India: “Obama Not Welcome” “Obama! Go Back!”

[We  have posted this statement by the Communist of India (Maoist), one of the largest revolutionary parties in the world, which provides leadership to the revolutionary “people’s war” that is being waged in areas of central and eastern India which are mainly populated by adivasis– the indigenous tribal peoples of India.  FRS posts articles from time to time by and about the work of this party in order to inform our readers of  its ideology and political views. The CPI(Maoist) believes that the achievement  of  socialist society in India and its advance toward  worldwide communism can only take place  through the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and all exploitative forces, and continuing the class struggle under socialism to transform society.–ed.]

Press Release from the COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST), CENTRAL COMMITTEE

October 31, 2010

OPPOSE FIRMLY BARACK OBAMA’S VISIT TO INDIA, WHO IS THE GANG LEADER OF US IMPERIALISM, THE NO. 1 ENEMY OF THE WORLD PEOPLE!

RAISE THE SLOGAN IN ONE VOICE ‘OBAMA! GO BACK!!’ LOUDLY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY!!

US President Barack Obama will be coming to our country on November 6. The comprador rulers of India are busy laying red carpet to welcome him and trying to beautify Mumbai and Delhi. This is a great insult to democracy-loving, peace-loving and patriotic people of our country. US imperialism, which has been plundering the poor countries across the world, suppressing the oppressed nationalities, pushing the notorious thugs and dictators into the power, bullying those countries who wouldn’t cooperate, looting oil, minerals and all other natural wealth and sources and for this going to any extent, is the no. 1 enemy of world people. Its leader Barack Obama is such a person whom the entire humanity must hate.

Support for Maoists in Andhra Pradesh still strong

58% in AP say Naxalism is good, finds TOI poll

The Times of India, Sept 28, 2010

India’s biggest internal security threat, as the Prime Minister famously described it, may be worse than you thought. That’s because even in Andhra Pradesh, where the battle against the Maoists has apparently been won, it turns out that the government is losing the battle for the minds and hearts of the people.

It’s a debate that’s been raging within the Congress, and outside it. Should the government adopt a largely law-and-order attitude towards the Maoists and deal with them like criminals or should the focus be more on cutting the ground from under their feet through a development agenda that wins over the population of the affected areas?

An exclusive survey of the once Maoist-dominated districts of the Telengana region by IMRB, well-known market research organisation, for The Times of  India has found that while attitudes towards the rebels are ambivalent, the condemnation of the government and its means of tackling the problem is quite clear.

The findings raise disturbing questions about whether focusing largely on the policing aspects of the problem may be a flawed strategy in the long run. They also throw up another poser: Has the battle in AP truly been won or can the Maoists stage a comeback in a few years?

Maoist land reform in India

[The Times of India looks into Maoist land reform, and describes it  in contrast to the practice of the CPM, a bourgeois party that still uses, disingenuously, the name of “Communist Party of India (Marxist)”.-ed]

MIDNAPORE: It was land distribution under Operation Barga that brought CPM to power in 1977. Thirty-three years later, the Maoists in Jangalmahal are treading a similar route to consolidate their support base in 200 villages from Goaltore to Midnapore town. The 60-kilometre stretch forms the ” Maoist core zone”, where men most wanted by the police like Manoj Mahato, Asit Mahato and Gopal Pratihar have a free run.

But this new avatar of Operation Barga is different from the one implemented by the CPM. Maoists have set their own parameters for land reform here. Family income and connections with the ruling party get maximum weightage in this reform process.

The jotedars close to mainstream political parties CPM and Jharkhand Party are the targets, and the beneficiaries are the landless farmers. The Maoists have begun this process in two villages Chandabila and Malkuri under the Midnapore Sadar block, six kilometres from Midnapore town.

First, they drove out Toton Singh and Naru Singh jotedars of Malkuri village, who have 150 bighas [about 50 acres] of land and own a huge ancestral house. Like CPM zonal secretary Anuj Pandey’s house, this building too was pulled down by Maoist-led labourers of around a month and a half ago. Then the guerrillas took possession of the entire land and distributed it among 53 local landless labourers. Naru Singh’s son Ajit, who is known for his proximity to CPM minister Sushanta Ghosh, could do little to prevent it.

