Activists ask state to end war with Maoists and create conditions for talks

BANGALORE: Several Human Rights groups urged the government, on Thursday, to bring
an end to the war against the Maoists which they said along with the Naxal insurgency cost
the lives of innocent people, and create conditions for talks.

The activists belonging to People's Union for Civil Liberties(PUCL-K), People's Democratic
Forum(PDF), South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring(SICHREM),
Human Rights Law Network(HRLN) etc appealed to the government to allay the fears of the
Maoists so that they can come forward for talks.

''They have been asked by the government to lay down arms and come forward for talks
when their obvious fear is that they can be prosecuted and even tortured'',said Mathews
Philip, of SICHREM. ''Whenever human rights activists have made such a demand from the
government they have been branded as Naxal sympathisers'', he said, and pointed out the
recent case of police action being initiated against a journalist of a regional language daily
who had interviewed some Maoists. He also said he was disgusted with some sections in the
mainstream media for coming out with statements like ''we should not think of collateral
damage in fighting the Maoists''. He said it was easy for journalists leading safe lives to say
such things.

''This war has been seen as state vs Maoists and as a result the rights of the 'adivashis'
especially the forest dwellers are getting sidelined'', said Ramdas Rao of PUCL. He alleged
that the real agenda behind this 'militarisation' was the promotion of the interests of the
''mining mafia with whom the government had signed so many MoUs worth so many
crores''.