During the people’s war (1996-2006), Maoist cadres in Nepal confiscated thousands of acres of land from rich landowners and distributed it to poor peasants. In November of 2011, an agreement reached between UCPN(M) leaders Prachanda and Bhattarai and several bourgeois parties aimed to reverse the land distribution. Article 6 of that seven-point agreement stated:
The UCPN (Maoist) would take an official decision to return the private and public properties seized by the party during the armed conflict to the rightful owners for their use by Nov 23. Due compensations would be paid to the owners for the loss caused by the seizure of properties.
Reportedly, much of the land was indeed returned to its owners. But now, it seems revolutionary Maoist cadres are again confiscating the land and returning it to the people. Though this article is from the bourgeois press and may be inaccurate, it reflects similar incidents reported elsewhere. It originally appeared at The Himalayan Times.
Baidhya faction cadres recapture land in Udayapur
December 28, 2011
UDAYAPUR: The local supporters of Baidhya faction have recaptured the four-and-a-half bighas of land belonging to Gajaraj Tated in Jogidaha VDC-1 of Udayapur district on Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »
Could the major protests that began in Wukan be the spark that stars a prairie fire? It remains to be seen, but rebellion seems to be spreading to other areas of China. This article is from The Telegraph.
Wukan: Protests Across South China as Riot Police Take on Demonstrators in Haimen
Riot police fired tear-gas and beat demonstrators who stormed government buildings in Haimen, a major town in southern China on Tuesday – just 75 miles from the rebel village of Wukan.
By Peter Simpson in Wukan, Dec. 20,2011
Residents of Haimen, a 130,000-strong town in the province of Guangdong, are demanding a coal-fired plant be moved, claiming it is damaging their health.
Web photos show a large gathering of people and riot police in a public square, and it is reported about 30,000 people in the town have gone on strike. Read the rest of this entry »
Late last week, UCPN(M) chairman Prachanda presented a document to the party’s Central Committee of the party, which contains a negative summation of the party’s attempts at taking power through a people’s revolt. And, reportedly, the document de-emphasizes the importance of taking state power in favor of alliances with bourgeois parties. CP Gajurel, party secretary and member of the revolutionary faction, has called the document a “surrender”.
In response, Mohan Baidya ‘Kiran,’ Vice Chairman of the UCPN(M) is drafting a document defending the path of revolution, and proposing concrete plans to make it successful. We will be following these events closely and will post new information as it becomes available.
The following article appeared at MyRepublica. As usual, articles from the bourgeois press may not accurately reflect events on the ground.
Baidya proposing revolt road map
by Kiran Pun
KATHMANDU, Dec 26
Senior Vice-chairman of UCPN (Maoist) Mohan Baidya is preparing a separate political document stressing the viability of “people´s revolt”, concluding that past attempts at launching revolt failed due to unwillingness of the party´s leadership. Read the rest of this entry »
This article is from Times of India. As always take into account that reports by the mainstream press may not provide a complete or entirely accurate picture of events.
Maoists Eyeing Commercial Hubs in Western India
New Delhi: Dec. 14, 2011:
After taking some reverses in their strongholds, the CPI (Maoist) has formed a ‘Golden Corridor Committee’ to build its base in hitherto untouched industrial areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra, stretching from Pune to Ahmedabad, including commercial hubs like Mumbai, Nashik, Surat and Vadodara.
Besides. the Red Ultras have planned to expand their movement to Nagpur,Wardha, Bhandara and Yavatmal districts of Maharashtra in addition to their existing bases in Gadchiroli, Ghonda and Chandrapur in the state. Read the rest of this entry »
Marxist-Leninist
Communist Organization — Proletarian Way (France) http://vp-partisan.org
Two years ago, in December 2009, we stated: “In Nepal, that’s are the Maoists (the United Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist) who won the support of the majority of the population and organized the popular uprising that has made down with the monarchy. Today, at their initiative, a new wave of popular uprisings has just begun in the country to eliminate the power the bourgeoisie which is still powerful in the economy, the government and the army, especially since it has strong support from the superpowers, Indian neighbor in the first place. In the complex situation of a tiny semi-feudal surrounded country, in the debate and the fight of the day, the Maoists of Nepal have to advance the democratic revolution. ” Read the rest of this entry »
The line struggle in Nepal continues. One wing of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has formally dissolved the Nepalese People’s Liberation Army, authored a dubious trade agreement with India and has forced peasants to return land confiscated during the People’s War. In contrast, revolutionaries within the party maintain a commitment to taking state power and sweeping away the current oppressive apparatus.
