Bhubaneswar:
Paolo Bosusco, the 51-year-old Italian national who was abducted along with his friend Claudio Colangelo by the Maoists near the Kandhamal-Ganjam border in Odisha on 14 March is likely to remain in captivity for a few more days. Claudio was set free on 25 March and has flown back home but Paolo's fate depends on how and when the mediators appointed by the Maoists and the Odisha government arrive at some kind of agreement over the 13 conditions set by the ultras for his safe release.
There is little progress in the negotiations at the State Guest House in Bhubaneswar where both parties have been meeting for the last five days. There is also no clarity on whether there has been any kind of agreement on any of the 13 demands made by the Maoists.
On Tuesday (March 27) the mediators sent a eight-page note to the Odisha chief minister in the form of an explanatory note that sought to locate the Maoist demands in the larger context of tribal unrest and governance deficit. But the state government saw it as a move by mediators to complicate matters by placing 'additional demands'. And surprisingly chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced in the state assembly the suspension of the on-going talks saying the government needed time to examine the new demands and that the negotiation process will be delayed!
The chief negotiator Dr BD Sharma came up with a rebuttal immediately and said the state government was dealing with a very serious issue in a very simplistic manner and that in the note submitted to the chief minister they had merely tried to explain and elaborate on the original 13 Maoist demands for greater clarity. There were no fresh demands from the Maoists and in any case making demands on their own is not part of the mediators' job.
On Thursday there were no negotiations and the mediators were not even informed when it would possibly be resumed. Mohanty told NDTV he would wait till Friday evening and then take a decision on whether to call off the talks or wait for a couple of days more.
At the moment the state government seems to be much more worried about the safe release of Jhina Hikaka, a ruling Biju Janata Dal tribal MLA from Laxmipur in Koraput district who was abducted by Maoists belonging to the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) on March 23, nine days after two Italians were kidnapped by the Odisha unit of the same party.
Jhina Hikaka, the 37-year old dynamic tribal leader who was elected for the first time to the state assembly in 2009 from the Laxmipur seat was involved in a political deal earlier this month with the Maoist-backed Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh (CMAS) in the neighbouring block of Narayanpatna, a well-known 'Red Zone" in Odisha's Koraput district.
The Maoist abductors have, so far, ignored the state government's desperate and repeated appeals to name the mediators for a dialogue leading to Hikaka's release. They have said the state government should first of all inform the media whether they are willing to release over 300 political prisoners. And they too would let the media know when they can set Hikaka free. "We don't need mediators", they have said. But what is scary is that they have threatened to kill the MLA if the state tries to act smart and launch any rescue operation with the help of security forces.
There are reports that the state government has resorted to clandestine means and opened several back channels to negotiate with Hikaka's abductors. But when it comes to Paolo Bosusco, the state government has displayed little seriousness. A senior official handling the Italian abduction case told this reporter that Paolo who has spent 19 years in Odisha and speaks Odia must have got used to life at the Maoist camp by now. "I won't be surprised if he chooses to become a Maoist cadre," he joked.
What accounts for the irresponsible, sluggish and indifferent manner in which the state government has been dealing with the release of Paolo Bosusco even after 16 days of his captivity ? Does the government believe that it need not worry about his safety because he is in 'safe hands' or that if Sabyasachi Panda has released Caludio Colangelo without any promise being made by the state government, he would do the same for Paolo as well ?
Thankfully, Sabyasachi has not, so far, issued any threats nor set any deadline.
But what if he changed his mind?