PC renews peace offer to Maoists

Home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday renewed his peace offer to Maoists if they shun violence during peace talks, but warned that the rebels’ objective was to capture power by overthrowing the parliamentary system.

Home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday renewed his peace offer to Maoists if they shun violence during peace talks, but warned that the rebels’ objective was to capture power by overthrowing the parliamentary system.

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He declared in the Lok Sabha: "I make the offer once again. The government is willing to talk.”

Strongly disapproving the civil society organisations, which had "completely misunderstood their (Maoists) goals and objectives”, Chidambaram said, "They (the Maoists) are guided by their own objectives. We are misleading ourselves by misreading their objectives… Are we ready to negotiate on that?"

Detailing the UPA's steps to handle the problem, he said the government had set tougher conditions — including surrender of arms and return of the cadre to the barracks — for rebels in the northeast.

Ahead of the May 5 CMs’ meeting on the National Counter Terrorism Centre, he discounted the fears of the states that their rights would be violated. He said, "Dealing with violence and terrorism is shared responsibility. While we are willing to share our responsibility, we want states to share their responsibility."

Referring to the opposition to the NCTC, Chidambaram said many of the CMs opposing the anti-terror hub had not read the three-page statement issued by him on the issue. For, it clearly said the designated agency would hand over the accused to “the nearest police station immediately”.