Top political leaders of the country today unequivocally condemned the killing of 27 people in Chhattisgarh by Maoists saying it was a direct attack on democracy and the government will use all its might to counter the violence perpetrated by the extremists.

Describing the May 25 incident as "mindless and barbaric killing" of political leaders, the conference of Chief Ministers here adopted a resolution saying it was a pre-meditated attack to intimidate all political workers in order to thwart the political mobilisation of the people.

"It was a direct attack on democracy and freedom. We strongly disagree with the ideology of the Maoists. The Maoists want to overthrow Parliamentary democracy and the Constitution of India through violent means. This must be resisted with all our might," the resolution said.
The resolution was moved by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Chief Ministers of all states and top officials of central and state governments.

"We, therefore, resolve to use all legitimate means at our disposal to counter the activities of the CPI(Maoist). We also appeal to the youth of the affected states to give up violence and pursue their legitimate and democratic means," it said.

The leaders said they were sensitive to the concerns of the youth and will make every effort to bring them into mainstream of political life as well as accelerate developmental activities in their areas to promote the welfare of the people.