Hyderabad, November 10: The elusive CPI (Maoist) general secretary Ganapati appears ready for talks with the Centre.
Breaking his silence, perhaps for the first time in recent times, he signalled his party’s willingness to hold talks but set out a few preconditions: an immediate full stop to Operation Green Hunt, withdrawal of paramilitary forces from the Dandakaranya region, lifting of ban on the CPI (Maoist) and its front organisations, democratic opportunities for the Maoist party and freedom for its jailed leaders.
In a detailed reply to a questionnaire sent to him by a section of the media, Ganapati said since the government had “killed” leaders like Riyaz and Azad who had been associated with earlier talks, this time the party leaders languishing in jails would represent the party, if at all talks place again.
On the call of Union Home Minister Chidambaram that the Maoists should abjure violence for a meaningful dialogue to take place, Ganapati replied that “counter-offensive of the people” would automatically stop once the government stops its “offensive on the people.” “We can come forward for talks only in conditions where we can work democratically,” the Maoist chief pointed out.
Significantly, he denied the Maoist hand in the Gnaneshwari Express train tragedy in West Bengal in which 148 people had died. “We do not have anything to do with it. Our West Bengal party has clarified this. It’s a conspiracy hatched by the CPI (M) and Central intelligence agencies,” he alleged.
While he condemned the “fake encounter” killing of Azad, holding Chidambaram-Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh, AP SIB and Central intelligence agencies responsible for it, he strongly defended the violence perpetrated by his own party. “It’s part of the war of self-defence,” he claimed and also denied that the Maoists were against development. “The People’s Liberation Guerilla Army is safeguarding the harvest of the people,” he said.
Interestingly, he sounded soft on Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee. “We are not at all surprised that Mamata Banerjee demanded a judicial probe into Azad’s murder. Anyone familiar with the political situation in West Bengal will not be surprised. Her demand to some extent helped the struggle of the people,” he said but hastened to add that even if she came to power, it won’t bring any fundamental change. He also denied that his party had relations with the Trinamool Congress.
–Agencies