Ban on PWG extended, but will it end Naxal violence?

The N Chandrababu Naidu government has decided to extend the ban on the People's War Group and its frontal organisations like the Rytu Cooli Sangham, the Jana Natya Mandali and the Viplava Rachayatula Sangham for one more year. The earlier ban expired on Wednesday, July 23.

Though Telugu Desam Party leaders have asked that the ban to be lifted, the chief minister has rejected their advice, thanks to police counsel.

Insisting the PWG is on its last legs, the Andhra Pradesh police said the pressure on the Naxalites should be stepped up as this would finish off the Marxist-Leninist outfit.

The PWG, it is widely believed, is swiftly losing support due to its senseless violence which has cost the people dear. South Central Railway has suspended its services on the Nizamabad-Medak section following the burning of a railway station by armed PWG members.

Home Minister A Madhava Reddy says the PWG is regrouping its members to launch a fresh offensive. According to police intelligence, the Naxalites have acquired sophisticated arms from other militant outfits like the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which has also trained them in guerrilla warfare.

The PWG's central committee, which met in the jungles of Nizamabad last week, reportedly discussed a new strategy to counter police repression. Senior PWG leader Nalla Adi Reddy told a select band of reporters that its dalams have been asked to shun violence and avoid attacking government property. ''We would not like to cause inconvenience to the people. Hence, there will be no more attacks on government property including railways, buses and communication network,'' he said.

Instead of attacking government property, the Naxalites have decided to target representatives of the political mainstream. Last fortnight, the extremists killed two BJP activists and made an attempt on Congress MP from Medak, M Baga Reddy, in Nizamabad. The militants also attacked Congress legislator Santosh Reddy's home in his native Nizamabad district.

The Naxalites have also indicated that they are in no mood to talk to the government, ignoring as this did even the AP high court's suggestion that they should come to the negotiating table. The court said the Naxalites should express their viewpoint on the so-called encounters (47 Naxalites were killed in encounters this year as against 163 last year) in the state.

The Naxalites also refused to heed the advice of Chief Justice Prabha Shankar Misra who asked them to attend core committee meetings organised by the high court. Though the court assured that security would be provided to the PWG leaders, none of them turned up.

The committees were formed to probe the civil liberties activists's complaints against police repression. Even balladeer and JNM leader Gaddar moved the high court, seeking its intervention in stopping fake encounters. In his petition, he also prayed that the bodies of those killed in encounters should be handed over to their families. As a result, an abortive attempt was made on Gaddar's life, allegedly by plainclothes policemen.

Human rights activists also allege that the police have been using ''surrendered'' militants as ''shields'' to conduct raids on PWG hideouts.

Asked why the Naxalites were not responding to the high court's appeals, Adi Reddy alleged that the core committee members prepared reports supporting the police version.

In another development, the PWG has decided to support the struggle for a separate Telangana state. The agitation is gaining momentum with leaders cutting across party lines joining hands and forming the Telangana Porata Samiti.

Says former minister P Indra Reddy, who deserted the TDP-NTR to join the struggle, ''We will sink our differences for the sake of the Telangana people who have got a raw deal.''

But why did the PWG decide to back the struggle? Is it because it is losing people's support in the region?

Whatever the reasons, the issue may make the going tough for the 18-month-old Naidu government. More so, if his government decides to slap the Disturbed Areas Act on parts of Telangana in a bid to intensify combing operations after extending the ban.

First imposed on May 21, 1992 by the then Congress government headed by Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy, the ban was revoked by the N T Rama Rao government in 1994. Naidu, who succeeded NTR after engineering a coup in August 1995, reimposed the ban.

Naidu and his home minister have sought additional paramilitary forces to tackle the PWG which has 163 armed dalams (consisting of ten members each) operating in the five Telangana districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam.