PC snubs TMC, blames Naxals
Home minister, P. Chidambaram on Monday virtually rebuffed the Trinamul Congress by making it clear that reports indicate that the derailment of the Gyaneswari Express at Jhargram in West Bengal was carried out by the Maoists or linked organisations. The Trinamul leaders have been indicating that the blast was the handiwork of the CPI(M) cadres and not Maoists. The Trinamul MP from West Bengal, Mr Kalyan Banerjee on Sunday flayed the Director General Of Police, Bengal, Mr Bhupinder Singh, by calling him a “fool” for holding the Maoists responsible for the derailment. the Trinamul supremo had also indicated that this could be done by some of her “political enemies.”
However, speaking on Monday, the home minister said: “The needle of suspicion points to Maoists or frontal organisations of CPI Maoists.” “However, the identity of the culprit can be established only in the investigations,” he added. The home minister said that there is no confusion in the Congress party on dealing with Maoists. He also maintained that there will be no change in the Centre’s approach of holding talks with the Maoists only if they “abjure violence”. He also indicated a review of the Centre’s anti-Naxal strategy. “I am told the meeting of CCS is scheduled shortly,” the home minister said when asked whether the government was planning to revisit the ongoing anti-Naxal operational strategy in the wake of increasing Maoist violence targeting civilians and security forces.
Asked whether the home ministry’s stand on Naxals will be diluted following the inclusion of some human rights activists in the newly-constituted National Advisory Council, he said, “There is no stand of the home ministry. There is a policy of the government of India.”
To a question on whether Swami Agnivesh could act as a mediator for talks between the Centre and the Maoists, Mr Chidambaram said that he had written a letter to the social activist which spells the broad parameters for the government to hold talks with the Maoists.
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