Choose between talks and killing: Mamata Banerjee to Maoists

Giving an ultimatum, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today asked Maoists to choose between talks and killing, saying 'the two can't go together'.

Emphasising her government's desire to hold dialogue with the Maoists, Banerjee said she had no objection if they seek more time for talks, but if they kill innocent persons and then express a desire for talks, she would not agree.

"If you will kill and then want negotiation, the two cannot go together and you have to decide your way," she said in a stern message to the Maoists at a time when a team of government-appointed interlocutors are exploring avenues of holding talks.

Referring to Maoist stand on human rights violation, she said they had no right to talk about that when they kill innocent people with their heads and feet bound up with strings.

"What kind of human rights you follow when you brutally murder a person? Who has given you the right to kill. Those who are depriving mothers of their daughters and sons will have to pay the ultimate price,'' Banerjee told a rally. The rally was organised on the occasion of the annual 'Singur Divas' to mark the launching of Singur movement by her party in 2006.

"If the fight was for ideology, I would have bowed 10 times and salute. But if the fight is for loot and killings and kidnappings and extortion and torture, it cannot be tolerated," she thundered.

Expressing her government's commitment to safeguard human rights, she said it was her government which has set up human rights court.

She said her government would go all out to ensure development and jobs in Naxal-hit Jangalmahal neglected by the previous government. "We will solve Jangalmahal problem."