Halt ‘Extra-judicial’ Killings Around Chhattisgarh, Five Left Parties Urge PM

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The leaders urged the government to stop the militaristic approach that treats the Adivasis with ‘unmitigated hostility’

NEW DELHI — Taking strong cognizance of the “extra-judicial” killings in the region around Chhattisgarh under Operation Kagar, five Left parties on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to halt the operation and initiate dialogue with the Maoist leadership.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, general secretaries of the five Left parties, D Raja of the CPI, MA Baby of the CPI(M), Dipankar Bhattacharya of the CPI(ML), Manoj Bhattacharya of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, and G Devarajan of the All India Forward Bloc, wrote that there are reports that the security forces were holding several senior Maoist leaders. “We insist that they all appear in court and be handled under the law,” they demanded.

“We, on behalf of the five Left parties of the country, urge you to put an immediate halt to the extra-judicial killings in the region around Chhattisgarh in the name of Operation Kagar. There are reports that several senior Maoist leaders are currently in the custody of the security forces. We demand that they should all be produced in court and dealt with as per the rule of law,” the letter says.

The left leaders pointed out that “The Adivasis in the region have long been complaining about the militarisation of the region, which has completely disrupted normal life. The Adivasi rights enshrined in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution are being systematically violated and the forests and minerals of Chhattisgarh are being subjected to indiscriminate corporate exploitation with disastrous implications for environmental stability and the livelihood of the local people. We urge you to stop this militaristic approach that treats the Adivasis with unmitigated hostility”.

They added that the government has been preventing families from receiving the bodies of those killed, depriving them of the opportunity to say farewell to their loved ones in a respectable manner. Furthermore, the Maoists’ repeated calls for discussion have gone unheeded.

“This hostility is being seen even after death, with the government refusing to hand over dead bodies to their families, denying them their right to give a dignified farewell to their family members”.

The Maoists have repeatedly urged the government to consider their appeal for dialogue. Unfortunately, the union government and the BJP-led Chhattisgarh state government have chosen not to pursue a solution through talks. Instead, they are following an inhuman policy of killings and annihilation, they underlined.

The statements made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, reiterating the deadline and the Chhattisgarh chief minister’s assertion that there is no need for talks, reflect a mindset unwilling to resolve issues through dialogue. The government should not be intransigent and celebrate the taking of human lives against the spirit of the law of the land and principles of democratic governance, the letter stated.

The left leaders urged the government to initiate a dialogue to resolve all issues, as the Maoists have declared a unilateral ceasefire.

“Many concerned citizens and political parties, in spite of having differing views, have already appealed to the government to respond to the Maoist declaration of unilateral ceasefire and initiate a dialogue to resolve all issues. We reiterate the appeal and urge you to stop the extra-judicial killings and violence with immediate effect and order an impartial judicial enquiry,” the letter said.

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