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New Delhi: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has asserted once again that naxal menace in country is growing day by day.

He expressed his outrage at the murder of a Jharkhand police officer by Maoists and vowed the rebels’ “scheme” will not succeed.

Chidambaram was commenting on the murder of Jharkhand Police’s special branch officer Francis Induwar, who was abducted a week ago and was found dead on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway on Tuesday morning.

Chidambaram said, “I condemn this cold-blooded murder. The Naxal menace is a growing menace and this incident proves they kill in cold blood.”

The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) left a pamphlet claiming it had killed the officer, a police official said. “Francis has been awarded death to protest the police repression,” said a pamphlet left near Induwar’s body.

Raipur: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said on Friday that the Army would not be involved in the offensive against naxals. He was vsiting Maoist-affected Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Mr. Chidambaram, who was in Ranchi to review the security situation in Jharkhand, said “There is no proposal to involve the Army in the anti-naxal operations.”

He said further, “Left-wing extremism is the gravest challenge to our way of life, our republic and our democracy.”

“Our policy on left-wing extremism is very clear. There is no place for violence or so-called armed struggle for liberation in a republican, democratic form of government.

He said it was a matter of concern that Jharkhand had become the “epicentre of left-wing extremism” along with Chhattisgarh.

“They believe in armed liberation struggle. We reject that argument. So long any one indulges in violence, the State has to oppose and fight the group,” he said.

Home minister P Chidambaram is concerned about the failure of state governments to successfully compyly with the Police Establishment Board — a mechanism suggested by the Supreme Court for deciding on police transfers and postings.

Mr Chidambaram, in his address to DGPs/IGPs meet, wondered why police chiefs were silent when their men are transferred and posted on the whims and fancies of the state governments.

“It is a matter of deep regret that many police officers have been reduced to a football , to be kicked here and there, from one post to another, without regard to the damage done to the job as well as the officer,” he told DGPs. The home minister have asked the DGP’s to look into the matter and what really was the length of tenures of key police functionaries like the deputy superintendents of police and SHOs.

Shockingly, the average length of the DSP’s in states like U is about four months. Punjab, too, has a poor track record on this front. There are states, however, that have delivered on a stable tenure for police officers. These include Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kerala.

Mr Chidambaram insisted that the DGP’s should voice this and it was their duty to stand up for their officers and, more so, for people they must protect.

“Is it not your duty, as the head of the state police, to raise your voice not only on behalf of your officers but also on behalf of the people that you are duty bound to protect,” he added.

Terming the situation in Punjab as “not quite normal”, Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the Centre has asked the state government to enforce curfew strictly in all areas where violence broke out after the killing of a sect leader in Austria.

The Centre has also responded to the state’s request for additional companies of para-military companies by sending 2,500 personnel and a helicopter, he told reporters after assuming office at New Delhi on Monday.

“We have already provided 14 companies (1,400 personnel) of paramilitary forces. They are already in place since morning. Eleven more (companies) are moving. We have also provided a helicopter to the state government,” he said.

Expressing concern over the violence which spread from Jalandhar to the neighbouring districts of Phagwara, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahar, the Home Minister said the situation in the state is “not quite normal”.

“We are informed that curfew was imposed in Jalandhar and some other places. But our information is that though the curfew was imposed, it was not enforced strictly. There are TV visuals of people moving in Jalandhar and some other places,” he said.

The Home Minister said the Centre has asked the Punjab government to enforce curfew wherever imposed.

“The decision to impose curfew was of the state government and once it has been imposed, it must be enforced,” he said.

Appealing to people of Punjab to maintain peace and return home, Chidambaram said the government has some information about the incident in Vienna and was still waiting for the details.

“We have some information. There is a time gap also. Preliminary information is that some people outside Austria came to the Gurdwara and unleashed violence. But I am awaiting full information,” he said.

The Home Minister termed the incident in Vienna as “serendipitous” event over which nobody had any control and nobody had any indication.

“It is a completely serendipitous event. Now, that event has provoked a section of the Sikh population to indulge in violence,” he said.

Chidambaram said the Punjab government is dealing with the matter and it should be given time to put the violence to an end.

“We should be more patient, give time to the Punjab government to deal with the matter. We should not become judgmental on the first day. I don’t wish to be judgmental. We are willing to help the Punjab government,” he said.

The Home Minister said the MPs of the Punjab are also helping the authorities in restoring normalcy in the state.

Former central government minister Jagdish Tytler Monday sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the shoe attack by a journalist on Home Minister P. Chidambaram, which had brought Tytler’s role in the 1984 Sikh riots back into limelight.

On April 7, Jarnail Singh, a journalist of the Dainik Jagran newspaper, had tossed a shoe at the home minister during a press conference at the Congress headquarters here, dissatisfied by the minister’s reply on the clean chit by the CBI to Tytler.

The incident was followed by widespread protests by members of the Sikh community, which apparently led to the Congress asking Tytler not to contest the Lok Sabha election.

“The CBI should investigate who coaxed the journalist to throw his shoe at the minister, triggering a spate of demonstrations in no time. There seems to be more than what meets the eye,” Tytler told reporters.

“How could a journalist who had never covered Congress as a beat sit in the front row just to throw a shoe at the minister?” he askd, also expressing surprise not only at one TV channel capturing the entire shoe-throwing act and others failing to cover it.

Claiming his innocence, Tytler said there was not a single affidavit filed against him in the court that could prove his involvement in the 1984 riots.

He noted more than 10 commissions were set up during the Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments, but none could prove that he had any connection with the riots case.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi owes an apology to the armymen for his remarks that terrorists holed up in the Charar-e-Sharif shrine in Kashmir were fed by soldiers before they were allowed to escape, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Wednesday.

