New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Digvijay
Singh has said he was ready to express regret if his criticism
of Home Minister P Chidambaram`s handling of Maoist problem
has hurt him deeply.
"If it has hurt, I am prepared to say sorry and withdraw
my remarks...He is a friend of mine, we have worked together
and I would not like to hurt his feelings...I had made an
honest comment, which I thought I should. But if it has hurt
him deeply, then I am sorry," Singh said.
In a newspaper article last month, Singh, AICC General
Secretary, had called Chidambaram as "rigid" and
"intellectually arrogant" while questioning his approach to
fight the Maoists.
The Congress leader termed the Maosists as "misguided
ideologues" but said they cannot be equated with cross-border
terrorists.
"No one can defend their criminal activities. But they
are not terrorists. They are those people who have committed
acts of crime which have to be dealt with firmly and
decisively. But at the same time, you cannot equate them with
cross border terrorists, Singh told a private news channel.
Taking a sympathetic view of the issues which Maoists
raise, the Congress leader said "I have no quarrel...They are
genuine, they are relevant. Ultimately, it is the people who
matter. But the point is that their strategy and their
metodology is condemnable and not acceptable at all."
Singh condemned the violence perpetrated by Maoists,
their theory of armed struggle, design to overthrow India`s
political system saying it was "totally unacceptable" but said
the issues raised by them have to be taken into account.
Asked whether he viewed Maoists as enemies of India,
Singh said they certainly do not believe in the democratic
system of the country but said they can`t be described as
enemies of the country. "Can`t say enemies. No," he said.
To another question whether Maoists were the single
biggest security threat facing the country, the Congress
leader said they are certainly a security threat which has to
be tackled in a way in which the confidence of the people in
the area is won.
Singh, a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, said a
multi-pronged strategy has to be adopted against Maoists.
"I am very happy that the Prime Minister and the Home
Minister have accepted that you can`t send the army, you can`t
send the Air Force and we cannot defeat them militarily," he
said, adding the PM told him that it has to be a multi-pronged
strategy that has to be implemented together.
Singh, who is in-charge of the party affairs in Uttar
Pradesh, said there was a perceptible change in thinking now
(on tackling Maoists) and in a debate in Parliament, most of
the MPs took this line (multi pronged strategy).
Asked whether he has been influential in changing the
decision of Chidambaram (adopting a multi-pronged strategy),
the Congress leader said he does not claim that credit.
PTI
