Hyderabad: The leaders of rights organisations have appealed to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her to advise the Government of India to declare an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and to initiate ‘Peace Talks’ with the Communist Party of India (Maoist) on an urgent basis.
Enclosing a memorandum endorsed by hundreds of organisations and individuals across the country on April 4, the activists wrote a letter to Droupadi Murmu on Thursday, April 24, drawing her attention to Schedule 5 of the Constitution, together with Articles 339(1) and 275(1), which conferred upon her office a clear constitutional mandate concerning the welfare of scheduled tribes and the governance of scheduled areas.
“Given the scale and urgency of the present crisis, the constitutional responsibilities vested in your office under these provisions now call for immediate and decisive action,” the activists appealed.
The activists claimed that the constitutional rights and the very lives of Adivasi communities in Bastar (Chhattisgarh), Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), West Singhbhum (Jharkhand), and the adjoining areas
were under an unprecedented and immediate threat.
The activists stated that since January 2024, due to a dramatic escalation in militarisation and intensified operations in Bastar alone, over 400 people have been killed, including civilians and children, with many of these deaths alleged to be fake encounters.
“As the constitutional head of the state, and the first Adivasi President of India, you hold a unique position of moral and political responsibility. In this moment of escalating violence and the resultant loss of hundreds of lives, your voice and urgent intervention are critically needed to impress upon the government, to resort to dialogue as a means of conflict resolution,” the activists urged.
The civil rights activists reminded the president that in the last three weeks, the Maoist party has released three public statements expressing their readiness to observe ceasefire and for peace talks, contingent upon the government halting armed operations.
“It is now incumbent upon the Government of India and concerned state governments to halt all armed
operations immediately, and agree to a ceasefire. While the government has claimed openness to
‘unconditional’ dialogue, in practice, it has imposed pre-conditions—demanding surrender and return to
the mainstream. “Meanwhile, military operations have intensified dramatically. This is not, in our view, how a government committed to peace responds to overtures for dialogue. What is unfolding is a state-driven campaign to shut down the possibility of political resolution altogether,” the letter read.
“Your intervention could determine whether what follows from this moment is more bloodshed or a door is opened to a principled, and constitutional resolution,” the activists implored President Droupadi Murmu.
