India’s Red Corridor

Campaign Against Operation Green Hunt Launched in Tamil Nadu

This article was published in Spring Thunder, December 28, 2009

War Against Naxals: The War Against Adivasis, Fishermen and Peasants!

Resist the Naxal Witch Hunt!
Organise Under the Naxal Leadership to Fight Recolonization!

Campaign Across Tamilnadu

Public Meeting, Chennai, January 30, 2010

Dear working people,

The Indian State has declared a civil war called ‘Operation Green Hunt’ to crush the Maoists and the Naxalbari movement. P. Chidambaram, the Indian home minister, has declared that the primary objective of the offensive is to decimate Maoist Guerillas, who are functioning in Chattisgarh, Jharkand, Orissa and in the vast jungles of Dandakaranya, along the borders of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Army headquarters and air bases are being constructed inside the dense jungles. Army men are being trained in anti-guerilla warfare. Over 1 lakh army personnel, such as CRPF, Cobra, C-60, Grey Hounds, Indo-Tibet Border Force, Anti-Naxal Striking force, etc., are being stationed in these areas. American satellites and Indian choppers are used to spy these jungles. Indian army officials are guiding the war, and the central government has allocated Rs.7,300 crores to the fund this war against its own people, the real, ancient inhabitants of the country.

Maoists Regroup in Andhra Pradesh, Press for Telangana State

This article was published in the Hindustan Times, December 27, 2009

Maoists eye Telangana comeback

The political turmoil in Andhra Pradesh over Telangana has rekindled Maoists’ hopes for a comeback in a state that was once their stronghold.  As a first step, Communist Party of India (Maoist) leaders are planning to initiate “peoples’ committees” to participate in democratic movements demanding a separate Telangana state.

Telangana is the traditional Naxalite heartland of Andhra Pradesh. But a savage counter-attack by the Greyhounds, a specialised anti-Naxal security force, in 2005 has weakened their dominance in this region.

“People want Telangana and we support it fully. Our cadres will participate in joint democratic movements along with other political parties,” said Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, a CPI(Maoist) politburo member, last seen publicly at a rally in the Telangana region in 1978. He claimed to have spoken to some pro-Telangana politicians over telephone over the last couple of days but declined to reveal their identities.

Maoists Declare Tamsaling Federal Autonomous State

Red Star, December 17, 2009.

Tamsaling Autonomous Federal State Declared

In course of declaring the autonomous federal states, UCPN-Maoist has declared its Tamsaling Autonomous Federal State on the 16^th December 2009 at Ranipauwa of Kakani Village Development Committee (VDC) in Nuwakot district.

The Chief Guest and the Vice-President of UCPN-Maoist Dr. Baburam Bhattarai formally and authentically declared the Tamang Autonomous Federal State and said that the act of the proclamation is a historic one. The declaration of the federal states has been a reality in the context of Nepal and nobody willingly can deny or reject it.

He said that the declaration is constitutional and legal. The interim constitution clearly reads that the republic of Nepal will be federal. Therefore, the declaration helps rather than to create obstacle as the puppet government is claming. Clearing the concept of the Tamsaling Autonomous State, Dr. Bhattarai said, the territory of the declared federal state is not only of the Tamang people but of all the people of different castes who are living there.

Philippines: CPP Calls for Advance to Strategic Stalemate in Five Years

In this statement, the CPP leadership lays out an ambitious plan to increase the number of guerilla fronts from 120 to 180, expand party membership from “tens of thousands” to 200,000, and move from the strategic defensive to the strategic stalemate within five years.

Strive to Make a Great Advance in the People’s War for New Democracy

Communist Party of the Philippines, Central Committee, December 26, 2009

We celebrate today with utmost joy the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of the Philippines as the revolutionary advanced detachment of the Filipino proletariat under the theoretical guidance of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

We are deeply gratified by the long-accumulated as well as recent victories won by the Filipino proletariat and people under the leadership of the Party in the course of the new democratic revolution through protracted people’s war. We salute and congratulate all our cadres and members and we pay the highest respects to our revolutionary martyrs and heroes for making our victories possible.

