“After they put down their weapons and seek a lasting settlement, we ought to hold peace negotiations. Or it only indicates that they will reorganize during this time. Only when it benefits them do they want to have the conversations.
During a recent visit to Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah delivered a heartfelt appeal to Maoists, calling them “brothers” and urging them to abandon their weapons. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to eliminating Left Wing Extremism by March 2026, stating, “You are part of us. No one rejoices when a Naxal dies.”
Shah’s remarks followed a letter, dated April 2, purportedly from the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), proposing a ceasefire with conditions. Signed by Abhay, the alias of Politburo member Mallojula Venugopal Rao, 69, the letter referenced a peace dialogue held in Hyderabad the previous month. It offered an immediate ceasefire and talks if security forces halted anti-Naxal operations and the establishment of police camps in Chhattisgarh, Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana.
Police officials, however, suspect this is a ploy by the Maoists to regroup. Sundarraj P, Inspector General of Police for Bastar Range, said, “Aligned with the local people’s wishes and the state and Union governments’ intent, we’ve executed a robust plan to end the Naxal threat. The results are evident—we hold the upper hand now. If this Maoist press note is genuine, it seems like a stalling tactic, a move they’ve tried before to gain breathing room. If they’re serious, they should surrender their arms.” He stressed that the government would decide on peace talks.
R K Vij, a former Chhattisgarh DGP and Naxal expert, told The Indian Express this marks the second ceasefire offer from the Maoists, predicting failure unless they abandon armed struggle. “The authenticity of this offer is questionable,” Vij said. “They’ve raised ceasefire talks before, always with conditions, and only when the government initiated dialogue. Their first offer came in 2002 under Chandrababu Naidu’s government in undivided Andhra Pradesh, but talks collapsed—Naidu sought a lasting solution, and the Maoists wouldn’t disarm.”
Past efforts at dialogue have faltered. In 2004, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s Congress government in Andhra Pradesh briefly engaged the Maoists, but the process unraveled over their refusal to disarm during talks. In May 2010, then-Union Home Minister P Chidambaram enlisted human rights activist Swami Agnivesh as a mediator, only for talks to collapse that July after CPI(Maoist) Central Committee member Azad, a key negotiator, was killed in an encounter. The Congress promised peace talks in its 2018 Chhattisgarh manifesto but failed to deliver after winning power. In 2022, state Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu responded to a Maoist letter, insisting talks required no preconditions—demands then included lifting the CPI (Maoist) ban, ending alleged aerial strikes, withdrawing forces, and freeing jailed leaders.
Vij argued, “Peace talks contradict their ideology of seizing power through violence. Agreeing to talks signals defeat of their armed agenda. Talks should follow disarmament for a lasting resolution. Without that, they’ll just use the pause to regroup—they only negotiate when it suits them.” He credited government success to encounters and police camps filling security gaps.
Some civil society voices see peace as a lost cause. Bastar peace activist Shubranshu Choudhary noted, “The letter’s novelty is the Hyderabad meeting claim. It’s their third plea for talks since state Home Minister Vijay Sharma expressed openness last year—though that seems his personal stance, not the party or Centre’s. The government’s path is military.” Since the BJP regained power in Chhattisgarh in December 2023, over 350 Maoists have been killed, including 135 this year. Responding to the latest letter, Sharma said last week, “They mention a ceasefire, but I don’t grasp how talks can proceed with such terms. Neither the Centre nor the state wants to fire a single shot.”
