Patna: Overwhelmed by love, kindness and emotional support from the police forces, a group of 22 hard-core Maoists in Bihar have bid adieu to violence and joined the social mainstream.
Facing serious charges for murder and attacks on police, they are currently lodged in a high-security jail in the Rohtas district of Bihar. The group abjuring violence is led by Sudama Oraon, a sub-zonal commander facing charges in the murder of district forest officer Sanjay Singh.
"The local police have taken pains to sort out our long-standing land disputes and also helped our children join schools and colleges. We are only too overwhelmed by the humane behaviour of the police force", a two-page statement signed by Oraon and 21 Maoists said. The letter was released to the media yesterday.
The "reformed" Maoists have declared help all those who strayed onto the wrong path of "Maoism" and make them return to the social mainstream. They accused the top Maoists of leaving the Maoist ideology to lead a comfortable life.
"Top Maoist leaders prefer using branded soaps and deodorants, and send their wards to top schools," they said in the statement, alleging the senior leaders had even been hobnobbing with the jungle mafias and landlords to swindle party funds.
"They even have been exploiting the poor women and collecting huge money through levy and extortion… our senior leaders have also got themselves nearly disconnected from villages and are living in towns," the statement said.
The state government has launched a variety of reformist measures to contain Maoist activities in Bihar, and their impact has been such that no major Maoist violence has occurred in the past seven years of the ruling National Democratic Alliance government headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar.
‘Rising influence'
More than 500 Maoists have also surrendered weapons and returned to the social mainstream apparently impressed by the government's welfare schemes.
Yet a matter of serious concern is that the areas of Maoist influence have gone up in the past few years. This can well be understood from the fact that the number of Maoist-hit districts which were recorded at 17 until 2005 has now gone up to 33 out of the state's total 38 districts.
