Agnivesh wants an inquiry into Maoist Azad's death
New Delhi:Social activist and an interlocutor of the Centre on the Maoist matter, Swami Agnivesh, and renowned judge V. R. Krishna Iyer have indicated that there is a need for dialogue between the Maoists and the Government. Incidents such as laying landmines on railway tracks, threatening
villagers and attacking political offices by the Maoists have increased recently.
The Central Government has encouraged Agnivesh to function as a mediator to initiate
peace talks with the Maoists. On Thursday, Agnivesh said that there has been no
inquiry into the killing of Azad, a top Maoist leader in Andhra Pradesh. He also
said that the General Secretary of the banned Communist Party of India - Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) outfit, Ganpati, is ready to have talks with the Government only
after would a judicial inquiry into the killing of their "chief". "Ganpati, the
secretary general of CPI Maoist in his interview has demanded a judicial inquiry
and said just announcement of judicial inquiry is enough for us to join you for
the peace process. That's what he has told to the government of India," said Agnivesh.
"It is high time that the Government of India orders a judicial inquiry and invites
the CPI-Maoist leaders for peace talks. So this is, I think, the minimum that
the government of India should be doing is to order a high-level impartial, judicial
inquiry into the encounter killing of Azad," he added. Iyer said that peace is
the only way of maintaining harmony in the country and any movement towards peace
is welcome. "I do not support terrorism in this country at all because I stand
for anti-terrorist movement because we want stability, we want peace, so that
we can have development. There cannot be development if there is no peace. Therefore,
any measure which would induce or promote peace in our country is welcome," said
Iyer. Agnivesh also said that he had approached the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and also the
Home Minister P. Chidambaram and pressed the need for an inquiry into the killing
of Azad since July but no step has been taken.
