Saturday, June 28, 2008

Greek Solidarity













Reports
Greek Solidarity
- Dipak Sapkota
A large group from the Communist Organisation of Greece (KOE); including the General Secretary of KOE, Rudi Rinaldi, members of the secretariat, members and supporters of the KOE that included engineers, workers, company employees, students, teachers, and anthropologists came in the second week of June to show solidarity with and learn from the Nepalese revolution.
General Secretary Rudi said that after the Maoist victory in CA election, Nepal and the Maoist movement started getting media attention in the West: "Before the election, the Western Media didn't even mention Nepal, but when the Maoist won the election, they were obliged to state something."
The Greek delegation went to the Chitwan cantonment of the People's Liberation Army. All the visitors were very proud and happy to meet the PLA. The group were given a tour of the cantonment and had an interaction with members of the PLA. The PLA were also much enthused to meet Greek Communists, and the PLA soldiers were very happy to know that even as far away as Greece people respected their stuggle. The KOE delegation presented some gifts from Greece, including a disc of Greek revolutionary songs. For the General Secretary it was very emotional and he thinks that the `Nepali people have a very strong weapon in the struggle against reactionaries, expansionist and imperialist. '
Before returning back to Greece, the Greek group met with Chairman Prachanda and other party central leaders. On the occasion, General Secretary Rudi presented a gift to Chairman Prachanda that symbolises the Greek civilisation. Expressing his happiness at meeting with the Maoist leadership, Rudi said it was an honour to meet the leaders of one of the successful revolutions in the world. Maoist Chairman Prachanda said the Nepali revolution had developed a new model after studying the experience of revolutions in 21st century.
Nikos Taviris was impressed in his first hour in Kathmandu. He saw Maoist posters and slogans on the walls. He found the Nepali people smiling and optimistic about the future, which he thinks is the result of Maoist revolution: "After the republic, people think they have a way out. If people think there is a future, they can do a lot of things."
Yannis Triantafillou, a computer programmer, was impressed at the unity and the relation between the Maoist party and the masses.
Yiota Tzani saw a Red Army for the first time in her life, which she found very impressive. She was also delighted to see red flags, posters, slogans on the wall everywhere in the city. She also found out that Nepali people had a strong connection with the party. Axhikkeas Stavtou, a student, was impressed that the CPN-M had done a great job to expand its work to the every level of the society. As the KOE is trying to organise people in Greece, the experiences of Nepal, the tactics of the party, are worth learning.
Merina Bresta, who works in a company in Greece, thinks that when she will go back she will tell the people of Greece and Europe that the first revolution in the 21st century is happening in Nepal. She said: "This is the best example how things can be changed for a better world. She also hopes that Nepali revolution will win soon.
Nepal and Greece are very different in terms many aspect. Giorgos Papathanasiou, who is studying civil engineering, spoke on the differences between the two countries. He thinks that Communists in Greece need to fight against capitalism, whereas Nepali Communists have to fight against feudalism. Many Nepali people, especially youth, look towards the West. They think the solution to their problems lies there. Many youth have a dream to go to Europe and the US. But many people in the West are looking towards the East and towards the Himalayas. Isn't it strange? Why are the people who are aspiring for a better world looking towards the Himalayas? The student organization secretary of the KOE, Costas Costopoulos, thinks: `the revolution of Nepal is very important for all the people all around the world.' He further said: `I think it's a lot for us to see and hope from the struggle of Nepal."
The journalist Stelios is impressed with friendliness of the Nepali people. He found Nepali people very tolerant. Chris Katsoulas, a member of the KOE secretariat, said that although Nepal is far behind Greece economically, they had a desire to see the revolution of Nepal, and they were pleased to be in Nepal. He thinks that despite the differences between two countries, the international language of struggle is same.
After meeting the Greek delegation, a question came to my mind again and again. What do the people of developed countries like Greece have to learn from a very poor and backward country like Nepal? The Greek communists, after their second conference, are `concentrating all their strength to create a Communist movement'. How does the Nepali revolution can help their movement; all the members of the delegation had the same feeling: "The Nepali revolution has not only given hope to Nepali people but to all the peoples of the world."



Greek Communists of the Communist Organisation of Greece (KOE) with Comrade Gaurav, head of the International department, Communist Party Of Nepal (Maoist)

ಮೌಲ್ಯ ಮರೆತ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ.

ಶಾಲಾ ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ಕೊಲೆಯಾಗುವುದು ಯಾರಿಗೂ ಸಂತೋಷ ತರುವ ವಿಚಾರವಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ದೃಶ್ಯಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳು ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ತಮ್ಮನ್ನು ತಾವೇ ಭಾರತ ದೇಶದ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳೆಂದು ಕರೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಆಂಗ್ಲ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳು ಶಾಲಾ ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ಕೊಲೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಡೆಸಿದ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳು ರೇಜಿಗೆ ಹಾಗಿದ್ದವು. "ಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತ ಸುದ್ದಿಯ " ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬರಬೇಕಾಗಿದ್ದ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಬಹುತೇಕ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳ ಮುಖ್ಯಾಂಶದ ಪಟ್ಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅಗ್ರ ಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿತು . ಅದರ ಬೆನ್ನಿಗೇ ತಾವು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಸರಿಯಾ? ಎಂಬ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯನ್ನು ತಮಗೇ ಕೇಳಿಕೊಂಡು ನಾವು ಅಷ್ಟು ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ವಹಿಸದೇ ಇದ್ದ ಪಕ್ಷದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಪರಾಧಿಗಳ ಪತ್ತೆಯೇ ಕಷ್ಟವಾಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿ ಕೈತೊಳೆದುಕೊಂಡರು .
ಅವರ ಮಾತನ್ನೇ ಒಪ್ಪುವುದಾದರೆ ಅವರಿಂದಲೇ ಈ ಕೊಲೆ ಪ್ರಕರಣ ಇತ್ಯರ್ಥವಾಯಿತು[?], ಸಂತೋಷ .ಆದರೆ ಈ ಕೊಲೆ ನಡೆದ ಸಮಯದ ಆಜುಬಾಜಿನಲ್ಲೇ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮತ್ತು ತಮಿಳುನಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳ್ಳಭಟ್ಟಿ ದುರಂತ ನಡೆದು ಇನ್ನೂರಕ್ಕೂ ಅಧಿಕ ಮಂದಿ ಮೃತಪಟ್ಟರು. ಇದು ಒಂದು ರೀತಿ ಪ್ರಾಯೋಜಿತ ಕೊಲೆಯೇ . ಅಪರಾಧಿಗಳನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿಯುವಲ್ಲಿ ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡುವುದಿರಲಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಇದು ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಸುದ್ದಿಯೂ ಆಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಪುಂಖಾನುಪುಂಖವಾಗಿ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಪ್ರಸಾರ ಮಾಡಿ ಸರಕಾರದ ಮೇಲೆ ಒತ್ತಡ ಹೇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಸತ್ತ ಇನ್ನೂರು ಜನ ವೈದ್ಯರ ಮಕ್ಕಳಾಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ , ಅವರದು highprofile ಬದುಕಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ಕಾರಣವಾ? ಇನ್ನೂರು ಜನರ ಬದುಕು ಒಬ್ಬ ಶಾಲಾ ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ಬದುಕಿಗಿಂತ ಕಡೆಯಾಗಿ ಹೋಯಿತಾ? ಅವರ ಮಾತನ್ನೇ ನಂಬುವುದಾದರೆ ಕಳ್ಳಭಟ್ಟಿ ದುರಂತದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅವರು ತನಿಖೆ ನಡೆಸಿದ್ದರೆ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಅಪರಾಧಿಗಳು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಬಿಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೇನೋ?
ಸತ್ತವರು ಅಥವಾ ಸಾಯಿಸಿದವರು highprofile ಸಮಾಜದಿಂದ ಬಂದವರಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಅವರ ವಾಹಿನಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಾನ. ಈ ವಿಷಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಳಿಯ ಭಾಷಾ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳೇ ಮೇಲು. ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ನೂ ದೇಶದ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳೇ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಪಡೆದುಕೊಂಡಿವೆ. ಅವು ಬದಲಾಗದಿರಲೆಂದು ಆಶಿಸೋಣ.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Response to the anti-peasant CARP: Agrarian revolution!

The US-Arroyo regime's move to extend the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for another five years is violative of the class interest of the peasant masses who have long been desirous of genuine land reform. The US-Arroyo regime has no other objective but to continue deceiving and oppressing the peasantry and keep on pocketing huge funds meant for CARP. In previous years, fund allocations for CARP served as one of the biggest milch cows of bureaucrat capitalists.
Like all the previous land reform programs of the reactionary state, CARP is bogus and has no real relation to agrarian reform. The fake land reform program merely served to further intensify land monopoly in the country, and allow foreigners to own land pursuant to imperialist "globalization" policies. Claims by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) that 80% of agricultural lands have been distributed to the farmers is a big lie. The vast majority of peasants remain landless or land-starved and continue to be victims of feudal and semifeudal exploitation.
To evade the genuine distribution of land to the tillers, landlords devised numerous schemes in CARP's name, including the division of vast tracts of land into small parcels and so-called land redistribution to bogus beneficiaries through the Voluntary Land Transfer/Direct Payment Scheme, Leaseback/Buy- back Scheme, Crop Conversion/Land Conversion Scheme, Contract-growing Scheme, Joint Venture Scheme, Cooperative Scheme, Corporative Scheme, Stock Distribution Option Scheme and related schemes.
CARP worsened the rampant land grabbing of farmers' lands in different parts of the country. Concentration of lands in the hands of old and new landlords intensified, swelling the number of landless farmers. Landlords now control over 80% of the 13 million hectares of agricultural lands in the country, while more than 80% of peasants in the country do not have their own land to till.
Malacañang and its cabal only utilized CARP to enrich themselves. A big portion of over a hundred billion pesos allocated for CARP since 1988 merely went to the thieves in Malacañang and its so-called chief implementors.
Moreover, Arroyo and her cohorts feasted on the P27-billion fund sourced from the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth sequestered in 2004. The sequestered funds were intended for CARP as mandated by law. The insatiable Arroyo camp is now eyeing with gusto the more than P100 billion budget for CARP's five-year extension.
The cry to end CARP is attendant to the farmers' clamor for genuine land reform. It is advocated by all revolutionary forces and democratic sectors of society.
As contribution to the democratic struggles for genuine land reform, progressive solons in Congress are pushing for the passage into law of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Program (GARP). The bill is expected to meet with stiff opposition by the Arroyo regime in connivance with the big landlords who dominate Congress.
Agrarian revolution is the revolutionary movement's key solution to widespread landlessness and land starvation in the country. Learning from the rich history of peasant struggles in the Philippines, genuine land reform will only be realized through agrarian revolution. Agrarian revolution aims to liberate the peasant masses from feudal and semifeudal exploitation and oppression.
Agrarian revolution is the principal feature of the national democratic struggle currently being waged by the armed revolutionary forces across the archipelago. Through this, the peasant majority are enjoined to take part as the main revolutionary force and in the formation of the basic alliance of the proletariat and peasantry.
In guerrilla zones and fronts across the archipelago, the revolutionary peasant masses implement various levels of the revolutionary land reform program. The minimum program being implemented on a wide scale involves the gradual reduction of land rent, the elimination of usury, wage increases for agricultural workers, attainment of just farmgate prices for agricultural products, improvement of different forms and levels of cooperation and various socio-economic, educational and cultural programs for the benefit and welfare of the peasant majority.
In areas where the armed revolutionary forces are relatively strong and the enemy forces are weak, certain components of the maximum program for land reform are already being implemented. In these areas, farmers are given rights to till for free lands that have been confiscated from despotic landlords and land grabbers, or idle or abandoned lands. This they do under the direct supervision of their agricultural cooperatives and organs of political power. This program proves to be effective and exceedingly gainful for the beneficiaries. There will be more of these cases as the revolutionary movement expands and advances and total victory becomes imminent.
As a result of advancing genuine land reform and the victories achieved therein, millions of peasants are joining revolutionary organizations and becoming active participants in revolutionary struggles. Thousands of the more advanced elements from their ranks are taking up arms and joining the people's army. With the revolutionary movement's continuous advance, agrarian revolution will spread like wildfire, gradually defeating feudal and semifeudal power in the countryside and fuelling the advance of people's war across the land.

