MAOIST rebels have offered the Indian government a 72-day ceasefire if it calls off the ongoing offensive against them, but they have received no response so far.
Top Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao – alias Kishenji – made the offer through some regional television news channels and newspaper offices in eastern India late last night, saying the ceasefire could hold from tomorrow to May 7th, provided the government conceded to their demands and suspended operations against them.
“The state and central governments should stop this violence for 72 days and the revolutionaries [Maoists] will immediately stop taking revenge,” Kishenji said, days after the rebels ambushed and killed 25 police personnel bivouacked in a camp in eastern Bengal state.
In response, the government said that “in the absence of an authentic statement” it was unable to respond immediately, raising doubts about whether the Maoist offer would pave the way for negotiations to end the low-intensity conflict in which over 6,000 people had died in nearly two decades.