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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Mediator blames kidnap on ‘resource war’-Nishit Dholabhai

Mediator blames kidnap on ‘resource war’-Nishit Dholabhai

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published Published on Apr 26, 2012   modified Modified on Apr 26, 2012

The man selected by the Maoist captors of Chhattisgarh collector Alex Paul Menon to mediate with the government today said the abduction was part of a “war” over resources but voiced hope that the officer would be freed.

“The abduction is situational, it depends on what is happening there,” B.D. Sharma said, drawing attention to what the rebels brand as state-sponsored atrocities on tribals.

The comments, four days after the rebels snatched Menon from a village, came at an interaction with the media where the retired IAS officer read out the demands the CPI (Maoist) has made for the collector’s release.

The demands include a halt to Operation Green Hunt and withdrawal of over one lakh “fake cases” against tribals in the region.

The rebels also claim that many of the cases against the eight comrades whose release they have sought are “fake”.

Sharma, a former collector himself, said listening to the demands would help in the negotiations for Menon’s release.

Menon, collector of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, was on Saturday abducted from Manjhipara village where he had gone to hold a meeting as part of the state’s anti-Maoist Gram Suraj campaign, which the rebels want withdrawn.

Although the security establishment denies there has been any Green Hunt drive in Chhattisgarh, operations against Maoists in the state are usually known by that name.

The CPI (Maoist) says the term Green Hunt has been borrowed from the hunting expeditions of America’s Wild West that resulted in a clash with the indigenous Red Indians.

In India, “a good tribal is a displaced tribal who moves obediently at the wish of the state”, Sharma said, criticising the government’s “imperialist” policies in the tribal region.

Sharma said Menon’s kidnap, the latest in a series by the rebels, was a reflection of this war, though he claimed that the abduction of the Italians in Odisha had been condemned as they were foreigners.

“We asked the Maoists why they held the (Italian) tourists. They were released at our request,” he told The Telegraph.

Sharma is scheduled to meet Chhattisgarh government-appointed mediators Nirmala Buch and S.K. Mishra in Raipur tomorrow. Another mediator named by the Maoists, professor Hargopal, is expected to join Sharma in the state capital.

Chief minister Raman Singh has set up a three-minister team to deal with the crisis. The two interlocutors would interact with the team before going ahead with the negotiations.

In Delhi, sources said the Centre was keeping a close watch on how the situation evolves in Odisha following an announcement by BJD legislator Jhina Hikaka’s Maoist abductors that he would be freed tomorrow following an undertaking that he would resign from the Assembly.

The sources said the Centre hopes Hikaka’s resignation would not be accepted as it would be a “humiliation for the state” and an “outrage” for democracy. The ruling party MLA was abducted on March 24.

The Telegraph, 26 April, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120426/jsp/nation/story_15420608.jsp#.T5jmF1L5nYQ


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