Orissa raid fetched Maoists about 500 weapons

The number of weapons procured during the Maoist raid on Nayagarh town of Orissa in February last could be around 500, considering the fact that 175 Maoists had participated in the raids and that each of them carried away two or three weapons each, according to a ¡®Maoist Information Bulletin¡¯ issued by the Maoist Central Committee. .
Neither the Orissa government nor the Centre had disclosed the exact number of weapons looted during the raid. The bulletin sent to media institutions in Hyderabad on Friday night is again a new initiative by the rebels to open a channel of communication with the media.
The chief of central military commission (CMC) Basavaraj, who is quoted in the bulletin, disclosed that the Maoist raid teams had hoped to seize some 400-500 weapons, but they found many more. ¡°We had ourselves burnt a large quantity of arms and ammunition as it was difficult for us to carry all of them. Since the place was far away from our stronghold areas, it was impossible to carry the entire load. So we burnt around 400 inferior arms, which the police claimed they recovered¡±.
The rebels made good with sophisticated weapons like AK-47s, Insas rifles, SLRs, LMGs and scores of short weapons. They left behind mostly the .303 bolt action rifles, which were seized by the police later.
Basavaraj also made light of the Orissa government claims that 20 naxals were shot dead when police pursued the fleeing rebels in Gosama forest area. He is quoted as saying that only two rebels, Rambathi and Iqbal from 7th and 9th companies of the PLGA were killed in the exchange of fire. Three policemen were also killed by rebels. The CMC chief said that they had christened the Nayagarh raid as ¡°Ropeway Operation¡± where the strategy was to descend on the enemy forces like commandoes descending from a ropeway, ¡®take them by surprise and swiftly complete the task¡±. Basavaraj claimed that 52 rebels took control of the Police Training School which had a presence of 400 policemen.

Press release by Communist party of Bhutan.


I got my hands on one press release from the Communist Party of Bhutan – Maoist. It is dated February 02, 2008.
Here's what it says in general, with "raktim abhivadan" (red salute, I reckon)
"In the changing political scenario of Bhutan, the Communist Party of Bhutan - Maoists has also changed its strategies. CPB – Maoist, which considers all the parties against the monarchy as cohorts, has decided to take brutal actions against those parties that try to harm this party."
Then it lists out the "Present Targets for Physical Action" that are -
Block Chiefs (Gup) and their allies living on the land of refugees (in Bhutan) and ruling over the people.Government officials and Indian traders that have alliance with the state and are engaged in commission-ism.
The press release also states "the CPB Maoists has decided to take a vicious physical action against one unidentified Moto Rai of Beldangi 3 for attempting to disrupt the party's people's revolution."
I suppose that Beldang 3 means the Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal and the party is taking in a lot of inspiration from what CPN Maoists did during the insurgency in Nepal.

Barefaced Lies Fail to Erase the Legitimacy of New People's Army Tactical Offensive (A Statement on the Death of 4 Phil. Army Soldiers)

Rigoberto F. Sanchez
SpokespersonMerardo Arce CommandSouthern Mindanao Regional Operational Command
New People's Army
June 19, 2008
The 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has again concocted a barefaced lie and presented it as a very untenable excuse in regard to the death of four 73rd Infantry Battalion soldiers in Sitio Lower Bintuin, Brgy. Fatima, Paquibato, Davao City last June 14, 2008. But for its clear dubiousness, nobody is biting.
The narrative about their 4 casualties being "unarmed" and doing "community service" when ambushed by a unit of the 1st Pulang Bagani Company of the New People's Army is a fabricated story that only shows the AFP's deceit. Many, including people from the mass media, are quick in questioning how in the world has the AFP – in the thick of massive and sustained ground and aerial combat operations to defeat the revolutionary forces by 2010, and in an area which they very well know was inside a guerrilla zone – suddenly become unarmed?
Since when has 73rd IB-AFP combat and intelligence operations – with the 73rd IB-AFP long leading the charge against Ka Parago, the 1st PBC and the Guerrilla Front 52 been considered as "community service"? And last time we checked, the Geneva Convention and its Protocols that set the Rules of War still provided that combat units of warring parties, except for their medical personnel and chaplains and those who are considered hor's de combat, are legitimate military targets. Again, their patent ignorance of International Humanitarian Law is revealed. They are so quick in fabricating lies when their troops are hit by NPA tactical offensives but celebrate in silence when they are able to kill unarmed civilians and non-combatants, as in the case of Danilo Pitao, Ka Parago's brother.
The following are the basic facts denied and hidden by the 10th Infantry Division-AFP:
The four 73rd IB-AFP men were armed. Two of them who were wounded, able to run but died later were armed. The other two who died on the spot were armed with short firearms (one .45 caliber handgun and one 9mm pistol) and an apple-type hand grenade which were seized after the ambush.
The 73rd IB-AFP is conducting Oplan Bantay Laya II military offensive operations against the NPA in its area of responsibility.
Having a cheek for lies and deception is trademark of the AFP. But no matter how hell-bent they are in twisting the truth, two obvious facts stand out: First, that they are disgraced and publicly embarrassed by this successful tactical offensive in the outskirts of Davao City by an NPA unit which they claim to be supposedly "weakened and on the run"; and second, that the US-directed Oplan Bantay Laya II counter-revolutiona ry campaign of Gloria Arroyo is one big frustration for the AFP.
(Sgd)
Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Spokesperson
Merardo Arce CommandSouthern Mindanao Regional Operations Command
New People's Army

Heighten the struggle to end the people's sufferings under the US-Arroyo regime

RECIEVED VIA MAIL.

Communist Party of the Philippines June 16, 2008
The Filipino people have long been suffering under a regime of intransigent puppetry, deceptions, corruption, anti-people socio-economic policies and repression.
The people's conditions have critically worsened especially in the recent years under the Arroyo regime. Its mendicant neoliberal, deregulatory and other pro-imperialist "globalization" policies and sellout of national and people's interests in collusion with big foreign, comprador and bureaucratic plunderers have resulted in the current series of rapid and sharp increases in the prices of fuel, power, food and other basic commodities and the ensuing increase in government tax collections.
Oil prices in particular have risen more than 250% since the start of the regime in 2001. Since the start of the year, these have risen 15 times, escalating to weekly hikes at record levels the past few weeks. Rice prices have more than doubled in Metro Manila (and more than tripled in other areas like Mindanao) since the start of the regime, with the most rapid and steepest hikes during the past three months. Inflation of basic commodity prices are presently at a record high since 2001.
The ruling regime has done nothing to alleviate the plight of the people amid the upwardly spiralling prices. Worse, it has stubbornly continued to block the demand of workers for a P125 legislated increase in the daily minimum wage. It rejects price controls and obstinately defends the oil price deregulation policy. It refuses to remove the 12% Value Added Tax (VAT), especially on oil and electricity, that imposes a tremendous burden on the people.
The Arroyo regime is even now taking advantage of the people's plight and deceiving them by showcasing "subsidies" for "lifeline" power users, farmers and students as cover for Arroyo and her ilks' self-indulgence with the increased VAT collections. Just as they did with the previous "subsidies" like the Ginintuang Masagang Ani, the bulk of these new and bigger "subsidies" worth tens of billions of pesos will only be used to line the pockets of Gloria Arroyo and her clique and grease their electoral and political malevolence. Malacañang has yet to account for scores of billions of unaccounted juggled public funds.
As head of the reactionary puppet regime, Gloria Arroyo is criminally culpable for collusion with foreign oil monopolies and big bourgeois comprador and bureaucrat capitalists and for the escalation of the prices of fuel, power, food and other basic commodities and services. The US-Arroyo regime is principally responsible for the worsening backwardness and destruction of the country's industry and agriculture, massive unemployment and underemployment and the intensifying and unprecedented poverty and hunger of the mass of the Filipino people.
It is criminally culpable for stealing billions of pesos from public funds. Arroyo and her cohorts have engaged in pocketing and splurging billions even as they deprive the people of much-needed support for education, health, low-cost housing and other urgently needed social services.
The Arroyo regime has wrought even worse cruelty and brutalities upon the people with its relentless "all-out war," extrajudicial killings, abductions, illegal arrests and detention, torture, ruthless bombings, mass destruction and evacuations of communities and widespread repression and terrorism.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) champions the unity and struggle of the Filipino people against the US-Arroyo regime's sellout of national and people's interests and plunderous collusion with big foreign companies, comprador capitalists and bureaucrats. The CPP supports the people's demand for the scrapping of the Oil Industry Deregulation Law and other deregulation laws, for the nationalization of the oil industry and other basic and strategic industries, for the imposition of state control on the prices of fuel and food and other basic commodities and services, and for the guaranteed delivery of much-needed public social services.
Amid the rapidly worsening socio-economic and political crisis of the ruling regime and system, the CPP encourages the people to go to the streets and other public venues to express their outrage and wage their struggles. Rallies, marches, protest concerts, public video showings and other cultural presentations, fora and community meetings, alternative classes, school and office walkouts, factory protests, transport strikes, noise barrages, boycotts and other forms of collective protest action are bound to spiral towards a generalized and nationwide protest movement as the Arroyo regime remains intransigent and continues to ignore the people's legitimate and just demands.
In the face of intensifying fascist repression by the regime and its armed forces, security forces and police, activists have to work hard, exercise creativity and redouble their efforts in agitating, organizing and mobilizing the people in factories, communities, schools and all other places of their work and residence. They must immerse themselves among the people, address their day-to-day problems at the grassroots, link these with the basic problems and key issues facing the whole country, and raise the level of the people's determination and militancy in struggle. With the people's help, they must learn how to deal with enemy spies and efforts of government forces to intimidate, harass and suppress them and the people and to overcome the regime and its armed forces and police's fascist counter-organizing and counter-rally measures.
For its part, the New People's Army (NPA) under the guidance and command of the CPP is accelerating its recruitment and training of new Red fighters and commanders and acquisition of arms in order to carry out more tactical offensives against the armed forces of the puppet reactionary state. The revolutionary masses are expanding the revolutionary mass organizations, building their local organs of political power, stepping up agrarian and other mass struggles in guerrilla bases, fronts and zones and other areas, and participating actively in the armed struggle.
The CPP calls on the Filipino people to rise and intensify the revolutionary struggle and all other forms of struggle to bring down the rotten reactionary puppet ruling regime and the entire underlying semicolonial and semifeudal system. From the rubbles of the rotten system, the people's revolution will build a people's democratic government and a revolutionary system to finally achieve genuine national freedom and democracy and continuing socio-economic progress in the country

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Now, Maoists spreading base in coastal districts

BHUBANESWAR: The arrest of Gouranga Charan Jena, said to be a Maoist who was involved in several operations, from Panchupali village in Jagatsinghpur district has established the fact that Left wing extremism (LWE) is spreading its base in the State easily.The Naxalites, who were earlier based in southern and western districts, have entrenched themselves firmly in coastal districts. The arrest of one of their hardcore members from Jagatsinghpur district has made it clear that the area has become a hotbed of Naxalite activities.However, police have turned a blind eye to the increased activities of the ultras. Even after the Nayagarh incident on February 15 and arrest of two wanted ultras from Erasama area in the last two months, the State Government is yet to declare Nayagarh and Jagatsinghpur districts as the Naxalite-affected.Criticising the State Government for its failure to check the increased activities of the ultras, a senior Congress leader alleged that it has become complacent. Less number of incidents compared to Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand does not prove that the Naxalites are not active here, he said and warned that if not checked in time they will become entrenched in industrial pockets of the State in the coming days.Besides, four killings within the last two months in Malkangiri and Rayagada districts have left the police worried.Lower-level functionaries of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) were mostly killed by the ultras. Political observers believe that this may affect the campaigning of the BJD in the coming months as the grassroots level functionaries have become scared.Even though the ultras do not have any inclination towards any political party, targeting functionaries of a particular political party would definitely have an impact on its organisational preparedness.The BJD leadership is now busy chalking out a strategy to counter the challenge politically and organisationally

Eyes on the Maobadi: 4 Reasons Nepal’s Revolution Matters

11/06/2008 — Mike Ely
Something remarkable is happening. A whole generation of people has never seen a radical, secular, revolutionary movement rise with popular support. And yet here it is – in Nepal today.

