Monday, March 8, 2010

Roy turns down, Suman accepts Kishanji offer

Writer Arundhati Roy has turned down Kishanji’s proposal to act as interlocutor, but two others named by the guerrilla commander have said yes. Both Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman and bureaucrat-turned-rights activist B D Sharma said on Sunday that they are even willing to call Kishanji on the number he had given home minister P Chidambaram.

Kishanji’s truce offer has come with a threat, though. He told TOI on Sunday that Maoists would be ruling the country within the next 15 years. “Our peace offer is not a sign of weakness. We are not ready to wait till 2050 to overthrow the Indian system of administration. We will be able to take over by 2025,” he said.


In such a ruthless jungle war, where the lines between war and peace get blurred, it would be a very tough job for any mediator. As Arundhati Roy told TOI: “I believe that the Maoists’ offer should be taken seriously and both sides should agree to a ceasefire. Regarding Kishanji’s suggestion that I be one of the mediators, I wish to say that mediation requires a very special set of skills, which I simply do not have. I would make a terrible mediator.”


Full report here Times of India 

No comments:

Post a Comment