Bite The Bullet

The Naxals struck again, killing nine people including MLA C. Narsi Reddy, on Independence Day in Mahabubnagar. The Y.S.R. Reddy government has now banned the PWG and seven other outfits. This, after a cabinet meet on Tuesday proved inconclusive with ministers shying away from taking a stand. Interestingly, even the Opposition (the TDP, BJP or TRS) has been silent on the ban issue. The Congress move to ban the Naxals could not have been an easy decision since it had been argued earlier that it’ll be a loss of face for the party (it had allowed the ban to lapse in May ’04). The tension was obvious when the CM, presiding over a ‘right to information’ seminar, attacked the media saying "journalists interviewing criminals (Naxals) is an offence".