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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Gloves off after Maoists bury truce by Pronab Mondal

Gloves off after Maoists bury truce by Pronab Mondal

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published Published on Nov 14, 2011   modified Modified on Nov 14, 2011

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee tonight formally revived security operations against Maoists after the rebels refused to extend a ceasefire, spoke of war, criticised her peace envoys and appeared to escalate hostilities by killing two Trinamul supporters.

Joint forces in pursuit were locked in a gunfight with the killers till late tonight at a Purulia village in the foothills of the Ayodhya hills.

“I will take away the guns of the Maoists. The operations by the joint forces against Maoists, which had been suspended for the last five months, will now continue,” Mamata told STAR Ananda, reacting to the killings of a father and son, Ajit Singh Sardar, 63, and Banku, 22, in Purulia by suspected Maoists.

The chief minister made it clear that she was running out of patience. “Killers will be treated like killers by the police. The law will take its own course. We had given five months’ time to the Maoists but they have failed to utilise it properly. I will not wait any longer,” Mamata said.

She said the Maoists were being backed by “two professors” of Jadavpur University and action would be taken. “The government will take action against all those who glorify the Maoists,” she added, almost echoing Union home minister P. Chidambaram and the erstwhile Left government.

Mamata repeated the words “jungle mafia, terrorists and looters” — words to which the Maoists had taken “strong exception” in a letter made public earlier in the day.

The Maoists informed the interlocutors, appointed by Mamata to explore the possibility of a dialogue, that they would not extend the month-long ceasefire in Jungle Mahal that expired on October 30.

The rebels warned of unleashing violence in the near future. “We are fighting for the poor people and are now heading for a war,” said the letter, attributed to Akash, the state secretary of the CPI (Maoist).

The letter, addressed to Association for Protection of Democratic Rights activist Sujato Bhadra and other interlocutors, claimed that the government had not “reciprocated” their gesture and carried on police operations against them. The letter was dated October 31 but released today.

Although the Maoists railed against the interlocutors, the rebels added that they were still leaving “open” the process of talks. “We are ready to meet you (the interlocutors). You are welcome to come and meet us. But at the meeting with us, bring a written response from the government on its position on our demands of cessation of operations against us and disarming of armed cadres,” Akash said.

Sources in the government said the chief minister would still like to continue with the talks process as only dialogue could bring lasting peace. But she no longer believes that the rebels will abjure violence, a source said.

An undeclared freeze on security operations had set in when Mamata had taken over and launched a development offensive in Jungle Mahal. However, when several killings were blamed on the rebels, the government had green-lighted information-based operations.

This evening’s comments by Mamata suggest security forces are now free to conduct operations on the basis of their professional assessment.

The forces have been preparing for such an eventuality for the past few weeks. “We were expecting this as we knew that the Maoists would never give up the killings,” a senior officer said.

In the letter, the Maoists also said that they had lost faith in the interlocutors’ ability to impress upon the government the need to concede the demand for cessation of all “hostilities”. “You (interlocutors) were meant to be impartial. Don’t work for any political party. But you failed.”

Bhadra today sought to dispel the Maoist notion that his team was “partial” towards the ruling party when he told The Telegraph: “How can you have a dialogue with the Maoists if the joint forces carry on with their operations? They kept their word and abjured violence during the one-month period. So, the government too must respond.”


The Telegraph, 15 November, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111115/jsp/frontpage/story_14751810.jsp


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