This movement has overthrown Nepal’s hated King Gyanendra and abolished the medieval monarchy. It has created a revolutionary army that now squares off with the old King’s army. It has built parallel political power in remote rural areas over a decade of guerrilla war – undermining feudal traditions like the caste system. It has gathered broad popular support and emerged as the leading force of an unprecedented Constituent Assembly (CA). And it has done all this under the radical banner of Maoist communism -- advocating a fresh attempt at socialism and a classless society around the world.

People in Nepal call these revolutionaries the Maobadi.

Another remarkable thing is the silence surrounding all this. There has been very little reporting about the intense moments now unfolding in Nepal, or about the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) that stand at their center. Meanwhile, the nearby Tibetan uprisings against abuses by China’s government got non-stop coverage.

There are obvious reasons for this silence. The Western media isn’t thrilled when people in one of the world’s poorest countries throw their support behind one of the world’s most radical movements.

But clearly many alternative news sources don’t quite know what to make of the Nepali revolution. The Maobadi’s mix of communist goals and non-dogmatic methods disturb a lot of leftist assumptions too. When the CPN(Maoist) launched an armed uprising in 1996, some people thought these were outdated tactics. When the CPN(Maoist) suspended armed combat in 2006 and entered an anti-monarchist coalition government, some people assumed they would lose their identity to a corrupt cabal. When the Maoists press their current anti-feudal program, some people think they are forgetting about socialism.

But silent skepticism is a wrong approach. The world needs to be watching Nepal. The stunning Maoist victory in the April elections was not, yet, the decisive victory over conservative forces. The Maobadi are at the center of the political staqe but they have not yet defeated or dismantled the old government’s army. New tests of strength lie ahead.

The Maoists of Nepal aren’t just a opposition movement any more – they are tackling the very different problems of leading a society through a process of radical change. They are maneuvering hard to avoid a sudden crushing defeat at the hands of powerful armies. As a result, the Maobadi of Nepal are carrying out tactics for isolating their internal rivals, broadening their appeal, and neutralizing external enemies.

All this looks bewildering seen up close. This world has been through a long, heartless stretch without much radicalism or revolution. Most people have never seen what it looks like when a popular communist revolution reaches for power.

Let’s break the silence by listing four reasons for looking closely at Nepal.

Reason #1: Here are communists who have discarded rigid thinking, but not their radicalism.

Leaders of the CPN(Maoist) say they protect the living revolution “from the revolutionary phrases we used to memorize.”

The Maobadi took a fresh and painstakingly detailed look at their society. They identified which conditions and forces imposed the horrific poverty on the people. They developed creative methods for connecting deeply with the discontent and highest hopes of people. They have generated great and growing influence over the last fifteen years.

To get to the brink of power, this movement fused and alternated different forms of struggle. They started with a great organizing drive, followed by launching a guerrilla war in 1996, and then entering negotiations in 2006. They created new revolutionary governments in remote base areas over ten years, and followed up with a political offensive to win over new urban support. They have won victory in the special election in April, and challenged their foot-dragging opponents by threatening to launching mass mobilizations in the period ahead. They reached out broadly, without abandoning their armed forces or their independent course.

The Maobadi say they have the courage “to climb the unexplored mountain.” They insist that communism needs to be reconceived. They believe popular accountability may prevent the emergence of arrogant new elites. They reject the one-party state and call for a socialist process with multi-party elections. They question whether a standing army will serve a new Nepal well, and advocate a system of popular militias. And they want to avoid concentrating their hopes in one or two leaders-for- life, but instead will empower a rising new generation of revolutionary successors.

Nepal is in that bottom tier of countries called the “fourth world” – most people there suffer in utter poverty. It is a world away from the developed West, and naturally the political solutions of the Nepali Maoists’ may not apply directly to countries like the U.S. or Britain. But can’t we learn from the freshness they bring to this changing world?

Will their reconception of communism succeed? It is still impossible to know. But their attempt itself already has much to teach.

Reason #2: Imagine Nepal as a Fuse Igniting India

Nepal is such a marginalized backwater that it is hard to imagine its politics having impact outside its own borders. The country is poor, landlocked, remote and only the size of Arkansas. Its 30 million people live pressed between the world’s most populous giants, China and India.

But then consider what Nepal’s revolution might mean for a billion people in nearby India.

A new Nepal would have a long open border with some of India’s most impoverished areas. Maoist armed struggle has smoldered in those northern Indian states for decades – with roots among Indian dirt farmers. Conservative analysts sometimes speak of a “red corridor” of Maoist-Naxalite guerrilla zones running through central India, north to south, from the Nepali border toward the southern tip.

Understanding the possibilities, Nepal’s Maobadi made a bold proposal: that the revolutionary movements across South Asia should consider merging their countries after overthrowing their governments and creating a common regional federation. The Maobadi helped form the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) in 2001, which brought together ten different revolutionary groupings from throughout the region.

A future revolutionary government in Nepal will have a hard time surviving alongside a hostile India. It could face demands, crippling embargos and perhaps even invasion. But at the very same time, such a revolution could serve as an inspiration and a base area for revolution in that whole region. It could impact the world.

Reason #3: Nepal shows that a new, radically better world is possible.

Marx once remarked that the revolution burrows unseen underground and then bursts into view to cheers of “Well dug, old mole!”

We have all been told that radical social change is impossible. Rebellion against this dominant world order has often seemed marked by backward-looking politics, xenophobia, lowered sights and Jihadism. And yet, here comes that old mole popping up in Nepal -- offering a startling glimpse of how people can transform themselves and their world.

Some of the world’s poorest and most oppressed people have set out in the Nepali highlands to remake everything around them -- through armed struggle, political power, and collective labor. Farming people, who are often half-starved and illiterate have formed peoples courts and early agricultural communes. Wife beating and child marriage are being challenged. Young men and women have joined the revolutionary army to defeat their oppressors. There is defiance of arranged marriage and a blossoming of “love matches,” even between people of different castes. There is a rejection of religious bigotry and the traditions of a Hindu monarchy. The 40 ethnic groups of Nepal are negotiating new relations based on equality and a sharing of political power.

All this is like a wonderful scent upon the wind. You are afraid to turn away, unless it might suddenly disappear.

Reason #4: When people dare to make revolution – they must not stand alone.

These changes would have been unthinkable, if the CPN(Maoist) had not dared to launch a revolutionary war in 1996. And their political plan became reality because growing numbers of people dared to throw their lives into the effort. It is hard to exaggerate the hope and courage that has gripped people.

Events may ultimately roll against those hopes. This revolution in Nepal may yet be crushed or even betrayed from within. Such dangers are inherent and inevitable in living revolutions.

If the Maobadi pursue new leaps in their revolutionary process, they will likely face continuing attacks from India, backed by the U.S. The CPN(Maoist) has long been (falsely!) labeled “terrorists” by the U.S. government. They are portrayed as village bullies and exploiters of child-soldiers by some human rights organizations. Western powers have armed Nepal’s pro-royal National army with modern weapons. A conservative mass movement in Nepal’s fertile Terai agricultural area has been encouraged by India and Hindu fundamentalists.

Someone needs to spread the word of what is actually going on. It would be intolerable if U.S.-backed destabilization and suppression went unopposed in the U.S. itself.

Here it is: A little-known revolution in Nepal.

Who will we tell about it? What will we learn from it? What will we do about it?

Friday, June 13, 2008

Maoists begin urban push.

ASIAN AGE, London edition.By Sanjay Basak

New Delhi June 10: Maoist rebels, who are now observing "Jan Pituri Saptah (revolutionary week)" in Chhattisgarh (in tribal belt in central India), have blown up power lines and disrupted communication links, targeting industries and power stations in the Abhujmar and Bastar regions and plunging much of the state into darkness. A senior state police officer, in a telephonic conversation with this newspaper, said that the Maoists, who had declared a "parallel government" some time back, were now trying to move from the jungles to urban areas. The blast at Durg on June 8, in which three CRPF jawans were killed, and the attack on the Bishrampur police station "are clear signals that they are pushing towards urban areas," he said. Comrade Sonu, a top Maoist central committee member, confirmed this. "If we fail to build our movement in the cities, the revolution will remain a dream," he told this newspaper. The police officer also said there were intelligence inputs that the Maoists were trying to teach Hindi to their Gondi-speaking "red cadres" from south Bastar as it was getting difficult for them to interact with Maoist leaders from Andhra Pradesh. The top leadership of the CPI (Maoist) is run by Andhra cadres. Chhattisgarhs DGP Vishwa Ranjan told this newspaper that due to the Maoist-imposed blackout, the administration had arranged to supply at least six hours of electricity to affected areas. "We have moved 100 huge generators to give relief to people." He also claimed adequate forces had been deployed to provide security to possible targets, including towers and transmission lines. "The Maoists are hitting soft targets," he said. The DGP said the state police was fully capable of handling the situation, and did not need help from the Centre. The so-called "soft targets" attacked by the Maoists included the Essar Steel Plant at Kirandul in Bastar. The Maoists had set the plant and 20 trucks inside on fire. Last year, while observing the "Jan Pituri" week, the Maoists had plunged the entire Bastar region into darkness for almost a fortnight. A police officer in Kanker district pointed out that so far not a single political leader in Chhattisgarh had issued any statement condemning the "Jan Pituri" week, which ends on Friday. A state government official based in New Delhi said, however, that since the "government is at war with the Maoists, there is no point issuing statements on their activities."

CPI-MAOIST information bulletin-2

recieved via mail.
bulletin2.pdf

Encounter.