We have long proven that, by pursuing the strategic line of protracted people’s war, we can build in stages the strength of the revolutionary forces of the people and overcome the brutal campaigns of suppression unleashed by US imperialism and the local exploiting classes of big compradors and landlords. In the process, we have so far built the largest and strongest revolutionary movement of the Filipino people in the entire history of the Philippines since the revolution of 1896.

Nepal Government Seeks to Preserve Reactionary Army Hierarchy

Samachaar.in, December 24, 2009

Nepal promotes army officer with tarnished human rights record

Kathmandu: Ignoring calls by the UN and human rights organisations at home and abroad, Nepal’s communist-led government Thursday decided to promote a senior army officer under whose command soldiers ran a torture camp during the Maoist insurgency and executed dozens of people secretly detained under the suspicion they helped the guerrillas.

With Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and his council of ministers approving the promotion of Major General Toran Jung Bahadur Singh to the post of lieutenant-general, the army officer with the blotted rights record is now eligible to become the next chief of Nepal Army when the present head, Gen Chhatraman Singh Gurung, retires. This month, when Gen Gurung visited India on the invitation of Indian Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor, Singh was appointed as officiating chief of the Nepal Army.

India: Professor Beaten for Speaking Out Against Demolition of Musahar Homes

Children in a Musahar ghetto

This article was published in the Times of India. Thanks to D for pointing it out.

Bihar cops thrash Jamia professor, brand him ‘Naxal’

Pranava K Chaudhary, TNN 26 December 2009

PATNA: Associate professor at Jamia Millia Islamia, Rahul Ramagundam, was assaulted, abused and branded a Naxalite by Bihar police for daring to ask the cops why the hutments belonging to Musahars — among the most backward of Scheduled Castes — were being demolished. [The Musahars, or rat-eaters,  are one of the Dalit subcastes in Bihar. See article below for more information on them.]

Ramagundam, who teaches at Dr K R Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies at JMI, was thrashed and abused and called a Naxalite by Khagaria police at Amausi village. His local companion was also manhandled and beaten up by lathi-wielding police constables and officers. The incident took place on December 22.  “How could asking just one question lead to such physical violence? How can one be called a Naxalite and assaulted and humiliated like this,” asked Ramagundam.

Amausi had hit headlines on October 1 when 16 villagers, mostly OBCs (Kurmi), were killed allegedly by Musahars. The village has some 300 Musahar families who live in thatched huts.

Lalgarh: PCPA Torches Forest Office, Demands Release of Its Members

CPM office, like forest office, goes up in flames

Thaindian News, December 22, 2009

Pro-Maoist villagers torch range forest office in West Bengal

Palasia (West Bengal): Hundreds of villagers owing allegiance to People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), a pro-Maoist organisation, stormed the premises of the Range Forest office near Palasia in west Midnapore district of West Bengal and set it on fire on Monday. The irate villagers said that they torched the office in retaliation to the police highhandedness and as a protest against the arrest of their local PCAPA functionaries.

“On the evening of sixth December 2009, the police swooped in here and dragged people who were working in the fields. They rounded up locals named Joydeb Bera and Raju Adak. And when ladies of the village went to question such atrocities, they charged canes…to protest against such a cruel attitude of the authorities, we have gathered here under the banner of People’s Committee against Police Atrocities, we are staging a sit in strike. Zindabad (hail) our crusade against police highhandedness and we will protest till Joydeb Bera and Adak are released,” said Sanatan Hansda, a PCAPA leader.

Gajurel: Maoists May Revive Parallel Governments

Telegraph Nepal, December 21, 2009

Parallel Govt in Nepal, Constitution from Streets Soon: Gajurel

C.P. Gajurel, Unified Maoists’ Party Secretary revealed that his party was mulling over to revive parallel governments in the country to which the former rebel party practiced during the decade long bloody revolt. “We have experience of running parallel government in the country”, said a beaming Gajurel talking to media on Sunday December 20, 2009.

Mr. Gajurel who is also considered as a hardliner in the Maoists’ camp further threatened that if ruling coalition continued to ignore the Maoists’ demands, the party could even go to the extent of declaring New Constitution and a Parallel Government right from the streets. Such a government, he said, would be led by the Maoists Party which has majority over the rest of the so-called parliamentary parties in Constituent Assembly.

