Top Maoist leaders Nikhil & Indu surrender with their 13 associates before police: Red rebels’ last breathe in Rayagada
Dr.Badal Tah,Odishabarta
Associate,editor
Rayagada, February 6: Last Monday, top Maoist leaders Nikhil and Indu, carrying Rs.1.1 crores, issued an open letter to the Home Department of Government of Odisha, stating that they will surrender on four conditions.
As the government has budged to these demands, which the red rebels term as democratic, Nikhil and all thirteen 13 cadres belonging to Basadhara-Nagavali-Ghumusar division have surrendered last Friday.
The Maoist letter issued to the media stated that they will surrender to the Odisha police if the democratic conditions are met.
The letter being signed by CPI (Maoist) State Committee members Nikhil alias Niranjan Raut, Indu alias Ankita, Rashmita Lenka. stated that they would abandon the path of armed struggle and work in a democratic manner according to the Indian Constitution.
“Due to the struggle under the leadership of our party for the past three and a half decades, there have been and are still many changes in the political, economic, social, cultural and geographical situation in the country. In the changed situation, the path of armed struggle is not correct and this path will not benefit the revolutionary movement. Instead of increasing public participation, that is distancing from the people and increasing human & material losses. Due to the bigoted ideology of the party, appropriate decisions are not taken at right time. In this situation, we will surrender by trusting the state government. We will call on the rest of our comrades to return to the constitutional path and surrender. For this, we have put forward four demands to the state government”, mentioned the press release.
The first demand is that they will work for the rights of the exploited and oppressed classes of the country, workers, farmers, and water-land-forest rights within democratic and legal limits.
They should be given the opportunity to work without imposing restrictions on this. The second demand is that after surrendering, they should not be involved in any anti-Maoist armed campaign or anti-people work. The third is that Azad, Sabyasachi Panda, who left the Maoist organization and surrendered, have been kept in jail for many years. They should be released. Fourth demand mentions that the state government should fully implement the surrender policy and the promise it has made in the case of surrendered Maoists.
The release mentioned that in various parts of the state, there was undemocratic suppression on the movement for water, land, forest, soil and environmental protection, constitutional rights. It is alleged that this is indirectly encouraging armed conflict.
It seems there is a leadership crisis in this ultra left group. Community support to the extremist activities is also shrinking. There is deficit of food, medicines and other essential items adding to extreme hardship in the jungle. Ultimatum to the Maoists by Government of India to surrender and mainstream by 31st March or else face the pinch has a ripple effect. As the boardering districts like Koraput and Boudh are declared Maoists free by Government, this has created an impact leading to surrender en masse. Reliable source mentions that there will be further surrender of rest of the cadres very soon.
