“Where are you, son? Please come home. We’ll earn a living and stay here” — these were the words of Punji Madvi, who made an appeal on camera to her son, Madvi Hidma, one of the top leaders of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the chief of its Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee.

Punji’s appeal came as a result of the Chhattisgarh government’s initiative to reach out to the families of Maoists. The state’s Home Minister, Vijay Sharma , on Monday visited Punji at the village of Puvarti in Sukma district. Under heavy security cover, he greeted residents of the village and took stock of development activities.

With folded hands, the minister was seen requesting Punji and Singe, the mother of Hidma’s associate Barse Deva, to appeal to their sons to quit the armed struggle a

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