Activists urge Maoists, government to accept ceasefire

A group of activists and academics on Friday urged the government and the Maoists to accept a ceasefire with immediate effect.

“There should be no more hostilities from either side whether in the form of operations, extra-judicial killings and encounters, IED [improvised explosive device] blasts and killing of civilians or any sort of violence,” the activists said in an open letter.

The activists said that they welcome the offer for peace talks made by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the Chhattisgarh government’s response keeping the door for talks open.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) had reportedly said on Wednesday that it was willing to hold peace talks with the government on the condition that the security operations in the region stopped. In response, the Chhattisgarh government said that it was ready for unconditional talks.

The Union government has repeatedly vowed to end Maoism in the country by March 31, 2026.

More than 130 suspected Maoists have been killed in gunfights with security personnel this year. In 2024, 217 suspected Maoists were killed by security forces.

Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that while many of those killed in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh in 2024 were declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. The families claim that the persons killed were civilians.

Several others have...

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