Time-frames — whether the seven-day deadline set on October 15 by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for Maoists in the State's Jangalmahal region to lay down arms and sit for negotiations or the month-long truce offered earlier by the left wing extremists in return for suspension of joint security operations against them — could always be extended and kept flexible if the peace process was to be explored in earnest.
This was the general view of the State-appointed interlocutors for talks with the Maoists, as expressed by one of their key members here on Monday, a day before the team meets Ms. Banerjee formally for the first time since the rebels came up with their truce offer early this month.
“Both the State government and the Maoists are very sincere in their attempts to explore ways for holding of peace talks and in such a situation there is need for some flexibility in time-frames spelt out by either party even though they may have their own political compulsions [for announcing deadlines]”, Choton Das, one of the interlocutors told The Hindu .
The interlocutors are expected to brief the Chief Minister on the details of the Maoists' offer of a month-long truce on the condition that joint security operations against them are suspended.
“We will formally be conveying the Maoist offer to Ms. Banerjee at the meeting” said Mr. Das, who along with colleague Sujato Bhadra and Akash, Secretary of the West Bengal State committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), had signed the statement containing the offer which was made public on October 4.
The State government has its own condition — the laying down of arms by the rebels if there is to be peace talks.
The Chief Minister might not have named the rebels but her reference to them as “supari killers” and “the jungle mafia” has not gone down well with the interlocutors.
Expressing his reservations on the manner in which the left wing extremists were described, Mr. Das said that “one of the key components in democracy is according due respect to political opponents. Exercising restraint in language is also good for the democratic process.”
And, if exercising restraint is an imperative, then, according to Mr. Das the Maoists have shown it by “keeping to their promise given to us at a meeting with them on September 30 that they would not indulge in violence.”
