Talks with Maoists, talk of peace

Recently, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, while meeting people during his state-wide tour, announced that the state government was ready for peace talks. Maoist Provided they laid down arms and expressed their faith in the Constitution of India.

certain conditions

In its response, the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of the CPI (Maoist), through its spokesperson (pseudonym, substitute), alleged (in a pamphlet issued on May 5, 2022) that the proposal was useless, and Wanted the Chief Minister to clarify his stand on the conditions of the Maoists To create a conducive environment in which peace talks can be held. The spokesperson also made other allegations and criticized the state government for not implementing PESA or the Provisions of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 in Chhattisgarh. The key conditions the Maoists seek include: lifting sanctions on their party, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and people’s organizations; Withdrawal of security forces from camps and release of jailed leaders to participate in talks. Since the state government did not change its earlier stand, no progress has been made.

Earlier in 2010, the then Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Trying to bring Maoists to the negotiating table, with the line, “If you call for the violence to stop, we are ready to talk to you.” In reply, Azad alias Cherukuri Rajkumar (now deceased)A Central Politburo member and spokesperson of the Central Committee, CPI (Maoist) in an exclusive interview (11,400 words) Hindu ,‘Ceasefire will create a conducive environment for talks’April 2010), whether it was in writing what were his party’s three pre-conditions for talks with the central government.

He clarified that the condition of ‘withdrawing the war completely’ (as a first condition) was nothing but a simultaneous cessation of hostilities by both sides, i.e. mutual ceasefire and not a unilateral ceasefire by the Maoists. Second, for peaceful legal work by the Maoists, it was necessary to remove the ban on the party (the second condition). The third condition was that the government should abide by the Constitution and end illegal killings in the name of encounters, torture and arrests. In order to negotiate, it was necessary for the government to release some leaders (also a part of the third condition) otherwise, there would be no one to talk to because the whole party was illegal.

this interview and stand by ganpati The talks with the (then party general secretary) government were also published in the Maoist magazine ‘People’s March’. Swami Agnivesh, the broker of peace between the Government of India and the Maoists, sent Mr. Chidambaram’s letter dated 11 May 2010 (addressed to Swami Agnivesh) to Azad, specifically calling for talks by the Maoists to ‘no violence for 72 hours’ No promise was mentioned. Azad replied (31 May 2010) to Swami Agnivesh and reiterated the party’s stand. Although, Azad killed in encounter with Greyhound Commando Force of Andhra Pradesh Police On 2 July 2010, the process of further trust building got derailed.

why the talks failed

In the 2004 state assembly election campaign, the Congress party promised to revive the peace process (which had broken down during the rule of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu) if it came to power in Andhra Pradesh. To initiate talks, the state government lifted the ban on the party in May 2004. As a result, in October 2004, four days of peace talks took place at the initiative of the Committee between representatives of the People’s War (PW) party and representatives of the government. Concerned citizens. A mutually acceptable team of mediators (led by former civil servant SR Sankaran) was formed and an agreement was reached on a ceasefire (eight clauses). PW Party (which recently merged with the Maoist Communist Center of India and other split Maoist groups in September 2004) To make CPI (Maoist))), proposed an 11-point charter of demands such as the Law on the Boundary of Lands; Creation of a separate state of Telangana; and questions relating to armed action by both sides. The issues of land reform were prominently raised in the discussions. While the state representatives raised the issue of laying down arms, it was not an agreed agenda and the issue was reserved for a second round of talks.

‘Clause 7’ (of the ceasefire agreement) which allowed the Maoists to propagate their politics without arms, had become problematic. Though the Maoists handed over their weapons to their workers while leaving the jungles in the peace talks, media photographs of the movements of their armed contingents left the police uneasy. Negotiations ended with an agreement on a ceasefire by 16 December, with the government promising to consider the main demand for land distribution among the landless, and negotiating again in November. Later, the chief minister announced that there would be no talks with the Maoists unless they agreed to lay down arms. The Andhra Pradesh Home Minister accused the Naxalites of extortion for their meetings and construction of their memorials. Thus the peace process collapsed midway and the CPI (Maoist) and its allies were again banned.

Using this background, it can be rightly implied that the Maoist demand for withdrawal of armed police forces by the Maoists can be met by a mutually agreed ‘Ceasefire’, which is meant to end the violence by the Maoists and Security has a limited meaning of preventing anti-Maoist operations. force for some time. The state government cannot afford to pull out security forces as a precondition for starting peace talks.

government action

Second, the release of jailed Maoist leaders need not be made a pre-condition by the Maoists, as most of the senior Maoist leaders are at large; There is no senior cadre in the jails of Chhattisgarh. Besides this, the Chhattisgarh government has not only withdrawn criminal cases against several tribals but also ensured speedy trial of Naxal cases. The government is also working to implement PESA.

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However, with regard to the third condition of lifting the ban on the CPI (Maoist), the PLGA and its flagship organisations, some concessions can be thought of to allow negotiations to take place. Further, it cannot be denied that the ceasefire was misused by the Maoists during peace talks in Andhra Pradesh in 2004; “We used it to take our politics widely in the state and outside,” Azad admitted in the interview. Therefore, moving forward with the lessons learned, appropriate modalities can be worked out if both sides are serious about peace talks.

RK Vij is the former Special DGP of Chhattisgarh. Views expressed are personal