Maoism or Terror-backed Opportunism?

By Manab Mukhopadhyay

What is the agenda of the Maoist armed people’s war in India? What is their class agenda? Are they really anti-imperialist? Have they ever been visible in any struggle against liberalization, privatization and globalization?

Primary school teacher Sridam Das, was on his way back home from school riding his cycle. All of a sudden, a bike arrived and multiple bullets were fired at him killing him in no time. It was the latest ‘revolutionary’ attack till date on the soil of West Bengal.

Not long ago, three poor villagers, working under the rural employment generation project, were dragged from their site of work, killed mercilessly by bullets fired relentlessly until their bodies oozed molten lead. Kshetrapal Majhi, a native of Arsha, was assassinated in the dark of night.

Karam Chand Singh was teaching in the classroom. Students were all from ages 6-10. They suddenly arrived and started beating him, punching him and slapping him in front of the children. Then they fired a bullet on his back, the children watched. He was then dragged outside the school, his face bruised with repeated attacks with stones; the children watched everything. The strangers left the place leaving the deformed corpse behind; the children witnessed all the gore and violence of the crime committed in front of them. Patches of blood painted the walls of the classroom, the floor of the corridor and the ground underneath the date-palm tree. Again, the children watched everything. Some fainted in fear, some started vomiting, and the rest suffered nightmares.

So far, this has been the most striking trend of the ‘great Indian Revolution’. The prime target of the great peasant war against imperialism, feudalism and the comprador bourgeoisie in West Bengal was found to be a school-teacher, Karam Chand Singh. The People’s Armed Struggle against state-power, military and the police has made such progress that the fighters had to flee before they face the villagers heading that way on hearing sounds of gunfire, moreover the fighters did not forget to verbally abuse the poor adivasi people calling them, ‘Enemies of the Great Revolution’ and ‘Dogs licking the feet of Imperialists’ pointing pistols towards them with their courage and might!

It was 37 years back from today. Bimal Dasgupta, head master of a school in Durgapur, was burnt alive, after being tied to a chair and smeared with petrol. He and people like Karam Chand Singh and Sridam Das were all accused of one crime, their support to and involvement with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). That trend of killing teachers is still on, sometimes from the right, sometimes from the left, sometimes with slogans of emancipating the country or sometimes in their pursuit to free Asia. Maoist intentions are clear in West Bengal through their actions. Records tell us who the Maoists think are their prime enemy in our state. In the past 5 years (2003 - 2007), 23 policemen and 37 workers of the CPI(M) have been murdered (excluding the death toll in the Nandigram violence). And the number reaches the peak of 45 deaths of CPI(M) workers if we take into account the number of deaths in 2008. Not even a single worker from parties like Congress, Trinamool or B.J.P. has been inflicted with a minor injury or been touched by the Maoists. Perhaps the Maoists believe that these parties are allies in the ‘Indian Democratic Revolution’.

Maoists have a proclaimed manifesto. In this pretty long manifesto bearing excellent political sensibility, India has been described as an indirect colony of imperialism and the present day Indian Revolution as almost equivalent to the struggle for freedom. That is, imperialism is the principal enemy aided by feudalism and a comprador bourgeoisie. The only weapon of Maoists against these is ‘People’s Armed Revolution’. Homicidal attacks occur very frequently and the victims are primary school teachers, poor adivasi farmers and young DYFI workers. Have we heard of any Maoist operations against imperialists? To make any kind of sense, let us assume that the Maoists are not getting the imperialist sahibs in front of them. But have we seen any Maoist action against the C.E.O. of some US multi-national corporation or some person in authority in such organizations or even a clerk working there or even the gate-keepers? No! Not a single instance except the mild explosion that took place at the Coca Cola Bottling plant in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh in the year 2000 with zero casualties. Is there no imperialist found in India during the current era of globalization? Let us now consider the strict enemy of the revolution – ‘the feudal forces’. Even in the 1970’s the Naxalites on few occasions launched attacks against the jotedars (major landowner, generic term for rural exploiters especially through tenancy) and the moneylenders. On the contrary, no single jotedar or moneylender is found on the list of dead - fallen prey to Maoist attacks in West Bengal. The scenario is more or less similar in other Maoist-infested states as well. One complaint of Maoists, however cannot be refuted - that the CPI(M) has turned the jotedars into almost an extinct species through land reform in West Bengal. But rural moneylenders are still present in adivasi areas.

Now let us turn to the last remaining enemies – the ‘comprador bourgeoisie’. After going through the Maoist manifesto it is hard to comprehend, who these people are. They are the flag-bearers of imperialism; they carry on ‘proxy’ exploitation on behalf of the imperialists and share an umbilical relationship with feudalism. Everything, so far, is within the scope of our comprehension. But in Article 13 of the Manifesto they have been described as ‘comprador bureaucratic capitalist class’ (or big bourgeoisie or national monopolist bourgeoisie). Too many adjectives have led to the complete disappearance of meaning. They are the big bourgeoisie, they are monopolists, they are also local agents of independent, aimless imperialism, whereas, in other places of the manifesto (e.g. Article 18), they have been described as sub-imperialists. They are supposedly trying to expand their territory over entire South Asia. One ‘burning example’ of such activity according to Maoists is the intervention of the Indian Army in Bangladesh’s liberation struggle in 1971. That means, soldiers of the Pakistani Army were interrupted in their great ‘Nationalistic & Democratic’ activities by the military campaign of the Indian Army, aligned to imperialists.

But what is the agenda of the Maoist armed people’s war against this ‘comprador bureaucratic capitalist class’ (or big bourgeoisie or national monopolist bourgeoisie) who operate according to the game plans of imperialists in expanding their territory in South Asia? Nothing at all! To say that they never stood in solidarity with the working class struggle in India against the national monopolists would be an understatement; they never even bothered to put up a single poster on this issue. There is a solitary reference to liberalization, privatization and globalization in their manifesto (Article 16). Have they ever been visible in any struggle against liberalization, privatization and globalization? They are absent in the countrywide struggle that has grown around these issues. They have never even delivered a single speech in support of a countrywide strike. Where is their fight against the bourgeoisie?

But they have set off a couple of fire crackers outside the walls of the Tata car manufacturing factory at Singur. In 2005, Maoists attacked the bauxite mine of Birla’s Hindustan Aluminium Company (HINDALCO) located in Lohardaga district in Jharkhand. They set fire to 6 dumpers there. Around 10 people were injured. On 9th May of the same year another mine of HINDALCO in Jharkhand was attacked. State-controlled corporation ONGC ‘s coal based methane mine in Jharia (Jharkhand) was also attacked by the Maoists. They threatened assault on 2 Eastern Coal Field controlled mines. To get the big picture, we have to focus on the geography of Maoist activities in our country. After the gradual extinction of Maoist activities in Andhra Pradesh, the three states, which are the main operating zones of the Maoists, are Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. All of these three states have large and deep forests areas and mines. According to an unofficial report Maoists control 19 percent of the total forest area of India. Forests not only provide safe shelters to the Maoists, but they also protect the environment. Every year produces massive amount of natural resources. Major part of the supply of ‘kendu’ leaves in the country come from these zones, so does timber and thousands of varieties of other forest-grown assets. It is really amusing to note that, be it either forest-grown resource or mineral resource, none have seen any reduction in their production. Both state-run and private establishments, even foreign companies like POSCO are entering into business of extracting the resources. They have not even faced a single scratch in their operations. Contractors control the supply of forest resources and produce. They are working in sound health. Why are the fiery anti-bourgeois revolutionaries allowing them to do that? What have they got in exchange? HINDALCO has not had to close down any of its mines.

Only one answer is obvious- ‘they have got money in exchange’,’ they have got levies in exchange’. Previous records show that Maoists have almost institutionalized this system of taking levies. Monthly payment of levy has been settled determining who will pay how much. Forest and mineral resource extractors have to pay levies ranging from 2 to 20% of their monthly income. Tilak Ganju, one of the top ranked Maoist leaders, arrested in 2005, confessed during a police probe that from Jharkhand alone they collected Rs. 3 crore in this manner. On refusal of payment, there is ‘people’s armed war’ and on receiving the levy ‘everything goes’. It does not really matter if extortion and oppression continues in the same way as before.

How much money does come this way? Maoist leader Misir Besra, alias Sunirmal after being caught by Jharkhand police a few days ago, has disclosed that the Maoist budget for the period 2007-09 for ‘armed struggle’ had been set at Rs 60 crore. Rs. 42 crore from this amount was budgeted for buying arms and ammunitions, Rs. 2 crore for information collection and the rest of the money would be distributed among the 11,000 Maoist warriors. Anti-state struggles would be conducted with the money taken as tributes from capitalists and contractors. What is the difference between these revolutionaries and a terrorist organization?

Yes, this is the way they conduct their struggle against the mediaeval modes of exploitation in these backward areas. Traders face no inconvenience at work. Earlier they had to bribe government officials to continue these illegal practices.Now they do the same thing by paying the Maoists. Corrupt government officials still have a fear of superior authority; even that fear factor is absent in case of the Maoists. Maoists were already accused of carrying on illegal trade in Catechu (Jharkhand), ‘Kendu’ leaves (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattishgarh), Sandal wood (Karnataka), now they are also accused of illegally growing opium.

The reason behind their ire against the CPI(M) is that these things cannot be done in West Bengal. The CPI(M) is resisting. Maoists are totally against development. They believe people would turn their face away from them if socially backward areas undergo a process of continuous development led by the government. This is certainly a matter of great annoyance to them. Slowly but surely, the remote areas are also developing. The Maoists are victims of a certain kind of theoretical perversion. They believe their support base will grow if the darkness of mediaeval exploitation and backwardness is preserved by shunning any kind of development. They have never bothered to educate themselves with Marxist approaches to development and poverty. They are even ignorant of Mao Zedong’s writings. Had they at least read Edgar Snow’s ‘Red Star over China’, they would have perceived the amount of empathy and affection with which the communists in China pursued the objective of educating and providing health-care to the people who had lagged behind. Instead, these Maoists blow up schools, burn down health centers, and murder teachers.

