By IANS,
New Delhi : The opposition Thursday tore into a “divided” United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over its handling of the Maoist menace, and Home Minister P. Chidambaram, answering the criticism, reiterated his dialogue offer to the rebels.
He also said state governments have the primary responsibility of combating Leftist insurgency.
Chidambaram’s remarks followed a heated debate in the two houses of parliament on Leftwing extremism and the government’s policies to fight the guerrillas – and came two weeks after Maoists massacred 76 security personnel in Chhattisgarh April 6. The debate took place on the first day of
parliament’s resumed budget session after a month-long recess.
The home minister said as far the Congress was concerned, “our policy is very clear” and referred to a party resolution that “urges the government to
give the highest priority to curb Naxalism but underlines the social economic policies as well”.
“It doesn’t close the possibility of the dialogue… The doors of dialogue are always open,” he said.
Chidambaram said paramilitary forces have been sent to the affected states to help the state governments in anti-insurgency operations and “regain control of areas dominated by Naxalites (Maoists), restore the civil administration and re-start development work”.
“The state governments, therefore, have the primary responsibility,” he said, reading the same statement he tabled in the Rajya Sabha.
He said the Dantewada attack should make us “more determined” to fight Maoists and “more compassionate” for the development of poor.
The home minister stressed that anti-Maoist operations were being carried out with the policy agreed by chief ministers of the affected states.
“We should stay calm, hold our nerve and stay the course,” he said.
The home minister said the government has ordered a full-fledged probe into the massacre. “The preliminary investigation has confirmed my first reaction that something went wrong,” he said, refusing to divulge details and promised to “come back to the house and share the conclusion” of the probe report to be submitted by April 24-25.
Chidambaram said the government had offered talks with the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maosit) and hoped there would be a sincere response to “the only condition – that the CPI- Maoist must abjure violence”.
The issue earlier rocked the Lok Sabha with repeated adjournments amid unpleasant scenes. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Congress accused each other of using Maoist guerrillas for electoral gains.
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, a former finance minister, initiated the debate in the lower house and assured the government of the party’s full support in its war against the extremists.
But he went on to lambast the government on its tackling of the Maoist problem, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the “greatest threat” to India’s internal security.
Sinha said the Congress used Maoists for political gains in some states and sent a “wrong signal” that the government was “ready to compromise on terrorism”.
“You forged an alliance with Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh for electoral benefits,” he accused.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal reacted sharply and said the BJP leader had forgotten the relationship his party has with Maoists in Chhattisgarh. “He (Sinha) doesn’t know what relationship his party has with Maoists. He has forgotten that.”
Speaker Meira Kumar objected to the hurling of allegations during a discussion on “a tragedy which has saddened all of us”.
“This is not the debate where allegations should be leveled. All parties should put their heads together and see how we can eliminate such incidents.”
At least 30 MPs, including Lalu Prasad, Sharad Yadav, Basudeb Acharia, Mulayam Singh Yadav, spoke in the nearly seven-hour debate in the Lok Sabha.
In the Rajya Sabha, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said: “This battle the country cannot lose. This battle (needs) to go on.”
Maoism, he added, needed “to be eradicated”.
Terming the Maoist threat as alarming, the BJP leader said the entire opposition was backing the government in its campaign against the Maoists.
“The country wants to speak in one language… but we do not need a divided government.”
Quoting Chidambaram, he said the home minister spoke about a “strong head, strong heart and enormous staying power” to fight the guerrillas.
“We agree with you. But what we don’t need is a divided government. We don’t want half a Maoist in the treasury benches,” he said, referring to criticism by some Congress leaders of the home minister’s tackling of the Maoist problem.