In the following interview, Mohan Baidya ‘Kiran’, Vice Chairman of the UCPN(M), discusses some of the complexities of making revolution in Nepal. One of these is the country’s geographical position. Locked between two major powers, India and China, Nepal would face a precarious situation if a revolutionary government was forced to cut off trade with those countries. At the same time, for Nepal to build socialism, it must free itself from the economic and political power India wields over the country. The term ‘expansionism’ is used to describe this unequal relationship between the two countries, without regarding India as an imperialist power like the US. This situation requires a new revolutionary approaches, like the ‘fusion’ between people’s war and urban insurrection Kiran mentions.
The timing of this interview is noteworthy, as it comes in response to a recent document by Prachanda, which argues that the party should continue in a non-revolutionary direction.
The piece appeared in The Red Star, an English-language publication of the revolutionary wing of the UCPN(M).
We want to maintain a good neighbourly relation and go ahead by honouring each other’s national integrity and reverence with both of these countries.
25 December 2011
Q. Your experience with the formulation of national constitution in the last two years and the resistance by the reactionary parliamentary right wingers like Nepali congress. How do you sum it up in retrospect? Read the rest of this entry »
Despite the Indian state’s brutal assassination of CPI(Maoist) leader Kishenji, the organization is growing, even in traditional strongholds like Orissa.
PLGA Week: Maoists recruit 5,000 youth in Malkangiri
December 22, 2011
During the recent observance of the Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Week, about 5,000 youth and adolescent girls were recruited by the Maoists particularly from Malkangiri district, sources said.
Challenging the joint combing operation of police, CRPF, SOG and paramilitary forces, they were able to hold open meetings for membership drive in the cut – off and remote pockets of the district. They held Prajamelis in around 10 villages, including in several village haats in Alampaka, Similibanki, Kusuguda and Kurmanur areas along the AP- Odisha border. Read the rest of this entry »
A fierce rebellion is taking place in Southern China’s Guangdong province. The village of Wukan has evicted the officials from the corrupt Chinese Communist Party. Some reports claim the village is completely free of party control. Even so, the village seems to be receiving solidarity in the form of food and supplies from nearby towns.
For months, villagers in Wukan have been protesting against the government’s seizure of land for commercial purposes and against corruption in general. The people of Wukan are demanding the government return the body of Xue Jinbo, who died after being abducted. Jinbo was negotiating land agreements between the village and the party.
Since the late 1970s, the Chinese people have suffered as the gains made under the country’s socialist period (1949-1976), have been destroyed by capitalist policies. Hundreds of millions have been displaced and thrown into insecurity, while inequality has skyrocketed. Many in the cities have become fabulously wealthy, while millions endure sweatshop conditions and rural areas have been left behind. The revolt in Wukan suggests farmers and workers may not stand for this situation for much longer.
In the world today we see occupations everywhere. This is one in Nepal. It is an example of how huge numbers of people are living and resisting. It also serves as a reminder that the revolution in Nepal still remains to be completed.
“There are an estimated 12,000 landless squatters in the Kathmandu Valley, most of whom have settled along the Bagmati River.”
Republica
Kathmandu Dec. 12:
The Patan Appellate Court has extended the stay order issued against the government’s drive to evacuate squatters along the banks of Magmati river for another 35 days.
A joint bench of judges Ekraj Acharya and Satyaraj Gurung on Sunday issued an interim order directing the government to put any action against the squatters on hold till another 35 days.