Bangladesh Maoists Express Solidarity with CPI(Maoist)

Statement of PBSP (MUG) [Proletarian Party of East Bengal-Maoist Unity Group] condemning the murder of Com. Azad and Com. Hem Pandey by the Indian state

We are deeply shocked at the news of murder of comrade Azad along with com. Hem Pandey by the Indian expansionist state. We express our anger and hatred against this monster that is not only killing Indian revolutionaries and masses but also Bangladeshi people in the border.

They must be punished for their crime!

Indian Maoists are our big inspiration who stood up in resistance when leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) surrendered to imperialism.

Indian regime is that coward who tells lies and make false stories to hide their crime. So do their Bangladeshi junior partner. They don’t have the courage to say the truth.

Comrade Azad is a glorious son of India. We express our best sympathy to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the families of martyred comrades.

India’s Government-Media Operations against Arundhati Roy

Operation Green Hunt’s Urban Avatar

By Arundhati Roy

14 June, 2010, The Dawn

While the Indian Government considers deploying the army and air force to quell the rebellion in the countryside, strange things are happening in the cities.

On the 2nd of June the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) held a public meeting in Mumbai. The main speakers were Gautam Navlakha, editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly and myself. The press was there in strength. The meeting lasted for more than three hours. It was widely covered by the print media and TV. On June 3rd, several newspapers, TV channels and online news portals like Rediff.com, covered the event quite accurately. The Times of India (Mumbai edition), had an article headlined “We need an idea that is neither Left nor Right”, and the Hindu’s article was headlined “Can we leave the bauxite in the mountain?” The recording of the meeting is up on YouTube.

The day after the meeting, the Press Trust of India (PTI) put out a brazenly concocted account of what I had said.

The PTI report was first posted by the Indian Express online on June 3rd 2010 at 13.35 pm. The headline said: “Arundhati backs Maoists, dares authorities to arrest her.”

Indian Army, Air Force wary of getting more involved in anti-Maoist operations

The Indian military has so far relied on state police and paramilitary forces, such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for Operation Green Hunt.

The Hindu, June 6th

NEW DELHI: Amid indications that the Army and the Air Force are chary of getting involved, the government will soon take a call on the proposal to give the armed forces a role in tackling the Naxalite problem.

According to highly placed sources, the Home Ministry has prepared a document, outlining various options in the face of the escalating Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh and other parts of the country. The document was sent to the Defence Ministry for its views and it is still being reviewed there.

Last week, Defence Minister A.K. Antony held a meeting with the three Services chiefs on the security situation in the country, including the problem of naxal violence, and sought their views on the possibility of enlarging the role of the armed forces, especially the Army and the Air Force, in counter-insurgency operations.

The Army now provides training to the State and Central police forces, while the Air Force gives logistic support of transporting personnel and supplies.

Maoists Destroy Road Construction Vehicles in Chhattisgarh

Sify News

A Maoist group targeted a road construction project near Barabsapur village in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker District late on Tuesday evening. Several trucks and earthmoving machinery were set on fire.

According to eyewitnesses, over six Maoists attacked the site and torched the vehicles while another 150 stood in the distance on the hilly tracts of Barabsapur. “We were loading our trucks. They came up got the truck down, emptied the truck and set it in fire. There were nearly six Maoists and others were standing down. There were nearly 150 Maoists standing below and they had weapons with them,” said Sonher Thakur, a driver.

Barabsapur is over 45 kilometres away from Kanker.

4 Responses to Maoist Attack on Bus in Dantewada, India

Kishenji, a leader of the CPI (Maoist) in West Bengal, qtd by Press Trust of India, The Hindu, 19 May 2010

On the Dantewada killings he [Kishenji] said “We are very sorry for death of the innocent people, but we request people not to travel with the police in the same vehicle.  Our fight is not with the people, but with the government”.

Arundhati Roy, Outlook, 19 May 2010

Media reports say that the Maoists have deliberately targeted and killed civilians in Dantewara.  If this is true, it is absolutely inexcusable and cannot be justified on any count.  However, sections of the mainstream media have often been biased and incorrect in their reportage.  Some accounts suggest that apart from SPOs [Special Police Officers] and police, the other passengers in the bus were mainly those who had applied to be recruited as SPOs.

We will have to wait for more information.  If there were indeed civilians in the bus, it is irresponsible of the government to expose them to harm in a war zone by allowing police and SPOs (carriers of the mantle of all the crimes of Salwa Judum) to use public transport.  Also, for a sense of perspective, let’s not forget that right at this moment, in Kalinganagar and Jagatsingpur in Orissa, hundreds of police are firing on unarmed people protesting the corporate takeover of their land.