The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : PW to continue struggle for `just society'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 21, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

PW to continue struggle for `just society'

By G. Narasimha Rao

Amred members of the CPI (ML) People's War watch artistes of the Jana Natya Mandali singing revolutionary songs in a remote area in the Sileru forest area of the Visakha agency area. — Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

VISAKHAPATNAM, SEPT. 20. The talks between the Government and the CPI (ML) - People's War are meant to solve the people's problems, but the PW's armed struggle would continue till equality in the society was achieved and the influence of bourgeois and affluent sections on governance was eliminated, the official representative of the Andhra-Orissa Border Zone Committee of the PW, Diwakar, has said.

Talks with other States

The PW did not see any difference between the present Congress Government and its predecessor, the Telugu Desam, he said. Mr. Diwakar made these observations during an interview with The Hindu in a dense forest in the Sileru area of the Visakha agency on Monday. He said the PW was ready for dialogue with the Governments of other States like Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chattisgarh, but the State Governments must disband the elite police forces formed to curb naxalites, withdraw Central forces and release PW sympathisers.

The process for talks with the Government had been initiated in Andhra Pradesh because it was the main centre of PW's agitation. "The central committee of the party will take a decision if the Central Government wants to participate in the talks," he said.

`No parting with arms'

On the proposed talks, Mr. Diwakar said the PW welcomed the proposal made mainly by the middle classes and the intelligentsia and was sticking to the ceasefire, but the Government was testing its patience. He defended the PW's refusal to part with arms. "Carrying arms, continuing recruitment and collecting donations are activities of a party. No armed party will disarm before negotiations. The Government might need the ceasefire before the talks, but we have been fighting the Government continuously for the last 35 years and have lost thousands of our comrades. For us, the ceasefire does not mean breathing time."

Meeting in Hyderabad

The PW would like the people's opinion about its quitting arms to abide by conditions for the talks and its public meeting in Hyderabad on Sept. 30, to be addressed by PW leaders, would be used for the purpose, he said. About three lakh people are expected to attend the meeting.

"We don't believe in the Government but we demand that it implement its promises. Let it at least distribute the land. Society must be liberated, property distributed equally and power transferred to the people. Till then there will not be any change in our objective," he said.

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