A statement issued by the court states that the stay order was necessary to give an option to the settlers considering the substantial number of children, women, differently-abled and elderly people living in the community. Read the rest of this entry »
This article originally appeared in the English version of The Red Star, a voice of the Revolutionary forces within the UCPN (M).
Peasants, Seized Land and Act of Returning
Dharmendra Bastola “Com. Kanchan”
{We got opportunity to talk with Com. Kanchan in the capital city Kathmandu when he was just returned from Bardia and Kailali yesterday. Bardia and Kailali are the districts where most of the landless , homeless and the poor peasants dwell. Com. Prachanda was ordering and requesting at the same time in ambiguous tone to the peasants and the local administration at a time before two weeks there. Com. Kanchan was directly observing the activities and was participating to solve the problem of land. Presence of Com. Prachanda ,protest of the peasants and activities of the local administration along with the local new-vigilantes were being moving like the rill of a film in his mind, which his body language showed, when we were asking responding our questions.) Read the rest of this entry »
Bhopal, India – December 3, 2011 (Associated Press) – Thousands of survivors of the world’s worst industrial accident blocked trains through a central Indian city on Saturday to demand more compensation for the 1984 disaster.
The protest came on the 27th anniversary of the disaster in Bhopal, where a Union Carbide pesticide plant leaked gas that killed some 15,000 people and maimed tens of thousands of others.
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) Central Committee on the brutal murder of Koteswara Rao:
“Our CC is appealing to the people of the country to observe protest week from November 29 to December 5 and observe 48-hour ‘Bharat Bandh’ on December 4-5 in protest of the brutal murder of Comrade Koteswara Rao. We are appealing that they take up various programmes like holding meetings, rallies, dhamas, wearing black badges, road blocks etc.protesting the murder. We are requesting that trains, roadways, commercial and educational institutions be closed and that all kinds of trade transactions be stopped as part of the ‘Bharat Bandh’ on December 4-5. However, we are exempting medical services from the Bandh.”
The following is an account of the bandh from The Hindu.
Bandh Observed, a West Bengal Scribe Questioned
K. M. Dayashankar: A bandh was observed by the people of Peddpalli, native town of slain Maoist leader Mallojula Koteshwara Rao alias Kishenji, in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday to condemn his killing by the West Bengal Police and to express solidarity with his bereaved family. Read the rest of this entry »
Bara, Dec. 4: The radical faction of the UCPN (Maoist) has intensified the land grab drive across the country. The Baidya faction erected the party flag in 22 bighas of land owned by Purwanchal property in Bara district on Friday.
The Maoist deputy in charge Ranjit Patel, however, claimed that the land has been under Maoist control since 2001.
The land owned by the Jyoti Group has been sold to Purwandchal two years ago. The party flag was erected in the land under instructions from Awaseh Patel, Maoist in charge of Constituency-6 in Bara. Read the rest of this entry »
Maoist-affiliated tribal women in India - Taking Marxism to the masses
The following is a thoughtful and moving testimony to CPI(Maoist) leader Kishenji, who was recently murdered by Indian state forces. It presents other movements, like Zapatismo, the occupy movements and the Arab Spring in rather orthodox terms, but also argues passionately in defense of armed struggle in the Indian context.
Kishanji is not just a fighter against oppression, a brave and courageous soul. He presided over something unique in the history of resistance movement in the country – and maybe he was not even so aware of it. Several forms of resistance seem to have come together in his leadership – synchronizing armed fighting power of the people with open rallies, processions and demonstrations. If one is really serious about democratic mass upsurges then one cannot wish away ‘strategy’, the ‘use of force’ or ‘armed resistance’; that the life-veins of mass struggle extend into the zone of armed resistance – these otherwise old Leninist lessons were restated, reasserted, renewed afresh in the life and activity of Kishanji. Read the rest of this entry »
During the people’s war (1996-2006), Maoist cadres in Nepal confiscated thousands of acres of land from rich landowners and distributed it to poor peasants. In November of 2011, an agreement reached between UCPN(M) leaders Prachanda and Bhattarai and several bourgeois parties aimed to reverse the land distribution. Article 6 of that seven-point agreement stated:
Revolution in South Asia 