Monday, August 22 2005 16:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Hyderabad: Making it clear that extremist violence cannot be tolerated, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday (Aug 21, 2005) asked Naxalites to seek redressal of grievances through 'sustained dialogue and democratic means as no society can pardon those who kill innocent people.'

In the backdrop of Congress government re-imposing the ban on Maoist groups in Andhra Pradesh, the Prime Minister delivered a stern message to the Naxalites saying no one has the right to take the law into their own hands and extremism in any form cannot be tolerated in any civilised and democratic society.

"I have said this to Hurriyat in Kashmir, to the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) in Assam and to Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh there is no grievance that cannot be redressed through democratic means and sustained dialogue," Singh said after inaugurating a national seminar on 'Press and the Nation' organised by 'Prajasakti', a Communist Party of India (CPI) Marxist (M) Telugu daily.

Stating that the power of people in a democracy flows through ballot box and not from the barrel of gun, he asked Naxalites groups to 'test their popularity at the hustling.'

"Every political group that claims to represent the interests of people or of a section must test its popularity at the hustling. Go and ask people to vote for you. Come to legislatures and enact the laws that you wish to see in place," the Prime Minister said.

Earlier, Singh, who is on a brief four-hour long visit to the state, unveiled a statue of former President late N Sanjeeva Reddy at the Secretariat in Hyderabad and briefly spoke to Reddy's widow Nagaratnamma.

Though the Prime Minister did not directly refer to the ban on Naxalites, he held out a firm message that violence has no place in democracy.

"Faced with terror tactics, the government will have no other option than to fight such groups and their ideology of hatred. Extremism of any form, based on any divisive ideology cannot be tolerated in any civilised democratic society," Singh said.

Recalling how he was heartened to hear revolutionary balladeer and former Naxalites emissary Gadar's remark on a TV channel that the killing of innocent people did not help win a cause, he said, "This is an important liberal principle. Our democracy allows us freedom to champion our cause and win people over to our point of view."

Amidst apprehensions over possible restrictions on the media carrying statements of the extremist groups in the wake of ban on frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist), the Prime Minister made it clear that any political group can use the media to convey its views.

Stating that free press is the ultimate check against the tyranny of authority and a mirror that enables people in power to get a continuous reality check, he spoke of how the local media in the state had alerted the Government to 'agricultural distress' in the past and had played a socially responsible and constructive role.