Tribal woman whose home was destroyed by Indian state forces
When Mamata Banerjee and her populist party, the Trinamool Congress, won elections in West Bengal last May, the bourgeois press claimed she would be good for the CPI(Maoist). Some outlets spread more direct disinformation, suggesting the two parties had some kind of secret alliance. The truth has been quite the opposite. Since her election, Banerjee has tried to undermine the Maoist influence in West Bengal through offers of talks, attempts to undermine Maoist-led development, and now, threats. The Maoists, for their part, have not been phased, continuing their program of building clinics, schools, infrastructure and insisting on self determination for tribal peoples. The following article from the Times of India gives a glimpse of the kind of political power the CPI(Maoist) holds in India’s fourth-most populous state.
CM not serious about peace process: Maoists
Oct 30, 2011
MIDNAPORE: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s seven-day ultimatum has hardly had its desired effect on the Maoist guerrillas camping in Jangalmahal. Akash, the state secretary of the Maoists, said they will not seize to demand basic rights for the tribals. While this strong note is a major jolt in the peace process, jailed tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato’s wife Niyati Mahato, on the other hand, accepted talks offer floated by Trinamool leader Mukul Roy and assured to meet him on November 3. Read the rest of this entry »
To fully understand the threat that the CPI(Maoist) poses to the Indian state, and to neoliberal capitalism at large, one has to consider India’s capitalist development schemes. Capitalism requires unlimited growth, without regard to environmental destruction, sustainability or the welfare of indigenous peoples. As this article from Mining Weekly points out, India’s mining profits are far lower than those in other countries with comparable geological resources. To maintain its status as an emerging capitalist power, India needs to boost its profits in this sector. So it is pouring money into mining technology. What the article doesn’t say, however, is that the Maoists and their tribal base in Central and East India, often prevent mining firms from operating in these areas. This is not just a problem for the Indian state, but for capital accumulation on a global scale. As this article makes clear, (albeit with some disinformation) Indian coal is a key global commodity–and its extraction is being slowed by Maoist efforts. Further capitalist mining development will only mean further military and economic attacks on the Maoists and tribal peoples.
India sets aside $1.4bn for exploration investment
By Ajoy K Das
13th October 2011
KOLKATA – India’s Mines Ministry has proposed the government spend $1.4-billion between 2012 and 2017 to plug the technological gap in mineral exploration, thereby increasing mining’s share in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), which was currently pegged at 2.2%. Read the rest of this entry »
The following comes from IBN News. While this brief article from the bourgeois speculates on details, its clear that the attempts of the Indian state to contain this growing revolutionary movement is not working. South Asia Revolution site will continue to keep updates, news and analysis on the revolution in India as it develops.
Maoist leaders escape after encounter in Orissa
Bhubaneswar, Oct 26 (PTI) Maoist leaders escaped after an encounter with security forces during a raid on a camp at Jadu Loisingh forest in Orissa’s Sambalpur district today. Maoist leaders Girish Mahato of Jharkhand, Kunu Dehuri of Orissa and others escaped from the camp as the Maoists and security personnel traded fire, Sambalpur Superintendent of Police Nikhil Kanodia said. The Maoists fired 150 rounds, which was retaliated by 300 rounds and 16 grenades by the security forces but none was killed or injured, Kanodia said. Read the rest of this entry »
The following video, a clip from Louis Malle’s documentary “Calcutta,” shows Naxalite involvement in student uprisings and the ensuing police repression. It is interesting for its visual resemblance to many recent international uprisings, as well as the way the bourgeois narrator tries to frame the events.
We are receiving reports that the revolutionary left forces within Nepal’s Maoist party may be moving to consolidate themselves and separate from previous Maoist leaders who have openly abandoned preparations for revolution.
This would obviously be an important development for the (the UCPN[Maoist]) — the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). And it would also be a major (even historic) event for South Asia’s hopes, and important on a world scale.
It is something that every revolutionary person should pay attention to, learn from, and help others understand. It is worth asking “What would it mean if the people of a country truly succeeded in creating a radical new socialist society? What would it mean for the world?”
And it is worth watching closely to understand: “What line and approach are the revolutionaries of Nepal regrouping around? What are their plans, strategies and perspectives?”
This article is from myrepublic. We urge caution evaluating articles from the bourgeois press. The South Asia Revolution team will continue to report on developments and analysis in Nepal as they unfold.
BIPPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement) Only Widens the Maoist Rift
Post B Basnet/Kiran Pun
Kathmandu, Oct. 25: As the internal dispute over the party’s tactical line flared up, raising doubts over party unity, Maoist rival factions had decided on Oct. 13 to cease all type of hostilities and hold a Central Committee meeting on Nov. 3rd to resolve the issues. Read the rest of this entry »
Ignoring the ultimatum set by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Maoists on Sunday (October 23) issued a new set of demands. Maoists posters were found in various parts of Goaltore in West Midnapore.
