chief minister and other government officials.'

The proposal includes publishing photographs of Maoist rebels in newspapers, publishing lists of properties damaged by rebels in the last seven years, collection of illegal taxes by rebels and where the money has been spent, exposing the reportedly lavish lifestyles of its leaders and sexual exploitation of its women cadres.

Seminars at schools and colleges will also be organised to sensitise people about Maoist misdeeds, the officer said. Interviews of police officials will be aired on radio and television.

The 30-minute film will be shown to people through Doordarshan, which has a large reach in rural areas. It will include confessional statements of detained Maoist leaders.

'We cannot fight Maoist rebels unless we get the support of common people living in rural areas. Maoists provoke the rural people against police and the government. We must adopt methods to expose them in their strongholds,' the official said.

Maoist rebels have also come out with an audio and video CD to propagate to the masses how the ruling and business class have ruined the state.

The 22-minute film shows how the security personnel enter villages and harass people in the name of anti-Maoist operations. It also shows how police falsely implicate innocent people as insurgents.

The group has made nearly 5,000 copies of the film that will be shown in the villages for seeking support from people and instigate villagers against police and the government.

Maoist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts in the state. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in terrorism-related violence in the state in the last seven years.