In the meantime, reports coming from Western Tarai districts of the country have it that the Maoists’ Party has begun forming parallel governments in the districts and villages. Reports claim that after declaring Autonomous State of Tharuwan, December 12, 2009, the former rebel party in the 7 Municipalities and 177 VDCs of the districts of Dang, Banke, Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur has unilaterally declared Local Governments.

“The local Maoists’ government during third round of protest will manage the party cadres, which will later be converted into the full fledged parallel government”, add reports.

On Sunday the Maoists Party organized a program to declare the Ghorahi City Government in the district of Dang. The party has appointed 29 members in the City Council chaired by Parsuram Shrestha.

Police Attack Dalit Human Rights Movement in Kerala

Kerala Dalits demand land on rubber plantation

Posted on Counter Currents

Kerala’s So Called Dalit Terror: How a Dalit Minister Turns Against His Own Community

B.R.P. Bhaskar, Gulf Today, December 14, 2009

The fate of a set of proposals sent to the Kerala government by the State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission illustrates how the political establishment scuttles efforts to address the problems of the weaker sections.

The Commission, headed by PK Sivanandan, a former IAS officer, received on Oct.6 a complaint from VV Selvaraj, chairman of Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM), alleging police atrocities against the organisation’s supporters in Varkala. It also received a petition signed by 536 Dalit women containing the same allegation. The commission forwarded the complaints to the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police and the Secretaries to the Home and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare departments. It received no response from any of them.

Varkala was the scene of a dastardly murder on Sept.23. The victim was a person named Sivaprasad with no known affiliation. Within hours of the murder, the police said DHRM members had killed him to proclaim the organisation’s strength. Police swooped on Dalit colonies and arrested many DHRM workers. However, it has still not filed a charge-sheet in the murder case.

Nepal: USAID Office Trashed during General Strike

My Republica, December 21, 2009

Maoists vandalize USAID office in Surkhet

The Maoists have vandalized the Surkhet office of the USAID in Surkhet and Women Development Office in Birendranagar for ‘defying’ the strike. A group of Maoists entered the USAID office at 10 a.m. and vandalized the office. “We were outside basking on sun, when they suddenly entered the office,” USAID official told Republica. The Maoists damaged computers, telephone and furniture.

Kathmandu: Police arrested six strike enforcers in Kathmandu as the Maoists set ablaze vehicles across the nation on the second day of the three-day general strike on Monday. According to police spokesperson Bigyan Raj Sharma, Maoists set ablaze a truck each in Morang and Jhapa and a motorcycle each in Bharatpur and Pokhara. The cadres of UCPN (Maoist) also vandalized Mahalaxmi Timber Industry and Daju Bhai Furniture Industry in Ghorahi, Dang district.

In cities and towns throughout the country, the Maoist supporters have laid siege to the main squares and burnt tires to prevent any vehicles from passing. Police in large numbers have been stationed in main squares. Earlier, the Maoist cadres set four motorcycles on fire at Tanki Sinwari in Biratnagar for ‘defying’ their banda, TV channels and FM stations reported.

Nepal’s Former Ambassador to the U.S.: What About a Military Takeover?

This an open discussion of a Pinochet moment for Nepal — which would not just be a military coup but also the creation of a death squad regime aimed at the decade-old Maoist revolutionary upsurge. Such a coup would require Indian and U.S. support — and this article is an ominous “trial balloon.”

Readers outside Nepal, and especially in the U.S., should take this as a warning and a call — to step up our work, to spread knowledge of this revolution, and accelerate work to create a voice against U.S. intervention.

This article was published on My Republica on December 20, 2009.

Getting Out Of The Quagmire

by Sukhdev Shah

Sukhdev Shah was Nepal’s ambassador to the U.S. from February to May 2009, when the Maoist-led government fell. (We apologize for stating that he is the current ambassador when we first posted this article.)  Shah worked for the International Monetary Fund for two decades and is a U.S. citizen.

