The exchange of phone numbers between the home ministry and Maoists and the setting of deadlines to start a dialogue turned out to be a damp squib, with neither party making the call even as the 5 pm Thursday deadline set by Maoist leader Kishenji expired.
Adopting a rather tough posture, a top home ministry official said Kishenji never spoke to the media. The person who had his back to the camera was his close aide Raju, the official said.
“In any case, it was up to the insurgent leader to call us as we had no intention to meet his deadline,” he said.
Blaming a section of the electronic media for “taking the nation for a ride” by wrongly attributing the peace talk offer to the top Maoist leader, the official said Kishenji was never serious about talks. “He tried to play to the gallery through his close aide. The government has seen through his game,” he said.
Ever since the CPI (Maoist) leader set a deadline for the ministry to respond, intelligence agencies had been trying to test the veracity of the caller. They arrived at a conclusion that it was a ploy to gain cheap publicity. “Our experience shows no terrorist or insurgent group willingly comes forward to talk in this manner. They only act under pressure after a long wait,” another official said.
There is a strong feeling in the ministry that the top Maoist leadership is comfortably placed and only “foot soldiers” are getting killed. “Why would such leaders come forward for talks willingly when they are enjoying money and power?”
Referring to “frequent appearances of Kishenji and other Maoists leaders before the media with they faces covered, the official said it was a well-thought-out plan to seek public attention. “The media really played up the truce offer despite the fact that Kishenji never spoke to them about it,” he said.
The ministry reiterated that Maoists should abjure violence and come to the table without “ifs and buts”.
