The All India Forward Bloc said on Wednesday that the Maoists should give up arms, come for discussion with the governments concerned and join democratic efforts to resolve the problems of the poor and the marginalised.
Party general secretary Debabrata Biswas said here that its recent 16th party congress urged the extreme left activists to surrender their arms and come for discussions. He said Maoists and naxalites who claimed to be fighting for the underprivileged and the down-trodden should realise that violence would only strengthen the reactionary forces, leading to further victimisation of the vulnerable.
“It is imperative to mention here that no democracy can allow the Maoist model of violence and ‘liberation’ of administered zones,” the party said in its document. It asserted that it was against the methods the Maoists adopted to find solutions to people’s grievances.
On the political front, it said there was a need to bring about a change in the Left parties’ approach to dealing with issues, especially in West Bengal. Stressing on the need to overhaul the functioning of the Left parties, the AIFB general secretary said that besides carrying out land reforms and decentralising power, the Left Front failed to move forward in West Bengal.
Referring to the electoral setbacks, the document said that the Left parties should correct its mistakes and launch people’s movement. It must contest the coming elections united irrespective of the results. The party viewed the defeats as a temporary setback, providing an opportunity to each party in the Left to conduct self-introspection.
Mr. Biswas said the party had decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in a big way by organising an exhibition of his rare photographs at various places in the country. He urged the Centre to declare January 23 “Desh Prem Diwas” (Love for the Country Day) and include Netaji’s contribution and life history in school and college curriculum.
