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Death of an extremist
- The killing of Mallojula Koteshwar Rao, known as Kishenji, at the hands of counterinsurgency security forces
- The circumstances of the killing raise several questions. Was it really an encounter in the forests, as the security forces claim, or was he executed after being captured?
- In some ways, Kishenji's death recalls the dubious circumstances in which another Maoist leader, Cherukuri Rajkumar, known as Azad, was killed in Andhra Pradesh in July 2010, along with journalist Hemachandra Pandey.
- after the Maoists killed two Trinamool members, setting off a full-fledged operation in the State earlier this month, the interlocutors, on instructions from the Chief Minister, were trying to bring the Maoists to the negotiating table.
- Angered by Kishenji's killing, five of the six interlocutors have quit causing a setback to those efforts.
- That Azad was killed at a time when the central government was contemplating a ceasefire and talks with the Maoists may be a coincidence.
- But there is no escaping the reality that over and above being a threat to security, the Maoist insurgency is a political question that needs political answers. It cannot be wished away with heavy-handed security operations.
- Its call to arms against the Indian state has drawn followers from the poorest, the most deprived, the most exploited sections of the people.
- His killing deprives the Maoist movement of a leader, but not the causes that sustain it.
