New Delhi, Oct 31 : The Communist Party of India-Marxist Saturday said Maoists "cannot be equated with the Laskhar-e-Taiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammed" militant groups.

"We have always held that the Maoists have to be fought ideologically and politically apart from resorting to firm administrative measures when they indulge in violence," CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said in a statement.

"The Maoists cannot be equated with the Laskhar-e-Taiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The fact that Home Minister (P. Chidambaram) has offered to talk to the Maoists, if they stop the violence, itself recognises this difference," Karat said.

Criticising the laws that have "draconian provisions", Karat said such laws "have been used against hundreds of innocent people, mainly from the Muslim community in the name of fighting terror".

Chidambaram Friday said the government had not asked the Maoists to lay down their arms, but reiterated his appeal to the left wing radicals to halt the ongoing violence and come forward for talks. (IANS)