“I read from news reports that Narendra Modi stated in a public meeting in Gujarat yesterday that the terrorists holed up in Charar-e-Sharif were fed chicken biryani before being allowed to escape. Nobody should be allowed to escape with such blatant lies,” he told reporters.

Chidambaram said that Charar-e-Sharif, a wooden shrine in the town of Charar-e-Sharif in Budgam district, had remained cordoned off for about two months by the Indian army after terrorist Mast Gul and his associates were holed up in the village in 1995.

“In the stand-off between the Indian Army and the terrorists, the wooden shrine caught fire and the terrorists tried to escape, leading to a gun battle in which seven Indian Army jawans lost their lives. The terrorists managed to escape from the village.”

Chidambaram said that it was unfortunate that the country lost seven jawans while terrorists also escaped, and the Gujarat chief minister owes an apology to the Indian Army jawans for caustic remarks about them.

Chidambaram said Modi has been making statements in his public meetings in Gujarat as if Lok Sabha polls concerned only the people of the state. “Please do not forget these are national polls and we should be concerned about national issues such as communal harmony, development and security,” he said.

“‘Gudiya and budhiya’ are not issues,” he added, referring to Modi’s comments last week comparing the Congress party with an old woman and then with a doll.

Chidambaram said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat says the centrally sponsored National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is a flop.

“Does the BJP want to convey that they want to discontinue an ambitious rural employment guarantee scheme if they come to power at the centre? This would be an acceptance of the fact that the BJP could not successfully run the scheme in Gujarat,” said the Congress leader.

He said the BJP’s Lok Sabha poll manifesto does not have a single line about industrial development.

“Please tell me can India grow without industrial growth? Who needs growth? Tell me which country is happy with a mere two to three percent growth? The UPA (Congress-led United Progressive Alliance) regime during the most difficult period of global meltdown has maintained a growth of seven percent during 2008-09.

“Throughout its rule the Congress-led UPA government from 2004 to 2007 maintained a steady growth of eight percent while NDA could manage to maintain growth rate of barely five to eight percent during its five year rule.”

Talking about Pakistan’s response to the Mumbai terrorist attacks, Chidambaram said that the mother of Ajaml Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured, is coming to India to meet him to show he is a Pakistani.

Admitting that there were shortfalls in intelligence sharing among the country’s various security agencies, Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday said these “gaps” have now been sealed to ensure better co-ordination.

Chidambaram told reporters here that the gaps were mainly on account of multiple central agencies, their subsidiaries in the states and the local state-level agencies.

“Now we have closed these gaps in the working of these agencies which will ensure better intelligence sharing on terrorism, Naxalism and other illegal activities,” Chidambaram said.

Referring to the Maoist violence, Chidambaram asserted that the rebels were trying to disrupt the election process. Chidambaram said he has already visited and undertaken a security review of 12 states in the past five months, since he assumed charge as the home minister, and will be doing so for the other stages of the election process.

Answering a query, Chidambaram said it requires a high level of competence to run a country like India and only the Congress was equipped to face all challenges including the present global economic crisis.

“The Congress party has the capacity to deal with the problem (in the financial sector),” the minister said at a press conference.

“It requires a high degree of competence to deal with the international financial crisis. The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) cannot deal with it.”

Taking a cue from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s media briefing here Monday, Chidambaram also saluted the spirit of Mumbaikars for the sheer grit in surviving all challenges, including the 26/11 terror attacks.

Only a Congress-led government has the “high degree of competence” to deal with the problems in the financial sector, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Wednesday.

“The Congress party has the capacity to deal with the problem (in the financial sector),” the minister said at a press conference.

“It requires a high degree of competence to deal with the international financial crisis. The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) cannot deal with it.”

Chidambaram said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had spent five times or more for welfare measures, including the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the midday meal programme for schoolchildren, than the BJP-led government during its entire rule.

“There is not a word in the BJP manifesto about public sector, about private sector or about the growth of financial sector,” he charged.

An LTTE supporter shouted slogans hailing the banned outfit and hurled a wooden object towards the stage where union Home Minister P. Chidambaram was seated during an election rally in Karaikudi town of Tamil Nadu.

The man, identified by a single name Ramu, Sunday evening caused a flutter when he rushed to the stage when Chidambaram was addressing a meeting. Ramu was immediately whisked away to a police station, according to police officials.

“While the home minister has asked to pardon and release the person, we are being extra careful now,” an official said.

On Monday, Chidambaram appealed for calm in Sri Lanka and prolonging of the truce declared by President Mahinda Rajapakse scheduled to end Wednesday.

“To help arrive at a peaceful political solution and avoid deaths of innocent civilians, both the warring sides (the Sri Lankan regime and the LTTE) should cooperate,” Chidambaram told supporters during election meetings in the vicinity.

The minister also sounded somewhat placatory towards one of the main LTTE apologists – PMK.

“While I do not approve the five-year-old itches of (PMK founder-leader) Dr Ramadoss who switches alliances during every general election, I also know that we may welcome his son (Anbumani Ramadoss) back into the union cabinet after the polls,” Chidambaram added.

Delhi based journalist Jarnail Singh who tossed a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram during a press conference in New Delhi April 7 was honoured by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Monday at Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.

Avtar Singh Makkar, president of the SGPC, also held a closed-door 10-minute meeting with Jarnail Singh after honouring him.

Singh had flung his shoe at Chidambaram at the Congress headquarters to protest the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

“At that time I could not control my emotions as I was not satisfied with the minister’s answer to my question,” said Singh while talking to reporters here Monday.

Singh, who was accompanied by his wife and two children, later offered prayers at the Golden Temple.