Dealing a severe blow to the Indian government’s ongoing offensive against the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, 76 policemen were ambushed and killed by Maoist rebels in Dantewada, Chattisgarh on April 6, 2010. The incident, now referred to as the Dantewada tragedy, is the worst-ever massacre of security forces by the Maoists. The large body-count of security force personnel propelled the news of Operation Green Hunt once again into the news headlines and the nation’s consciousness, sparking off heated debates about Maoist ideology, their tactics and responsibility of the Indian State. Well-known blogger Greatbong wrote: We have been in the middle of an invisible civil war for many years now. Civil war because it is an armed struggle by a section of the people against the democratic administration of the country, a war that has spiraled so out of control that representatives of law enforcement accept that there are large swathes of country where they cannot enter. Invisible because it rarely captures national attention, confined as it is to largely rural backward areas for which it is pushed to the rear of the news…unless more than seventy-six CRPF personnel are brutally massacred at which point of time we are forced to deal with the issue. At least for a few news cycles. Twitter abounded with instant reactions to the incident. Some examples: @baviskaryogesh India needs to find the strategic solution to the maoists movement. its d worst day in Indian history…its heavy loss to Indian force @Irraghu Maoists are PPL from us.. Govt should deal in diff way not with Weapons @shibu_kt Surgical strikes to be conducted at maoist hideouts?? Will we act now or still wait for another massacre to gain more sympathy? @raghuduttc when will maoist cheer leaders see that it is jawans who r loosing their life fighting for the poor tribals not the Maoists @mytopnews A small disease became as a Cancer in India.. Today's Maoist Attack is like a Cancer Govt is responsible for this The high casualties among the security forces reinforced the views of a section of the people that the government had done little strategic planning and that forces sent to tackle the insurgents were inadequately trained to handle guerrilla-style warfare being waged by the Maoists. Madhav Datar wrote on his blog: I feel really sorry for the families of the 76 CRPF personnel who were killed in an ambush by the Maoists. But I am not surprised at all. This was coming and will be repeated by the insurgents again. Poor leadership, hardly any training to face war with the maoists and low morale are all major contributors to this debacle. Many others concurred with this view. Narendra Ch reported in Merinews the actions being considered by the government as retaliation. He wrote: Immediately after ambush, he (India's Home Minister, Mr. P.Chidambaram) announced several retaliation steps in an emotional tone. They include deploying army personal to tackle Maoists, including unmanned helicopters. His emotions were cooled down by Defence Minister A K Antony refusing to deploy army…The pressure of the incident was such that the Home Minister was forced to offer his resignation, which was later rejected by the government. As the government deliberated on formulating an appropriate response, citizens debated whether retaliation should be in the form of a severe military offensive or through a continued effort at dialogue. However, the larger debate centered on affixing responsibility for the insurgency itself and whether the government, with its ‘flawed policy’ of neglecting tribal welfare was in fact responsible for this armed internal struggle. Some pointed out that it was because the State had failed them that in some of the poorest tribal belts of India the Maoists were able to consolidate their hold. Others felt that perhaps all of it was not ‘Maoist insurgency’ as it was made out to be; that poverty-stricken, development-bereft tribal populations having been pushed into a corner were finally fighting back – for their rights and for their land. Regarding the massacre of the security personnel, some citizens felt that it was the government and its military offensive that had pushed them to retaliate in such a brutal manner. Some tweets reflected these emotions and arguments. @write2kill : The Maoist strike-back is nothing but a desperate and violent reaction of a people who were left behind by the India Shining brigade. @max4974: Its all about neglecting our own backyards that has led us into the maoist/naxal trouble! @sujaypp @BDUTT: the govt. has left the maoists with no option but to fight for survival, nothing short of genocide. Gov. should pull back all forces.