India Maoist group to abandon armed struggle
Iran Press TV
Fri Dec 20, 2013 3:3PM GMT
A group of Maoist rebels in southern India has decided to lay down arms and choose democratic ways for their cause.
The breakaway Revolutionary Communist Party says violence is outdated, and it has to learn many things from Gandhi ideology.
The rebels say they are after people's rights and justice in the country.
The announcement follows calls by activists, poets, writers and journalists in the southern state of Karnataka.
The activists have also asked the state chief minister to help integrate the breakaway Maoists into mainstream politics.
The decision comes at a time when large parts of the country have been gripped by conflicts between security forces and Maoists.
The rebels have entrenched themselves in large parts of India including the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhatisgarh and West Bengal.
The Maoist militancy has now spread to 20 of the 28 Indian states.
Hundreds of people from both sides have been killed as a result.
The rebels, who are supported by tribal groups and landless farmers, have fought against state and central governments for many years.
The Maoist rebels, who are also known as Naxalites, have been fighting against New Delhi for more than 40 years, demanding land and jobs for landless peasants and the poor.
The rebel movement, which was inspired by Chinese leader Mao Zedong, began in 1967 in the West Bengal village of Naxalbari.
Thousands of people have died in the Maoist-related clashes over the past four decades. India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh considers the Maoists as the gravest threat to the country's internal security.
JR/AB
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