Under the cover of some revolutionary theories, these Maoists are nothing but a group of hypocritical terrorists. They are silent about the mass murder being carried out in Iraq by the Americans. They have no agenda against exploitation unleashed by multinational corporations. Although their party program has grandiloquent positions against Hindu communalism (a noticeable thing is that no word has been spoken about Muslim fundamentalism), they play no role at all in opposing the Sangh Parivar. On the contrary, all the Maoist-infested states are under the governance of the BJP and its allies. They have not been part of a single programme against liberalization and privatization. Maoists claim themselves to be the true revolutionary organization of peasants. But they are completely mute on issues like crop prices, water for irrigation, fertilizer subsidies. They have no clue about the people’s struggle against price rise. How can they be ‘friends of the poor’?

We have acquired knowledge on their political purity in West Bengal. In Singur and Nandigram, they are going to bring about a ‘New Democratic Revolution’ hand in hand with Trinamool, BJP, Congress, Anandamargis, and the Jamaat Ulema-i-Hind. One of their allies Trinamool Congress shows honesty at least in one case – they have a single unfazed goal – “Get rid of the CPI(M)”. The same aim drives the Maoists but they wear a ‘revolutionary’ mask. Election or elected association – from Parliament to Panchayat, each elected body is under siege by Maoists in their written manifesto (Article 27). But in every election, they never forget to intimidate people to cast their votes for their favoured mahajot (grand alliance) candidates against the CPI(M). The unwritten law in Maoist infested areas of Jharkhand or Chhattishgarh is that the person paying the highest amount to the Maoists will win the election. In West Bengal, their direct support is based on compromise with the candidates of the grand alliance against the CPI(M).

Some people used to feel sorry for the Naxalites of the 1970s considering them to be directionless and degenerated. Confusion and degeneration have intensified, while ‘revolutionary’ ideas have totally disappeared in thirty years. The present day Maoists are pure terrorists. Opportunism is their chosen way. And on every account they are enemies of the poor people.

Mon, 2008-05-26 19:33

Translated by Sridip. Edited by Chirashree.

www.pragoti.org

People's War or War on the People?

By Siddhartya Roy

Questioning the call of poll boycott and attacks on voters by Indian Maoists

1. Introduction

As expected the naxalites have done it again. They went on yet another murderous spree and have gunned down people who were exercising their right to elect their leader in a democracy. In the first phase of elections spanning 124 constituencies in 15 states and 2 union territories, the naxalites have killed a total of 19 people including citizen, poll administration workers and a few security personnel. For all their self-proclaimed love for the commoners, 9 of the people killed were common civilians. This is quite a ritual now of the rainbow congregation of hoodlums who go by a now generic name 'naxals'. This ritual bears all the trademark symbols of the armed naxalites' other rituals such as blasting roads, uprooting telephone and electricity poles and so on.

2. Betraying the cause of the people

The armed factions of the naxalites, and the now disarmed ones at some point in history, have always called for election boycotts. They have claimed time and again that the Indian democracy is no democracy at all and is only a puppet in the hands of imperialist governments elsewhere. So as an obvious corollary, the elections of this country are meaningless exercises according to them. Now the obvious question that comes up at this point is if it (elections being meaningless) were so, then why do they become so active in trying to prevent it? If the elections are indeed a farce, then why do the self-proclaimed revolutionaries bother spending their valuable time, and bullets of course, trying to disrupt it?

The answer is that the elections are not a farce, on the contrary the 'analysis' of the insurgents is farcical in every sense.

The Election Commission of India's reports show that India has an overall steady voter turnout percentage. It varies, with little deviations above and below, at 60%. This has been the picture right since the first general elections of 1952. This is a very high figure amongst the 3rd world poor nations across the world, and especially in the Indian subcontinent. A region who's nations are homes to fragile democracies. Also this achievement becomes even more noteworthy when viewed in the light of the existent diversities and disparities of the Indian nation. Holding common elections in a non-federal union which is 3,287,590 sq km vast with more than a billion inhabitants across 28 linguistically divided states and 7 union territories is an unparalleled feat across this globe. Also the geographical, cultural, social and hence political needs of the people vary hugely. In spite of these very huge difficulties, the polity of this nation still holds forth the values of democracy year after year in elections at all levels, from village to the parliament level. Admittedly there are several lacuna in this process. But the existence of lacuna in the process certainly doesn't rob the electoral ethos itself of its due credit as is claimed by the ultras.

Another major point worth noting is the participation of the poor int these elections. The self-proclaimed 'champions' of the poor in this country seem ignorant of, and purposefully so, of the degree of involvement of the poor citizenry in the electoral process of India and therefore it's democracy. The study by Yogendra Yadav and others in Democracy and Diversity, written in 2007 throws up many interesting statistics. When comparing Indian and American voter turnout patterns, the book notes the following,

• The lowest 20% income group in India has 57% voter turnout as opposed to 47% in the highest 20% income group.

• The illiterate people of India vote at 57% of their strength and those with only mid-school education vote at 83%. This as opposed to the highly 'educated' post-graduates who vote at just 41% of their numerical strength

• The religious minorities belonging to the Muslim and Sikh religion vote at an astoundingly high 70% and 80% respectively. Followed by the SCs at 75%. This as opposed to the Upper Caste Hindus who vote at 60% of their strength.

•

All this goes to show the active participation of the rural and poor masses of this country in the elections held. As a corollary, this is representative of the faith the Indian masses have in the democracy this nation upholds.

The current attack on the people involved in the polling comes at a very crucial juncture in Indian democracy. After the half a century long largely unproductive rule of the Congress the Right wing BJP came to power on a negative vote. The BJP through its NDA ruled, or rather misruled, the Indian people for its 5 year full tenure, in addition to the few weeks in their first and second attempt. The people of India rightfully cut them to size for their communal and anti-people imperialist policies by squarely voting against them and voting in large numbers for the mainstream Left leading to the formation of the UPA. The paper by Dr. Desh Gupta, titled “An analysis of the 2004 Indian Parliamentary (Lok Sabha) Elections” notes the higher voter turnout in rural India vis a vis urban India. Dr Gupta very rightly concludes the failure of the obnoxious “India Shining” as being a result of the rural voters' ballot. Similar self imposed ignorance and disregard for the people's will is displayed by the naxalites who call for and kill for poll boycott. Now in the 15th Lok Sabha elections the Indian democracy is rife with new possibilities. For the first time the Indian masses have seen a major standoff at the legislative level between the Left's pro-people approach and the Right-Center's imperialist servitude.

The people have seen the materialisation of ground breaking acts in their favour in the form of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, The Tribal Land Rights Act, etc. In fact the fall of the UPA is also on a very radically pro-people note, that of a standoff between the Left's pro-India view, the Congress' imperial bootlicking coupled with the Right wing's undignified silence and lip service to the real causes. The Left has uncompromisingly stood by the National Common Minimum Program (NCMP), which was made to ensure that the people wre given some tangible achievements post this government's tenure. The Congress ditched the people and deserted the promise it made to the people. As expected the BJP stood by talking only on non-issues like building temples and the deprivation of their 'right' to enforce bigotry.

All this happened owing to the Left's increased visibility and power, which came from a strong mandate in their favour in the 2004 elections.

This is also the first time that the Indian voter has seen an alternative before he goes to the polls. An alternative apart from the Congress and the BJP who have proven to be the same fare just differently packaged as far as the daily livelihood related issues of the common masses are concerned. Now in all this churning of the Indian democracy, the entire onus is on the Indian voter who has become decisive in his ballot like never before. This is true to the extent that the sponsored analysts of big business aren't venturing much far in their predictions, which till date has been ever so boastful and entirely predictable. This owes its origin to their self induced insulation from the rural and hence majority voter, just like the 'India shiners' and the armed hoodlums. At this very crucial juncture, where the rural and poor masses could possibly install a government of their interest and choice, the hoodlums are striking. The armed naxalite by their own contorted logic cook up their pet theories of comprador bourgeoisie being the only existent socio-economic structure in this country to justify their poll boycott threats and hence their killings. This is a perfect case of rationalising acts of murder and loot dropping heavy sounding words.

3. people's war minus the people

For all their lofty talk it is ironical that they must at every opportunity resort to the bullet to get people to abide by their word. They claim to be the vanguards in the battle for the have-nots' rights. By virtue of which the armed insurgents have always claimed to have the support of the downtrodden in the tribal belts. Not very long ago talks between the congress led Andhra Pradesh state government's CM with the insurgents were 'arranged' as per pre-poll agreements. The naxal's told the press that the next meeting would be in the jungles, in 'their territory'. To buttress this claim of ownership of the jungles, their media savvy balladeer in his ceaseless theatrical style claimed they were the Rajas of the jungles! One wonders why then must they kill the tribals to make them boycott the polls? Why is it that in Chattisgarh, the state with the highest ratio of tribal people, do they need to kill to make people obey their diktats? Why is it that Kandhamal, a tribal and minority region, registers a voter turnout of 50% in spite of the blood bath and mayhem they faced just months before? Why do the hoodlums' calls for boycott fall on resolutely deaf ears of the poor people of this country?

The answer lies in the falsity of their claims and the charlatan approach of their theories and praxis. They do not enjoy the support of the tribals or poor rural masses at all. How could they when they are the ones who do not let roads, water pipes, electricity and all such necessities to come into the lives of these deprived people? They did the foolhardy act of killing the Hindu priest in Kandhamal and then disappeared into their jungle retreats leaving the 'liberated' tribals to be butchered and maimed by the Hindu fascists. They blew up the mobile hospital in Laalgarh, West Bengal, that was used as a way to provide very necessary medical facilities to the tribals of that region, using a land mine. Their act of 'war on the state' killed the doctor and the nurse in the vehicle and along with that the only form of emergency medical aid available to them. Ironically the doctor and nurse who were killed in this act were of tribal descent themselves! It is a well documented fact that the number of civilians, who are form their claimed 'support base', are killed with shocking regularity in witch hunts called people's courts run by the hoodlums. So in such a scenario, the track record of the insurgents and the facts pertaining to their activities belie any and every claim of being representatives of the people's interests. The have no interest or capability of withstanding the ballot and hence they choose the bullet.

