HYDERABAD, July 6: Unnerved by the threat posed to them by the outlawed People's War Group (PWG), politicians of various parties, including the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), took up the initiative to find a solution to an issue that threatened their lives. They agreed that Naxalism is basically a socio-economic problem and should not be viewed from a law and order plane.

At the end of a three-hour meeting on Saturday which was convened at the instance of the Congress, the political parties issued a joint appeal to the Naxalites to give up violence and join mainstream politics. They condemned the recent attacks on leaders of political parties and said that violence has no place in a democratic set-up. A broad-based meeting involving various sections of the society will be soon convened for an in-depth discussion on the issue, the leaders announced later at a press conference. The TDP representative declared that the next meeting would be organised by the government itself.

The meeting was spurred by the recent attempt on the life of Medak Congress MP, M Baga Reddy, and the Nizamabad district Congress committee president, Mohd Ali Shabbir. Five Congress activists were killed in the landmine blast by the PWG on July 1,while the MP and the District Congress Committee (DCC) president had a miraculous escape. According to sources, various party representatives were in broad agreement on two aspects: that the Naxalite problem should not be handled just as a law and order problem, but equal emphasis must be given to resolving the socio-economic aspects behind it. Secondly, the ban on the PWG has not helped in any way to curtail the extremist movement.

Those present at the meeting included P Janardhan Reddy, M Kodanda Reddy (Congress); C Ramachandraiah (Telugu Desam); Dasari Nagabhushan Rao (CPI); Nanduri Prasada Rao (CPM); Lakshmi Parvati (NTR-TDP); V Rama Rao and Vidyasagar Rao (BJP) and Amanullah Khan (MBT). Baga Reddy and Shabbir, recent targets of PWG, were also present.

The general opinion was that frequent changes in government policies towards the Naxalites made the problem even more complicated. Excesses by police and their indifferent attitude towards the common man made the poorer sections approach Naxalites for solutions. The Congress representatives and Lakshmi Parvati took the stand that government should maintain law and order. The spurt in violence, particularly attacks on politicians, showed that the government had failed in this task, they said. Former Congress minister K Kesava Rao felt there was no point in branding the Naxalites as anti-social. Admitting it was a socio-economic problem, meant the outfit had public support, he said. Leaders of the CPI and the CPM strongly argued that politicians should stop giving donations to the Naxalite groups. Citing non-distribution of lands as one of the causes for the growth of the movement, they suggested that civil liberties groups and others supporting the Naxalites be invited for the next meeting. The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders said there was need to break the supply of arms to the PWG.

Meanwhile, oblivious to demands made by politicians to give up violence, Naxalites held a high-level meeting in Visakhapatnam on Friday night to discuss ways to counter the attacks made by the police on their cadres. A number of decisions were taken in view of the recent arrest of its central organiser of east division committee B Srinivasa Rao alias Srinu.

It was decided at the meeting that government institutions in the city would be blown up to demonstrate their prowess and six hideouts were also chosen for the purpose. They decided to bring eight of their comrades from Telangana, who are well-trained in handling sophisticated weapons like AK 47s and AK 57s, besides being proficient in landmine operations.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.