Maoists policy decision after Congress meet: Revanth

The Telangana government would take a call on holding peace talks with the Communist Party of India (Maoist) after discussing it with the Congress’s national leadership, chief minister A Revanth Reddy said on Monday.

A day after the members of the state civil liberties committee and other social activists requested his intervention to put an end the ongoing “Operation Kagar” by security forces in Chhattisgarh forests, Revanth Reddy held deliberations with senior Congress leader and former home minister K Jana Reddy to discuss the modalities of holding talks with the Maoists.

Advisors to the government, K Kesava Rao and Vem Narender Reddy also took part in the deliberations. The chief minister also spoke to AICC leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh over phone to discuss the Maoists issue, an official statement from the CMO said.

Speaking to reporters later, Revanth Reddy said the Congress, being a national party, was guided by its national policies. “So, discussions on how to put an end to the killing of Maoists in the name of Operation Kagar should take place at the national level,” the chief minister said.

“Once the Congress finalises its stand on Operation Kagar, the Telangana government would announce its official policy on holding peace talks with the Maoists,” he added.

Jana Reddy was the state home minister in the combined Andhra Pradesh and he had taken initiative in holding a dialogue with the then CPI (M-L) People’s War Group in October 2004. During this period, Digvijaya Singh had served as the Congress party in-charge of Andhra Pradesh. It was during the peace talks, the People’s War group Naxalites merged with Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) to form the CPI (Maoist).

The chief minister said the government was studying the circumstances and proceedings from the earlier round of peace talks with the Maoists. “I have discussed all these issues with Kesava Rao, Jana Reddy, and Digvijaya Singh. We shall come out with our policy, after discussing our stand on the issue at the national level,” he said.

During the meeting with the chief minister on Sunday, members of the civil liberties committee and other social groups formed a Committee for Peace Talks requested him to take the initiative in reviving the peace talks with Maoists who had already given a call for ceasefire.

The committee members, including its convenor Justice Chandrakumar, Prof. Haragopal, Prof. Anwar Khan, Durga Prasad, among others, urged the chief minister to discuss the ceasfire with the Central government.

“A tense atmosphere is prevailing in the borders of Chhattisgarh and Telangana due to the ongoing operation at Karreguttalu area, where hundreds of Maoists are holed up. The government should immediately withdraw troops and initiate the democratic process in the area,” Haragopal said and appealed to Revanth Reddy to convince the Centre for a ceasefire.

The chief minister told the committee members that his government was looking at Maoist movement only from a social perspective and did not consider it as a mere law and order issue.

He said would seek advice from senior party leaders like Jana Reddy who held talks with Maoists in the past, on the Maoist issue. “The state cabinet will also discuss the issue and take a decision soon,” he assured.