CHHATTISGARH: A SHOT AT PEACE

CAN THE STATE BE PERSUADED TO HOLD TALKS WITH MAOISTS WHEN IT FINALLY HAS THE UPPER HAND?

- Rahul Noronha

Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh, a state severely affected by the left-wing extremist movement, goes back decades. According to the ministry of home affairs, nearly 12,000 people have been killed in Maoist violence in the country over the past 20 years—2,700 security personnel and 9,300 civilians, who lost their lives in crossfire or were killed by Maoists for being ‘police informers’. While reports suggest that Naxal violence is on the decline, civil society groups believe the government would err to count on a tenuous peace and must engage the Maoist central leadership in a dialogue. To this end, a state-level committee, consisting of 11 politicians, social workers and journalists, has come into being to try and broker peace between the two parties. Those behind the Concerned Citizens’ Committee of Chhattisgarh (4Cs), the first such attempt in the state, are hopeful of a resolution, but the task ahead is anything but easy, given that both parties seem keen on a fight to the finish.