NEW DELHI: India’s Maoist insurgents, cornered by an all-out military offensive, have offered to engage in peace talks but insist security operations must stop first, a condition authorities have rejected.
A crackdown by Indian troops has killed more than 400 rebels since last year, according to government data, with Home Minister Amit Shah vowing to crush the decades-long insurgency by 2026.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in the decades-long “Naxalite” rebellion, whose participants say they are fighting for the rights of marginalised people in India’s resource-rich central regions.
The Maoists’ top body said it was ready for dialogue if the government withdrew security forces and halted the ongoing offensive.
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“In the interests of the people, our party is always ready for peace talks,” said the statement.
It urged rights activists to “pressure the government to create an environment for peace talks”.
The statement from the forest fighters, issued in Telugu language and dated March 28, only prompted an official response on Wednesday.
Officials in the state of Chhattisgarh, the heartland of the rebellion, said the government was open to talks but would not accept any conditions from the insurgents.
“We will not negotiate under pressure, and operations will continue,” the state’s interior minister Vijay Sharma told reporters.
Sharma said that there was already a rehabilitation policy in place for Maoists who surrendered.
“The state and central governments want a peaceful resolution, but the Maoists should take the initiative,” Sharma said.
“If they truly want peace, they should make use of the policy and return to the mainstream,” he added.
The Maoists demand land, jobs and a share of the region’s immense natural resources.
They made inroads in a number of remote communities across India’s east and south, and the movement gained in strength and numbers in the 2000s.
At its peak, the rebels had an estimated strength of 15,000-20,000 fighters.
New Delhi then deployed tens of thousands of troops in a stretch of territory known as the “Red Corridor”.
The insurgency is a shadow of its former self after years of counterinsurgency operations.
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