Communist party of India (Maoist)
State committee
Karnataka



Respectable editors and representatives of media, revolutionary greetings.
We are sending this press release regarding
1) Murder of peasants, peasants struggle and scarcity of chemical fertilizers,
2) Price rise and Inflation
Requesting to publish this with due consideration.
Yours in struggle,

Gangadhara
For the state committee
11-06-08 CPI (Maoist)
Karnataka



1) We are strongly condemning the brutal and cold blooded murder of agitating peasants and indiscriminate firing on sons of the soil on 10/06/08 by the BJP government of Karnataka.
In that one man dead and tens were injured,3 were seriously injured.
This is nothing but fascist moves of newly formed government. Govt reacted with false assurances and bullets rather than considering demands of fortnight long agitating peasants of state and doing proper arrangements for supply of chemical fertilizers insecticides etc. At the same time all these worst politicians are busy with quarrel, ministry ship sharing and planning of loot.
Peasants are in acute pressure of loan repayments and severe income crunch due to globalization designs of state and central governments dictated by imperialist masters. By that they are agitating militantly with the apprehension of this year’s future.
Government should take responsibility of all these undue ness and murder.

We are strongly demanding to arrest immediately, police officials responsible for shooting and murder of peasants under murder case.

We are demanding to make responsible the ministries and officials for artificial scarcity of chemical fertilizers, anti people moves and irresponsibility.

We are supporting militant struggles and seizer of unlawful stock of fertilizers by the peasants.

We are appealing to people, democratic, progressive organizations and individuals to condemn this brutal murder and firing, build vast mass movements against this.

Govt, fertilizer companies and big fertilizer traders are playing worst by creating artificial scarcity and charging higher price. They are least concerned with the sons of the soil.

2) People, particularly poor and middle class are in shock of unprecedented price rise and inflation. Food and other day today usables are going out of reach of common people. Adding to the wounds, now petrol and diesel prices are increased.
Inflation and economic recession are common in global level now, because of crisis of imperialism, i.e. world capitalism. Ruling classes and their central and state governments are squeezing landless and poor peasants, poor and middle class people, petty, small and medium traders, small scale and medium scale industries etc by all means, for guaranteeing profit to imperialist and comprador companies. This is the main reason for income crunch of people and further deterioration of livelihood.


We are appealing to all people to unite together by throwing out all these political goons and struggle against imperialism and their local stooges. Build people’s new democratic social system as only way to coming out this crisis.

With revolutionary greetings
Gangadhara
For the state committee
CPI (Maoist)
karnataka11-06-08

Saturday, June 07, 2008

People`s truth.

VOICE OF INDIAN REVOLUTION.PDF

Verdict in nepal.

recieved via mail
Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Central Committee

Press Release: April 24, 2008

The verdict in Nepal is a verdict against feudal monarchy, Indian expansionism and US imperialism; it reflects the growing aspirations of the Nepalese masses for land, livelihood and democracy!
Oppose the moves of the imperialists, particularly US imperialists, and the Indian expansionists to meddle in the affairs of Nepal!!
The election results in Nepal have proved once again the overwhelming anger of the masses against the outdated feudal monarchic rule in Nepal, against the Indian expansionist’s bullying and domination of Nepal, against US domination and oppression, and are a reflection of the growing aspirations of the Nepali masses for democracy, land, livelihood and genuine freedom from imperialist and feudal exploitation. It is these aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the masses that had completely trounced the parties that had either supported the King and/or the Indian ruling classes or hesitated to come out strongly against feudal, imperialist oppression and Indian intervention in Nepal. Hence, when an alternative like the CPN(M) came to the fore, with its open commitment to abolish the feudal monarchy once for all, abrogate all unequal treaties signed with India by the former ruling classes of Nepal, and ensure democracy and equality for the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women, the masses enthusiastically veered towards the Maoists. The CC, CPI(Maoist), hails the Nepali masses for routing the feudal, pro-imperialist, pro-Indian comprador parties and voting for a genuine change in the rotten feudal system in Nepal. It sends its fraternal revolutionary greetings for their victory in the struggle against the reactionary forces which is the culmination of a ten year process of historic struggles and battles where over 10,000 gave their precious lives.
These protracted struggles culminating in the election results have not only sounded the death-knell for the 239-year-old absolutist monarchy but also delivered a severe jolt to the continuous domination, interference, and bullying by the Indian reactionary expansionist ruling classes. Moreover, they have also sealed the fate of all the comprador-feudal electoral Parties which had proved themselves to be the most corrupt, country-selling, anti-people, loyal stooges of imperialists, feudal forces and Indian expansionists. In the eyes of the broad masses, these parties are narrow self-seeking robber gangsters who are out to fatten themselves at the expense of the vast masses of poor and the destitute. The results are a telling indictment against forces which had proved themselves to be a party to the oppression, suppression and exploitation of women, dalits, national minorities and adivasis.
The real test, however, begins now after the CPN(M) taking over the reins of power. It is a fundamental tenet of Marxism that no radical restructuring of the system is possible without the smashing of the existing state. It is impossible to make genuine changes in the system through measures initiated “from above”, i.e. through state decrees and laws. Whichever Party may be in power, not excluding the most radical Maoists, one can only make laws at best, but to implement these it is imperative to mobilize the masses and advance class struggle against exploiters and oppressors and for radical changes for the liberation of the vast majority of poor. No ruling class will give up power without putting up a bitter struggle and carrying out sabotage and subterfuge against the oppressed class. Hence the real, bitter and most cruel struggle for power will now unfold soon after the elections. In fact, drafting Nepal’s Constitution in favour of the poor and oppressed masses is itself a very arduous and bitter struggle. The reactionaries will oppose every change tooth and nail. Lacking a majority in the Constituent Assembly, the Maoists will be powerless to affect radical changes in the Constitution. Either they have to compromise and adjust with a section of the reactionary forces thereby sacrificing the class interests of the oppressed in whose interests they had come to power, or, they have to mobilize the people and intensify the struggle through all means, including armed insurrection, in order to implement genuine democracy and establish people’s power. There is no other alternative.
The CC, CPI(Maoist), suggests to the CPN(Maoist) to beware of the conspiracies of the imperialists led by the US imperialists, the Indian reactionary ruling classes, and the feudal comprador forces of Nepal to engineer coups, political assassinations, creation of artificial scarcity through economic blockades and sabotage, and subversion of the democratic process, and calls upon it to be fully prepared to confront these reactionaries by armed means. The one and only guarantee for carrying through the radical revolutionary programme is to raise the political class consciousness of the vast masses, mobilize them into class struggle, arm and train them to fight the exploiters and all reactionary forces and defend the gains they had derived through long period of class and mass struggle. Nothing could be more dangerous at the present juncture than to become dizzy with success and underestimate the prospects of a reactionary backlash. One must keep in mind that the gains that can be achieved through a government that has come to power by means of elections are very much limited. Survival of such a regime depends on taking a conciliatory stand on several crucial matters. Hence to overestimate the prospects of radical restructuring of the society or economy by a Maoist government would be illusory and will dilute the possibility as well as the ability of the Party to continue the class struggle.
The CC, CPI(Maoist) also strongly condemns the Indian expansionists in trying to create public opinion prior to the elections in favour of the Koirala clique. They went so far as to get the National Security Advsisor, Narayanan, to openly state on TV that they favour a Koirala victory. They also got the media to propagate cooked up opinion polls putting the Maoists at third place and blacking out media reports when the Maoists began to sweep the polls, upsetting all their calculations. The Indian Expansionists, acting as the new-found gendarme of the US in the region, must stop its interference in the internal affairs of Nepal. The Indian Government must immediately rope in the RSS hoodlums that have been allowed to cross the border creating mayhem by attacking and killing the Maoists and the oppressed masses that oppose the feudal elements in the Tarai region. The RSS and its Hindutva gangsters are still desperately trying to prop up the crumbling monarchy and its vast financial empire. The Indian people and CPI(Maoist) strongly condemn these reactionaries meddling in the internal affairs of Nepal and seeking to prop up a crumbling archaic feudal order. The Indian expansionists must keep their hands off Nepal; it is for the people of Nepal to decide their own future.
The CC, CPI(Maoist) sees immense possibilities in present-day Nepal to carry forward the revolutionary programme by firmly relying on the masses and intensifying the class struggle for genuine land reforms and against imperialist/expansionist domination of the country, while guarding against all reactionary plots and schemes. This is possible if the main leadership of the Maoist party does not become part of the government but concentrates on the principal task of continuing the class struggle by mobilizing the masses. Otherwise there is every danger of unprincipled compromises with the reactionary parties and imperialists, degeneration of the party leadership and cadres, and emergence of strong bureaucratic class. In such a scenario, all the gains made would go down the drain and the reactionary parties would once again come to power by cashing in on the frustration of the masses.
Azad,
Spokesperson,
Central Committee,
CPI(Maoist)

Interview with comrade Azad, spokesperson of the CC, CPI(Maoist) on the present developments in Nepal

