The second round of talks between the state government and emissaries of the outlawed People’s War Group (PWG), which was held here today, ended without yielding any results as the latter expressed their ‘‘loud protest’’ over ‘‘the spurt in fake encounters’’ in the past few days.Both the sides firmed up their resolve to continue the dialogue process. Today’s discussions began at 9.30 am in the chamber of Commercial Taxes Minister K. Vijayarama Rao at the Secretariat and went on for three hours. The next round of talks will be held at the same venue at 4.30 pm on June 20.While Vijayarama Rao and Excise Minister T. Sitaram represented the state government, the PWG was represented by author Varavara Rao and balladeer Gaddar. Both the sides, at their separate media briefings, admitted that today’s discussions could not break any ice and were limited to confidence building measures.The tone of the talks was set by Varavara Rao and Gaddar, who entered the Secretariat holding placards with slogans like: ‘Stop fake encounters’, ‘Down with conspiracy to scuttle the process of talks’ and ‘Appoint a judicial probe into recent fake encounters’. They went on to raise the slogans too.Emerging from the talks, the duo said the discussions were totally confined to their ‘‘protest’’ against the exchange of fire at Inaole village in Mahaboobnagar on June 5, and the killing of a Jana Shakti extremist and a dacoit in Guntur district in the past two days by the police.‘‘A power group, consisting of police officials and encouraged by the political leadership, is out to thwart the negotiations,’’ said Varavara Rao. He, along with Gaddar, accused the police of trying to vitiate the atmosphere while the PWG had kept its word of ‘‘ceasefire’’ since January 10.Referring to the recent statements of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu that lifting of the ban on the PWG was not possible unless the extremist outfit eschewed the ‘‘armed struggle’’ line, Varavara Rao made it clear that it pertained to the party’s ideology and that it was non-negotiable.While stating in unambiguous terms that the present talks can at the best lead to announcement of ‘‘a ceasefire between both the sides’’, ‘‘ensure social justice’’ and ‘‘restore civil liberties’’, Rao felt that there was nothing wrong in lifting the ban on the outfit even at this stage.He pointed out the Sri Lankan Government’s decision to lift the ban on LTTE though the latter continued to swear by armed struggle. But the argument was rejected by Rao and Sitaram. The ministers contended that lifting of the ban was not possible unless the PWG lays down arms.
