Armed Struggle Lost its Relevance in Changed Situation, Says Ex-Top Maoist Bhupathi

Raipur: Exhorting the Naxals to shun violence and join the mainstream, former Polit Bureau (PB) member of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) Bhupathi alias Venugopal on Wednesday said the armed struggle has lost its relevance in the changed scenario in the country.

In a video message to the Naxals, he said India has undergone a massive transformation and the direction the Maoist movement once gave is unsuitable for today’s India.

“Armed struggle has lost its relevance in the changed situation in the country. I and my group have chosen to shun the armed struggle after realizing this. In the changed situation, we cannot continue with armed movement. I appeal to the Naxals to give up the armed movement and join the mainstream”, he said in his video message.

Bhupathi surrendered along with 60 Maoists before Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra one and half months ago.

The former Maoist said he and his group have now taken a decision to fight for the people’s issues through constitutional means.

He appealed to the Maoists to surrender, saying that ‘We now realize that armed struggle has achieved nothing and we have lost a lot and suffered a lot because of this’.

Bhupathi said he was distressed to learn about the death of Madvi Hidma and five others in Andhra Pradesh in an encounter with security forces on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, intelligence reports indicated growing unease particularly among the second rung leaders in the banned CPI (Maoist) in Bastar in Chhattisgarh following the killing of Hidma in the encounter in Andhra Pradesh.

“Many of them are toying with the idea of leaving Maoist cadre and surrender before being killed. They are trying to explore ways to send messages to the police through the appropriate channels”, a senior police officer, quoting the intelligence reports, told this newspaper, unwilling to be quoted.