ECHOING the line taken by the government and the Congress after the recent Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh,Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Tuesday insisted that Naxalites were nothing but terrorists. They (Naxalites) have proved time and again that they are terrorists. The act that they carried out in Chhattisgarh (last month) was nothing but a terrorist act, Shinde said at a press conference here. In the most audacious attack on the political class so far,Naxalites had gunned down 27 people,mostly Congress leaders of Chhattisgarh. As many as 74 bullets were pumped into Mahendra Karma. He was stabbed 75 times. Can this act be called anything else. It is nothing but terrorism, Shinde said. Immediately after the attack,Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had said that Naxalites were terrorists,signalling a toughening of stand of the government as well as the Congress party. This stand was later endorsed by the party spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das. Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo,however,had taken a different position,saying the Naxal problem could not be wished away by just changing the word used to describe them. Shinde,however,could not explain why the PMs remarks or the resolution adopted at the all-party meeting on Monday did not reflect the Naxals are terrorists line. But he said the Centre would be tougher in dealing with the Maoists in future. Our position must be more rigid, he said. The government has,meanwhile,sanctioned Rs 2,079 crore to the CRPF and nine Naxal-hit states to combat the Maoist challenge. Shinde rejected Gujarat CM Narendra Modis demand for a white paper on the action taken by the Centre to strengthen internal security. What white paper? Narendra Modi has been attending the internal security meeting of the CMs every year. He knows what has been going on, he said. No consensus on Telangana yet: Shinde Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde Tuesday said a consensus on Telangana had still not been reached,and refused to set a deadline for a decision. His remark contradicted the recent statement of Cabinet colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad who had said that a decision on Telangana would be taken by June-end. This entire matter is under process. We had given some dates earlier also. But consensus was not reached. There is no consensus now as well, Shinde said.