recieved via mail.
Q: The results in the April 10 elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal have been overwhelmingly in favour of the Maoists, a development least anticipated by even the keenest observers. How does your Party in India, the CPI(Maoist), look at the election results in Nepal?
Azad: As mentioned in my press release on behalf of my Party’s central committee last week, the election results in Nepal have demonstrated the overwhelming anger of the masses against the outdated feudal monarchic rule in Nepal, against the Indian expansionist’s bullying and domination of Nepal, against US domination and oppression, against comprador-feudal parties which allowed this to continue and betrayed the masses for too long. The results are a reflection of the growing aspirations of the Nepali masses for democracy, land, livelihood and genuine freedom from imperialist and feudal exploitation. It is these aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the masses that had completely trounced the parties that had either supported the King and/or the Indian ruling classes or hesitated to come out strongly against feudal, imperialist oppression and Indian intervention in Nepal. The royalists could not win even in a single constituency out of the 240 constituencies where direct elections were held. And leaders of the so-called mainstream such as Madhav Nepali, Sujata Koirala were rejected outright which came as a great shock to the ruling classes.
Hence, when an alternative like the CPN(M) came to the fore, with its open commitment to abolish the feudal monarchy once for all, abrogate all unequal treaties signed with India by the former ruling classes of Nepal, and ensure democracy and equality for the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women, the masses enthusiastically veered towards the Maoists. To put it in a word, the people of Nepal had come out resolutely against constitutional monarchy, Indian expansionism and US imperialism; the results reflect the growing aspirations of the Nepalese masses for land, livelihood and democracy.
Our Party looks at the election results in Nepal as a positive development with enormous significance for the people of entire South Asia. We send our revolutionary greetings to the people of Nepal for rejecting outright the monarchic rule and the comprador-feudal Parties during the April 10 elections to the Constituent Assembly. These results point to the real aspirations of the Nepalese people and should serve as a guide to the CPN(M) for its future course of action.
Q: What do you think are the reasons for the impressive results in favour of the Maoists in the elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal?
Azad: There are six major reasons:
One, the masses of Nepal had enough of King Gyanendra’s autocratic and authoritarian rule. Constitutional monarchy is indeed an anachronism even in the 20th century leave alone 21st century. In fact, people of Nepal had put up with such a rotten, reactionary feudal rule too long a time. And when they found an opportunity to throw it out they grabbed it. There was never such an opportunity during earlier elections as all the parliamentary parties were either loyal to the King or displayed nominal opposition to the King. It is only the CPN(Maoist) which had shown its firm commitment to abolish the monarchy once for all and had come to the fore as an alternative to the bourgeois-feudal parties.
Two, the masses of Nepal had enough of bullying, intervention and domination by Indian expansionism. There is a general atmosphere of suspicion regarding the motives of the Indian ruling classes in Nepal. The people of Nepal had suffered too long under the obnoxious unequal treaties signed by successive rulers of Nepal with the Indian government such as the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the Mahakali Treaty, and so on. The Indian rulers have always had an eye on the natural wealth of Nepal, its rich natural gas reserves, hydro-electric potential, forest products etc. Along with imperialist exploitation, oppression and plunder, the Indian CBB too is seen as an obstacle for the development of the local industry and trade. Besides this, Indian ruling classes have been continuously interfering in the political affairs of Nepal. They supported the monarchy all along and in the past few years took up the so-called two-pillar theory of supporting the King as well as the Nepali Congress. They gave training, supplied arms to the Royal Nepal Army, and sent all sorts of aid to contain the Maoist revolutionaries in Nepal. All these despicable acts had only fuelled the anger of the masses against Indian government. Now when an opportunity presented itself before them in the form of the CPN(M) they naturally voted for it which should be seen as a vote against Indian domination. None of the other Parties showed the guts to confront India. It was only the CPN(M) which categorically assured the people that it would do away with all the unequal treaties with India, ban obscene Hindi films, stop recruitment of Gurkhas into the Indian Army and provide them with alternative employment, and so on.
Three, the masses of Nepal had enough of the exploitation, oppression and intervention of the US imperialists. Throughout the rule of King Gyanendra and even until today after the humiliating defeat of his loyalist parties in elections, US imperialists has stood by his side rendering all aid to perpetuate his rule and to brutally suppress the Maoists. They had placed the CPN(M) on its list of terrorist outfits. This is a grave insult to the people of Nepal who view this as unwarranted meddling in Nepal’s affairs. By supporting the discredited King the US imperialists became even more discredited and hated by even those who had no anti-imperialist consciousness or opposed to US imperialism as they see it as a protector of the feudal monarchy.
Four, the promises made by the CPN(M) to establish a democratic, federal, secular Nepal with freedom, democracy and equality for all the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women had an electrifying impact. For the first time, these oppressed sections were given considerable representation in the elections. Under such conditions, the oppressed masses came out enthusiastically in support of the Maoists. Women’s turn-out, it is said, was equal to, and may be even greater than that of men—something unimaginable in a feudal country like Nepal.
Five, the most important factor is the positive impact created by the decade-long people’s war led by the Maoists on the overall balance of forces in Nepal. The Maoists had established control over almost three-quarters of rural Nepal. Through the people’s revolutionary governments in the countryside they had carried out several reforms which brought the masses closer to them. Most of the Parties had thus become irrelevant in the eyes of the people. The impact of armed struggle should not be underestimated. For instance, even in India if we see, the united Communist Party won an overwhelming majority of seats (31 out of 32 seats) in the elections to the state assembly in Telangana region in 1957. This, in spite of the fact that the CPI had withdrawn the Telangana armed struggle so much was the impact of the anti-feudal armed agrarian struggle on the people of Telangana.
Lastly, though a less important factor, mention must be made of the support of the local capitalists and a section of the traders who, even though are opposed to the Maoists in general, think that bringing them to power is the only guarantee for peace in Nepal. They fear that Maoists would once again take to arms if they are defeated in the polls. The local capitalists and small traders aspire to grow and develop in an atmosphere free from the hegemony and strangulation of imperialist and Indian expansionist capital. This they know none of the comprador-feudal parties can deliver and the only hope is with the Maoists.
Q: Now that the Maoists have come to power will they be able to carry out the promises made?
Azad: This is the most difficult question to answer. The immediate problem for the Maoists is to secure a coalition of forces that can meet the target of two-thirds majority in the Constituent Assembly in order to incorporate their radical reforms into the new Constitution. But to achieve two-thirds majority they have to rely on the reactionary comprador-feudal parties such as NC and social democratic UML. Needless to say, it is impossible to carry through the promised reforms with such a hotch-potch combination of forces. These Parties in the coalition will not be willing to be a party to the programme of the Maoists and will, moreover, try to subvert any radical changes which are aimed at curtailing their own class interests.
It is a fundamental tenet of Marxism that no radical restructuring of the system is possible without the militant mobilization of the vast masses into bitter class struggle. It is impossible to make genuine changes in the system through measures initiated “from above”, i.e. through state decrees and laws. Whichever Party may be in power, not excluding the most radical Maoists, it can only make laws at best, but to implement these it is imperative to mobilize the masses and advance class struggle against exploiters and oppressors. Without this the liberation of the vast majority of poor is an impossible task. And for the CPN(M), even enacting the much-promised laws will be an almost impossible task given the present coalition in the CA. No ruling class will give up power without putting up a bitter struggle and carrying out counter-revolutionary activities against the oppressed class. Hence the real, bitter and most cruel struggle for power will now unfold soon after the elections. The reactionaries will oppose every change tooth and nail. And, lacking a majority in the Constituent Assembly, the Maoists will be powerless to affect radical changes in the Constitution. Either they have to compromise and adjust with a section of the reactionary forces thereby sacrificing the class interests of the oppressed in whose interests they had come to power, or, they have to mobilize the people and intensify the struggle through all means, including armed insurrection, in order to implement genuine democracy and establish people’s power. There is no other alternative.
We must not forget the experiences of Indonesia, Chile, Nicaragua and other countries where the Communist Parties had come to power but were either thrown out in counter-revolutionary coups accompanied by counter-revolutionary massacres of Communist cadres, or threw out the Party in so-called elections as in the case of Nicaragua. The experience of Nicaragua is very much relevant in the context of so-called multi-party democracy.
Q: How do you envisage the future scenario in Nepal? Will India and US imperialism adjust to the new reality that had emerged in Nepal and support the Maoist government or will they create hurdles?
Azad: We will be living in a fool’s paradise if we think that imperialist America and expansionist India will be comfortable with the Maoists in power in Nepal or that they will adjust themselves to the new reality. Though they will have no other go but to continue diplomatic relations they will also continue to create an adverse situation for the new government if it does not obey their dictates. The fact is that the US rendered all help to its stooge parties in Nepal to defeat the Maoists. It tried its best to keep the monarchy alive as the King was the most reliable pillar for its rule by proxy in Nepal. And as for India, it received a slap in its face when its chief stooge—GP Koirala and his NC—tasted an ignominious defeat. Most of the stalwarts of NC were trounced and swept away in the flood of people’s fury as their traitorous deals with India have by now become well-known to the Nepali people.
However, India has gained in another front. In the Tarai region it supported the two Madhesi parties which won a considerable number of seats with the backing of India. India will use the Madhesi trump card to create disturbances in Nepal if the new regime does not toe its line. Already Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) led by Upendra Yadav has demanded that the Maoists should make their stand clear on the demand for Madhesi autonomy (Ek Madhes Ek Prades) and had asked the Maoists to discontinue their relations with international forums like the RIM and CCOMPOSA. Both US and India will try by various means to bring the new government to toe their line. They can, for instance, hit at Nepal’s belly—its economy—by paralyzing industrial production, blocking trade and supply lines thereby creating food shortages and shortage of consumer goods; in other words it can squeeze Nepal through an economic blockade. This it will do if it thinks the new regime is going too far. As it is, the situation in Nepal is already too delicate with almost 10 hours of load-shedding even in capital Kathmandu and a shortage of all essential commodities. Its powerful neighbours can alter the balance through economic blackmail which could lead to growth of social unrest and massive protests against the Maoists. Acute shortage of essential items and rising prices can lead to disenchantment with the fledgling regime and a dip in its popularity thereby giving an opportunity to the discredited parties to re-establish themselves. Thus the situation in Nepal will remain extremely delicate and unstable even though the Maoists had won an impressive electoral victory. Comrades Prachanda and Bhattarai know this well and hence they have been appealing for India’s cooperation. They had gone on record saying that there will not be stability in Nepal without India’s cooperation. The fact that Nepal is a small country sandwiched between two powerful and big neighbours—India and China—and that it is a target for the US imperialists makes the governance quite a difficult proposition. Hence we should not read too much from the electoral victory of the Maoists in Nepal. the Maoist face an extremely difficult task ahead in balancing all these forces and carrying on with their people's agenda through land reforms and indigenous industrialization towards a new democratic economy.
Q: Then do you mean the electoral victory of the Maoists and their capture of state power through parliamentary means is a futile exercise, and that it cannot bring the desired radical change in the social system?
Azad: I don’t exactly mean that. The control of state power, if they really can control, does give the Maoists a means to defend the gains accrued during the long years of revolutionary war and to affect radical changes in the social system. But this cannot be will be difficult to achieve through the type of state power that has fallen into the hands of the Maoists at the present juncture. In fact, even in classical revolutions as in China, where the Communist revolutionaries had seized power through an armed revolution, Mao had warned of the danger of the rise of a new class by virtue of their positions in the state machinery. After Mao, the state had degenerated into a machinery of oppression and suppression of the vast masses. The lesson that we Communists had learnt from this experience is that the Party should concentrate on organizing the masses and mobilizing them to rebel against all types of injustice and exploitation perpetrated by state and Party bureaucrats.
In Nepal, where the Maoists have come to power in alliance with a section of the reactionary ruling classes, it is an even more urgent task of the Maoists to continue the class struggle by organizing the masses against all forms of exploitation and oppression. In this the YCL appears to have been doing commendable work and is so hated by the other parties. To the extent possible, the Maoists shcould use their relative control over the state to help the masses in their struggle for freedom, democracy and livelihood. But it would be an illusion to perceive the state as an instrument for bringing about a basic change in the lives of the people. This can Basic change could be achieved through continuation of class struggle for which, the state can, at best, render some help.


