Two former Maoists who were underground have responded to the State government’s revised Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy for Left Wing Extremists.
Noor Zulfikar alias Sridhar and Sirimane Nagaraj, leaders of the Revolutionary Communist Party, have welcomed the new policy, which, has for the first time included civil society members in the State-level committee to oversee its implementation.
However, in a press release, the two leaders have criticised the policy saying that it still focused on rehabilitating Maoists who surrender for personal reasons.
The policy does not address those who had genuine ideological differences with the movement and wished to join the democratic mainstream, they said.
At a press conference in December 2013, Mr. Zulfikar had said that the armed struggle was not the answer and that there was still space left for a democratic struggle.
The two leaders have now appealed to the government to include “facilitation of return of Left-wing extremists into democratic mainstream” as one of the objectives of the policy.
They have said that the policy in its present form mandated those who surrendered to disclose information of their associates , which, they termed, was a “betrayal” for the movement. Mr. Zulfikar said that though they were prepared to join the mainstream, they still held the ideals of revolution dear.
“The problem with the policy is that it asks us to surrender to the rule of law and also to surrender our political opinions, which is unacceptable,” he said.
The two have said that they did not want any rehabilitation benefits offered by the policy.
