Warning the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh government of 'serious' consequences if they continue to 'eliminate' naxalites, balladier Gadar has alleged that the government was acting like a 'terrorist', which treats naxalism as a law and order problem while it has larger dimensions.
The naxal sympathiser also did not see any difference between various political outfits that ruled the Centre and state as they dealt naxalism with 'high-handedness'.
"The state is acting like a terrorist. They do not understand the seriousness of the situation," Gadar, who was one of emissaries of Communist Party India-Maoist, which held talks with Andhra government, told the BBC Hindi service on Sunday night.
"Though the authorities are talking about the issue as a socio-economic one, both the Centre and the Andhra government want to deal with it as a law and order issue," he said.
He warned the government of 'serious' consequences if they pursued the 'dangerous' policy of 'eliminating' naxal cadres.
Finding 'no difference' between various dispensations in their dealing of the issue, Gadar said that though the 'faces and caps' in the ruling establishment changed, their 'politics and policies of high-handed dealing remain unchanged'.
"Whether it was the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre and former Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra, or the present United Progressive Alliance and Congress governments, there is no change in the situation at all," he said.
Asked why the Maoists supported the Congress in the last Assembly elections, Gadar said, "We had appealed to people to root out Chandrababu Naidu and NDA. This much I accept and concede."
"However, we had urged the people to ask the Congress about its attitude towards the separate Telangana state. Would they deal with the naxalite issue as a socio-economic issue," Gadar said.
The 56-year-old engineering drop-out said, during the last Assembly elections, people were 'promised the moon, but after a year and half, the reality seems otherwise'.
When pointed out that the naxalites were opposed to pro-poor steps like free distribution of two lakh acres of land in the state, Gadar said that the gesture was meaningless when a huge bulk of land was still under the the custody of government.
"Look at the government's figures. It tells us that one crore 20 lakh acres of land is available for distribution among the landless poor. Now out of that, you choose a meagre two lakh acres. Then, why do you expect us to support such meaningless decisions," he asked.
Gadar rejected charges that the naxalites were resorting to killing innocent people in various parts of the country. "Let us not forget that those exploiting the poor are indulging in the worst form of violence. Poor and tribal people resort to use of force when their democratic rights are suppressed by use of force by governments," he said.
Asked why naxalites were supporting separatist movements in different parts of the country, Gadar said: "In our view it is America and the World Bank, which are trying to break India. It is wrong to say that people of Nagaland or Mizoram are trying to break the country."