Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday categorically rejected the proposal of ceasefire made by the Maoists and asserted that extremists will be accepted only if they surrender absolutely and put down their arms.
"Recently, to create confusion, a letter was penned saying that whatever has happened till now was a mistake, that we should declare a ceasefire and we (Naxals) wish to surrender. I want to announce that there will be no ceasefire. If you wish to surrender, there is no requirement of a ceasefire. Surrender your arms, not a single bullet will be fired," Shah announced.
He promised that those who opt to surrender would be accorded a "red carpet welcome" under a "lucrative" rehabilitation policy.
Addressing the valedictory session of a seminar, Naxal Mukt Bharat, the Home Minister also criticized Left parties for supporting Maoist violence ideologically. The Home Minister rejected suggestions that underdevelopment had been the cause of extremism, insisting instead that "red terror" itself had blocked growth and development in most parts of the country for decades.
"I wish to inform you that there will not be any ceasefire. Surrender and you can lay down arms, no single bullet will be fired. A red carpet welcome awaits you if you surrender," he asserted.
Shah made these comments in the wake of a recent ceasefire offer by the CPI (Maoists), in the aftermath of heightened counter-operations by the security forces—including Operation Black Forest along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border—which resulted in the killing of a number of top Maoist leaders.
The minister underlined that eliminating violence itself would not suffice to erase Naxalism from the nation.
"There are so many who feel that halting the Naxal killings is sufficient to finish off Naxalism in India," he said.
Clarifying further, Shah said, "Why did the Naxal issue crop up, expand and grow in the nation? Who gave them ideological patronage? Until Indian society gets to know that, the concept of Naxalism and the individuals in society who gave ideological patronage, legal patronage, and economic patronage, the battle against Naxalism will never cease." He emphasized it was essential to "identify and know those who continue to patronize the Naxal ideology."
Read also| PM Modi At Bihar Scheme Launch: ‘We Should Not Forget The Days When RJD Was In Power’
Read also| Tej Pratap Yadav Reveals Name and Symbol of His Party
