THRISSUR:Putting the state government in an embarrassing situation, Government Chief Whip P C George on Wednesday said the government should stop its anti- Maoist operations in the state as they (Maoists) fight against injustice.
In an apparent dig aimed at Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, George said no one can justify the police department’s move to procure weapons worth crores of rupees in the guise of tackling Maoist menace.
The government’s present action to procure weapons worth crores of rupees to tackle around 20-odd Maoists was a move by a section of officials to swindle crores of public money in the name of Maoist menace, George said in Thrissur.
Maoists are the by-products of policy paralysis of successive governments in Kerala. They are fighting for the cause of downtrodden, poor, marginalised and oppressed tribal people in the state. “The government officials posted at Wayanad have been working very diligently for quite some time now and the members of blade mafia have stopped their operations in one of the backward districts in the state. This is because of the Maoists presence in their area and not because of the good governance of the state government or the Operation Kubera. We should tackle the Maoists ideologically and not through the barrel of gun, as they are fighting for justice, equity, protection, security and local development,” George said. “I cannot support the extremist line of Maoists. But at the same time, the government approach to annihilate all of them without lending an ear to their demands and pleas or not to address the social and economic injustices, poverty, corruption, land-related issues and other public issues cannot be justified,” he said, adding even the general public would not support killing Maoists without addressing their basic issues.
The political parties and their various outfits had been indulging in arson and widespread of destruction of public properties during their various strikes in Kerala. But why the successive governments had been showing reluctance to rein in them through the barrel of gun or deploying thunderbolt. Will the state government be ready to shoot down the KSU activists who poured discarded motor oil on Higher Secondary director Keshvendra Kumar, he asked.
So the Maoist cases should also be treated more humanly since they were fighting for the cause of oppressed and marginalised people. And the government should also desist from procuring weapons worth crores of rupees and thereby providing an opportunity for a section of officials to indulge in corruption, he said.
“Even after exchanging numerous rounds of fire in Wayanad, the thunderbolt couldn’t nab a single person. The anti-socials involved in the attack in Palakkad and Wayanad must be arrested but the government should not harass the marginalised in the name of Maoism.”