WB Govt should suspend operations and hold talks:Maoist leader

Kolkata, Jun 20 (PTI) Maoist leader Koteswar Rao on
Saturday said the government in India's eastern state of West
Bengal should stop the police operation in Lalgarh and hold
talks with the people to find a solution to their problems.

"If the Left Front government wants to have discussion
with the people of Lalgarh, the operation by the police and
security forces against them should end by this afternoon,"
Rao, a politburo member of the Communist Party of India
(CPI-Maoist), told a TV channel.

"Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should come to
Dalilpur Chak (a place near Lalgarh) and talk to the people.
Many of the demands can be met through discussion," Rao, also
known as Kishenji, said.

Referring to the ongoing joint operation by the state
police and the para-military forces, he advised the Left Front
government "not to dance to the tune of the Prime Minister or
the Union Home Minister".

"If the CPI(M)-led government does not want any
bloodshed, it should take a stand on its own," Kishenji said.

Though there was speculation that Kishenji had left
for Jharkhand, he claimed that he was present in Lalgarh.

Kishenji said that Friday night's landmine blast at
Pirakata bazar was triggered after the people in many villages
sent him messages advising that they should not wait any
further and strike at the forces.

Asked how the Maoists would resist the security
forces, he replied, "I cannot say right now."

The Peoples' Committee against Police Atrocities
(PCPA) had made several demands which needed to be looked
into, he said, underlining that they should not be rigid on
the demand that the police would have to apologise for
"atrocities against the people". PTI PKC
SKT
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