Q: Sitaram Yechuri of the CPI(M), among several others, have said that the Maoists of India have to learn from Nepal’s experiences and take the parliamentary road to come to power. What does your Party say in this regard?
Azad: Why Yechuri alone? Even the DGPs of Jharkhand, AP and other states where Maoist movement is strong had said that before. Leaders of other reactionary ruling class parties had been harping on the same theme ever since the revisionists began participating in parliament in our country. Some like former RAW chief Thorakan have said that the Maoist victory in Nepal would have a demonstration effect on the Maoists of India.
Firstly, those who say this forget that the situation in Nepal and India are completely different. In Nepal the immediate political task before the entire Nepali masses was a struggle against the monarchy which circumstance had brought about a measure of unity among the various parliamentary parties and broad sections of people. The King himself, with the active guidance and aid from US imperialism had created a situation where all forces had to close their ranks and wage a struggle for democracy. The fact that hardly two per cent of the Nepali population supported the monarchy, as revealed by a 2008 Survey report, shows the basis for such a united struggle of the Nepalese people and the CPN(M) utilized such a situation. In India, it is a fight against the semi-colonial, semi-feudal social system of which the parliamentary system is part and parcel. All the major parliamentary parties are representatives of the comprador-feudal classes, obey the dictates of imperialists, and hence stand in the counter-revolutionary camp. Here the immediate task is struggle for land, livelihood and liberation for the vast majority of the masses.
Even in Nepal, to achieve these, class struggle has to be waged and parliament can do hardly anything to mitigate the sufferings of the masses. Now with the exit of the King, when the real questions confronting the people have come to the fore, it will not take much time for them to realize this universal truth.
Yechuris, Karats and Buddhadebs have over 40 years of experience in the Parliamentary pig-sty. But what basic changes have they brought in the system? Their parliamentary cretinism has done no good for the masses. The rich have grown richer and poor poorer even in the states where these revisionists have been in power. Without their support the ruling UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh would not have dared to carry out the anti-people policies. They had correctly dubbed themselves as “a barking dog that doesn’t bite”. They agree that they are powerless to do anything more than acting as “speed-breakers”, as described by one of their spokespersons, in the path of the anti-people onslaught by the UPA government at the Centre. The fact is, they are not merely speed-breakers. They actually act as political brokers intermediating between the vast masses and the reactionary rulers trying to bring about class harmony in place of class struggle. In the states where they are directly in power they have become no less exploiters and oppressors than the Congress and the BJP. Singur and Nandigram are their laboratories for carrying through their pro-imperialist, pro-comprador big business policies. And in this they have become even more brutal thanks to the vast army of social fascist gangs at their disposal. These political prostitutes spin one theory after another such as “the bigger evil versus the lesser evil”, that they have no power to stop the SEZs across the country, unless, of course, they come to power at the Centre to justify their hob-nobbing with Congress at one time, TDP at another and such antics. But in the same breath they hypocritically say that without SEZs, privatization, foreign investment, etc., West Bengal and Kerala cannot go ahead with industrialization, and so on.
No wonder, imperialist and comprador capital is very impressed by the performance of the Indian “Left”. NRI industrialist Lord Swaraj Paul, who is the chairman of the Caparo Group which is setting up a component unit in Singur, was all praise for the CPI(M) and its leader Buddhadeb when he visited West Bengal as the head of a delegation of the United Kingdom branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
These social fascists have now become the blue-eyed boys of the World Bank, Tatas, Salems, Swaraj Pauls and the people of India will fare no better under a CPI(M) government at the Centre.
There is little wonder they have been asking the Indian Maoists to follow suit. Our Party firmly believes that a basic change in the system cannot be achieved through the parliamentary path but through class struggle. In our country this takes the form of armed agrarian revolutionary war. We, of course, do not reject other forms of struggle and organization, besides armed struggle and armed organization, and you would have realized this if you are a keen observer of our movement. This is of no consequence to our Mr. Yechuri who only dreams of seats in the Parliament like any other ruling class party. We, on the other hand, invite everyone opposed to imperialism, feudalism, comprador bureaucrat capitalism and the neo-liberal policies of the reactionary ruling classes of India, to come forward to wage a united militant struggle instead of whiling their time in an impotent anti-people Parliament and acting as lobbyists and power brokers. For revisionist chieftains like Yechuri, who are bogged down neck-deep into the morass of parliamentarism and bourgeois lobbying, such a revolutionary alternative is naturally an anathema.
Q: Prachanda had earlier said that he would be the first President of Republican Nepal but a few days ago he changed tack and declared that he would head the ministry. Do you think it is correct for anyone in a Communist Party to be the head of the government, chief of the Party and army at the same time?
Azad: We too had seen his statements in this regard. He still says he wants to be the President if it is acceptable to all i.e. by consensus. As such, the present Constitution of Nepal has no provision for an Executive President. It will take another two years for the Constituent Assembly to adopt the newly drafted Constitution and to arrive at a final decision on this. Hence comrade Prachanda might have reconsidered his earlier decision and decided to become the Prime Minister.
Now the question is not whether the Party chief should be President or Prime Minister. We have a different opinion altogether. We think that the Party chief should be neither. He/she should concentrate on developing class struggle and not get immersed in the administration of the state. If we believe that the role of the Party is to continue class struggle until the final stage of Communism then we can appreciate our viewpoint. The history of revolutions had shown that once the Party has led the revolution to final victory it also lays the basis for the rise of a new class of Party and state bureaucrats. When the Party and state completely coalesce then it will be terribly difficult to fight the rise of bureaucratic class and to mobilize the people against the wrongs done by the state. Hence it is very much essential that the party leaders remain with the masses, organize and guide them against each and every form of exploitation and oppression. In Nepal this becomes even more crucial as the Maoists have to share power with a section of the comprador-feudal classes.
Who should lead a government or any other body is for the Party to decide. Historically Party leaders have been in top positions of governments, like in China and the CPC and even elsewhere. It is not for us to stand on judgment about allocation of responsibilities of cadres or leaders in any other party. Only, one of the most important lessons of the GPCR was that no matter what the seniority of a comrade they should not lose touch with the masses. They should not stand above the masses and become like bourgeois bureaucrats but be accessible to the masses and integrate with them.



Q: Prachanda and Bhattarai had declared that they are willing to invite FDI and to create a business-friendly environment in Nepal. They also said that they would encourage capitalism. Is it correct for a Maoist party to invite foreign investment and develop capitalism?
Azad: Firstly we must understand the reality of Nepal. It is an extremely backward, semi-feudal country that lacks the minimum infrastructure and industrial production. It is a part of the Fourth World, if we can call it so. The UN has placed it in the category of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Hence the first task in Nepal would be to liberate the vast masses from the feudal clutches and develop industry on that basis. As regards developing capitalism in Nepal there need not be any objection from revolutionaries as long as it is national capitalism and is properly regulated to meet the needs of the masses and is directed towards the growth of the internal economy and not for exports or for serving the imperialists. But if the encouragement is for inflow of foreign capital it will be detrimental to the interests of the country in the long run. The foreign capital would begin to control the economy of Nepal even if the Maoists are the major partners in the government just as it had done till now. The Maoists shcould consider encouraging indigenous capital and help its growth while gradually eliminating foreign capital. Both Prachanda and Mr Bhattarai had a meeting with businessmen under the aegis of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) as soon as the results became clear. There is pressure from businessmen for an investment-friendly environment, maximisation of profit, tax reforms, new flexible labour laws and a positive industrial policy.
In the past Maoists had opposed private institutions in health and education sectors. But now Prachanda has promised private-public partnership will be encouraged in health and education sectors. Mr Bhattarai has promised to remove whatever hurdles that may arise in the private sector. We have been hearing reports of talks between the Maoist leaders and the officials of World Bank. If these reports are true then it will could have dangerous consequences on the future of Nepal. Depending on FDI and adopting a pragmatic approach towards industrialization of Nepal in the name of overcoming the country’s economic backwardness will only lead to opposite results and strengthen the hold of the imperialists and continue the prevailing backwardness. The key aspect for the development in any backward country is not capital but the expansion of the home market. This can only be achieved by raising the purchasing power of the masses. Once this grows it will act as the motor for the industrial development of the country.
Q: How do you foresee the future fraternal relations between your Party and the CPN(M)? Given the fact that the Indian state does not want the Maoists of Nepal to maintain relations with the Indian Maoists, and the demands by MJF in this regard is a clear indication of growing Indian pressure, will fraternal relations between the two Parties continue as before?
Azad: We believe and desire that fraternal relations between the CPI(Maoist) and CPN(Maoist) should continue as before. As long as both the Parties stand firmly committed to proletarian internationalism, international pressures and internal pressures will not come in the way.
Of course, there is bound to be increasing pressure from various quarters on the Maoists of Nepal to cut off their relations with other Maoist Parties. Particularly India and the US will exert utmost pressure in this regard. We do understand the complexity of the situation. However, we must keep in mind that every Communist Party is a detachment of the world proletariat. And any proletarian Party will place national interests subordinate to the interests of the world proletariat. Comrade Prachanda had correctly said that ideological ties between the two Parties will remain intact. And we believe the ideological debates and discussions have to continue. The various international fora such as CCOMPOSA should continue with their aims and activities in spite of the new situation that had arisen. Besides we will continue to deepen people to people ties between our two countries and oppose any form of interference and domination of Nepal by the Indian expansionists. We will promote solidarity for the Nepal people and revolution amongst the people of India on a wide scale. All this is our proletarian internationalist duty. We expect the same from our Nepal comrades.
Q: What do you have to say about comrade Prachanda’s comment in his interview to The Hindu that “for the Indian Maoist party, its leaders and cadres, these efforts of ours provide some new material to study, to think about and go ahead in a new way. Our efforts provide a reference point.”

Azad: As Marxists we must study critically any phenomena, particularly new experiences. Yet, we should not come to hasty conclusions and carefully observe the outcome of such efforts. All these need to be assessed from a class view-point and not a non-class approach. Marxism is a science and it gives the tools to analyse all social phenomena scientifically. This we need to do for the Nepal or any other experiment. Ofcourse, we have already many historical precedents, these too should be considered and the Nepal experience seen as part of this and not in isolation.

Q: Finally, is there anything you want to say to the people of Nepal and the CPN(M)?
Azad: Our Party, CPI(Maoist), sends its revolutionary greetings on behalf of our CC, entire Party rank and file, and the people of India to the CPN(Maoist) and the people of Nepal for their categorical rejection of monarchic rule and the comprador-feudal Parties through the elections to the Constituent Assembly. We wish to appraise them that the real battle for the transformation of their lives and the life of Nepal begins now. Lack of vigilance even for a moment could prove dear to the Maoists as well as the people of Nepal as vultures within and outside their country are only too eager to maintain the existing social order and itching to destroy all the gains achieved by the people and the Maoists. We wish to remind the CPN(M) and the people of Nepal to bear in mind the warning we had given in November 2006 when they decided to become part of the interim government. I repeat what we said then: “The agreement by the Maoists to become part of the interim government in Nepal cannot transform the reactionary character of the state machinery that serves the exploiting ruling classes and imperialists. The state can be the instrument in the hands of either the exploiting classes or the proletariat but it cannot serve the interests of both these bitterly-contending classes. It is the fundamental tenet of Marxism that no basic change in the social system can be brought about without smashing the state machine. Reforms from above cannot bring any qualitative change in the exploitative social system however democratic the new Constitution might seem to be, and even if the Maoists become an important component of the government. It is sheer illusion to think that a new Nepal can be built without smashing the existing state.”
Our Party hopes that CPN(M) will take heed of our fraternal advice and We hope and sincerely feel that the CPN(Maoist) will continue the class struggle to achieve real liberation of Nepal from imperialism, feudalism, Indian expansionism and advance towards socialism and Communism. it has no other go but to continue the people’s war to achieve the above aim as it is impossible to carry out basic transformation in the social system through the coalition of forces that have come to power at the present juncture.
Our Party will wage uncompromising struggle against the machinations and expansionist designs, the intervention and bullying and acts of subversion of the Indian ruling classes in Nepal and assure that we shall stand firmly by the side of the CPN(M) and the people of Nepal in their fight for genuine freedom and independence. In the long run it is only the victory of the revolution in India that can ensure real equality and mutual respect between the two countries. And our Party will step up its efforts to advance the revolution in our country to its ultimate victory.
Q: Before departing I would like to have a clarification regarding some recent reports in the media that the spokesperson of the CC, CPI(Maoist), Azad, and his wife Rama had died in an encounter with the police in the Eturnagaram forest in Warangal district of AP. So, after all, this had turned out to be just a rumour!
Azad: Need I to say anything more on this when you are face-to-face with the supposedly dead person? I only wonder at the incapacity of the media to verify facts before publishing. Every lie that is churned out by the media acquires a certain measure of credibility in the eyes of the people at least for some time. They create confusion and mislead public opinion. With regard to the so-called encounter that was supposed to have led to my death the first lies that were circulated in the media, though these were not repeated in the later news reports, were enough to create a dent in some people’s minds. Even when the facts eventually come out it would be too late to correct the impressions created. Many people still think that Azad is dead. In last Tuesday’s (April 22) Indian Express, for instance, there was a centre page article by former chief of Research & Analysis Wing, Mr. P.K. Hormis Tharakan who wrote that “CPI(Maoist) spokesperson and CC member, Azad (Gajarla Saraiah) and his wife Rama were killed in an encounter in Eturnagaram forest”. This was in the context of his analysis of the electoral results in Nepal. One can imagine how great is the impact of news reports appearing in the media which can easily carry away an experienced senior intelligence officer of the Indian establishment! On the other hand, this also shows how raw is the brain of a former chief of RAW!!
Q: Wasn’t Gajarla Saraiah alias Azad a member of the CC and CMC?Azad: No. Even that is not a fact. The fact is that comrade Gajarla Saraiah (also known as Azad and Raghu) was a member of NT Special Zonal Committee until 2004 after which he was transferred to Maharashtra where he served as a member of the state committee and secretary of Gondia-Balaghat divisional committee until August 2006. He was never a member of the CC or the CMC as propagated by the media. He and his wife Rama were picked up by the APSIB from Kolhapur town in Maharashtra and brutally murdered after torturing them cruelly. Their bodies were thrown in the forest in Warangal and, as usual, the notorious SIB of AP projected this cold-blooded murder as an encounter. They also tried to make it appear that he was a senior member of the CC and CMC. The police in AP know very well that both these comrades were out of the state for over four years and yet had the audacity to claim that they were killed in Warangal forests. That is the power these licensed goondas of the state enjoy in a country that is said to be a Republic having a Constitution. Every encounter killing—and these run into thousands over the years—is a telling vindication of the Maoist thesis that Indian democracy is formal and fake. The lawlessness of the police and security forces had never come into question by the Courts and not a single officer in AP had been indicted for murder in spite of carrying out over three thousand murders in the past two decades.

press release

Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Central Committee

Press Release: April 23, 2008
Red Salutes to CPI(Maoist) central committee member and great revolutionary intellectual comrade Anuradha Ghandy!
Let us emulate com Anuradha’s great revolutionary qualities—her undaunted spirit, staunch determination and selflessness!!

