06-10-2009, 10:12 AM
<b>Welcome to Indiaâs newest, secret state</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Carefully shielded from the public eye, the Hindustan Times found Indiaâs second âliberated zoneâ, a Maoist-run state within a state where development for more than 2 lakh people is unfolding at a pace not seen in 30 years of Left rule.
Apart from taking over the organs of the state, most notably the executive and the judiciary, the Maoists here have built at least 50 km of gravel paths, dug tubewells and tanks, rebuilt irrigation canals and are running health centres, with the help of local villagers.
Across India, 150 of 600 districts are termed âNaxal affectedâ, meaning areas nominally or directly under the control of Maoists. Indiaâs so-called Red Corridor now sprawls across nine states.<b> It is a situation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called âthe gravest challenge to Indiaâs security</b>â.
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Apart from taking over the organs of the state, most notably the executive and the judiciary, the Maoists here have built at least 50 km of gravel paths, dug tubewells and tanks, rebuilt irrigation canals and are running health centres, with the help of local villagers.
Across India, 150 of 600 districts are termed âNaxal affectedâ, meaning areas nominally or directly under the control of Maoists. Indiaâs so-called Red Corridor now sprawls across nine states.<b> It is a situation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called âthe gravest challenge to Indiaâs security</b>â.
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