Congress leader K Keshava Rao on Thursday said Naxals are "no enemies" and there was a need to talk to "Naxal friends".
"For me, they (Maoists) are no enemies at all. If they are under some wrong notions, we need to talk to them," Rao said in the Rajya Sabha, while participating in a debate on the Dantewada massacre.
Rao, who is also All India Congress Committee's in-charge of Naxal-affected states like Jharkhand and West Bengal, said that talks are important as the "ugly face of our distributive justice" does not reflect the real situation.
"The moment talks begin, the entire remote areas. 83 districts where they have effective control and the 220 districts where they have presence would be looking at you," he said.
The Congress leader said that for 60 years five per cent of the country was not reachable as far as development was concerned.
"It does not mean I am trying to support violence of those brigands who come and indulge in some things. I want Naxalite friends to understand. Does their moral of revolution talk about violence being distorted to that of criminal violence," he added.
Posing a question, Rao said: "Let us ask our own hearts. Are we really responding to the restlessness in our own self to the oppression or injustice in society? Are we not waking up whenever some kind of violence comes up or something wrong goes in society?"
He said "uneven planning and progress" contribute to the rise of Naxals and quoted Rahul Gandhi to say that the government has not reached these areas.
"I would like the Home Minister to understand. You might take development to rural areas but unless you empower them, unless they have access to development, nothing can be done," the Congress leader said.
He said the Dantewada incident should not overshadow the perception and understanding of the basic issue.
"We need to visit the policies, midcourse and time and again," he said.
Rao gave these views a day after AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh criticised the approach of the Home Minister P Chidambaram towards the Naxals.
