'Join to make changes'
PM asked Maoist guerrillas to join the democratic process to rectify wrongs within the system.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday called on Maoist guerrillas to give up arms and join India's democratic mainstream to rectify wrongs that they find within the existing system.
"If they (Maoists) want to change the system then they should join the democratic system and form a government of their choice," Vajpayee said at an election rally here, 40 km from state capital Ranchi.
"They are not doing a brave job by targeting policemen and innocent people and blowing them up in landmine blasts. They should rethink what they are doing," Vajpayee said.
Last week, 29 policemen were killed in a landmine blast triggered by the rebels in Saranda jungle of Chaibasa district of this guerrilla-infested state.
Vajpayee announced the government would bear the educational expenditure of the children of the slain policemen.
Addressing the demand for creating employment for youths who take recourse to violence due to dejection, he said: "It is not possible to create government jobs for everyone. Youths should work for self-employment. There are several avenues where youths can earn money."
Vajpayee also tried to score a point on the India-Pakistan bonhomie by saying,
"Now instead of bullets, cricket balls are rolling on the ground...now the situation has changed and peace is the present truth.
"We were spending lots of money for weapons when there was tension with our neighbour. Now the funds have been diverted for development".
In a bid to strike a chord among the predominantly tribal voters, Vajpayee said: "My government wants the people living in forest areas to get land rights. We are planning to move the Supreme Court to ensure that land rights are given to people living in forest areas".
Coming down heavily on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said, "Sonia Gandhi should not have termed as a joke the creation of Jharkhand as it is an insult of the people of the state."
On Sunday, Gandhi had charged the government with failing to come up to the expectation of the people and deceiving them by creating the new state.