4. conclusion

The Indian masses all over the country are reaffirming their faith in the democracy of India today as they vote for the 15th Lok Sabha. The people and their needs and aspirations certainly have more visibility toady than earlier. This is evident from the rise of the regional parties and the strengthening of the Left in the parliament. Both these political formations have left behind the era of being junior partners to the eponymous 'national' parties. Along with that has been left behind the era of only empty slogan based poll campaigns which promised the heavens and left the people on bare earth. The Indian voter is much more discerning today in terms of his daily needs and is aware of the travails he endures in maintaining himself and his family. The farmers of India are certainly more interested in knowing what agrarian economic policies the next government will take up, both quantitatively and qualitatively, than he is to listen to parroting of lines talking of untimely thunders and patches of dead grass. The future of Indian democracy and it's emancipative nature lie in the very participation of the people of this country and not in boycotts.


Sat, 2009-04-18 14:37
SOURCE: http://www.pragoti.org/

 

Maoists in West Bengal: Crass Terror, Political Degeneration

By Debasish Chakraborty

The Maoist assault in three western districts in West Bengal –West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia- started years before the Lalgarh incidents crystallized, even much before the events in Nandigram .

From 2001, Maoists (the Peoples’ War and MCC, from 2004 their joint Party) started a concerted attack on organized Left forces in Bengal. Violence escalated after the landmine blast in Chief Minister’s convoy in Shalboni, in November, 2008. Till September, 2009, more than 100 CPI (M) leaders and activists were killed by the Maoists in these districts, hundreds others have been forced to leave their living places at gunpoint. It is true that the Maoists have been able to create a terror regime in large parts of the “Jangal mahal” or the forest areas of these districts.

What is the politics, the game plan and strategy behind this assault? While Maoist activities in West Bengal are part of their all-India programme, there are some state specific realities.

Firstly, CPI (M) has strong bases and areas of political influence in the above mentioned three districts. The base has not developed on ‘one fine morning’; it was achieved through long and arduous struggle on the question of land and livelihood. It is CPI (M) which carried out steadfast struggle to break the old exploitative structure in these areas. The panchayats after 1977 worked massively in poor and backward areas of these districts, particularly for the uplift of the tribals. Significant changes took place in last three decades in the economic life of hundreds of thousands of people in those areas. That does not mean, however, that there was no underdevelopment, a question we would address shortly. CPI (M), naturally, has a strong political presence in most of these areas. The armed attack was the only available option for other political forces to break that base. Maoists were encouraged and abetted by anti-CPI (M) forces to achieve the goal which they themselves could not carry out on their own. The details of political geography are important here. Despite a large are of influence, there were certain pockets in these districts, particularly in Lalgarh, Binpur blocks in West Midnapore, where CPI (M) has been relatively weak. Factions of Jharkhand Party were in control of panchayats, even won assembly seats with support from Congress or TMC. Maoists chose those particular areas as their primary base and the Jharkhandi leaders were quick to surrender. In fact, it was Jharkhandis at first, then TMC activists who played the role of facilitator for the Maoists.

In spite of development, many tribal-population dense areas in these districts continue to remain backward. Left Front government on its own initiated a Human Development Report in 2004 in which many villages in these areas were identified as backward. Interestingly, many of these villages, including villages in Belpahari, Kantapahari and much publicized Amlasol were run by Jharkhand Party led panchayats. They lagged far behind others in implementing developmental projects. For last six to seven years, it is the Maoists who aggressively opposed any efforts of development. They have destroyed bridges, chased away road construction workers, and blasted government buildings, including even panchayat offices. They killed doctors and nurses by triggering mine blasts. And, from November last year, their font-organization “Peoples’ Committee” has dug roads, destroyed bridges, and blocked all kinds of administrative activities.

Another reason for the Maoists choosing this area for operation is that it lies on the West Bengal- Jharkhand border. It is well known that the Maoists operate in hilly terrain, remote plateaus, and densely forested areas in all the states where they are somewhat active. It is not because that they are concerned about the tribal people, but it is part of their military strategy. They choose areas where so-called ‘guerrilla activities’ can be run in relatively easier way. Particularly in Jharkhand, the Maoists enjoy almost a free run. For quite some time now, the Jharkhand administration has shown very little seriousness in dealing with them. Moreover, there is virtually no influential political party in Jharkhand who would challenge the Maoists politically and ideologically. Maoists followed a hit and run policy in border areas. Whenever there was any security offensive, Maoists crossed the border in their safe haven in neighboring state.

Lack of development?

Of late, it has become fashionable to attribute underdevelopment as the exclusive reason and justification for Maoist mayhem in the Jangal mahal of West Bengal. Lack of development is definitely there, particularly in the backward areas. However, certain facts are relevant. As is well known, West Bengal has the best record of land reforms in the country. Up to 2008, 29, 83,640 landless persons have been given land rights and 10, 36,432 acres of land were distributed among them. In addition to that 15, 10,871persons have been recorded as share croppers. Among those who got land rights 5, 36,565 are tribals while 11, 05,306 are scheduled castes. Similarly, among recorded share croppers 1, 64,850 are tribals. This has not happened anywhere else in the country. West Bengal is the leading state in awarding the Forest Rights under newly enacted law, though much before it was enacted at the central level tribal people in West Bengal have been given wide ranging rights over forest areas. Similarly, there has been a phenomenal stride in spreading education in the western areas. Hundreds of self-help groups have been formed to generate income .But still, the laterite zone is a difficult area for agriculture and irrigation is a real problem. Left Front government has taken special initiatives with focus on ameliorating the backwardness of this area.

In spite of some remarkable advancement in some sectors, poverty still persists. The neo-liberal policies pursued in our country over the last two decades have further widened the divide between the rich and the poor. In a capitalist society, any development process must have some kind of inherent class content. But while fighting for a radical transformation of the socio-economic structure, the struggle and efforts for immediate developmental issues is an urgent requirement. Partial gains may be achieved if the specific conditions exist. The Left in West Bengal has been trying, with success and failures, exactly that within the limitations.

The Indian Maoists, however, reject any idea of development altogether and oppose the projects of development everywhere. They oppose the laying of rail tracks, construction of bridges and establishment of power projects. Blowing up schools by the Maoists has become a very commonplace in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. In West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts of West Bengal, the Maoists have established themselves to be the strongest hindrance to any sort of developmental works. Whose interest are they protecting?

To be honest, the entire interest of the Maoists is in military stratagem, not dictated by any compassion for the tribals and the poor. But, obviously, they can --- and they do --- make use of the intense poverty of the tribal population, though not for enhancing their consciousness. Instead, this poverty has been used for making the people surrender to their diktat.

Indian Maoists have a ready answer to the complex question of relationship between development or the lack of it and the forms of struggle. The so-called ‘guerrilla warfare’ and armed struggle, according to them, is the only option.

Writing more than a century ago on Marxist understanding on the forms of struggle in general and guerilla warfare in particular, Lenin wrote: “Let us begin from the beginning. What are the fundamental demands which every Marxist should make of an examination of the question of forms of struggle? In the first place, Marxism differs from all primitive forms of socialism by not binding the movement to any one particular form of struggle. It recognizes the most varied forms of struggle; and it does not “concoct” them, but only generalises, organises, gives conscious expression to those forms of struggle of the revolutionary classes which arise on the of their own experience themselves in course of the movement. Absolutely hostile to all abstract formulas and to all doctrinaire recipes, Marxism demands an studied attitude towards the mass struggle in progress, which, as the movement develops, and as the class-consciousness of the masses grows, as economic and political crises become acute, continually gives rise to new and more varied methods of defense and advance. Marxism, therefore, does not reject any particular form of struggle. Under no circumstances does Marxism confine itself to the forms of struggle possible and in existence at the given moment only; recognising as it does that new forms of struggle, unknown to the participants of the given period, inevitably arise as the given social situation, changes. In this respect Marxism learns, if we may so express it, from mass practice, and makes no claim, whatsoever, to teach the masses forms of struggle invented by “systematisers in the seclusion of their studies”

“In the second place”, Lenin continued, “Marxism demands an absolutely historical examination of the question of the forms of struggle. To treat this question apart from the concrete historical situation betrays a failure to understand the rudiments of dialectical materialism. At different stages of economic evolution, depending on differences in political, national-cultural, living and other conditions, different forms of struggle come to the fore and become the principal forms of struggle; and in connection with this, the secondary, auxiliary forms of struggle undergo change in their ·turn. To attempt to answer yes or no to the question whether any particular means of struggle should be used, without making a detailed examination of the concrete situation of the given movement at the given stage of its development, means completely to abandon the Marxist position.” (Lenin, Collected works, Volume 11, Pages 213-14).

However, in this age of AK-47, who listens to Lenin?

Who are ‘Class enemies?’

And let us have a look at Maoists’ ‘class enemies’. They have killed over 100 CPI (M) activists and supporters in the Junglemahal area of West Bengal. Out of them, at least 60 were either agricultural labourers or poor peasants. And the majority is tribals. Maoists always offer justifications for such brutal killings. The victims are described either as “agents of police” or “exploiters”. In their bulletins (like Peoples’ March or more recent Peoples Truth , often available in websites too) or in their regular briefings to Kolkata media, Maoists have explained that only “agents of state” or those who had dared to stand against them have been targeted. It would always be left undefined as to who or what would be branded as “agents of state”. Moreover, the sole judge of who was an ‘enemy of the people’ is the Maoists themselves; as if they have been conferred some kind of divine right to kill anyone they want.

Numerous examples of the Maoists’ mindless barbarism are evident. In an early such incident in Shalboni, Maoists went to kill Vagyadhar Mahato, a CPI (M) activist. When he was not found, his old mother Puntibala Mahato, their neighbor Ichamati Mahato and her four year old daughter Priyanka were killed. On 31st December, 2005, CPI (M) Purulia district secretariat member and former Zilla Parishad Chairman Rabindranath Kar and his wife Anandamoyee Kar were burnt to death in their house. In Shalboni, a teacher Anil Mahato was killed in the school premises itself in front of the students. It was repeated again when Karamchand Singh was killed in the classroom. More recently, Avijit Mahato, a college student, popular for his social activities, was killed while he was on his way to sit for an examination. Maoists killed three poor villagers after abducting them when they were working in a project under NREGA in Shalboni. Those who needed to work in NREGA turned out to be critical ‘class enemies’ of Maoists! A medical van has been ambushed in Shalboni, killing a doctor and two nurses. Interestingly, the medical team regularly visited in remote tribal villages.

