India: Comrade Azad’s reponse to a reactionary

“How is it that the illiterate, seemingly uncivilised, backward, half-naked adivasi thinks, analyses and acts a lot better than an established, well-read, highly qualified intellectual like Verghese?…

“Verghese is a typical example of the self-proclaimed civilisers of modern-day India, akin to the white ‘civilisers’ of yesteryear, who would have been the pride of a Rudyard Kipling.

“He reveals this colonial mindset by vehemently arguing in favour of the civilising mission of the corporate sharks and the Indian State to transform the poor, backward adivasis from savages into civilised people through a ‘development’ that destroys people’s economy, social life, culture and all human values.”

Azad (Cherukuri Rajkumar) was a  leader of revolutionary struggles over several decades, with the CPI(Maoist) and some of its predecessor organizations. Until he was murdered by the Indian state in 2010, he was a tireless defender of the oppressed in India.

The following piece, published posthumously in Outlook shows Azad to have been an eloquent opponent of reactionary ideologies  until his death. Here, he confronts the colonial policies still pervasive in India. These  policies include, Azad notes, a  “scheme of development that displaces the adivasis and destroys their lives, lands and cultures.”

 A brief bio of Azad can be found here. And a pdf book of Azad’s writings is available here.

A Last Note To A Neo-Colonialist

by Azad

Reading B.G. Verghese’s article “Daylight at the Thousand-Star Hotel” in Outlook (May 3), one is stunned by the abysmal poverty of thought and colonial mindset of this renowned intellectual. How is it that the illiterate, seemingly uncivilised, backward, half-naked adivasi thinks, analyses and acts a lot better than an established, well-read, highly qualified intellectual like Verghese?

Indian Supreme Court Orders Azad Killing Inquiry

The following article is from BBC NewsSouth Asia.

Funeral of Azad

Republic Cannot Kill It Own Children: Supreme Court

January 14, 2011:  India’s Supreme Court has given the government six weeks to explain the circumstances under which a prominent Maoist was killed last year.

Cherukuri Rajkumar was acting as an intermediary to set up peace talks between the Maoists and the Indian government when he was shot dead.

One judge said the state could not be allowed to kill its own children.

Human rights activists alleged the victim, also known as Azad, was killed by the police after he had been detained.

The Supreme COurt has asked the central government and the state administration in Andhra Pradesh to explain how Azad died last July in the Adilabad forests of Andra Pradesh.

He was number two in the rebel hierarchy in the state and a spokesman for the Maoists.

Indian Maoists on Their Heavy Loss: After the Murder of Azad

Murdered Indian Maoist leader Azad

Thanks to Banned Thought for this.

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST)
CENTRAL COMMITTEE

November 30, 2010

Dear Comrades and Friends of Indian Revolution,

On behalf of our Party, the CPI (Maoist), People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), Revolutionary People’s Committees (RPCs), revolutionary mass organizations and revolutionary people of India, firstly, we send our heartfelt Laal Salaam (Red Salutes) to all the parties, organizations, various forums and individuals from India and abroad, who had sent condolence messages to our CC and who had condemned the brutal murders of comrades Cherukuri Rajkumar (Azad) and Hemchand Pandey on July 1, 2010 by the fascist Indian ruling classes. As all of you have acknowledged, losing comrade Azad is one of the biggest blows our party and Indian revolution had suffered. Azad was one of the topmost leaders in our party. He has been leading the Indian revolution since a long time. In our country, People’s War is intensifying with each passing day.

With the aid and support of imperialists, particularly the American imperialists, the Indian reactionary ruling classes are trying to suppress the revolutionary movement and are carrying on ruthless atrocities in an unprecedented severe manner. In this war between the people and the ruling classes, the enemy had particularly schemed to murder our leaders and concentrated on comrades like Azad who are leading the revolution. It is as part of that conspiracy that comrade Azad was caught and killed in the most brutal and cowardly manner.

Comrade Azad was leading the entire urban movement on behalf of our Central Committee and was also looking after political propaganda, party periodicals, party education and other such crucial responsibilities. He was a most experienced and popular mass leader. He maintained close relations with many comrades at various levels and with the revolutionary masses. In the midst of severe repression, he worked selflessly and unflinchingly in spite of the many risks involved. It is under such circumstances that the enemy came to know about his whereabouts somewhere and could catch him by laying in wait.

India’s Maoists: The Ideas of Azad Live On

A Comrade in Study

Nobody Can Kill the Ideas of Azad!

No one can stop the Revolution’s Advance!

Download full interview as PDF.

Recently some media persons sent some questions to Comrade Ganapathy, the General Secretary of CPI (Maoist).

The martyrdom of Politburo member and party spokesperson Comrade Azad, the continuous losses to the Central leadership of the party, the issue of talks with the government, the deluge of militant mass movements in many areas, the situation of the revolutionary movement in the urban and plain areas, party stand on contemporary issues like Kashmir people’s movement, Commonwealth games, judgment on Babri Masjid are some of the issues on which Comrade Ganapathy concentrated and gave his replies. We hope this interview would be useful to know about party’s stand and understanding in the present situation.

– CC, CPI (Maoist)

1. Many people think that your party had suffered a severe backlash with Azad’s death. What are the circumstances which led to his death? How would you assess the role played by Azad in Indian Revolution? How do you plan to overcome his loss?

Maoists in India: Writings & Interviews by Comrade Azad

Maoists in India: Writings & Interviews by Azad

Thanks to Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle for posting this.

This is to announce a new book – Maoists in India: Writings & Interviews by Azad, published by Friends of Azad. Below are the Preface and Table of Contents to generate your interest.  The book is priced Rs 100 in India and $ 6 outside India. The books can be had from Varavara Rao, 203, Lakshmi Apartments, Malakpet X Roads, Hyderabad, India 500036.

With regards

Friends of Azad

In Honour of Our Friend

We, the friends of Cherukuri Rajkumar (Azad), present this bouquet of his writings and interviews collected from popular newspapers and websites, to all those who are interested to know the ideas of the Maoist politics in India in general and Azad’s articulation of the politics in particular. Azad has been our friend for more than thirty years and as much time, two thirds of his short life of 56 years, he spent developing, exploring, elucidating and debating these ideas.

A voracious reader and prolific writer that he was, the writings collected here might be less than a tenth of his literary output. Much of his writing was anonymous or under different pseudonyms in clandestine journals and documents and we leave it for future research to prepare his collected works, most probably with active support from the party for which he was a spokesperson, member of Central Committee and Politbureau at the time of his brutal killing by police on July 2, 2010 in Adilabad forests of Andhra Pradesh.