Mamata asks interlocutors to continue talks with Maoists

Kolkata: The six government-appointed interlocutors for talks with Maoists in junglemahal, who had wanted to be relieved of their responsibilities, were today directed to continue their parleys by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “The chief minister has requested us to continue the peace process and we have accepted it,” Sujato Bhadra who heads the team of interlocutors told reporters after a meeting with the chief minister. Asked about the interlocutors wanting to quit after the Maoists withdrew their unilateral ceasefire in the absence of talks by a letter on October one, Bhadra said, “The peace process will continue and it should be treated as an uninterrupted process.” [caption id=“attachment_135168” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“AFP”] [/caption] He blamed a section of the media for negatively portraying the efforts of the interlocutors. “I am very disheartened.” Asked about their demand for withdrawal of the joint forces from junglemahal, he said, “we had detailed discussion about a lot of things with the chief minister, but it cannot be shared with the media.” Another interlocutor Chhotan Das said that the chief minister reposed confidence on them and wanted them to continue the peace process with the ultras. “We have been asked to continue the peace process which the chief minister assigned to us to do to resolve the Maoist problem,” he said. The state government had appointed the team of interlocutors after coming to power six months ago to talk to the Maoists and bring them to the negotiation table. Bhadra and his team have held three meetings with the Maoists so far. PTI