According to the posters, the Maoists highlighted that pre-poll promises were not kept by the state government. Setting two specific demands, the Maoists called for the removal of Joint Forces and also demanded the list of 52 political prisoners to be released, which Mamata Banerjee had announced a few months ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Virtually throwing a challenge to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who has given a seven-day deadline to them to lay down arms, the Maoists on Wednesday called a 24-hour bandh in Junglemahal on October 22, the day the deadline ends. “Make the bandh in Junglemahal on Saturday a success against the injustice meted out to the people of the area,” Maoist state committee secretary Akash, who escaped a raid by the joint forces on Tuesday in West Midnapore district, said in an open letter.
Akash, also the Maoist spokesman, alleged the state government was “unleashing terror” in the name of peace in Junglemahal. Read the rest of this entry »
The newly elected Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai
The following comes from the Times of India. Posting here does not imply endorsement of the views presented.
Democracy has failed South Asia: Nepal PM
NEW DELHI: Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has warned that if the political dissensions in his country prevent successful drafting of the constitution, the path to democracy may have to be revisited.
Bhattarai, leader of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), said democracy in its traditional form had failed the people of South Asia by not being participatory enough.
Nepal’s peace process, which is expected to lead to drafting of the constitution, has been subjected to incessant delay because the political parties have failed to iron out their differences. Offering all possible assistance to Nepal, PM Manmohan Singh had complimented the Maoist leader in an official banquet on Friday for having joined Nepal political mainstream. Read the rest of this entry »
“For over twenty years, the impoverished and isolated peoples in the southern Himalayan foothills have risen up to remake themselves and their world. Now, after the sacrifices of a whole generation, the future of their movement and society hangs in the balance:
Will the revolutionary sections of the people be able to carry through the struggle to create the radically new Nepal they have dreamed of? Or will the accomplishments of their struggle so far be consolidated into something that falls short of liberation.”
Dahal Backs Down
Post B Basnet
Kathmandu, Oct. 13: Giving into the party hardliners’ demand, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday cancelled the scheduled national gathering of party cadres and instead called a meeting of the Central Committee for Nov. 3rd to take up disputed issues in the party.
Special thanks to Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle for sharing this piece. As the Indian state continues its campaign of repression against its own people, the CPI(M) has now for years struggling alongside the poorest and most oppressed, and won the support of thousands.
CPI (Maoist) leaders start movements in jails
Hindustan Times
Kolkata, October 13, 2011
CPI (Maoist) has opened a new front, from behind the bars, away from Junglemahal. With senior leaders lodged in jails, the party is not only spreading its views among the inmates, but also leading movements and agitations on various issues. Since the past couple of years, a number of agitations have taken place inside the jails, including the central jails, where a large number of inmates even sat on indefinite hunger strikes.According to jail sources, Maoists have formed various jail committees, which not only look after rights of prisoners, but also make them aware of the current political situation. Intelligence sources admit that Maoists have also initiated indoctrination classes for young under trials in some jails.”It is their strategy to catch the administration on the wrong foot. They have been organising inmates behind the bars and prompting agitations. They are the brain behind most agitations, however frivolous for a cause it may be,” said Ranvir Kumar, inspector general of jails. Read the rest of this entry »
“While the government goes about trying to silence the living, the dead have begun to speak up.
“It was insensitive of Barsamian to plan a trip to Kashmir just when the State Human Rights Commission was finally shamed into officially acknowledging the existence of 2700 unmarked graves from three districts in Kashmir. Reports of thousands of other graves are pouring in from other districts.
“It is insensitive of the unmarked graves to embarrass the Government of India just when India’s record is due for review before the UN Human Rights Council.”
New Delhi: On 23rd September 2011, at about three in the morning, within hours of his arrival at the Delhi airport, the US radio-journalist David Barsamian was deported. This dangerous man, who produces independent, free-to-air programmes for public radio has been visiting India for forty years, doing dangerous things like learning Urdu and playing the sitar.
He has published book-length interviews with Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Ejaz Ahmed and Tariq Ali. (He even makes an appearance as a young bell-bottom wearing interviewer in Peter Wintonik’s documentary film on Chomsky and Herman’s Manufacturing Consent.) On his more recent trips to India he has done a series of radio interviews with activists, academics, filmmakers, journalists and writers (including myself). Barsamian’s work has taken him to Turkey, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Pakistan. He has never been deported from any of these countries.
“No other party in Nepal has the influence, apparatus or popular support of the Maoist Party. As a result the debate within the Maoist party has emerged as a key arena for the country as a whole.
This means that the leading representatives of these two roads within the Maoist party have become, in many ways, the leading representatives of those roads within the society as a whole. The future of Nepal may well be determined by which wing of the Maoist party is the one that now emerges with countrywide power.”
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Baidya Warns Public Exposure Against Dahal
by B Basnet
Kathmandu, Oct.12: Maoist hardliners have further tightened the screws on Chairman Pushpa Dahal, warning the latter that they would launch a “strident exposure drive” against his ideological “deviation” inside and outside the party if he doesn’t cancel the national gathering of party cadres slated for October 16 in Kathmandu.
We are receiving reports that the revolutionary left forces within Nepal’s Maoist party may be moving to consolidate themselves and separate from previous Maoist leaders who have openly abandoned preparations for revolution.
Revolution in South Asia 