Maoists are cowards, war will be long drawn: Chidambaram (Second Lead)

LALGARH - Maoist guerrillas are cowards as they hide in the forests and the campaign against them will be long drawn, Home Minister P. Chidamabaram said in this rebel bastion Sunday.

The minister also urged people in the area not to support the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), which the government says is posing the biggest internal security threat to the country.

“They (Maoists) are cowards,” Chidamabaram told reporters here in West Midnapore district after a three-hour tour of an area where the guerrillas hold sway. “Why are they hiding in forests? If they really want development, they can just come forward for talks.”

The minister said the only condition the government had put forward for talks to take place is that the guerrillas should shun violence, which has left hundreds dead in recent years.

He said the record of the security forces against the Maoists in various parts of the country was mixed.

“There has been improvement in Chhattishgarh and certainly in Andhra Pradesh. There is concern over the situation in Orissa and Jharkhand,” the minister said.

“But its a long-drawn struggle. It will take two-three years time.

He said he had mixed feelings about the situation in West Bengal, where the Maoist movement originated in 1967 before spreading to the rest of the country.

“There are good points and weak points. The record has to improve,” he said. “The good point is the central and state security forces have been able to arrest a number of people. The weak point is that the Naxalites (Maoists) are still getting away by killing people.”

The minister, the spearhead of the government’s nationwide anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, said he had noted the weak points of the crackdown in Lalgarh. Some mistakes they have to rectify.”

Chidambaram arrived here in a Border Security Force (BSF) helicopter from Kolkata and was driven in a bullet-proof car to the Lalgarh police station. He interacted with villagers and visited a primary health centre.

Later, he flew to Midnapore town for a luncheon meeting with police and other officials engaged in fighting the Maoists in West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura districts.

He said the villagers knew the Naxalites cannot bring development.

They understand the difference between the government and the Naxalites.

My appeal to them is if the government is ineffective, we will make the government effective. The solution does not lie in helping Naxalites. They should not extend material or moral support to them.

He said the government was also open to discussions with the Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) to discuss “police atrocities”.

But he criticised the PCAPA for helping the Maoists. Why is PCAPA acting like a front organisation of Naxalites? What have they got to do with the Naxalites? Its a great mistake they are making.

Asked about the Maoist strategy, Chidambaram said: They are perhaps regrouping. We have to be vigilant.

He ruled out involving the military to flush out the Maoists. Only the central paramilitary forces and state armed policemen are being deployed.

He said these forces would not be withdrawn.