Jail-streamed: The promise of mainstreaming surrendered Maoist turns a mirage

Amaravati: Hundreds of Maoists have surrendered before the police in recent times owing to the sustained counter-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh and other states. The promise of finding a new mainstream life seems like a hope on the horizon for those laying down their arms. But the case of a child who spent his entire youth in the revolutionary movement, left the movement to join the mainstream, attracted by the rehabilitation assurances and surrendered, only to spend his life in jail, is a lesson for many.

Dunna Kesava Rao alias Azad, presently in his fifties, has been on an indefinite hunger strike since October 15 inside the Jharpada High Security Prison at Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, demanding that the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha governments implement the orders given by the Supreme Co