The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Mixed reaction from Left

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Mixed reaction from Left

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, OCT. 19. The first round of talks between the Government and naxalites has evoked mixed response from left parties.

The CPI on Tuesday welcomed the exchange of opinion between the Government and naxalites and said this round of talks had helped them understand each other's demands and limitations. The CPI(M), on the other hand, felt that "nothing fruitful had come out of it as of now as the substantial issues leading to violence had not been discussed.''

The CPI State secretary, Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, welcomed the very process of the talks as both sides had put forward their positions directly to each other. "We are positively hopeful that some good results would come out of the entire process," he said but cautioned that it could take two to three more rounds of talks before these results became visible.

The CPI(M) State secretary, B.V. Raghavulu, opined that peace and democracy were the two issues central to people at large and both these had not been raised during this round of talks. He pointed out that the Government needed to make firm commitments regarding protecting democratic rights of people and stopping arrests and killings of people protesting. Similarly, the naxalites needed to give assurance that killing of innocent people after branding "informers'' would end and they would allow democratic campaigns in villages under their influence.

Reacting to the naxal list of "land encroachers" in and around the twin cities, Mr. Raghavulu said it was not correct to "lump" land given to industries and businesses in the "encroacher" category as developing industries was in the interest of people.

The People's Union for Civil Liberties president, Keshav Rao Jadhav, who was also one of the mediators in the talks, called for an early Government response to the naxal demands.

Addressing the press, Mr. Jadhav expressed confidence that the peace process was now on a much surer footing.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh