Telangana may not stop after eradicating Maoists, says Civil rights activist Prof G Haragopal
A Revanth Reddy to initiate talks with the banned CPI (Maoist), expressed serious concern over the Union government's use of force in eliminating top Maoist leader Nambala Keshava Rao and the subsequent celebration of the act.
Speaking to TNIE, Haragopal said the questions raised by the Maoist movement cannot be answered through encounters. 'Once the state becomes accustomed to using firearms, it may not stop even after 'eradicating' the Maoist party, as Union Home Minister Amit Shah put it. The same force can then be turned against the Opposition, dissenters and civil society,' he warned.
Haragopal said there was an opportunity to arrest Keshava Rao, just as the founder of the movement, Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, was arrested and not killed. 'The government should have treated him as the leader of a political outfit. But instead, they vowed to 'eradicate' them, and this killing is part of that approach. Once the state normalises eliminating opponents, the rule of law and constitutional democracy will be its casualties,' he said.
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