Govt reiterates talks offer to Maoists

Reiterating his offer for talks if Maoists halted violence, Home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the government was forced to continue its operations in Maoist insurgency-hit states as the rebels had spurned previous such appeals.

"The government was forced to continue with its operation. These operations will continue and will be followed by development of the areas (dominated by Maoists)," Chidambaram told reporters in Kolkata on Tuesday. "My appeal to Naxals (as the leftwing guerrillas are known) is if you abjure violence, that is if you call a halt to violence, we are not asking you do anything more, we are prepared to talk to you," the minister said.

He was in Kolkata for a meeting with top officials of West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar. Taking part in the meeting to discuss the Maoist threat were the chief ministers of West Bengal and Orissa, the two deputy chief ministers of Jharkhand and top officials of all four states.

The Home minister said the progress of the operation against guerrillas had been "slow but steady" and cited the arrest of some key leaders of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist to back his claim.

"The progress is slow and steady. You cannot measure it like a cricket match score board. In fact considerable progress has been made... We will continue to make progress. Chidambaram said the operations had been "measured and calibrated" with no collateral damage.

"These are our own people, we care for them, we care for their lives. The object is to re-establish civil administration in areas now dominated by Naxalites. I think progress will be slow but steady," he said.

Meanwhile, Maoists blew up a stretch of railway track in Jharkhand's Giridih district on the third day of their 72-hour shutdown on Tuesday, affecting train services. Maoists had on Sunday called a 72-hour bandh in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh to protest the proposed all-out offensive against them by the Centre. They blew up railway tracks in Orissa and Bihar on the second day of their 72-hour bandh.

- Asian Tribune -