Chidambaram Cannot Fool People With The Drama Of Talks At Gun-Point!

INDIA | 09 – 11 – 2009 | Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Chidambaram have been putting forth the most absurd proposal for talks with the CPI (Maoist) provided the latter abjured violence. While amassing thousands of paramilitary forces in the Maoist-dominated areas in the country and carrying out brutal attacks against unarmed adivasi people and the Maoist revolutionaries, they are shamelessly talking of violence by Maoists.

According to the grand plan of the reactionary rulers a total of 75,000 central forces, assisted by tactical air support by IAF choppers, will go to war by the end of this month. An equal number of police forces from the states will join these central forces to carry out the biggest ever military offensive against the people in general and the Maoists in particular. While deploying such a huge force, which is greater in size than the armies of most countries in the world, Chidambaram is trying to fool the people that he is not going to war with the Maoists. It is the state terror, saffron terror, and state-sponsored terror that have become the greatest threat to peace and security in our country. The Congress-led UPA government has to its credit the massacre of over 2000 people and Maoist revolutionaries in the past five years. And yet, Manmohan and Chidambaram have the audacity to say that their government is implementing the “rule of law” and ask the Maoists to lay down arms and sit for talks.

Asking Maoists to lay down arms as a pre-condition for talks shows the utter ignorance of Manmohan and Chidambaram regarding the historical and socio-economic factors that had given rise to the Maoist movement or are too intoxicated by the brute force they possess by which they dream they can stamp out a movement rooted in the socio-economic causes. The CC, CPI (Maoist), makes it crystal-clear that laying down arms means a betrayal of the people’s interests. We have taken up arms for the defence of people’s rights and for achieving their liberation from all types of exploitation and oppression. As long as oppression and exploitation exist, people will continue to be armed in ever greater number. However, an agreement could be reached by both sides on a cease-fire if Manmohan and Chidambaram give up their irrational, illogical, impractical, absurd and obstinate stand that the Maoists should abjure violence. They should be introspective and decide whether they are prepared to abjure state terror and unbridled violence on the people. If at all they are serious about talks then they should first create a conducive atmosphere by earnestly implementing at least what is guaranteed by the Indian constitution by which they swear.

They should stop illegal abductions of Maoists and people suspected to be supporting Maoists. They should put an immediate halt to torture and murder of unarmed people, instruct their so-called security forces to desist from raping women in Maoist-dominated areas, abandon their policy of destroying the property of the people and burning adivasi villages. They should withdraw the police and para-military camps from the school buildings, panchayat community buildings and from the interior areas so as to instill a sense of security among the people.

They should disband the state-sponsored armed vigilante gangs like salwa judum, sendra, gram suraksha samiti, nagarik suraksha samiti, shanti sena, harmad bahini, and other blood-thirsty mercenary gangs that are unconstitutionally established by the police top brass and the ruling class parties. An impartial judicial commission of enquiry should be formed to go into the inhuman atrocities by the police, CRPF, other central forces and the vigilante gangs on Maoists and the people at large and basing on the investigations the culprits should be punished as per the law. All those arrested for being Maoists or on suspicion of aiding the Maoists, including people in particular who do not have any connection with our organisation, should be released unconditionally. They should repeal all draconian laws and Acts such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Chhattisgarh Special Powers Act, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), etc. They should disband the government-organised concentration camps in the name of rehabilitation of the adivasis displaced from their villages, pay adequate compensation to over two lakh adivasis who were forcibly displaced by the salwa judum gangs and the CRPF-police combine. All those who have become victims of state and state-sponsored terror, i.e., those who were murdered, maimed, raped and pushed into a state of mental trauma should be given adequate compensation.

As for socio-economic issues, the lands of the tribals should be handed back to them wherever they are snatched from them; the mining and other so-called development projects that lead to displacement of the tribals and destruction of their way of life should be immediately disbanded. All the MOUs signed with the imperialist MNCs like Vedanta and the big business houses like the Tatas, Mittals, Essar, Jindal, etc should be scrapped. The much trumpeted policy of Special Economic Zones which is nothing but to create enclaves of foreign occupation and imperialist plunder that ruin havoc in the social, economic, ecologic and cultural lives of the people living in these areas should be immediately scrapped along with the colonial policy of land acquisition. The lands snatched away from the tribals by unscrupulous landlords, other non-adivasis, and by the government should be restored to their rightful owners. If these are fulfilled, then one can think of talks to discuss on the deeper issues that are blocking the real development of our country.

The CC, CPI (Maoist) unequivocally asserts that the government’s proposal for peace talks is only a propaganda ploy that in no way differs from the peace proposals of Hitler prior to World War II.

After the Cabinet Committee on Security had given the final approval for the massive offensive against the Maoists, after the IAF choppers are ready with the Garuda commandos and gunships to pulverize the adivasi areas, these war-mongers are talking of peace! We appeal to all democratic and peace-loving forces to expose the hypocrisy and double-speak of Manmohan, Chidambaram, Raman Singh, Buddhadeb and others and oppose their war preparations against the oppressed downtrodden people of our country who are waging a struggle for land, livelihood and liberation from inhuman feudal and imperialist exploitation.

Azad,

Spokesperson,

Central Committee,

CPI(Maoist)