Talks with Maoists if they suspend violence: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday made a fresh offer to hold talks with Naxals if they "suspend" violence even for just 72 hours, a day after Maoists unleashed another attack in Chattisgarh.

"Maoists should say 'We will abjure violence. We will suspend violence and actually suspend violence for 72 hours'. We will get the chief ministers on board. We will respond. We will fix a date, time and place for talks and let the Maoists come for the talks on anything they wish to talk," Chidambaram said. Maoists blew up a bus killing at least 44 people near Dantewada on Monday.

Chidambaram said CPI(Maoist) never responded "seriously" to the offer of talks. "They are indulging in gimmickry I am afraid media plays up that gimmick," he said. Asked whether government forces will also halt all operations against them during the period of ceasefire, the home minister responded, "That goes without saying".

Chidambaram said "if they observe complete suspension of violence for just 72 hours, it goes without saying that police will not take any action against any CPI(Maoist) activist, hideouts or camps."

He said complete suspension means there should not be any attack on infrastructure, any landmine blast or any targeting of telephone towers. On the issue of Hindu extremists, the Home Minister said there are evidence pointing to various groups which are supported by extreme right Hindu fundamentalist group.

"Don't call Hindu terrorist. A terrorist is a terrorist. Except in this case, the terrorist subscribe to extreme fundamentalist Hindu philosophy. We feel that there are evidence to the Ajmer Blast, Mecca Masjid Blast and investigating agencies are closely following the trail that we have stumbled upon or discovered," he said.

The Home Minister said investigation alone will show whether the dots are being rightly connected to that one organisation or to different organizations working in coordination.