Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday reiterated that talks could take place with Maoists but only if they express faith in the Constitution.
“We are ready for talks at any platform but first the Maoists must show trust on Indian Constitution’’, Baghel said while talking to reporters in Surajpur district on Saturday.
Our government has won hearts of tribals with execution of welfare schemes on the ground and now they are demanding to build roads and open camps. With successful implementation of welfare schemes the Maoists are now confined to small pockets in Bastar’’, Baghel added.
Earlier, the outlawed Communist Party of India - Maoists (CPI-M) showed willingness to hold peace talks with the Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh conditionally. The conditions include release of their jailed leaders and withdrawal of security forces from strife-torn areas.
In a statement purportedly issued by Maoists and circulated on social media since Friday, the outlaw, however, questioned the Chief Minister’s “double standards” saying that on the one hand he offers to hold talks, while the other hand air strike is allegedly being conducted in Bastar.
The CM should clarify who gave permission for the recent aerial strike, the Maoists asked.
The two-page statement was issued in the name of Vikalp, a spokesperson of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of outlawed Maoists, which had been instrumental in executing several deadly attacks in south Bastar, including the Jhiram valley attack in Bastar district on May 2013, in which several Congress leaders were killed.
Referring to the Chief Minister’s statement about the Constitution, the banned outfit said the governments have been violating the constitutional rights of the people.
The governments have been violating rights bestowed on gram sabha under PESA (Panchayat (Extension of the Scheduled Areas) Act) and Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, it claimed.
“Our response to the talk offered by the CM is that we are always ready to hold a dialogue on the condition that the government creates a conductive environment for it,” it said.
The conditions set by Maoists for talks include withdrawal of ban on the party and its frontal organizations, opportunity to work freely, stopping aerial strike, removal of security forces’ camps, withdrawal of forces from strife-torn areas, and release of their jailed leaders for talks, the statement said.
Last month, the ultras had claimed that security forces had conducted airstrikes using drones to target their hideouts in South Bastar, a charge denied by Bastar police.
Bastar range police in a statement had claimed that Maoist allegations were part of the propaganda by Maoist leadership to mislead the local population with an unrealistic hope to regain their lost ground in Dandakaranya region.