11 Naxalites and 4 Days of Talk

Sreenivas Janyala

[In October 2004, pressed into a corner by the success of Andhra’s anti-Naxal operations, 11 Maoists emerged out of the forests to hold talks.]

With the Centre claiming big gains in its fight against Naxal insurgency, a purported letter by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) recently offered a ceasefire and peace talks under certain terms and conditions.

One reason that the government and officials remain sceptical about the offer is a failed negotiation from more than 20 years ago, when Maoists had come out of the jungle to hold talks with the Andhra Pradesh government amid much fanfare.

The TDP government led by N Chandrababu Naidu had cracked down on Maoists during his second stint as Chief Minister from 1999 to 2004. Under Naidu, the famed anti-Naxalite unit Greyhounds decimated a number of Maoist leaders and hundreds of cadres in the Andhra and Telangana regions.

On October 1, 2003, suspected members of the People’s War attacked Naidu’s convoy as it crossed Alipiri near Tirupati. Naidu survived narrowly, with severe injuries. He decided to call the Assembly elections early and made Naxalism the central issue of his campaign, promising to wipe it off.

In response, the Congress in its manifesto said the policy of ‘bullet for a bullet’ had not helped, and promised to initiate a dialogue.

In April 2004, the Congress led by Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (better known as YSR) swept to power, and on May 14, he announced that he would consider lifting the ban on the People’s War if they stopped violence, and would hold talks then without preconditions. YSR also urged the police to put an end to fake encounters and acts of repression.

On June 4, 2004, Andhra Home Minister K Jana Reddy announced the end of the state policy of cash awards for the elimination of top Naxalites. Four days later, he formally extended an invitation to the Naxalites for talks.

On June 14, the CPI (M-L) and People’s War announced their readiness for talks, with specific proposals, such as a simultaneous ceasefire for a specified period by both sides, a monitoring committee for the same, and formulation of modalities for talks, including identifying mediators. The CPI (M-L) Janashakti–formed by some breakaway CPI (M-L) groups–also said it was ready for talks.

On June 16, the government announced a three-month ceasefire. On June 20, the CPI (M-L) called for the same.

On October 11, 2004, a team of 11 Maoists, led by CPI (M-L) Central Committee member Akkiraju Haragopal, popularly known as Ramakrishna, emerged out of the Nallamala forest near Srisailam to participate in talks with the YSR-led Congress government. By then, the CPI (M-L) and People’s War had merged to form the CPI (Maoist).

The other members of the Maoist delegation included Amar, state secretary of the CPI (M-L) Janashakti; Ganesh, belonging to the North Telangana Special Zonal Committee; Sudhakar, of the Andhra-Orissa border Special Zonal Committee; and Riyaz, Janashakti State Committee member.

The Maoists were provided VIP security, and escorted in police vehicles to Guntur, where they addressed a public gathering and announced their intention to hold talks with the government. After they had held rallies at other places, as well as attended meetings, the Maoists were put up by the YSR government at the Government Guest House in Begumpet, Hyderabad. This was also symbolic, with the guest house located hardly a kilometre from the CM’s official bungalow, the seat of government power that the Maoists had always fought against.

On October 15, 2004, the peace talks started at the guest house. The government side comprised retired IAS officer S R Sankaran, Maoist lawyer K G Kannabiran (both deceased), former journalist and editor of Andhra Prabha Potturi Venkateshwar Rao, civil rights activist G Haragopal, advocate Bojja Tarakam, and Prof K Seshiah of the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee.

On the very first day, the two sides hit a roadblock. The Maoists wanted the signing of a formal ceasefire agreement, which the government was uncomfortable with. It felt that the three-month ceasefire that had already been announced was enough. After several rounds of discussions, the Andhra Home Minister agreed to sign on to some ground rules akin to a ceasefire. Even then, there were problems because the government insisted that the Naxal leaders not display arms during the ‘ceasefire’ period when they visited villages or tribal habitations.

The second day of the discussions centered around Naxal parties’ demand to withdraw cases arising from public agitations against their cadres, release of political prisoners, and removal of prize on the heads of their leaders.

On October 18, the last day, the issue of land was discussed. Naxal leaders contended that though land reform legislation was enacted in 1972, merely 5% of the cultivable land had been redistributed till 2004.

During the talks, the government mediators convinced the Maoists to agree not to carry arms while visiting villages during the ceasefire period, and assured them that the less severe charges against their cadres would be dropped and a review done of the more serious POTA and Public Security Act cases. The government also promised to compile a comprehensive land inventory and set up a committee to go into all aspects of the land issue and land control.

However, the message from the government above all was that the Maoists first lay down their arms and cease all activities. YSR, who initially gave them VIP treatment, later made them wait for long hours to convey his point.

On the Maoist demand over land, the Chief Minister would later say: “If extremists are to decide which lands are to be distributed, then where is the need for the government and courts?”

There was also growing apprehension within the government that the Maoists had come to the table only as a military and political strategy, and were using the ceasefire to regroup, even as the pressure was now on the government not to threaten a fragile peace.

There were suspicions on the Maoist side too–that the YSR government had taken up the talks offer only because the Congress had made it an election issue, and that it was not really serious about peace.

On October 20, 2004, the talks having failed to make any breakthrough, the Maoist leaders went back into the forests, using the same route from which they had arrived a week earlier.

Almost immediately, the state government resumed its anti-Maoist operations.

Three months later, on January 17, 2005, the CPI (Maoist) and CPI (M-L) Janashakti made a formal announcement withdrawing from the talks as a protest against the government’s combing operations and alleged encounters.

In the following years, operations by the Greyhounds and special units of the Andhra Pradesh Police eliminated top leaders and a large number of cadres in “encounters”. The success of the Greyhounds led to the governments of Odisha and Chhattisgarh inviting them to help them tackle Maoists in their states.

By the end of 2011, after more than three decades of Maoist violence, Andhra Pradesh declared it had controlled the insurgency. That year saw the lowest number of deaths and offences registered since Maoist violence had started rising in the state in 1980–seven civilian deaths, no police casualties, and 41 cases of Left-wing violence.

Incidentally, all the Maoist leaders who came out of the forest for talks in October 2004 are believed to be still living underground in the border areas of Odisha or Chhattisgarh.

 [Courtesy: The Indian Express]

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Vol 57, No. 47, May 18 - 24, 2025