CPI(Maoist) 13-point list of demands
Posted by redpines on March 23, 2012
The mainstream media in India, the UK and elsewhere have spilled plenty of ink over the CPI Maoist kidnapping of two Italian tourists last week. Such coverage ignores the frequent killing, rape and displacement that Indian state forces afflict on tribal communities. While this situation may or may not be a sign of weakening Maoist influence in Odisha, we must remember the context in which such actions occur. The following list of demands, reportedly released by the CPI(Maoist) after the kidnappings, provides a much more comprehensive view of the stakes.
Readers who may have more insight into this situation are especially encouraged to comment with their thoughts.
13-point demand made by Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil (Secretary, Odisha State Organising Committee of CPI-Maoist)
1. It should be declared unequivocally that tribals are not objects of tourism and tribal inhabited areas are not tourist places. Violators must be arrested.
2. Operation Green Hunt must be stopped. Except for places where Police were posted earlier, all Police camps set up in interior areas must be withdrawn. Efforts must be made towards creation of a congenial atmosphere to address problems of the common people in consultation with the revolutionaries.
3. Ban imposed on CPI-Maoist and other people’s organisations must be revoked.
4. Superintendents of Police and Police personnel involved in fake encounter and custodial deaths of Lalit Dehury,Junesh Badaraita and Pradeep Majhi, and gang rape of Arati Majhi must be charged and tried for murder and rape.
5. All those arrested for their involvement in Nayagarh armoury raid including Ashutosh [Soren], Kamalakanta Sethi, Sujata, Kishore Jena, Pratap, Manjulata (Muduli) must be released.
6. The practice of re-arresting those released by courts under new charges must be stopped. In this context, Subhashree Das, Lalit of Raigarh and others who have been re-arrested or detained must be released unconditionally.
7. Shatrughna Bishwal, Uttam, Sekhar, Sudarshan mandal, Ramesh Naik, Lata, Bijal, Ratna and all the innocent people of Rayagada, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Sambalpur, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar and other districts who have been falsely implicated as Maoists must be released.
8. The Scheduled Tribe (ST) status of Jodia, Kondadora, Acha Kui, Gauda Kui, Kumbhara Kui, Saora, Odia Kandha, Khaira and other tribals should not be withdrawn and others who have not been given ST status should be accorded that status.
9. Potable drinking water and irrigation facility to every village; free medical facility and free education upto 10th standard in every Gram Panchayat should be provided.
10. Police atrocities on protestors against Posco – Vedanta and all movements protesting against displacement must be stopped. Abhaya Sahu, Narayan Reddy and all leaders protesting against displacement must be released.
11. Gananatha Patra, Nachika Linga’s brother, husband of Ex-chairman of Darigibadi block, two school students and all those involved in people’s movements who have been arrested must be released. All cases against those fighting for land rights in Mandrabaju, Nendipadar, Gudari and Narayanpatna area must be dropped and those arrested in those cases must be released.
12. The illegal practice of forcing people who have earlier been taken into custody to formally surrender and asking them to rant against revolution must be investigated. The case of Sangit Pradhan whose hand was fractured in Police torture after he surrendered and who has been kept under house arrest for years by Keonjhar Police, must be investigated by an independent body.
13. Government must fulfill all the demands that it had accepted during the abduction of Malkangiri Collector.
Revolution in South Asia 
Ka Frank said
Red Pines,
On what basis do you raise the question of “whether this situation may or may not be a sign of weakening Maoist influence in Odisha?” Are you aware of any evidence that the CPI (Maoist) has suffered important political or military setbacks in Odisha? I would direct readers to the report of the Central Military Commission of the CPI (Maoist), starting on page 36 of Maoist Information Bulletin #24 on http://www.bannedthought.net, for a detailed discussion of their military work over the past year. While many members of the PLGA, people’s militias and the Party have been martyred, these losses have been more than overcome by increased recruitment and by expansion of mass organizations.
Taking these hostages, dramatically raising the question of the exploitation of the adivasis for the imperialist tourist industry, and the issuance of these sweeping 13 political demands are a bold step forward for the revolutionary movement in Odisha and elsewhere in India. They should be supported by revolutionaries and Maoists in the US.
redpines said
Your assessment may well be right. I raise the question for a few reasons: that kidnapping is often a tactic used by forces in a position of weakness, that the MSM is already interpreting this as a sign of Maoist weakness in the area, and that it is my understanding that the CPI(Maoist) has not been as strong in Orissa as in Chhattisgarh, Andra, Jharkand or other states.
These are all righteous demands in and of themselves. Revolutionaries and Maoists in the US should support them, no question. And we should also try to understand the wider dynamics of the situation.
Ka Frank said
In recent years, the CPI (Maoist) and PLGA have been expanding from their central guerilla bases in Chhattisgarh into sections of Orissa, and they have developed more influence in anti-displacement struggles in Orissa such the ones as Kalinganagar (Tata Steel), Jajatsingur (POSCO Steel) and the Vendanta bauxite mining and refinery. Several years ago, the CPI (Maoist) suffered severe losses in Andhra Pradesh, and is beginning the process of rebuilding there.
Who is the MSM?
Sanjib Mukhopadhyay said
The govt. should listen these people in order to avoid a bloody episode.
siva said
What seems a ‘kidnapping’ in one context or from one viewpoint could seem an arrest and detention in another.
The Indian state is the biggest kidnapper from the point of view of the oppressed masses.
If the Maoists are ‘kidnapping’ for ransom, that is not a healthy sign. But for the purpose of ‘exchanging prisoners’ is understandable.
No ‘terrorist’ or miilitant mass organisdation can match to the will and the might of the Indian state when it comes to detaining people and killing detainees on false pretences.
‘Kidnapping’ is not a strategy under any condition, but fair tactics under some conditions.
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