Surrendered Maoists to seek lifting of ban on outfit

Senior surrendered CPI (Maoist) leader Tippiri Tirupati, alias Devji, said he plans to urge Union Home Minister Amit Shah to lift the ban on the outfit to enable it to take up people-related issues legally and openly.

"We (surrendered Maoists) are thinking of sending an application to Amit Shah ji on issues, including lifting the ban on the party (CPI-Maoist)," Tirupati told PTI.

He said he and other surrendered colleagues would like to work legally and openly on issues affecting people.

Tirupati and other surrendered leaders recently met Telangana Director General of Police C V Anand and requested that police not impose restrictions on their movements if they organise activities such as small meetings or meetings with families of deceased Maoists, according to Tirupati.

He acknowledged a possibility of the group being viewed with suspicion but said they would not indulge in any illegal, secret or armed activities. The DGP's response to their request was positive, Tirupati said.

He said the group would look to begin work on people's issues at a later stage, as they are still in the process of meeting old associates.

Their planned activities would not resemble those of a typical political party operating within the parliamentary form of democracy, he said, adding that in his view, any platform working on people's issues constitutes a political party.

Tirupati said he and his colleagues would prefer to work under the banner of CPI (Maoist) if the ban is lifted, since the organisation already exists.

Tirupati, a top Maoist commander and key strategist of the banned outfit, surrendered before the Telangana police in February this year after spending more than four decades underground. A Central Committee member and politburo member of the proscribed organisation, he surrendered alongside fellow Central Committee member Malla Raji Reddy.

At the time, Tirupati had said he was giving up his underground life due to health issues and vowed to continue his political work within the "legal framework."

"Due to health reasons, I have decided to give up my underground life and join the mainstream. I will continue to work on people's problems within the legal framework, guided by the philosophy I believe in," he had said then.

Responding earlier to the demand by surrendered Maoists that the Centre lift the ban on CPI (Maoist) to allow them to work with people, a senior Telangana police official questioned how the organisation could be involved if former members sought to work independently with the public, saying they could instead carry out their activities within the legal framework.

(Inputs from PTI)