Ballot over bullet possible for Maoists: Sri Sri

At the height of Naxal terror a diminutive man is trying to make inroads to break the strongholds of the extremists by treading at variance with the bullet-for-bullet approach. He goes with a human touch and a decisive methodology of 'humaneness' to change the hearts and minds convinced that men are not stones and even stones can change. In the rampant violence-stricken areas of Jharkhand he has made but a small dent by getting some Maoists to give up arms. Post reform they have floated a party- Jharkhand Vikas Party (JVP)- all set to contest the next elections convinced of the supremacy of the ballot over bullet. He says among the reformed is a commander who has a large following and this could be a beginning. This is just a small step for Sri Sri Ravishankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation, who has already made many a stride in crisis-affected areas elsewhere. He says he rushes to conflict areas 'following his heart' convinced that there 'is a Balmiki in every daku and he can contribute to peace efforts and trauma relief. Be it the Sri Lankan crisis, the Palestinian-Israel border issue, the Lebanon problem, Iraq or back home the Maoists trouble, the Gujjar reservation issue, Amarnath imbroglio, disasters like Kashmir earthquake, floods, Tsunami he has been evrywhere---mediating, providing succor and most importantly drawing people out of their trauma. A multi pronged approach to crisis--try to prevent a conflict, if that fails, reach out to the affected with trauma relief --- is his basic principle. He was in Sri Lanka early this week receiving accolades from large gatherings with a days stop-over in Delhi before leaving for Germany and Israel where he is the Keynote Speaker at the second Israeli Presidential Conference, convened by Israeli President Shimon Peres. Stating that he loves taking risks, Sri Sri Ravishankar in an exclusive interview, told UNI about his disappointment and distress over the adamant attitude of the LTTE in coming to talks which ultimately led to the killing of 20,000 Tamils. "I always told them (LTTE) to come for talks otherwise they would meet the same fate as Saddam Hussain. But they were adamant and did not listen to me and when they did agree it was much too late." Sri Sri Ravishankar said they had so much faith in their military strength and the support of Western powers that they just refused to see reason. " Three-and-a-half-years ago I told them their military strength will never win but it was so disappointing that they did not listen to me. Ultimately they ended up in this great disaster responsible for the death of more than 20,000 people," he rued. Referring to the last ditch attempts made to save the situation, he said," In fact the Sri Lankan Government helped me to go there. I flew to Killinochi personally to talk but to no avail."

-- (UNI) -- 11DI7.xml

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