As things have evolved over the past three years, Nepal has become a fertile ground for a military takeover of the government, independently or under the shadow of a constitutional authority. Such a possibility has been talked about in a limited circle but been forced open by a delegation of some Nepali Congress (NC) leaders who recently urged President Ram Baran Yadav to consider imposing President’s Rule to help restore peace and enable the Constituent Assembly (CA) to complete writing the constitution before the expiry of deadline in five months. This is not an incredible or inappropriate suggestion, considering the marathon obstructions staged by Maoists to prevent the CA to open for business and carry out its mandate.

Even after losing the control of government in May this year over the enigmatic issue of civilian supremacy, Maoists have not softened their stance on the president’s action that re-instated the ex-army chief after his firing by the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. In order to further press on this issue, Maoists have announced formation of autonomous states in several parts of the country in defiance of the wishes of government, which also seems to challenge the constitution-making authority of CA. By doing so—unilaterally deciding to divide up the country into ethnic enclaves—Maoists have started the process of a slow dissolution of the State which they eventually would turn into an all-powerful proletarian dictatorship, making the country a one-party State. This particular perception of Maoists’ ultimate objective and long-term planning is not based on fancy or conjecture but comes straight out of their public declarations that claim the virtues of ‘fusion’ of ideologies and role of peoples’ war—jana yudhha—as means to capturing the State power.

Kathmandu: Maoists and Police Clash at Start of Three-Day Nationwide Strike

Nepal News, December 20, 2009

Capital city turns into battle field as Maoist protestors clash with police; ambulances, press vehicles also not spared

Many parts of the capital city wore a look of a battle-field on Sunday as activists affiliated with the Unified CPN (Maoist) and their supporters engaged in violent clashes with riot police, resulting in injuries to scores, on the first day of the Maoists’ three-day nationwide strike. The bandh enforcers burnt tyres, vandalized any passing vehicles including those that were parked, and didn’t even spare ambulances and press vehicles.

Places like New Baneshwor, where the Constituent Assembly is located, including Putalisadak, Bagbazaar, Gaushala and few other places saw the most intense clashes between the police and bandh organizers during the Maoist-called strike.

Around two dozens persons, including CA lawmaker Yashoda Subedi and DSP Dilip Chaudhary, were injured in a severe scuffle between the Maoist activists and riot police at New Baneshwor. Most of the injured were Maoist activists with few others being police and bystanders. However, no critical injuries have been reported.

Lalgarh: PCPA Demands Members’ Release, Torches Oil Tankers

Telegraph India, December 18, 2009

Rebel kill & burn spree

Jhargram: Maoists killed three CPM workers, set ablaze oil tankers on a national highway and torched a sponge iron factory and over a dozen vehicles on the first day of a protest against arrests which police denied having made.

Raju Adak and Joyram Bera had allegedly been picked up from Lalgarh on December 6, but no one by those names has been produced in court — in Jhargram or Midnapore — in the past few days. “No such arrest has been made,” West Midnapore police chief Manoj Verma said.

The People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities identified the duo as its leaders and vowed to continue the agitation for their release. Police sources said the duo were “hardcore” Maoists who used the committee as a front. Residents of Lalgarh, they have over 30 murder cases against them. “The Maoists committed today’s murders and engineered the arson,” said Verma.

Bengali People’s March Editor, Publisher Still Held in Jail

P Govindan Kutty, editor of People's March

Express India, December 16, 2009

After lift of ban on Maoist ‘mouthpiece’, editor, publisher held in jail

Kolkata : The ban on the People’s March — a mouthpiece of the Maoists — was lifted by the Press & Registration Appellate Board (PRAB) over three months ago. But two persons arrested in Kolkata have been in jail since owing to their association with the publication. The state police officers plead ignorance about the lifting of the ban.

Swapan Dasgupta, editor of Bengali version of People’s March and Sadananda Singha, its publisher, were picked up from their homes in Garia by the Special Branch of Kolkata Police on October 7. The press in Maniktala Industrial Area was raided and all documents and equipment were seized. They were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for publishing a banned periodical that allegedly contained “seditious matter”, even though the ban had been lifted. And they were remanded in judicial custody.