By asking the State-appointed interlocutors here on Tuesday to continue talks with the Maoists, to broker peace in the Jangalmahal region, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may have indicated some flexibility in regard to the seven-day deadline she had given the extremists three days ago to lay down their arms and sit for negotiations.
“The dialogue process is on and will be continuing,” Sujato Bhadra, one of the key interlocutors, said shortly after a strategy session held by Ms. Banerjee with a team of five interlocutors. Three senior ministers were among those present.
“The Chief Minister asking us to continue the dialogue process could mean that she has an open mind regarding the [seven-day] deadline given to the Maoists,” Choton Das, another interlocutor told The Hindu .
The meeting was held against the backdrop of fresh violence in the Bankishole area in Paschim Medinipur district, where joint security forces and a group of rebels were engaged in a gun-battle earlier in the day. There was, however, no report of any casualty.
The Chief Minister reportedly told the interlocutors that the Maoists will have to make a public commitment not to brandish weapons, shun violence and stop intimidating the people in Jangalmahal. She asked them to get back to her at the earliest after speaking to the Maoists.
Mr. Bhadra's choosing not to elaborate further on the outcome of the meeting and take any questions from journalists did not come as a surprise, considering the pressure the interlocutors are under.
The meeting came in the wake of developments that have contributed to complicating the situation. The rebels' offer of a month-long truce on the condition that joint security operations against them were suspended has given a new twist to the search for peace in Jangalmahal.
The offer was formally conveyed to the Chief Minister by the interlocutors at the meeting.
There are also reports of the government seeking two additional battalions of Central paramilitary forces for deployment in the Jangalmahal area — a precursor to a fresh offensive against the Maoists.
What has emerged is that Ms. Banerjee would not like to call off in a hurry the dialogue process the interlocutors are engaged in, but will not hesitate to intensify security operations against the Maoists if they resort to any act of violence.
