With the Naxals facing the heat of an imminent concerted operation by security forces, a top Maoist leader on Thursday said the rebels were ready for talks “if there was ceasefire on both sides” and paramilitary forces deployed in the Naxal-hit states were withdrawn.

“The process of talks with the central government can only begin if there is ceasefire on both sides,” top Maoist leader Kishenji, who is in hiding, told PTI over the phone.

Asked to comment on the Centre’s condition that the Maoists should abjure violence first, Kishenji said, “The Centre is killing innocent people in the name of tackling the Maoists and they are asking us to abjure violence, which is ridiculous.”

He said the Centre would have to withdraw paramilitary forces from seven states — Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal — and treat the problems of tribals in a sympathetic way.

“Also the Centre and the state governments will have to apologise to the tribals for the prolonged atrocity meted out to them and the consequent suffering from the time of Independence,” Kishenji said.

Asked what should be the nature of the apology, Kishenji said without elaborating, “They will have to come to the tribals and apologise.”

Maoist leader may be using dummies: cops
Police are unsure whether the diminutive man in a creased, full-sleeved shirt with a rifle slung from his shoulder and frequently coming on TV with his back to the cameras, is the real Maoist leader Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji.”I cannot say for sure. There are several people who are known as Kishenji. There is also a possibility of existence of dummies,” West Midnapore SP Manoj Kumar Verma told PTI.

... contd.