Government orders ceasefire to encourage Naxals to surrender

Government orders ceasefire to encourage Naxals to surrender

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Sep 19, 2012: The state government has called for a cease fire in a bid to encourage Naxalites to surrender. Since this order came when the Anti Naxal Force (ANF) had cornered some of the Naxal groups and was trying to find out Naxal bases in Shringeri in Chikmagalur and Shankaranarayana – Hebri in Udupi, government circles are wondering if it is a sensible move. 

Sympathizers of Naxals, however, are happy about the cease fire. The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has expressed its opinion that Naxals belong to Karnataka and are bonafide citizens of this country although they might have been misled by ideologies foreign to this country. The PUCL feels that the government has given them an opportunity to surrender and return to the mainstream by calling for a cease fire. 

Former Naxal activist Krishna said that the government’s surrender package for Naxals has done a lot of good for former Naxals like him. Stating that he had surrendered early this year, he said that the government gave him 2 acres of land in Shimoga, enabling him to start a business. He said that he is happy that he surrendered. 

Government officials, however, feel that Naxals ought to undergo some punishment even if they surrender as they stand guilty of organizing armed movement against the nation, threatening innocent tribes and farmers, and misleading the youth. 

Speaking on this issue, SP Abhishek Goyal said that Naxals must face punishment for their crimes against the country although the government can make the punishment lighter in order to encourage them to return to the mainstream. 

ANF sources said that they got information regarding camps and routes used by Naxals during their combing operations in Subramanya. Since they had to stop combing operation on Saturday, the ANF has lost track of them. However, the ANF is confident against coming across them again. 

The ANF said that Karnataka has around 35 – 40 Naxals divided into four groups, and the most active of them, under the leadership of Vikram Gowda, operates from the borders of Udupi and Chikmagalur. 

The ANF and the police hope that the cease fire order will encourage some of them to surrender. According to the cease fire norms, Naxals have one week within which they have to surrender, and if they do not surrender, the ANF will continue its combing operation.