[Dialogue is the salt of democracy. Blood lust is its antithesis. So any effort at dialogue deserves to be welcomed.
But dialogue between two warring parties - an armed state, even if "democratic", and insurgents out to capture state power through armed violence - is not an easy one. As the state has far superior armed power and other resources at its command as compared to the insurgents exclusively confined to some most backward hinterlands, it can and does, at times, exhibit far greater self-confidence. Things are far more difficult for the insurgents. For them intransigence is their raison detre. And "dialogue" with the "enemy" could very well rob them of the very essence of their being. In that sense dialogue is often seen as defeat and death, worse than physical death. Yet, at times, even they make "tactical" concessions. So things are admittedly difficult. As Sujato Bhadra, a leading figure of the APDR - for decades fighting for the democratic rights of the Maoists in West Bengal, and of course others, and yet having rather tense relationship - has rather candidly confessed. Hargopal, elder brother of Balagopal, perhaps stands closest to the Maoists. At the other end of the spectrum is B G Vergese, a veteran and influential journalist of some repute. The Delhi Policy Group itself, the initiator of the process, is understandably pretty close to the establishment. Still, hope springs eternal in human heart.] http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/effortsto-initiate-dialoguenaxals/379949/ <http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/effortsto-initiate-dialoguenaxals/379949/> Efforts on to initiate dialogue with Naxals Rajat Roy / Kolkata December 18, 2009, 0:40 IST While an operation is on to destroy the infrastructure of the Naxalites in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa, a move is also being initiated for a dialogue. >From tomorrow, a two-day session will be held at Delhi with some human rights activists to chalk out the talking points before the Naxalites are approached formally. Though the meeting is being held under the aegis of a newly formed Delhi Policy Study Group, it appears to have the Union home ministry’s blessings. The meeting will be chaired by veteran journalist B G Vergese and attended by noted Gandhian Himangshu Kumar from Chhattisgarh, activist and social scientist Radha Kumar, Haragopal from Andhra, Shankar Sharma from Jharkhand, Sujato Bhadra from West Bengal and some other known activists. According to Bhadra, the agenda is to evolve a strategy for starting a dialogue with the Naxalites (CPI-Maoist). Once the major talking points are agreed, the body will approach the Naxals. The main problem is that they have been waging a war against the state, notes Bhadra. Unlike the ULFA in Assam, where the main contentious issue was their demand for sovereignty, here the situation is complicated. If an outfit is determined to overthrow the elected political power and capture state power by armed process, how could one initiate a dialogue with that? Bhadra argues, “So, perhaps at the initial stage we will have to make them agree to reduction of violence. If they agree to stop the indiscriminate killings of people (both security personnel and ordinary villagers), then we can ask the government to suspend Operation Green Hunt (the supposed term for the official offensive) for the time being.” Another concern is to make the Naxals agree to some formula whereby state-sponsored development works could be started in the areas under their influence. The idea is to make the Naxals understand that the continued attempt to resist all pro-poor development work in tribal areas would ultimately alienate them from the poor. Once the Naxals are agreed on certain points, then a monitoring mechanism would have to watch how things are taking shape and another mechanism for regular meetings between the state and the Naxals to sort disputes in these areas. Bhadra agrees that much will depend on how the Naxalites respond to these initial attempts. It is possible that some representatives of the Centre will also attend the Delhi meeting. -- Peace Is Doable -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