Maoists have perfected the art of brutality. Most of the times, these poor unarmed people were dragged into the jungle and stabbed or shot to death. In a horrific case, in June, 2009, bodies of Salku Soren, Naru Samanta, and Prabir Mahato were left lying on the spot, only to decompose. Their family members were not given the right to even touch, let alone cremate them.

The Maoists in West Bengal has perverted their already gruesome line of “annihilation”. In 1972 itself, a section of Naxalite leaders, including Kanu Sanyal, Nagbhushan Pattanaik challenged the then prevailing line of “annihilation” and seriously condemned the method of clandestine individual killings. Communist Party of China, under the leadership of Mao Ze Dong, then supportive of the so-called “spring thunder”, expressed abhorrence for the degeneration of the idea of “Peoples’ War” in the hands of Indian Maoists. No lesson has been drawn from the experiences of the seventies, except the fact that the Maoists use highly sophisticated arms nowadays.

Relations with Trinamool Congress

But most important of all and what may be considered as the special political perspective of Maoists’ activities in West Bengal is their close affinity with the other anti-Left political forces, particularly Trinamool Congress, the main opposition force in the state. Their partnership expanded from western districts to other areas of the state, for example in Nandigram and Singur.

Apart from numerous reports of Maoists’ active participation in Nandigram and their armed attacks along with the TMC gangs, political and organizational documents of the Maoists have established the complicity. Maoists have, in fact, evolved a theoretical perspective for this complicity. In a document, published in December, 2008 and circulated among the Maoist rank and file, the Maoist leaders have emphasized the need of a “united front” with anti-CPI (M) “ruling class parties” and particularly with TMC. The document, titled “Some important problems in our work and their solutions”, Maoists have asserted that as CPI (M) is a “social fascist force”, it is important to organize “anti-fascist” front with other ruling class parties. Whosoever wants to join in such “fronts” are welcome. Without giving any scope of confusion the document has stated that Mamata Banerjee, the leader who was in the forefront of “struggle” in Singur should be supported and Maoist cadres should work closely with her. According to them, West Bengal is now is a “flaming field” and many united fronts are emerging. All such joint operations should be encouraged.

In another document evaluating the Nandigram episode, the Maoists have clearly stated that they were in forefront of armed activities, arms training to BUPC, the organization who spearheaded the agitation. BUPC was led by TMC and it existed even after the Chief Minister categorically announced that there would be no land acquisition in Nandigram in February, 2007. In the document the Maoists triumphantly claimed that though they were in leading position in armed aggression and killing of CPI (M) activists in Nandigram from the very beginning, the other parties accepted their leadership from July, 2008. They claimed that that it was an “achievement” that the other parties openly acknowledged Maoists’ role. Maoists have claimed that TMC leaders “fought the war” in close cooperation with them.

During the ongoing security operation in Lalgarh, top ranking Maoist leader M Koteswar Rao alias “Kishenji” has given long interviews to the electronic media. In fact, he was busy in explaining things from morning to midnight over mobile phone interviews. Kishenji has categorically stated that Maoists helped TMC in Nandigram in “ousting” CPI (M) and in reciprocation they want Mamata Banerjee’s help to stop central security forces from entering Lalgarh.

Kishenji, in a significant interview in Anandabazar Patrika on 4th Ocotober, 2009 has categorically stated that they wanted Mamata Banerjee to be the next Chief Minister of the state. According to fanciful analysis of Kishenji, though the TMC has same class character like Congress, Mamata Banerjee, by the sheer force of her personality can override the barrier and can initiate radical reforms!

TMC supremo and Railway Minister have reciprocated this unique gesture although it was she who had consistently demanded withdrawal of central paramilitary forces from West Midnapore after the joint operations started. It was she who organized rally in support of this demand. The central ministers from her party went in Lalgarh to oppose the operations of joint forces. Even now, Railway Minister is completely silent about the terror unleashed by the Maoists. She was speaking in a manner which legitimizes the brutality of the Maoists. This is in stark contradiction to the professed stand of the Prime Minister and the Home minster.

Ideological anarchism of the Maoists has led to such an outrageous level of political degeneration.

Peoples Committee or Maoist -TMC front?

From November, 2008, an agitation started in Lalgarh in West Midnapore, spearheaded by ‘Peoples’ Committee to resist police atrocities’. That it was timed just after the landmine blast in Chief Minister’s convoy was no co-incidence. Just as the state police moved in to search for the culprits, the Peoples’ Committee cropped up. That this organization is a front of Maoists and actively supported by TMC was clear to anyone residing in the area. The roads were dug and Maoists forced the villagers to block all movements. From then on, virtually a reign of terror was unleashed in the entire area. It was ploy to expand the bases of Maoists while the blockade continued. All government offices were virtually closed, schools ceased to function, villagers were forced to pay huge “levies’ to Maoists. CPI (M) activists and supporters were being killed and many of them were forced to declare that they would leave CPI (M). CPI (M) offices were burnt and looted. The state government exhibited great restrains considering the sensitive content of involvement a section of the tribals. The Chief Minister publicly stated for number of times that the Left Front government was trying to avoid bloodshed at any cost. However, the Maoists escalated the bloodshed and almost every day CPI (M) cadres and sympathizers were killed. This reign of terror was branded by the Maoists and a section of anti-Left media as “Adivasis Revolt”, even comparing it the Santhal rebellion of 1855. But there was no serious demand for the tribals; neither had it contained any spontaneous involvement of the tribal people as was depicted by the media.

The complicity of TMC was evident here too. The secretary of “Peoples Committee” Chatradhar Mahato was a known Trinamool Congress activist while the President of this outfit Sidhu Soren is a squad member of the Maoists. Sashadhar Mahato, the brother of Chatradhar, is a leading member of the Maoists and a declared absconder for many crimes. On 4th February, 2009, just before the elections were declared, Mamata Banerjee herself went to Lalgarh and shared the dais of public meeting with Chatradhar Mahato. She declared with grand fanfare that the so-called Lalgarh agitation is another “Santhal Rebellion”. While no CPI (M) activists were even allowed to enter his own village in Lalgarh , Mamata Banerjee was welcomed by the Maoists. The attack against CPI (M) intensified after that.

After the state government finally decided to take control of the situation in firm manner and Central Security Forces joined in, TMC opposed any intervention by security forces. Mamata Banerjee even went to the extent of calling this operation as “state sponsored terrorism”.

Chatradhar Mahato’s arrest and interrogation in this September have only revealed those very things which the people in Jangal Mahal, the forest areas of three western districts of West Bengal knew from very beginning. On the process, reports in the media about the ‘confessions’ of Mahato has created political ripples and contradictory reactions from a section of the intelligentsia.

What are the truths that have been exposed?

First, the ‘Peoples’ Committee against Police Atrocities’ was formed by the Maoists, primarily to cordon off an area out of the bounds for police and administration. Chatradhar Mahato revealed that top Maoist leaders of the area were present in the meeting where the Committee was formed. Gradually, the Committee followed the dictums of the Maoists and expanded its work from digging roads to attacking CPI (M) cadres and sympathizers. The Lalgarh agitation was not at all any spontaneous outburst of the tribals, as it was depicted in a section of the media; it was, rather, a well-planned disturbance to create a conducive atmosphere for the Maoists to consolidate their own base.

Secondly, the Committee acted as a convenient platform for the Maoists and Trinamool Congress to work together. In almost every village where a “branch” of the Committee was formed, both the active members of the Maoists and TMC worked in unison. In many places, the houses of local TMC leaders were used as meeting places and shelters for the Committee and the Maoists cadres. Chatradhar himself claimed that he used to maintain links with state level TMC leaders as frequently as he did with the Maoist leaders in West Midnapore.

Thirdly, according to Kolkata media, Chatradhar Mahato partially confessed about the huge amount of money collected as ‘donations’ and forced ‘levies’ during last ten months. It ran into crores. There was smooth flow of outside financial support also. Specific names of some the financing persons and organizations have also come into light.

Fourthly, the Committee and Chatradhar himself had regular contacts with a section of the anti-CPI (M) intelligentsia and even participated in number of secret meetings in Kolkata too. Though it was not so ‘secret’ to any observer, this revelation has apparently unnerved some of the intellectuals who, for some months now, have already been rewarded abundantly by the Railway Minister. These intellectuals have tried their best to claim that they had no inkling of Chatradhar’s Maoist links.

This theory of ‘delinking’ Peoples’ Committee and the Maoists is the escape route for TMC supremo and the Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee herself. The gruesome incident in Jharkhand has shattered the ‘delinking’ scheme. Maoists had offered to release the abducted inspector of the special branch of Jharkhand police Francis Induwar in exchange for Kobad Gandhi, Chatradhar Mahato and Chandrabhusan Yadav. The inspector was later killed in an atrocious manner.

Honeymoon with ruling class

One of the most important criteria for any serious movement for social transformation, particularly for the Marxists, is a concrete analysis of concrete situation for concrete application of political-ideological understanding. The left movement in the country and even in its most advanced outpost in West Bengal has many weaknesses and deficiencies. Despite that, CPI (M) is the leading contingent of anti-imperialism in India. The tirade against the party by the combined forces of ruling class parties, ruling elite, corporate media was clearly evident on the question of US-India civil nuclear agreement. CPI (M) and the parties of the organized Left have been consistently struggling against the neo-liberal economic policies from the very outset. It is hardly debated that the role of CPI (M) and the Left is crucially important in combating the communal forces. Every advancement of the Left is ferociously targeted by the ruling class and the corporate media, while every setback is cheered by them.

