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Police foil Maoists’ attempt to hold meeting in Hyderabad

Police on Sunday foiled attempts by civil rights organisations to organise an event to mark the tenth anniversary of the formation of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) party and the launch of “Forum for alternative politics” in Hyderabad.

The police descended at Sundarayya Vignan Kendra, the venue of the meeting, and arrested several activists amid high drama and tension. Noted revolutionary poet and human rights activist P Vara Vara Rao was kept under house arrest at his Ashok Nagar residence here as a precautionary measure.

Besides, the police also took into custody over 60 other CPI (Maoist) activists and sympathisers from railways stations and bus stands and moved them to undisclosed locations. The police claimed that “Forum for alternative politics” was a frontal organization of the banned naxalite outfit.

Despite the house arrest of Vara Vara Rao, a Maoist sympathiser, the organisers made attempts to go ahead with the celebrations to mark completion of ten years of the formation of CPI (Maoist) by merger of the erstwhile People’s War Group (PWG) with Maoist Communist Center (MCC). However, the government thwarted the move by deploying a huge contingent of police at the venue. The organisers had planned to hold a seminar and take out a rally. This is the first instance of a confrontation between the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in the new state of Telangana with Maoist sympathizers. A section of political observers and the opponents of Telangana statehood movement have long argued that creation of separate Telangana would lead to strengthening of Naxalite activities.

Telangana, comprising ten districts including Hyderabad, was once a stronghold of Naxalites whose influence has declined over the years, thanks to a tough policy adopted by successive governments of the combined state of Andhra Pradesh. The opponents of the state’s division had warned that Maoists would gain ground if Telangana state was created. Reacting to the developments, Vara Vara Rao said: “I feel as if the dark days of emergency are back. Within days of coming to power, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his TRS are displaying such blatant intolerance and misuse of power. It is an attempt to muzzle anyone whose ideas or views they do not like.”

However, official sources pointed out that permission was denied because the police had credible information that the participants in the proposed rally, particularly from neighbouring Chhattisgarh, could cause law and order problems. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Zone) V K Kamalasan Reddy told reporters that the Forum for alternative politics, headed by Vara Vara Rao, was nothing but a frontal organisation of the CPI (Maoist).

The Police clarified that the permission was denied because the high court had earlier rejected Vara Vara Rao’s plea for permission. “After the high court denied permission, how can we allow the rally and the meeting,” Kamalasan asked. — news@khaleejtimes.com