Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
These (Naxalites) are also our people.” “We should try to find out the problem behind Naxalism It is totally a socio-economic problem,” said V K Singh
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| V K Singh |
By Dheeraj Fartode
Gen VK Singh has castigated Pakistan for the recent brutality with Indian soldiers saying that “Brutality is the nature of Pakistan.” “Pakistan has been involved in similar brutal incidents in the recent past. It was violation of Geneva convention and human rights,” he said.
Remembering Captain Saurabh Kalia incident during the Kargil War, Singh said similar incidents had taken place since 1971 war.
However, Singh was against tough action against Pakistan, as advocated by former military officers. “There are political and military solutions for the issue. In the past too it had given good results,” he said.
Ruling out military action to solve Naxal menace, the ex-Army chief said “these (Naxalites) are also our people.” “We should try to find out the problem behind Naxalism It is totally a socio-economic problem,” he said.
Singh further said that Naxals were getting assistance from China and Maosits in Nepal as per an intelligence input.
When asked about Indian Ordnance Factories’ failure in making good weapons, Singh came down heavily on ‘Babugiri’ in the system. “This system of ‘Babugiri’ needs to be changed. Due to this system modernisation of weapons has not taken place.”
Talking about the recent incident when a Major entered his house without permission, Singh said the major was sent on purpose by higher authority. Singh also blamed some media houses for putting motivated news reports against him.

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