Maoist rebels in India are suspending their armed struggle and are ready for talks, they said in a statement, although authorities yesterday said that they were still verifying its authenticity.
New Delhi has launched an all-out offensive to crush the decades-long conflict, vowing to wipe out the Maoist rebellion by March next year, with recent fighting concentrated in the battleground state of Chhattisgarh.
The rebels have offered to engage in talks before, including in February when they called for a ceasefire — an offer rejected by authorities.
Photo: AFP
In a statement issued on Tuesday to reporters — via intermediaries who have handled Maoist proclamations before — the Communist Party of India (Maoist) said it would suspend its fight.
“We are ready to start dialogue,” the letter read, adding that the group had decided “to suspend armed struggle.”
The rebels rarely issue statements directly via e-mail or messaging apps, as they fear being tracked by the security forces.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said that authorities were still examining the statement, which was dated Aug. 15.
“Only after the authenticity of the letter is verified, a decision will be taken,” Sharma told reporters.
The Maoist statement said that the group had shifted its position due to the “changed world order and national situation, and because of the continuous appeals” from New Delhi.
India is waging an intense campaign against the last remnants of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the Himalayan foothills where the Maoist-inspired insurgency began nearly six decades ago.
More than 12,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed since a handful of villagers rose against their feudal landlords in 1967.
The rebel spokesman, Abhay, who uses only one name, said in the statement that the group was “committed” to peace initiatives.
In the past few months, the government has repeatedly warned that it intends to stamp out the Maoists.
On Monday, security forces killed a senior commander, who had a bounty on his head of about US$113,000.
The group’s chief, Nambala Keshav Rao, known as Basavaraju, was killed in May along with 26 guerrillas during a firefight with government troops.
At its peak in the mid-2000s, the movement counted 15,000 to 20,000 fighters and controlled nearly one-third of India, but the rebellion has been dramatically weakened in the past few years.
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