The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : No place for violence in democracy, says YSR

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 23, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

No place for violence in democracy, says YSR

By Our Staff Reporter

The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, having a word with the chairman of the Citizens' Forum for Democracy, Purushottam Reddy, at a seminar in Hyderabad on Saturday. The former Karnataka Governor, V.S. Ramadevi, looks on. Photo: Satish H.

HYDERABAD, JAN. 22. The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has described the talks initiated by the Government with naxalites as a "bold step'' to resolve conflict with them through dialogue with an intention to provide an opportunity to misguided citizens to rethink their policies and return to the political mainstream.

Inaugurating a seminar on "national integration -- internal security'' organised by the Citizen's Forum for Democracy here on Saturday, Dr. Reddy referred to the naxalite ideology as a strand of political thought advocating violence to achieve economic goals. This school of thought had unfortunately acquired an intellectual veneer and was seeping into various organs of society, including students, the teaching community, media, farmers and intellectuals alike.

A new justification for violence was being advocated to achieve economic goals through socially unacceptable means. However, it needed to be highlighted that in a democracy there could only be anger but not violence.

The world is watching

Dr. Reddy asked when the outside world perceived the country s a potential super power, how could that status be achieved if the internal resources were wasted in handling strifes and misdirected energies.

Inequalities were true of all countries. The philosophy of violence was not encouraging a man to strive hard to overcome inequalities. Instead, it was exhorting man to take to violence. The advocates of violence were blind to the enormous social change that had been brought about after independence in a civilised and silent fashion.

The Chief Minister was optimistic that the social change brought about by technology would shake the State out of negative, narrow and outdated ideologies. The Government was activating its machinery to bring about such technological growth.

It had initiated certain interventions and if it could consolidate on them, the State would be a leader of the country in terms of per capita income, economic opportunities and quality of life.

"No more initiatives are required in the next four years of the Congress Government," he remarked.

The former Karnataka Governor, V.S. Ramadevi, called for strengthening the local bodies to give a new lease of life to youth who have gone astray.

The former Minister and forum chairman, T. Purshotham Rao, said talks with naxalites were a historic necessity.

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