Naxal Terror Watch

Naxals not to give up armed struggle

Tuesday, 12 October , 2004, 18:43

Hyderabad: Ahead of their first-ever direct talks with Andhra Pradesh government on October 15, top naxalite leaders ruled out giving up armed struggle and asserted that their goal was to liberate people through revolutionary path. “We have come here to participate in talks on equal terms with a purpose to force the government to address pressing problems of people. We do not believe that the suffering masses can be liberated through negotiations,” the state People’s War Secretary Ramakrishna and other key naxalite leaders told reporters in Hyderabad on Tuesday, a day after surfacing from a 20-year underground life.

On their arrival in the city with police escort, five top Maoist leaders of PW and Janasakthi organisations were put up in a government guest house in the heart of the city and were accorded the status of state guests. While sounding optimistic about the outcome of forthcoming talks, the extremist leaders, who were high on the wanted list of the state police till recently, were unrepentant about their violent path and vowed to continue armed struggle to achieve a larger objective of capturing power and liberating people from the clutches of exploitative, capitalist ruling classes.

“Using Dandakaranya region (which has been declared by naxal groups as a liberated zone) as a lever, we will liberate the people of this country to establish people’s rule. Towards this direction, we are hopeful of uniting all revolutionary parties,” Ramakrishna, a school teacher turned revolutionary said.