Maoists, by targeting CPI (M) and the Left in West Bengal have consciously sided with these very forces. It is no coincidence that they enjoy not only the enthusiastic company of the parties like TMC but also bonhomie with pathological anti-Left mainstream media in the state. Almost every killing by the Maoists in Jangal Mahal has been legitimized within hours, by some or other explanation by media. This is a unique feature, not seen elsewhere in the country.

In the seventies, a new term was popular in West Bengal: “Congxal”. It was denoted to identify Naxalite-turned-Congress hoodlums. Initially these elements launched attacks against CPI (M) activists, particularly in and around Kolkata, in the name of ‘revolution’. After the rigged assembly elections in 1972, a large section of these thugs became Youth Congress activists and a second phase of murderous assault against the Left started. It is well known that more than 1100 CPI (M) activists and supporters were killed and more than 20 thousand were forced to leave their homes during semi- fascist terror period of 1971-77. Infamous Siddhartha Shankar Ray regime in West Bengal adopted a two-pronged strategy: on the one hand, a section of the Naxalite activists were brutally killed by the police and Congress workers, one the other, another section was used as murder gangs against CPI(M).

History does not repeat itself, and many in the Naxalite stream are severe critics of Maoists too. However, history cannot be altogether forgotten either.

(Debasish Chakraborty is News Editor, Ganashakti. The author can be contacted at: news@ganashakti.co.in)
PULISHED in Economic & Political Weekly( EPW) NOVEMBER 14, 2009 vol xliv no 46

POLITICAL PATRONAGE TO MAOISTS

Probe This Nexus!

People's Democracy
November 01, 2009
EDITORIAL

THE Maoists have staged a daring stoppage of the Bhubaneswar-Delhi Rajdhani in the Jhargram-Kharagpur section, near Banstala station and holding it for over five hours. Mercifully, there were no casualties, thanks to the joint operations conducted by the security forces which resulted in the safety of the passengers and the release of the train. From the graffiti on the train, scripted by no hapless tribal but by someone well heeled, it can be inferred that this was done to demand the release of Chhatradhar Mahato, leader of the Maoist-backed People's Action Committee against Police Atrocities, recently arrested by the police.

The whole incident raises many questions that need to be probed. All those who have travelled by Rajdhanis or Shatabdis know that the train hurtles at speeds of around 120 kilometers per hour and even when obstructions are noticed on the track, application of emergency breaks would lead to damage to both the tracks and the train. In this case, however, the train peacefully ground to a halt.

The minister of Railway's first reaction, typical of the usual hyperbole and absurdity, was that the CPI(M) cadre had blocked the train to malign her image! However, when the graffiti exposed the perpetrators of this outrage as belonging to the Maoists, the minister expressed her desire for a dialogue and even conveyed to those holding the train hostage to suggest a venue! Further, one of the Trinamool Congress ministers in the union cabinet, Sishir Adhikary, soon after the incident, boasted to the media that he had prior knowledge that such an attack would take place. Surely, the prime minister needs to probe the source of such `knowledge' by his ministerial colleague and inform the nation.

The collaboration of the Trinamool Congress with the Maoists has been detailed in these columns earlier as well. Chhatradhar Mahato was a local Trinamool leader before becoming the head of the so-called People's Committee. The self-declared and publicity hungry spokesman of the Maoists, Kishenji, had earlier declared to the media that the Maoists wish to see Ms Mamata Banerjee as the future chief minister of Bengal. He has also suggested that as they had helped the Trinamool earlier in Nandigram and now in Lalgarh, they expect the Trinamool to return the favour. Clearly, this has once again confirmed that the Maoists began their operations in Bengal under the political patronage and protection provided by the Trinamool.

It is precisely due to this political collaboration between the two that the Trinamool, till we go to press, has not condemned this Maoist outrage of stopping and damaging the train. It is again precisely due to this political arrangement between the two that the Trinamool Congress has been asking for the withdrawal of the central forces in the operations against Maoist terror in Bengal. Ironically, such blatant support for the Maoists and their terrorist activities comes from a party that is in that very union cabinet headed by the prime minister who on repeated occasions had stated that Maoist violence constitutes the gravest threat to India's internal security. The tragedy for the country is that this UPA government is continuing, displaying no discomfort, despite such a blatant contradiction. The prime minister owes an explanation to the country on this score.

In the meanwhile, there are reports of growing unrest and insecurity amongst the railway employees. A leader of the Railway Men's Union in Purulia has expressed grave doubts on the security of railway personnel who are not being provided adequate forces to protect themselves from growing Maoist attacks on railway stations, tracks and other railway facilities. The situation will not improve, they feel, as long as the Trinamool chief is the Railway minister because of the close political collaboration between them.

These are issues that warrant a serious probe. Can the safety of the Indian Railways, one of the most important instruments of our country's unity and integrity, be jeopardised at the altar of crass political opportunism of protecting and patronising the Maoists? And, consequently, permit the Maoists to mount grave threats to our country's internal security? The prime minister and this UPA-2 government need to assure the people that India's internal security is not being compromised. A thorough investigation into all these issues must be urgently ordered and those culpable of damaging the interests of our country that threaten the lives of the innocent people must be made accountable.
(28 October, 2009)

On the Indian Maoists and their sympathisers

Sat, 2009-11-14 14:31 Prasenjit Bose

As the Maoists continue with their violent and disruptive activities, sections of the intelligentsia are openly expressing sympathy for their cause. Although the sympathy is often couched in rhetoric against the state and its security offensive against the Maoists, what distinguishes the Maoist sympathizers from a broader community of intellectuals and civil rights groups, who are skeptical of the intent and apprehensive of the efficacy of the Union Government’s anti-Maoists operations, is their stubborn refusal to condemn the anarchic violence and mindless killings by the Maoists.

I
On 4th October 2009, the Bengali daily Anandabajar Patrika carried an interview of CPI (Maoist) Polit Bureau Member Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji where he said that Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is their preferred choice for being the next Chief Minister of West Bengal. He even justified Maoist support to the Trinamul Congress by hailing Mamata Banerjee’s capacity to rise above class interest and adopt pro-people positions. One wonders what Kishanji and the Maoists’ take is on Mamata Banerjee’s Railway Budget passed by the Parliament few months back, which is replete with proposals of Private-Public Partnerships in developing railway stations and freight terminals to logistics parks and cargo centres. What do they have to say about the thousands of acres of land that is proposed to be acquired for the Railway freight corridor project in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar? Perhaps the Maoists also consider the FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra, who was appointed by Mamata Banerjee as head of an expert panel to draw up business plans for the Railways, as not a part of the “comprador-bureaucratic bourgeoisie”, which according to their Party Programme rules over India. Mamata Banerjee’s “interactive session” with the corporate bigwigs in Kolkata on 22nd August may also have been perceived by the Maoists as an enclave of the “national bourgeoisie” who have come on board their “new democratic revolution”.

This rank opportunism of the Maoists has gone hand in hand with their devious game of turning themselves into henchmen of Trinamul Congress under the façade of pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric and joining in the massacre of CPI (M) cadres in West Bengal. Over 130 CPI (M) activists have been killed by these forces since March 2009 across the state, with more than half of them killed in the West Midnapore district alone. The victims were mostly poor peasants or agricultural workers from dalit or adivasi families. The Maoist sympathizers justified this mayhem as elimination of “class enemies” and celebrated the violence against the CPI (M) in Lalgarh as a revival of Naxalbari. The Trinamul Congress, on the other hand, aided and abetted by sections of the media, indulged in stupendous double-speak. They started by attacking the State Government for failing to control Maoist violence and questioned why the Maoists were not being banned in West Bengal. When the Central Government banned the CPI (Maoist) and the State Government started joint operations with central security forces, the Maoist sympathizers initiated shrill rhetoric against state repression. The Trinamul Congress obliged by shifting its stance and opposing the anti-Maoist operations, calling for a withdrawal of Central security forces.

The hypocrisy of the Trinamul Congress and the Maoists is further borne out by the protests against the arrest of Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) of Lalgarh, who was arrested by the police in end-September 2009. Besides charges of murder and attempt to murder of CPI (M) activists, arson, demolition of police outposts, waging war against the state etc. under various sections of the IPC, charges have also been framed against him for raising funds for a terrorist outfit, attempting to murder police personnel and conspiring against the state. All these charges are prima facie credible. While Chhatradhar Mahato was a one-time Trinamul Congress activist, his brother Shashadhar Mahato is an active member of a Maoist armed squad. Since November 2008 the Maoist backed PCPA, which was led by Chhatradhar Mahato blockaded the Lalgarh area, making it out of bounds for the police and administration. This “liberated zone” was used by the Maoists to launch a series of attacks against the CPI (M) activists and others like activists of the Jharkhand Party (Naren) and election commission personnel, killing over 80 persons in the Lalgarh area since November 2008. Several Trinamul Congress leaders, including Mamata Banerjee visited Lalgarh during this period and expressed open solidarity with Chhatradhar Mahato.

After his arrest, Chhatradhar Mahato has started disclosing several facts to the police regarding the Maoists’ activities, their nexus with Trinamul Congress, their sources of funds, etc. This has embarrassed the Maoists, who have now started adopting desperate tactics. First came the kidnapping of the OC of Sankrail police station by the Maoists, through which they secured the release of some of their arrested supporters. Then the Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express was held hostage for several hours by the Maoists and the activists of the PCPA near Jhargram on 27th October, in order to pressurize the State Government to release Chhatradhar Mahato. With the situation getting out of control, Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamul Congress leaders have started leveling outrageous allegations against the CPI (M), that the hijacking of the Rajdhani Express was a conspiracy hatched jointly by the CPI (M) and the Maoists in order to malign the Railways. The day is not far when she is going to allege that even the killings of CPI (M) activists is also a CPI (M) conspiracy!

