The co-petitioners of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition before the Supreme Court have expressed shock and horror over Monday's blasting of a bus by Maoists in Chhattisgarh in which innocent civilians were killed.
“We condemn such senseless and inhuman violence and those responsible for it. Violence has no place in a democracy and those who adopt violent means to express themselves cannot and should not be condoned in any manner whatsoever. We convey our sympathy to the families of all those whose lives have been lost in this ghastly incident,” Nandini Sundar, E.A.S. Sarma and Ramachandra Guha said in a statement here on Tuesday.
They said it was unfortunate that innocent tribals and civilians were caught in the ongoing violence in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh and other parts of eastern and central India. “We reiterate our consistent plea to the government to reach out to the tribals and the other local communities in these areas through tangible confidence-building measures, including the announcement and implementation of a policy that recognises the constitutional rights of the tribals in the notified areas,” they said.
They felt that any strategy based on violence would prove counterproductive in the long-run, adding that democratic processes alone would yield a positive outcome.
