New Delhi: Maoists on Monday declared a 72-day ceasefire from February 25 to May 7 on the condition that the Government stop Operation Green Hunt launched against the rebels.
Making the announcement Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji said that they want intellectuals and human right activists to mediate between them and the Government.
"State governments and the Centre should not indulge in violence between February 25 and May 7 and concentrate on development of tribal areas which will be reciprocated by Maoists," Kishanji said over phone from an undisclosed place.
Kishanji also said that the 72-day ceasefire would happen only if the Government stopped Operation Green Hunt.
The Ministry of Home Affairs reacted to the ceasefire offer by saying that Maoists have not contacted them directly.
Government sources said that they do not have nay concrete proposal in hand from the Maoists and cannot base their reactions on media reports.
Sources also claimed that the ceasefire offer might be a ploy by the Maoists to regroup and added that there is no indication if the ceasefire was only for West Bengal or all Naxal affected states.
But Union Home Secretary GK Pillai said that if the ceasefire offer was unconditional, the Government welcomed it.
Maoist sympathiser and revolutionary poet Varavara Rao backed the ceasefire saying the Government must call back Paramilitary forces deployed for Operation Green Hunt.
"Government should release political prisoners. The Maoists have always responded and now the state should also respond. Maoists have all the time been responding to talks," said Rao.
But Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta said that Maoists should first lay down their arms and then only the talks could take place.
"If there is an offer for talks, Government should respond. But this does not mean that we should release political prisoners and remove the ban (from Maoists). But the first condition should be laying down arms by the Maoists. The forces should not be withdrawn. The Government has to be convinced that Maoists want to come to the main stream political process," said Dasgupta.
Union Home minister P Chidamabaram had last week said that if the Maoists halted violence for 72 hours the government would be ready for talks with them.
Comments
0 comment