Amit Shah rejects ceasefire offer from Naxals
The Union Home Minister rules out talks, offers rehabilitation for those who lay down arms, and blames ideological backers for sustaining Left-Wing Extremism
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (September 28) rejected the ceasefire offer given by Maoists, saying if the extremists wanted to surrender and lay down arms, they were most welcome to do so, and security forces would not fire a single bullet at them.
“Recently, to spread confusion, a letter was written stating that what had happened so far was a mistake, that a ceasefire should be declared, and that we (Naxals) want to surrender. I want to say there would be no ceasefire. If you want to surrender, there is no need for a ceasefire. Lay down your arms, not a single bullet will be fired,” Shah said.
He said if the Naxals wanted to surrender, a red-carpet welcome would await them with a "lucrative" rehabilitation policy.
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Naxal Mukt Bharat
Amit Shah said this in response to the ceasefire offer given by the CPI (Maoists) sometime back, following the intensified operations carried out by security forces, including “Operation Black Forest” along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, in which several top Naxals were eliminated.
Addressing the valedictory session of a seminar on 'Naxal Mukt Bharat', Shah also hit out at Left parties for extending ideological support to Left-Wing Extremism. Shah dismissed their arguments that a lack of development led to Maoist violence. He said it was due to the "red terror" that development could not reach many parts of the country for several decades.
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"Why did the Naxal problem arise, grow and develop in the country? Who provided them with ideological support? Until Indian society understands this, the idea of Naxalism and the people in society who provide ideological, legal, and financial support, the fight against Naxalism would not end," he said, adding, "We must identify and understand those who continue to nurture the Naxal ideology."
(With agency inputs)