On April 11, 2008 the oppressed masses of our country and the Indian revolution lost an exemplary Communist leader and a brilliant revolutionary intellectual—comrade Anuradha Ghandy—known to the revolutionary camp as comrade Narmada and Rama. On that fateful day this beloved leader of the CPI(Maoist) had breathed her last, at the age of 54, after a severe attack of falciparum malaria. Comrade Anuradha, had just returned from Bihar-Jharkhand region after attending to some Party work there and she did not realize that the fever she was suffering from was due to the deadly cerebral malaria. The negative result in the blood tests had only misled her and the doctors and delay in taking malaria dose resulted in this tragic episode. Comrade Narmada was cremated on April 12. The CC, CPI(Maoist) pays its humble red homage to this seniormost woman member of the Central Committee and vows to fulfill the revolutionary ideals for which she had laid down her life.
Comrade Anuradha had started her revolutionary career in the early 1970s as a student of Eliphinstone college, Mumbai. She is one of the founder-members of the CPI(ML) in Maharashtra. And in the span of over three decades she had been in the forefront in several fronts: student movement, civil rights movement, women’s movement, workers’ movement, dalit movement, adivasi movement, literary and cultural movement. She never remained a spectator to any act of injustice and to the spontaneous struggle of any section of the masses. Her spirited and courageous fight for the rights of the adivasis, landless labourers, dalit masses, women and unorganized labour will forever be remembered. She played a prominent role in organizing the intellectuals of Mumbai and other parts of the state to build a movement for democratic rights and civil liberties. She was a leader of the All India League for Revolutionary Culture (AILRC) from Maharashtra and is well- known in revolutionary circles as a talented writer and fiery orator. Comrade Anuradha was a prolific writer and contributed immensely to the magazines of various fronts. She wrote fluently in three languages—English, Hindi and Marathi. She worked in the city of Mumbai, Nagpur, Surat and several parts of Maharashtra. She served as a member of the Vidarbha regional committee and Maharashtra state committee and was elected to the central committee of the CPI(Maoist) in the Unity Congress (9th Congress) held in January 2007. At the time of her martyrdom she was also in charge of the Party’s central subcommittee for women.
Comrade Anuradha was known for her exemplary communist qualities: she stood steadfast in the most difficult times, was always spirited, hard working, and led a very frugal and simple life with the goal of declassifying herself. Her frail health had not deterred her from carrying out any task and duty entrusted to her. She was suffering from sclerosis but none suspected that she had serious health problems for she never let others know of her problems. When she was in Dandakaranya for two years, she was a great inspiration to the cadres there: she used to walk long distances without ever complaining despite her health problems and she integrated with the cadres and masses with great ease. It is not easy for urban-based petty-bourgeois intellectuals to integrate with the illiterate poverty-stricken masses but comrade Anuradha did with great ease.
Comrade Anuradha was known for frank and fearless criticism of weaknesses, shortcomings and mistakes in the Party’s policies and practice. She had strong views and put these forth without any hesitation in various Party fora. She contributed a lot in making the Party understand the women’s question in the correct light and in realizing the lapses and weaknesses of the Party in the women’s front. She was forthright in her criticism of anyone in the Party, irrespective of one’s position in the Party, if she saw something wrong.
Comrade Anuradha will live forever in the hearts of the Party’s rank and file and millions upon millions of the Indian masses. She will remain an eternal inspiration to all those who aspire for a victorious revolution in our country, and a catalyst driving us towards the ultimate goal of establishing a classless society. Let us emulate the indomitable spirit, dynamism, simplicity, diligence, dedication and communist values of comrade Anuradha. Let us pledge ourselves once again to fulfill the great ideals for which comrade Anuradha had laid down her life.


Azad,
Spokesperson,
Central Committee,
CPI(Maoist)

Book Review

recieved via mail
Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country by Sudeep Chakravarti
Penguin/Viking Pages 320; Rs. 495

The Maoist movement in India is one of the oldest and longest-sustained revolutionary movements in the contemporary world. Spanning a period of over four decades beginning with the first earth-shaking volcanic eruption in a tiny village in Naxalbari it has become part of folk-lore in some regions in the country. It had risen, phoenix-like, every time the political pundits had confidently pronounced its certain demise. Top political and police brass had time and again boasted that they had "finished off" the revolution which they claimed as having been "imported from abroad". They asserted that Maoist revolution is something alien to the conditions in Gandhi's India where, they claim, people are not prone to violent ways. The latest in this long list of liars, wishful thinkers and vicious propagandists is Mahendra Karma, who declared amidst much fanfare in June 2005 that he would decimate the Maoists within a year through his state-sponsored terrorist campaign christened as salwa judum (peace campaign). When his armed gangsters and the state's khaki-clad goons took a beating in the hands of the Maoists this scab of the imperialist-big business-feudal combine kept on barking over the past two years that he would finish off the Maoists within a short time. However, nailing all these lies and disgusting boasts by the mediocre politicians and police officials ruling the country, the resilience and growth of the Maoist movement had surprised many skeptics who see the Indian state as an almighty behemoth that can snuff out any armed resistance.
Surprisingly, given the great international significance of revolution in a vast country like India—the second most populous in the world—very few scholars have attempted any serious research into this social phenomenon and books dealing with this protracted insurgency are very few. But of late, several research scholars belonging to various persuasions and particularly so-called independent agencies have suddenly jumped into the fray. There is very less objectivity and realistic analysis in most of these writings. Many of these have begun to paint a scary picture of rapidly-growing “Red Terror” which is supposed to undermine development measures undertaken by the government. They talk of Maoist movement spreading at an alarming speed to the majority of the states in India. Agencies like the ORF, SATP, Institute of Conflict Management, Jane's Defence Weekly, etc began taking keen interest and a plethora of articles have been appearing in various magazines. Some websites too had sprung up both in support of, and decrying, Maoism in India.
In Red Sun, published by Penguin (Viking) Books India in early 2008, the author, Sudeep Chakravarti, makes an attempt to understand and present the phenomenon of Maoist movement in India. It is not, as the writer himself claims, a history of the Maoist movement, but a travelogue which tries to understand the Other India, as he christens it. The positive side of the book is the writer's attempt to present the conditions of the vast majority of the common people—their grinding poverty, excruciating indebtedness, horrific tales of their destitution and displacement by so-called development—leading to extreme helplessness and heart-rending suicides. The writer had tried to focus on the aspirations of the majority in India that had been left out of every development scheme and model touted as great boons for the poor by the Indian ruling classes. Overall, the writer has been able to present in a lucid manner the explosive socio-economic milieu that gave rise to, and continues to nurture, the Maoist movement in India. And as a travelogue, this aspect often comes forcefully through conversations with people from various walks of life. He logically anticipates the inevitable spread of the Maoist movement to the urban areas since similar conditions had pushed the vast majority of the urban poor into utter wretchedness.
Good exposure of state-sponsored terror campaign in Dandakaranya:

The exposure of the state-sponsored terrorist campaign in Dandakaranya through the so-called salwa judum comes out forcefully in the book. It is here that the writer is seen at his best and he boldly exposes the havoc created by the state-sponsored vigilante gangs combined with the state and central forces. There is some amount of depth in the writer’s presentation of the movement in one of the crucial regions of the Maoists. He vividly describes the war theatre, the explosive situation and the strategies and plans of the state. As far as the writer’s description of the Maoist movement goes this is the best part in the entire book. Well, if one has time constraints one can either have a cursory glance at the remaining pages of the book or just drop them altogether after going through the first hundred pages or so. For, after this, the presentation of the movement elsewhere is shallow and based more on hearsay.
None of the movements in other regions such as Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, or Andhra Pradesh has any indepth analysis and reflects lack of real interaction with the actual players. Even the conversations with such an eminent personality in the revolutionary camp like VV lack punch and analysis. The principal weakness of the travelogue is that the writer had traveled more along the periphery of the war zone and has hardly any interaction with the Maoist fighters and leaders in any of these regions. Whether this is deliberately done, or the writer found no opportunity to meet the Maoist revolutionaries in the battle-field, is not clear. With the right contacts—and the writer claims to have many such contacts—it is, of course, not difficult to meet underground cadre of CPI(Maoist). He had sought to make up this weakness by meeting people belonging to various legal organizations which profess to be revolutionary such as Kanu Sanyal and CPI(ML)-Liberation.
The excerpts from the Fact Finding Report by a team of democratic intellectuals which was released to the media in December 2005 and from the Report of April 2006 entitled 'When the State Makes War on Its Own People', Mahendra Karma's statement on the aim of salwa judum ("Unless you cut off the source of the disease, the disease will remain. The source is the people, the villagers."), presentation of the full text of Bijapur SP DL Manhar's instructions on the wireless to his men which was taped by the Maoists, the story of local journalist Kamlesh Paika, conversations with KR Pisda, Collector of Dantewara, abuse of journalists in the most filthy and uncivilized manner by Alok Awasthi, additional director in Chattisgarh's Directorate of Public Relations, etc are well brought out. The aim of salwa judum as admitted by the government in the official document is also quoted exhaustively. The most chilling story of the evacuation and setting afire the village of Darzo in Mizoram by the Indian Army during the early 1970s as part of the sordid plan of resettlement of the villages is very much relevant in the context of the salwa judum campaign and the planned resettlement of the tribals in Dantewara. The comparison with the Mizoram of the 1970s is a commendable job.
At several places in the book, during conversations with the revolutionaries, bureaucrats and police officials, the activities and viewpoints of the two opposing forces in this class conflict are brought into sharp contrast.
Some of the remarks by top political and police brass make interesting, and at times, disgusting, reading. For instance, the health minister of Jharkhand, Bhanu Pratap Shahi, says in an interview: "One vasectomy in a Naxalite dominated village means that many potential comrades less…when you have too many mouths to feed and too little food to eat, you may turn into a Naxalite. All I want is to minimize the number of mouths." The cynical revelation by an officer of the military intelligence of how he and his team had hacked off the heads of six militants just to petrify their Islamic colleagues and to serve as a spiritual insult makes chilling reading. "Then we heard these human rights chaps were coming. So we put the heads back on somehow, crudely stitched them up. We didn't bother with matching head and body." (p 78) That cynical laughter of the officer while narrating this ghastly incident shows the general sadistic mindset of the police and security establishment, whether it is in Kashmir, North East, Dandakaranya, Jharkhand, AP or elsewhere. Their proposed solution to the Naxalite issue is such outright murders and fascist suppression, despite their occasional declarations, if only to please and appease civil rights activists and liberal-minded intellectuals, that the issue is more a socio-economic one rather than a law & order problem. Khadi and Khaki bandits are all one and the same with regard to this.
The bogey of Naxal surrenders is also well depicted by the author. Chattisgarh's DGP OP Rathor (who died of heart attack on anti-terrorist day) bursts out venom against the Naxals: "Bloody nuisance. There's no Marxism, Leninism or Maoism about them. When I was young I at least sensed some ideology about the Naxalites. But these chaps (now) are nothing but thugs and extortionists" (p 263). The Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Government of Chattisgarh, BKS Ray, shows the same abysmally crude attitude and approach towards Naxalite movement. " These people are just thugs and extortionists. That's why in Chattisgarh you have a spontaneous popular movement against them—these tribals are fed up of the Naxals" he says. Why the tribals were not fed up with the Naxals for 25 years and why all of a sudden they became restive is something this arrogant bureaucrat will never be able to grasp or explain. And why will the tribals be angry with Naxals, even if one accepts the allegations of the rulers that they are extortionists, since the tribals have nothing to lose and everything to gain? Is it not only the big contractors, bureaucrats, traders and industrialists who have big property amassed through primitive methods of exploitation of tribals and loot and plunder of the entire region that actually fear the Maoists and try to snuff it out with all means at their disposal? No wonder, this bureaucrat with a police mind set can only think of extermination of Maoists as the solution ('sabko khatm karo' he says over the phone to the police officials.) It has become a fashion for every police officer and political bigwig to express nostalgic feelings about the Naxals of yesteryears as if they really believed Naxals were sincere in the bygone times and had become a nuisance now. They say they were an educated lot in earlier times but now have lumpen elements in dominance. The fact is today Naxals have the real oppressed classes behind them which is why it is becoming increasingly difficult for the reactionary ruling classes to suppress them. The change in the composition of the Naxalite movement shows the maturity and grass-roots strength of the movement.
Ideological biases:
As is natural in a class-divided society, the presentation in the book, and the conclusions drawn, are subject to the limitations set by the class and social background of the writer besides the inescapable influence of oft-repeated verdicts on the movement by earlier writers of various hues. It is not easy to wriggle oneself out of the shackles of ruling ideology, culture and long-inculcated values that continue to reinforce upon one's mind ever since one's childhood. Some of the remarks of the writer bring home this point. For instance, referring to VV's speech at the Tehelka summit in November 2006 in Delhi, the writer says: "Democracy, with all its ills, allows him this public space. I hope he realizes the irony that dogma and undemocratic institutions have no space for others, tolerate no dissent. Mao didn't. The bloom of a Hundred Flowers turned into deepest tragedy. Maybe when the Maoists talk about New India, they really need to talk about gentler Maoism—possibly an oxymoron—as their counterparts have done for Nepal's fragile peace." (p292)
The author also cites some instances of punishment given to informers in DK, Jharkhand, Orissa by the "dreaded Jan Adalat, or People's Court, which is little more than kangaroo court" and concludes that "These acts are as gruesome, and gratuitous, as what the Maoists accuse state security of."
Another comment or rather conclusion of the author without any analysis runs thus: "In Dantewada, democracy is quite dead, on both sides of the battle line." Surprisingly, he cites the game of chor-police (cops-and-robbers) played by tribal children to arrive at such an obviously biased conclusion!!
The author's ideological biases can be seen also from his bland statements regarding the future post-revolutionary society and about Maoist China. He says: "What would it be like if ever revolution were to succeed in India, enough to impose its imprint beyond tribal and caste-roiled areas? Most probably, instant justice, dogmatic and Puritanical life, Soviet-style post-revolutionary rot, vast May Day parades." And he goes on: "Perhaps even brutal China-style state control and a repeat of the Cultural revolution of Mao himself, that ended up killing and damning millions of unbelievers." (p 210)
He concludes: "From available historical evidence, a Maoist state might do little else but backslide all of India's hard-won victories despite the mire of grand corruption and the utter small-mindedness of administration." (p 211)
Needless to say, this writer, as any other writer without living links with the lives of the oppressed masses and the movement, has also become a victim to the almost inescapable influence of the imperialist and ruling class ideological biases as regards comrade Mao and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China, post-revolutionary societies, and so on. From the opinions expressed by the writer such as the above one cannot but come to the conclusion that he prefers the status quo in place of a new revolutionary order where, he imagines, freedom will be the first casualty. He forgets that Maoists are also learning from the socialist experiments of the past and will certainly imbibe the positive aspects while rejecting the negative ones.

Some factual errors
There are a few minor factual errors in the book which could have been avoided with a little more diligence and care by the writer. Mistakes such as mentioning Chundru in place of Chundur or Tsundur (p 114), Piyas instead of Riyaz (p 206), Dr. Ramachandran instead of Dr. Ramanatham (p197) referring to the elderly former Vice President of APCLC who was murdered in his clinic in Warangal by police in 1985, referring to Darshan Pal as a Professor when in fact he is a medical doctor (perhaps the title Dr has misled the writer into thinking that he must be a professor), giving out a figure of "anywhere between 200 to 500 weapons" referring to the arms seizure in Koraput in February 2004 when the figure is 552 and published in the magazines of the then CPI(ML) People's War and also in the literature of the newly-formed CPI(Maoist), wrongly referring to the People's Guerrilla Army (PGA) formed in December 2000 by the erstwhile CPI(ML)[PW] as the People's Local Guerrilla Army, describing CC member Shridhar Srinivasan alias Vishnu as "a top member of the CPI(Maoist) Poliburo", Matta Ravi Kumar as a member of central committee of CPI(Maoist) while he was a member of AP state committee, and so on. It is also difficult to understand how and from where the writer got the wrong information that Lanka Papi Reddy (a CC member who had surrendered to the enemy in end January 2008 after the CC demoted him to the rank of District committee following his misbehaviour with a woman comrade) was a former secretary of NTSZC. Or that the People's Democratic Front (PDFI) "would count among its members people like Medha Patkar and CPI(ML) Liberation's secretary general Dipankar Bhattacharya."
On page 24 the writer says referring to the tribal heartland in Chattisgarh: "A true-blue 'guerrilla base' to upgrade to a 'guerrilla zone'. GB to GZ, in Maoist-speak." Here the writer suffers from a lack of understanding of the Maoist concept of GZ and GB. A study of Maoist documents would have shown him how GBs form part of GZ, how they are considered as focal points within the GZs which spread throughout the GZ to transform the later into a liberated zone or base area. The presentation is in the reverse order for it says GB to GZ whereas it is to develop GBs within the GZs and advance towards the eventual transformation of the entire GZ into the Base area. The comment on mobile war in the context of the annihilation of MP Sunil Mahto is also indicative of the poor understanding of the writer about mobile war. He writes: "True to their new mantra of 'mobile war' articulated in 2004 and now in the process of being implemented, Maoist cadres shot dead Lok Sabha MP Sunil Mahato, legislator for East Singhbhum district's Jamshedpur constituency, and three others as they watched a football match at Baguria on 4 March. "
There are also wrong informations such as cadre from Andhra going to Chattisgarh after the break-down of peace talks in AP in the last quarter of 2004. This has been the pet theory of the politicians and police top brass in Chattisgarh and also Orissa to explain the increase in Maoist activities in their states in recent years. He says: "When peace talks broke down in a matter of months—with both sides trading charges of peace being used as an excuse for greater infiltration and arming—increased pressure from the Greyhounds led to many Maoists spreading outwards from Andhra, mainly into Chattisgarh." But this is not true. The transfer of cadres from AP to DK had taken place much earlier in accordance with a plan drawn up by the CC and also as a part of retreat. The total number of cadres shifted to DK after the break-down of talks has not been much significant. If this was really done in time, as was reviewed by the Party leadership later on, most of the cadre and leadership who became martyrs in the brutal state offensive in the aftermath of the talks, could have been saved.
There is also wrong picture about the various tiers in the structure of the CPI(Maoist) despite the attempts by the author to present it diagramatically by using maps. The states falling under the two SACs is not correctly represented. The second SAC is said to include northeastern Jharkhand while it includes entire state of Jharkhand, not just eastern Bihar but central Bihar also, and it does not include the West Bengal districts of West Dinajpur, Malda etc. all of which fall under the West Bengal state committee. Likewise, the three SZCs—North Telangana, Dandakaranya, and Andhra-Orissa—are lumped together into a category of an elite tier which are supposed to have the maximum impact and maximum conflict. This is not true. Special Zone and Special Area are not different categories: the different names were on account of the independent development of the two erstwhile Maoist Parties.
Another problem with the presentation is that several allegations are made regarding the activities of the Maoists by some police officials and political leaders while no opportunity is available to the former to refute these allegations. When an author quotes these officials it will also be the bounden duty to get the response from the Maoists. Or else, it would mislead the people and amounts to gross injustice to the other side in the ongoing war. For instance, the superintendent of police of Dantewada district, Prabir Kumar Das, alleges that Maoists are against development and do not allow bore-wells to be sunk in their stronghold villages. He is quoted as saying: "When we entered an area 50 kilometers from here, deep inside, we found they had broken hand pumps. Initially, we thought it was to deny police water. Later, when we went to areas we hadn't been to before, there too the pumps were broken. Villagers told us that they were asked by the Maoists to drink only from wells and other natural water sources." (p 77) The rationale of the Maoists, behind this move, is attributed to their perception of bore-wells as a sign of oppression (!!) "Hand pumps were provided by the state or NGOs with state funding; they were a sign of oppression, and therefore taboo" says this gentleman. Nothing could be farther from truth. This even goes against common sense which the top police brains in India pitifully lack. How can the Maoists (the police can at least get their own mineral bottles), survive if they break the hand-pumps? If the author had verified the facts by touring the areas deep inside it would have been really useful in exposing the deliberate concoctions of the police chief. And all this is only to justify the brutal state-sponsored terror campaign in the name of salwa judum with the pretext that the villagers are fed up with Maoist attempts to block development schemes and such trash.
Some good photographs and charts would have enlivened the narration and made the book more meaningful and popular. I do not know why the author hasn't taken the trouble to compile some photographs when it isn't much difficult to get them.
The writer comes to the conclusion that Maoist movement would soon encompass the urban areas and mobilize the vast masses of the have-nots living in the most distressing conditions in the slums and factories. He rightly says that all the material conditions for the spread of Maoists to the urban areas exist there. He includes entire sections from the document of the CPI(Maoist), Perspective of Urban Areas, as an Appendix and quotes extensively from this document to prove how the Maoists will emerge as a strong urban force too.
The author also tries to place his own theories of In-Land, Out-Land, City States etc. which he says will characterize the country’s social scenario in the future. Or in other words, that India will increasingly be divided into two: one inhabited by the haves and the other by have-nots with continuous friction between the two. Although the essence of his thesis will be the unfolding reality—the pointers to this division are already emerging with the fast multiplying expressways, multiplexes, shopping malls, super fast trains, amusement parks, high cost of education, housing and health, drastic cuts in social welfare schemes, and so on—the emerging scenario will be one of acute class struggle with the vast majority of the Indian population locked up in bitter struggles, armed and unarmed, against the exploitative set up, and fascist state dictatorship becoming the norm. In this cruel, bitter class war the Maoist movement is certain to gain ground and advance towards the goal of liberation of our country from the clutches of the imperialist marauders, decadent feudal forces and comprador big business sharks.

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