The brouhaha over state repression in West Bengal is complete bunkum. On the contrary, the Left Front Government has continued to adopt a democratic approach towards the problem in Lalgarh. Following the complaints of police harassment of some adivasis following the assassination attempt on the Chief Minister in Salboni in November 2008, which had sparked off the Lalgarh agitation, the administration had negotiated with the agitators, transferred the culpable police officials and released several arrested persons. Since then there has not been a single reported instance of atrocity by the State police or the Central security forces, even as the Maoists have continued with their killing spree. Can the State Government be faulted for taking steps to arrest the culprits of murder and arson? Had the alleged links between Chhatradhar Mahato and the Maoists been fabricated, why has the court remanded him to custody? After all, he is not being tried in a kangaroo court. Why should he not be prosecuted? Why should he be released only to return and continue with the murders and mayhem against the CPI (M) activists?

It is time for the Maoist sympathizers in West Bengal to deeply introspect about their role in these developments. Blind hatred for the CPI (M) have driven them into such frenzy that even wanton killings of poor CPI (M) activists seem justifiable to them. They have no qualms in supporting Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamul Congress, which is a reactionary force allied to the Congress, the ruling party at the Centre today. Mamata Banerjee will never sever her ties with the Congress because the only thing she is interested in is power, not only at the Centre but also in the State. In the ultimate analysis, the Maoist sympathizers are only playing into the hands of the rightwing anti-democratic forces. The restoration of peace, dignity, justice and socio-economic development is what the adivasis want in Lalgarh and elsewhere in the State. This cannot be attained unless the Maoists stop their brutalities and targeted assassination of CPI (M) activists.

II
Far away from the political theatre of West Bengal, where the Maoists are on a rampage, some Maoist sympathizers based in New Delhi have chosen to raise the pitch. Prominent among them is celebrity activist Arundhati Roy, who appeared on CNN IBN news channel few weeks back, facing an unusually genteel Karan Thapar, to express her outrage at the planned security offensive by the Union Government – “the army of the rich” – against the “the army of the poor”, the Maoists. She argued that free market democracy in India has failed to deliver justice to the poor, especially the adivasis, and the State has deliberately ignored peaceful protests against those injustices. What is the choice left for the adivasis, dispossessed of their land and livelihoods by big corporates and tortured and raped by the State, but to take up arms in self-defence, she asked? Her advice to the Union Government: withdraw the armed offensive, hold unconditional talks with the Maoists and do things like, “for example”, making public all the MoUs signed by the Government with mining companies, which according to her is a “key issue”.

What strikes one immediately is that the media savvy CPI (Maoist) leadership, whose interviews galore nowadays from TV channels and websites to newspapers and magazines, has neither cited any MoU signed by any Government as their “key issue” nor made any demand to make those MoUs public. When Roy does so, is it because she perceives the question of mining and displacement in the tribal inhabited areas to be the root cause of the Maoist problem? Or is it because of her difficulty in providing a truthful account and reasoned justification for the activities and beliefs of the Maoists, whose cause Roy has chosen to espouse?

The explanation that the roots of the Maoist insurgency lie in the systemic deprivation and exploitation of the adivasis by the Indian bourgeois-landlord state suffers from several infirmities, because it is entirely ahistorical. The Naxalite movement of 1967, from which the present day Maoists originated, was supposed to be the beginning of a protracted armed struggle; to wrest State power from the hands of the “comprador-bureaucratic” bourgeoisie who had kept India as a “semi-colony”. The experience since then has shown that such a road to revolution is not only inappropriate in Indian conditions where parliamentary democracy has taken roots, but such sectarian politics in a diverse society like India, inevitably leads to alienation from the people and degenerates into mindless violence and anarchy. Eventually, the Naxalites reached an ideological dead-end as domestic and international developments completely overtook their shallow and confused understanding of Indian society and polity. The failure to make any advance in pursuing such an erroneous path led to innumerable splits within the Naxalite movement in the 1970s and 1980s.

In practice, the basic debate within the Naxalites have always been on whether their activities would remain to be based on individual assassinations of “class enemies” (the infamous “khatam line”) or to reorient their work prioritizing mass activities and participating in the democratic process. Several Naxalite groups, like the CPI (ML) Liberation and the CPI (ML) New Democracy, eventually realized the futility of their adventurist path, abandoned armed struggle and joined the parliamentary democratic process. However, some of the groups like the CPI (ML) Peoples’ War and the MCC continued with their violent tactics and eventually merged in 2004 to form the CPI (Maoist). The documents of the CPI (Maoist) clearly enumerate their “central task” as “seizure of political power by armed force”.

It is this historical background which celebrity activists like Arundhati Roy are now seeking to suppress by constructing a new narrative of poor people and adivasis taking up arms to defend their lives and livelihoods in the face of ruthless exploitation by free market capitalism, after their peaceful protests have been entirely ignored by the State. The effort is to portray the security offensive as one between the State and the adivasis. But this is so deceptive. The Maoists can hardly claim any contribution in the struggle against the exploitation and deprivation of the adivasis. The Left parties like the CPI (M) and CPI and several independent adivasi organisations have been fighting in these areas for the land and forest rights of tribals and against their exploitation since decades. A major achievement of that struggle was the enactment of the Forest Rights Act for the tribals and other forest dwellers, during the tenure of the previous UPA Government. What has been the contribution of the Maoists in this struggle?

The adivasis have also been increasingly dispossessed of their lands and forests, in the post-liberalization period, which has seen foreign and domestic big capital being allowed to exploit forest and mineral resources in a reckless manner, especially in States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. The socio-economic development in tribal inhabited areas has been grossly neglected by the Central as well as the State Governments. The Left parties and adivasi organisations have been struggling against these policies. The Left ruled States like West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura have successfully implemented land redistribution programmes in the adivasi inhabited areas. While much remains to be done in terms of ensuring comprehensive socio-economic development, the Left led Governments have been steadfast in defending the land and forest rights of the adivasis as well as protecting their culture and identity. The Maoists have never been found agitating on these issues. In fact, much of Maoist violence is directed against the railways, roads, power and telecom facilities and even medical teams, which expose their anti-development vision.

Far from any concern for the socio-economic development of the adivasis, the Maoists have chosen to focus on the tribal inhabited forests mainly out of military-tactical reasons, because it is easy to conduct guerilla warfare and set up their “liberated zones” in these areas given the near absence of the administration in those places. The typical tactics of the Maoists have been to build their base areas in forests near tribal habitats and establish their control over the area through the force of the gun, eliminating or terrorizing all other political parties and adivasi organisations into submission. The hapless situation of the adivasis can be seen in Chhattisgarh today where they are caught between the vicious cycle of violence between the Maoists and the state-sponsored armed militia, Salva Judum. In Orissa, thousands of Christian tribals had to bear the brunt of Bajrang Dal orchestrated violence, after the Maoists executed VHP leader Lakshmanananda Sarawati in August 2008 and fled from the scene leaving the tribals to fend for themselves.

The experience in the States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa shows that mindless violence by the Maoists and repression unleashed by the state using the pretext, invariably leads to a cycle of violence and counter-violence, shattering the lives and livelihoods of the poor tribals. In this violent milieu armed Maoist gangs get a free hand to indulge in extortion, robbery and mayhem. Under the garb of pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric against the Indian constitution and the election process, the Maoists also forge opportunistic links with bourgeois political parties for patronage and protection. Having witnessed how people decisively reject their poll boycott calls by turning out in large numbers, they have started issuing directives to people on who to vote for. Kishanji’s statements endorsing Mamata Banerjee reflect this trend. They are also involved in booth capturing, threatening and even killing representatives of one political party on behalf of another. For instance, JMM MP Sunil Mahato was killed in Ghatshila by the Maoists in March 2007. They also made assassination attempts against former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in 2003 and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in November 2008.

The Maoists do not represent any democratic movement. In their “liberated zones”, no political activities other than their own are permissible. They conduct kangaroo courts and summarily execute political opponents labeling them as “police informers”. Their presence outside their base areas in the forests is negligible. Politically, they are totally absent in the countrywide movement against imperialist globalisation and neoliberal policies, be it working class actions like strikes or peasant struggles on agrarian issues. They have failed to draw any lesson, either political or economic, from the experiences of building socialism in the twentieth century. If anything, they have become even more dogmatic over time, articulating a development vision, which seem eerily similar to Cambodian Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot. To romanticize these nihilist anarchists as a revolutionary force fighting for justice to the adivasis is nothing but utter travesty.

Conclusions
The Maoists cannot be tackled by the Central or State Governments through security operations alone. While violence has to be combated as per law, the issues affecting the lives and livelihoods of the adivasis have to be dealt with on an urgent basis. Under no circumstances should innocent adivasis or their independent organisations be targeted or harassed in the name of anti-Maoist operations. The Maoists need to be thoroughly exposed before the people. Meanwhile, the Maoist sympathizers, who are calling upon the state to initiate “unconditional dialogue”, would do well to persuade the Indian Maoists to follow the examples of their Nepalese comrades and other CPI (ML) groups and move away from the destructive path of “protracted armed struggle”, which for them has become an end in itself.

Concerned Citizens on “Maoist” Violence

About 40 eminent intellectuals, writers and artistes etc jointly issued the following statement from New Delhi on October 27.

THERE has been a spate of growing murder and violence in certain areas of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal by armed persons acting on behalf of the “CPI (Maoist)”. We strongly feel that their use of the name of Mao Zedong, a widely respected figure, while carrying out the acts of carnage and killing, is reprehensible. Such acts can also in no way be justified in the name of a war against the state. While every conscious citizen opposes acts of oppression committed by members of the exploiting classes or individuals in the state apparatus, the so-called “Maoists,” by their violent acts of vendetta, torture and gruesome killings, are gravely damaging the cause of the popular democratic movement. The “Maoists” are thus in fact working against the interests of the workers and peasants.

In order to isolate the “Maoists” politically, it is however important that the Indian state do all that is necessary to restore its presence and credibility in tribal areas whose interests it has largely been ignoring. The central government should review its neo-liberal policies that have pauperised the tribal people and help the state governments to meet their developmental challenges in these areas. Counter insurgency vigilante groups (such as Salwa Judum) have proved to be counter productive. Harassment and killing of innocent local people should be avoided while tackling the violence, and those responsible for such acts in the name of fighting the "Maoists" should be punished. A genuine dialogue should be started with those "Maoists" who are ready to give up the path of armed struggle.

