The Hindu Business Line : AP Govt invites naxal leaders for direct talks on Oct 2

CLOSE on the heels of the meeting of Chief Ministers of nine Naxalite-affected States with the Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, at Hyderabad last week, the Andhra Pradesh Government on Thursday invited naxalite leaders for direct talks on October 2, assuring them of safe passage.

Notwithstanding the hiccups on the arms issue, which the Government now proposes to discuss with the naxal leaders as a part of the agenda during the ensuing direct talks, the State Home Minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy, told newspersons at a press conference that a letter was sent to the People's War emissary, Mr Varavara Rao, inviting the revolutionary groups for directs talks.

Indicating that the talks would be unconditional since the Government agreed to set aside an earlier stipulation that extremists should not carry arms during the talks period, the Minister said, "We have accepted their (PW) proposal and are accordingly proposing to discuss the issue of arms as part of the agenda during the direct talks."

The latest move of the Government is being considered an end to the stalemate over the arms issue. Earlier, several rounds of agenda-setting consultations that the State Government had with the emissaries of naxal groups in the last couple of months ended in a deadlock over the issue of whether the extremists should be allowed to carry weapons or not.

Declining to divulge the contents of the letter sent to the naxals' emissary through a messenger, the Home Minister said, "The Government has expressed its readiness for face-to-face direct talks. All issues would be discussed in the first round of the peace talks, including Clause 7 that relates to the condition that the Naxalites should not carry arms during the period of the talks."

Though the Government desires to hold the talks at the State Secretariat here, the option was also left to the naxal leaders to suggest the venue for the proposed direct talks, the Home Minister said.

On the representatives of both the parties to participate in the direct talks, he said a decision would be announced shortly on the Government representatives. The agenda for the talks would also be decided in the first round of talks.

The Minister insisted that both the parties should maintain restraint during the period of talks and said the Government had, on its part, never lost the restraint till now despite certain incidents like the one at Anantapur on Wednesday where a police constable was beaten up at a Peoples' War meeting. "We expect and request the naxals to reciprocate with similar restraint and not to disturb the talks process," he said.

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AP Govt invites naxal leaders for direct talks on Oct 2