- Dec 6, 2009
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NEW DELHI A top Maoist guerrilla leader in India has offered a cease-fire and talks with the government if it calls off a crackdown against the rebels. The government said it would consider the offer, but wants it in writing.
The offer made late Monday by Kishenji, a senior Maoist leader in eastern India, came days after the rebels killed 24 police in a brazen attack on a security camp in West Bengal state.
"Our revolutionary violence will stay on hold for as long as state terror is put on hold," Kishenji said in a statement to NDTV in the eastern state of Orissa.
The rebels, who have tapped into the rural poor's growing anger at being left out of the country's economic gains, are now present in 20 of the country's 28 states and have an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 fighters.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called them, "India's biggest internal security threat."
Some local governments in central and eastern India are unable to function because of rebel attacks.
Maoist rebel offers cease-fire, talks with India - Yahoo! News
The offer made late Monday by Kishenji, a senior Maoist leader in eastern India, came days after the rebels killed 24 police in a brazen attack on a security camp in West Bengal state.
"Our revolutionary violence will stay on hold for as long as state terror is put on hold," Kishenji said in a statement to NDTV in the eastern state of Orissa.
The rebels, who have tapped into the rural poor's growing anger at being left out of the country's economic gains, are now present in 20 of the country's 28 states and have an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 fighters.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called them, "India's biggest internal security threat."
Some local governments in central and eastern India are unable to function because of rebel attacks.
Maoist rebel offers cease-fire, talks with India - Yahoo! News
