BHUBANESWAR: Negotiations to get freed
two Italian hostages kidnapped by Indian Maoists plunged into uncertainty on
Saturday after the rebels kidnapped a local lawmaker.
Two
of the negotiators said in a statement the kidnapping of the state government
politician overnight had made “a mockery of peaceful talks” and “the
negotiations (should) be kept under suspension”.
But
Orissa state Home Secretary Upendra Nath Behera, the head of the three-man
government team participating in the talks, said the government was “always
open to peaceful dialogue and would not mind speaking again”.
Naveen
Patnaik, the chief minister of Orissa, one of a string of states where Maoist
rebels have been waging a decades-long armed battle to overthrow the
government, called on the rebels to release all three hostages.
“I
once again appeal to the Maoists to shun violence and release the three
hostages immediately,” Patnaik told reporters in the Orissa state capital,
Bhubaneswar, on Saturday.
The
kidnapping of the state lawmaker followed the seizure last week of the two
Italians, Paolo Bosusco, 54, and Claudio Colangelo, 61, in what is believed to
be the first kidnapping of foreigners by India’s Maoists. The Italians were on
an adventure holiday.
Negotiators
B.D. Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty, appointed by the Orissa state government at
the Maoists’ request to conduct the talks for the release of the Italians,
called on the rebels to free all three hostages unconditionally.
Sharma
and Mohanty said the Maoists had reneged on their word that they would refrain
from violence during the negotiations.
“We
trusted the rebels’ promise of a ceasefire during the course of negotiations.
The kidnapping of the lawmaker proves that violence has not been stopped,” they
said.
“Given
this backdrop we think dialogue is meaningless until they free the hostages.
The talks for resolving the demands (of the Maoists) can continue later,” the
negotiators added.
The Maoists’ demands
include a ban on tourists visiting tribal areas, an end to the government’s
anti-rebel operations and release of jailed Maoist leaders.
The
negotiators held talks with the rebels for a third straight day on Saturday,
but the three hours of discussions ended in deadlock, Sharma and Mohanty told
reporters.
The
Maoists seized the Orissa politician, Jhina Hikaka, 37, when he was being
driven through a hilly area, 450km from Bhubaneswar, and stuffed his car with
Maoist propaganda posters, police said.
The
kidnapped politician is a backbench member of Orissa’s ruling right-wing Biju
Janata Dal government.
It
was not immediately clear if the abduction of the politician was by the same
branch of the rebels who seized the Italians as the kidnapping occurred in
another part of the state.
In
2010, the insurgents — who have a presence in over 20 of India’s 29 states —
were blamed for derailing an Indian train, killing at least 80 people.
The
insurgency, which began in 1967, feeds off land disputes, police brutality and
corruption, and is strongest in the poorest and most deprived areas of India,
many of which are rich in natural resources.
The
rebels say they are fighting for the rights of neglected tribal people and
landless farmers and their ultimate goal is to capture India’s cities and
overthrow parliament.
Hostage-taking
is a familiar technique of the Maoists, who are based in the forests of central
and eastern India, but victims in the past have been mostly policemen or
government officials — some of whom have been executed.—AFP
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