The signatories included Irfan Habib,Teesta Setalvad,Vijay Prashad, Utsa Patnaik, Amiya Kumar Bagchi, M K Raina, Najaf Hyder, Badri Raina, Shireen Moosvi, Jayati Ghosh, Iqtadar Alam Khan, Sohail Hashmi, Archana Prasad, Amar Farooqui, Ayesha Kidwai, Simi Malhotra, Nadim Rizavi, Sonya Surabhi Gupta, Lata Singh, Atlury Murali, Biswamoy Pati, Madhu Prasad, D N Jha, P K Shukla, Arjun Dev, Suvira Jaiswal, H C Satyarthi, Kesavan Veluthath, V Ramakrishna, N R Rana, N K Sharma, Prabhat Patnaik, Arun Bandopadhaya, and Rajendra Prasad.

Murder in the name of Mao

Discussing the absence of ideology in Maoist ideology

Even after their rout post Charu Mazumdar days, extremist or reactionary Leftist activities never vanished from the Indian political spectrum. The rural urban divide, the undeterred growth of poverty and hunger, the plundering of the natives’ wealth and all such omnipresent evils of the Indian nation never let this brand of politics die out entirely. The Left, mainstream one that is, has recently had terrible reverses in Kerala and West Bengal. The shock in the latter’s case is even worse than the former since it had long developed the aura of being an unshakeable Left bastion. The Left Front’s leading party the CPI(M) is obviously the worst affected. In terms of media lampooning, verbal duels with the Centre and body count. In fact the fight between the Left Front and its enemies suddenly seems to be one between the Left’s enemies and the CPI(M). This probably stems from a view of strike-at-the-roots taken by the opposition. As is widely known now, the opposition is one which is a mélange of political entities and individuals that range from the far Right to the far Left with even some eponymous apolitical liberals throwing in their respective, at times art worked, gauntlets. The most prominent of this anti-CPI(M) coalition is the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Maoist alliance. The alliance is one of symbiosis wherein the TMC gets to enjoy the spoils of electoral power and the Maoists get to expand their ‘bases’ under the benign patronage of the TMC. Though there are a multitude of other players in the anti-CPI(M) rainbow each throwing in a punch for their past grievances, the Maoists are by far proving to be the most potent of destroyers for the CPI(M). The Delhi government too realizes this all too very well and is letting the dog bite as much as possible before it steps in rebuking its naughty child.

So why or how are the Maoists the most potent of the lot? Firstly what really sets the Maoists apart is the shared political symbolism that it has with the Marxists. They give the slogans which sound all too familiar to the ears of the people of Bengal where generations have grown up looking at Marxists and their ideology as a way of life and a language of living in their daily lives. To make the poison more heady the CPI(M) has faltered a lot in keeping its own house in order and stands guilty in the eyes of the people in the very manner and measure as it had trained them to judge in the years gone by. Secondly the poison has had its share of successes. From blocking the Bengal government from carrying out its long declared program of industrialisation to setting up of liberated zones under the very nose of the government to amply showing the state government machinery to be ineffective and ham handed the Maoists as of now have taken center stage. So obviously the CPI(M) and sections of the Left intelligentsia is now rising up to recognising the Maoists in their true potentially damaging character. What is strange is that the CPI(M) had buried its ideological head in the sand of mundane electoral exigencies for long relating to matters of opposition from within the Left form both the revisionist and the reactionary folds. It is strange because the CPI(M) today is led by a generation of leaders, especially in West Bengal, who, thanks to the Naxal days of the 60-70 era, know firsthand how easily and how badly blood can be spilled if the reactionary Left is allowed to grow. Nevertheless, the renewed interest in the reactionary Left is a welcome change, both for the CPI(M) itself and those who ally themselves with the scientific radical Left. To that effect the CPI(M)’s organs are writing on and its leaders are publicly debating on the reactionary Left in its Maoist avatar. To add to that body of work the following essay wishes to add some points and viewpoints that seem missing or amiss.

If the political press statements relating to their alliance with the TMC are left aside, the primary point of the CPI(M)’s criticism of the Maoists is their ideology. It talks of how the latter’s ideology is wrong when seen in the light of Marxist and materialist understanding. The Maoists’ political understanding is broadly based on the following guiding principles –

· The Indian ruling class is one that is made of the comprador bourgeoisie. Comprador meaning one that functions like a subsidiary to the capitalists of the imperialist nations.

· The Indian nation is one that is inhabited by poor landless peasants and the nature of India’s economy is entirely agrarian with other factors and actors having little, if any, effect. So in order to achieve revolution, a revolt which is overwhelmingly agrarian in nature must be organised and all activities must be solely directed at that or at most be subservient to that.

· The Indian State, drawing from its comprador ruling class, is again comprador and exclusively acts in the interest of the imperialist powers. Hence their rule is devoid of any real political basis. Thus the elections are a farcical exercise and overthrow of the state through gun power is both justified and the only alternative.

Without doubt, the above is outright wrong and is absolutely alien to the realities of India’s socio-political and economic constitution and situation. It is there only because of the ideological legacy, or perhaps vestige, the Maoists carry from the days of Charu Mazumdar and company. So the CPI(M), or anyone else for that matter, is right on track if their criticism calls the Maoists’ ideological line antiquated and unfounded. However sticking to this scope of critique only serves to prove the Maoists wrong but not to counter them – which in fact is the stated objective of the whole process of engaging in the critique.

The notion that that the Maoist movement is guided by its stated ideological declarations and led by a group of people who are only ideologically motivated is as fallacious as the ideology’s reasoning itself. The reality is that the ideological talk of the Maoists is largely humbug and hogwash and has very little to do with their real organisational behaviour and political intentions.
That the Naxalbari line was wrong is now a truth that has proven itself. The mass rejection that the Naxalite brand of Leftist activism has faced is proof of that. This especially holds true when one notes that this rejection was complete and outright in the radical land of Bengal which was its birthplace. As an affirmation to their adherence to Leftist and radical views while rejecting reactionary politics the people of Bengal, near unanimously, voted to power the mainstream Left parties and the CPI(M) right in the aftermath of the Naxalites’ bloodbath. This was followed by similar dwindling of the Naxal factions across the Indian states. Even if Andhra yielded one Srikakulam it refused shelter to the Maoists when the Andhra Police and paramilitaries gave chase. Despite a Wayanad, Kerala’s naxalite movement is only talked of in the past tense by an unchanging face or two who also audibly regret their earlier participation. Undivided Bihar, which was their once a prized possession and was home to the movement’s leading lights, became a place where the Maoists’ differently named version the MCC was fighting gang wars instead of the revolutionary proletarian war. Same is the story of Orrisa, Maharshtra, parts of Karnataka, stretches of Tamil Nadu and every other geographical location where they claimed to have presence. This en-masse rejection of their politics and policies is one that would be a clear message to even the most politically naïve to review their politics and methods of working. The Maoists however show stubborn and unrelenting adherence to the dogmatic Naxalite ideology. This naivety even by a far stretch of imagination seems improbable for people who are in politics as a full time occupation. The recent spate of arrests have shown the presence of people who hail from financially well off backgrounds and have been able to afford high education in modern universities. Their exposure to the outside world seems irreconcilable with the form of political organisation and activity they are into – the CPI(Maoist) that is. This especially when the second half of the century gone by shows the failure that their ideological peers have faced from Latin America through West Asia, East Europe onto Asia. Moreover such failures and their reasons are well documented and widely discussed. Even a cursory reading of similar movements that laid its primal organisational stress on military confrontation, such as the Sendero Luminoso and others, show how such movements are ended by state power militarily.

Moreover sustaining such a political activity in the face of a three decade long perpetual flop-show is devoid of logic. There must most certainly be some beneficial yield that comes into the hands of those who lead this movement at the end of the day, which probably also percolates down the ranks in varying degrees, to egg such a doomed activity to move on. This brings us to the next aspect, that of monetary matters.

It is well known that the Maoist guerillas are very well armed. Their arsenal includes the best in rifles such as the INSAS (used by the Indian Army) and the AK 47 (used by Indian paramilitary)[1]. Apart from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) they use directional anti-personnel Claymore mines[2] (highly sophisticated mine used by the US Army). This apart from the many small arms they are in possession of. Guns like these and their ammunition are rather expensive. An indicator of the cost is the Rs 100 Cr that the government of Maharashtra had to sanction just to provide a small section of its police with AK 47s in the aftermath of the November 26th Mumbai terror attacks. [3]

The Maoists’ claim that they get most of the weaponry by looting the police is unbelievable because the police, especially the rural units whom they mostly attack, are equipped with nothing more than cane sticks. A few exceptional police stations, and that too not chowkis, have the 303 wooden butt rifles and nothing more. So how can the Maoists acquire their high-end fire power by only ‘looting the autocratic state machinery’? The simple answer is they cannot and they do not. Such guns, their bullets and the people who fire them cost a considerable sum of money and the Maoists’ purse size is very much in line with such a consideration. The estimated budget of the CPI(Maoist) as of 2008 was a staggering 1125 Cr rupees out of which the expenditure on weaponry was rupees 175 Cr[4]. Ironically TATA motors had done a comparatively paltry investment of 500 Cr at their Singur plant which the Maoists and their cohorts had opposed ideologically!

Besides just the cost of the weapons and their ammunitions themselves, their logictics – which are generally very specific, maintenance of the supply chain and the vendor networks and others are all resource intensive activities. So all this back office work most certainly employs trained human resource and that warrants another expenditure – that of payrolls. The recent catches of Maoist leaders have shown them to carry modern laptops. In fact during the Laalgarh episode, Maoist leaders spoke to the national and international media over VoIP, net telephony and the like. The software, hardware and moreover the training for all this does not come free of cost. This technical suaveness is most certainly not a domain that landless peasants of India’s hinterlands are proficient in. The abundance of websites that propagate the Maoist propaganda and those that act as sympathy networks for them are also not maintained from the deep forests of the Dandakaranya. So the Maoists most certainly have technically skilled people on their payrolls who are located in urban areas.

