CPI (Maoist) on Struggle for a Separate Telangana

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST)

CENTRAL COMMITTEE

Press Release: 5 December 2009

Separate state of Telangana is an inalienable right of the four crore people of Telangana! No force on earth can suppress the people’s democratic aspiration for separate Telangana!  Let us wage a united militant mass struggle against the Congress fascist regime and the betrayers in various political garbs!

The 40 million people of Telangana region who comprise over 40% of the population of the state of Andhra Pradesh have stood up boldly and unequivocally for their long-cherished democratic demand for a separate state. The people of Telangana region not only suffer from discrimination and neglect by the state and central governments that serve the imperialists, comprador big business houses, and big landlords, but also from the oppression, exploitation and discrimination by the landlords, bourgeoisie and the neo-rich class hailing from the relatively developed Andhra region. Hence the democratic aspiration for a separate state has taken firm root in the minds of the neglected people of Telangana region.

The demand for separate Telangana was raised several times over the past few decades and had even assumed the form of a violent year-long agitation in the year 1969. But it was then brutally suppressed by the Congress government led by Indira Gandhi and betrayed by the Telanagana Praja Samiti led by Chenna Reddy. 400 people, most of them students, were killed by the fascist Congress regime in 1969 but it could not kill the democratic aspiration of the people of Telangana. Successive regimes of the Congress and TDP, which were captive to the pressures of the Andhra lobby, had opposed the demand tooth and nail. However, during the elections to the state Assembly in 2004 and again in 2009, the Congress, with an eye on the votes, promised that it would fulfill the demand for a separate state if it came to power.

But this comprador Party, known for its long history of betrayals of promises, went back on its promise of Telangana state and began to dilly-dally on the issue for over five years. The other major party of the big landlord big bourgeoisie classes of India, the BJP too, had promised Telangana state with the catchy slogan of ‘one vote—two states’ way back in the 1999 elections but betrayed the people after it came to power in the Centre. Today the opportunist parties such as the BJP and TDP, CPI and CPI(M), are claiming that they support Telangana only with the ulterior motive of gaining some mass base and convert it to their vote banks.

Nepal: Maoists Accuse India of Using Nepal Media to Divide Party

This article was published on Telegraph Nepal on January 10, 2010.

India using Nepal media to create fissures in Maoist top leadership

One of the Unified Maoists’ Party leaders has claimed that India was behind unnecessarily flaring up the issue of Prachanda-Babu Ram fresh feud by provoking some media houses in Nepal.

Lila Mani Pokharel, the Unified Maoists Party central committee member told at an interaction program held in Dhangadi, January 9, 2010, that India was provoking some media houses in Nepal to blow the issue out of proportion.  In his entire one hour long speech, say reports, Mr. Pokharel heavily criticized Nepali media for over ten minutes.  “India is using Nepali media as its convenient tool to create fissures in the Unified Maoists’ Party,” Lila Mani also said.

Mr. Pokharel demanded immediate abrogation of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 and said that the Pancheshwor Project undertaken by India was only for the benefit of India.  Similarly, Giriraj Mani Pokharel another Maoists’ leader speaking in Siraha district, demanded immediate scrapping of all unequal and secret treaties Nepal has signed with India in the past.   He also urged all Madhesis, Dalits and the marginalized population to go to each and every village in Tarai and tear apart unequal treaties signed with India including the treaty of 1950.

Kishenji Says Maoists Support People’s Struggles in the Northeast, Kashmir and Telangana

This article was published in the January 17, 2010 edition of The Week.

Exclusive interview with Kishenji: ULFA should trust us

Sarbari Bhaumik

A wily fox has many exits to his lair. So also with Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, national chief of the People’s Liberation Army and politburo member of the CPI (Maoist). Media-savvy, he often speaks to the press, but on his own terms. His call would come out of the blue and he would hang up immediately after giving his sound bite. Long phone calls, he knows, will give away his location. But in an interview with THE WEEK, Kishenji spoke at length on a wide range of issues, including Telangana, Kashmir and the northeast. Excerpts:

What is your response to the decision to form Telangana?

The demand for Telangana is very old and we support it. Though Delhi has announced its intention to form Telangana, I doubt their sincerity. Many rich and powerful Telugus have illegal land in Hyderabad and have invested millions there. There are powerful people in the UPA who are linked to these vested interests. They will create roadblocks.