Bhubaneswar, Feb 9(Odisha.in)-Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik Tuesday appealed to the Maoists to shun violence if they want a dialogue with the government.
“Till the Maoists shun the path of violence, we have to use force against them to restore peace and law & order”Patnaik told reporters here on return from Kolkota after attending the meeting of four eastern states affected by left wing extremism.
On being asked about the divergent view of Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar who said that Maoist problem cannot be resolved by use of force, Patnaik pointed out, “When they (the Maoists) believe in violence, it’s difficult to have dialogue and restore peace. They are using violence and crime on regular basis”.
“When they (the Maoists) shun the path of violence, then of course there can be dialogue. Till then, they have to face the force”, he said adding “when peace is restored, development will naturally move very fast”.
Referring to the discussion at the meeting of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, and Jharkhand, he said that border strategy to combat the Maoists was the main high light.
He said that Union Home Minister P .Chidambaram had assured him to depute three battalions of Central paramilitary forces to be deployed in northern and western districts of the state besides the five battalions for the southern districts to tame the ultras.
Patnaik said that strategies would be chalked out for launching offensive against the ultras to ensure restoration of peace in Orissa after getting additional para-military forces as committed by centre
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