Then there are the sleeper cells and funding networks that need to be maintained in the urban areas that feed on the ‘comprador bourgeois’ setups to deliver the cash. A recently arrested Maoist front man, Chatradhar Mahato, has spilled the beans on how he is in personal possession of capital largesse in terms of houses, well filled bank accounts and a bombastic life insurance. He also confirmed that the members of the urban intelligentsia do more than creating a diversion in times of action. They also carry cash for them. This can also be understood from the sudden presence of cash rich politicians and NGO owners from places distant in both geography and political claims all ‘giving’ their support for the ‘just’ cause of anti-industrialisation. The mobility with which the Maoist leaders move about from place to place and et manage to set up press conferences point to the presence of a good network of transportation and vehicles is at their disposal. A slightly observant viewer may notice that during the Laalgarh episode preceding the arrest of Mahato, Mahato himself and Koteshwar rao were invariably turned out in clean and well ironed shirts which do not show any visible signs of battle dirt or grime.

The presence of thugs, killers and many jailbirds – who have been jailed for entirely apolitical crimes, is a well known fact. One of the main sources of income for the Maoists is extortion – which technically speaking, is a special type of activity in which only certain specially ‘skilled’ thugs who know the trade well can carry out. Same is true for the opium cultivation and the drug trade the insurgents live off. Neither growing opium nor the extraction of the heady alkaloids can be termed as a general skill. So obviously people who are proficient in this trade are involved. Needless to say their adherence to Marxism-Lenininism-Maoism, as the Maoists call their ideological line, can be duly suspected. Achievements of the aforementioned through direct use of legal and legitimate channels are absent and this invariably necessitates the Maoists’ to work in collusion with other such anti-social groups. In fact going by the sheer size of the arms and ammunitions saga alone, a huge network outside the Maoist party ranks, and hence their professed ideological scope, needs to be maintained. So the Maoists have no qualms in ‘collaborating’ with smugglers, killers, drug traders and the like and are ready to easily shut out their ideological consciences for this. Ironically they are celebrated by some elite urban arty people who claim to be highly sensitised to even fine immoralities in society and despise the forfeiting of a scant minority’s demands for development of the greater populace by terming it ‘unprincipled’. The openly declared alliance of the TMC and the Maoists and the paeans that the elitist eponymous civil society is singing of the alliance is an absolute example of this hypocrisy and double standard.

Another point to note is the collusion of some State elements in all this. The poppy fields are most certainly are not invisible and known to the local governmental and political setup. So whatever cultivation is happening there is happening with the latter’s encouragement. This most clearly shows the mutually beneficial local tie-ups that the Maoists have with the exploitive politicians they claim to oppose. For all their opposition to elections labeling them as an exercise in futility, the Maoists are known to help local politicians to come to power by issuing diktats to the voters at gun point. The Congress party used them to oust the Telugu Desam Party from power in the Andhra state elections. As a reward the ceasefire was declared and the Maoists upgraded their armory and coffers[5]. The links between local politicians and Maoists follows a very similar pattern in Jharkhand and Chattisgarh too. The Maoists help keep the politicos in power and allow the loot of the tribals to go on smoothly. Moreover it provides a moral cover to the exploitive politicians and their pet police to brutally assault the innocent tribals and natives under the guise of “fighting the insurgents”. The TMC-Maoist tie up is the most recent and most visible example of how the holier-than-Left revolutionaries easily gel with a crassly bourgeois party just for their payoffs and growth. Jharkhand is another such example. The Maoists have long claimed to be the vanguard of the state’s natives and also hugely popular. If that were true then how did such multi-crore loot occur under their very nose as is now known from the investigations against Madhu Koda, former CM of Jharkhand. If the Maoists were unaware of the situation then how are they popular or representative? If they were aware then they were most certainly hand-in-glove with the dastardly loot. What really is true is that the Maoists enjoy a status quo with the corrupt sections of the State and live off the same loot the former is carrying on since time immemorial. The price is paid by the civilians and salaried low income police personnel who are ritualistically sacrificed at this altar of greed wrapped in hypocrisy. As a rejoinder it is worthwhile to note that the Maoists have killed 210 civilians in 2008.

The home minister of India, P Chidambaram has repeatedly publicly noted the links of the Maoists with other violent groups across the borders of India. Rajeevs Wijesinghe, secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights said “They (LTTE) can have links with any terrorist organisation like the al-Qaeda and the Maoists” [6] The fact that the LTTE connection is merely more than a meeting of minds is the Maoists’ public display of disapproval on the demise of the LTTE and its megalomaniac leader Prabhakaran. Vara Vara Rao recently shed poetic tears for the same when he penned Prabhakaran Champabadadu. From the military assault centric politics on to the drug trade and the Mafioso style of functioning show the LTTE as a distinctly close resemblance of the Maosists. In fact the Maoists are rather broad in their taste for allies. The recent arrest of an LeT operative Mohammed Omar Madni revealed the links between the Right wing religious ultras and the Left wing reactionary ones. Public prosecutor Rajeev Mohan when talking of the arrest and explaining its CPI(Maoist)-Jharkhand links said “He (Madni) has been acting as a conduit for the LeT and was made in-charge of Jharkhand for the purpose of selecting men and sending them to Pakistan occupied Kashmir for training in terror activities. These men were supposed to come back to India and carry out terror strikes”[7] This dealing with secessionist ultras is also given an ideological sounding jugglery of words when Maoists say “The struggles of the Kashmiri, Naga, Assam, Manipuri and other nationalities in north-eastern region are already going on by assuming the armed form. The people of these oppressed nationalities are not only fighting for their identity but also for the most just cause of achieving their honourable right of self-determination, including the right of secession and the demand for secession”[8] So to put this political magnanimity into work they say “As a considerable part of the enemy’s armed forces will inevitably be engaged against the growing tide of struggles by the various nationalities, it will be difficult for the Indian ruling classes to mobilise all their armed forces against our revolutionary war. If our Party can lay down the correct basis to win over the nationalities and tribes through our policy of guaranteeing self-determination for the nationalities and political autonomy for the tribes and forge a powerful united front against the common enemy”[9] Keeping aside the euphemism, what this means is the Maoists looking to make a common cause with jihadist and other regional terrorist organisations in return for taking the heat off their backs. This statement does a twofold damage to the Maoists claim of popular resistance. Firstly the open seeking of ties with religious and regional reactionary forces dents their claim of following Marxist-Leninist principles since the two are irreconcilable owing to their socio-economic bases. Secondly the tall claims of military triumphs owing to their popular cause as opposed to the unpopular forces of the State takes a serious beating. The statement amply shows that the Maoists are on the run in face of concentrated military action by the State. Anyhow the Andhra Pradesh government under the late YS Reddy has amply shown that a well trained armed force aided by proper planning can easily steal the thunder from the ultras and make them flee from lands they once claimed as theirs.

So when speaking of the Maoists, we effectively have at hand an organistaion that –
· Uses a warped and distorted version of Marxist interpretation to write their theories
· Carries on being a violent and virulent group
· Is funded by drug trade, killings and extortions
· Wants to integrate with or co-operate with regionally chauvinistic and Right wing religious and exclusivist terrorist groups
· Has no mentionable legitimate political presence such as trade unions, farmer groups and the like
· Uses verbal calisthenics to justify its act of morbid violence and twists progressive logic to suit its brand of criminal activities

In light of the above is discussing the Maoists solely from an ideological debate perspective worthwhile? Can the informed and concerned readers of politics afford to be one sided enough so as to turn a blind eye to the gory glaring realities which belie even an iota of principled politics? NO!

When, and if, one wishes to discuss and understand the Maoists as a socio-economic phenomenon, the interested individual or group must most certainly look at their behavioral aspects and not just talk of their claimed ideological posture. Political parties, institutions and organisations and responsible intellectuals must look at what the Maoists do and not just at what they say. Their reference to the Revolution is equivalent to the jihadi or hindu rioters’ reference to religion, to prove their unholy acts as ones directed by God. Their people’s court death sentences too are as progressive as the practice of human sacrifice by savage sadhus to appease virulent gods. Sadly this analogy was proven literally by Bhagat, commander of the Paplur Dalam, killed Mukunda Madhi in public view and ate his flesh to terrorise others[10]. Simply engaging in debating their ideology and showing them to be wrong is far from what will solve the menace. On the contrary it plays into the trick of giving them undue space while they go about their business, quite literally at that, with impunity.

There most certainly are numerous flaws in the Indian State and its functioning, both formative and functional. However as far as the State’s armed offensive against them is concerned, since the Maoists themselves declare that they are at war with the State and that the said war is the only way to achieve their objectives, hence they provide the moral justification of the State’s actions. History stands proof that an anti-state organisation that speaks of only military solutions to their perceived problems will be considered problematic and solved by the State militarily. As for their misguided, and misguiding, urban trumpeters, they should tone down their crying the human rights wolf each time a Maoist is arrested. The rights, such as the trumpeter’s own Right to Freedom of Speech, are declared in the constitution which the State of India is bound by and are at the disposal of those who accept the State as legitimate. The ones who do not and wage war on the State, by their own declaration, disown any such Right.

Lastly the gruesome murders of the tribals, natives and other low income and innocent individuals who do not fall in line is ample clear. It is for the concerned citizen and the responsible intellectual to take a stand knowing fully well that the Maoist hands are smeared with proletarian blood. Lastly for groups such as the CPI(M) and other mainstream Left activist organisations must take clear stands and defog their line of talk and understanding vis-à-vis the Maoists. Discussing only the erudite aspects of the New Democratic posture of the Maoists should rank far lower as opposed to flowing through with their work – which could very well mean fighting the Maoists if they come in the way of their work.

[1] Devyani Srivastava, “Terrorism and Armed Violence in India“ IPCS, Delhi
[2] The Hindu, April 28th 2005
[3] DNA, 13th December 2008
[4] DNA, 14th April 2008
[5] The Hindu, 11th March 2009
[6] Indian Express, 5th Nov 2009
[7] Indian Express, 20th June 2009
[8] Sec 20, Party Programme of the CPI(Maoist)
[9] Sec 4, Chap 6, Strategy and Tactics, CPI(Maoist)
[10] The Hindu, sourced from the PTI 15th Jan 2008