The banned Communist Party of India(Maoist) has released a statement in the aftermath of the deadly attack in Tarrem area of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh. The ambush by the Maoists on security forces had seen the balidaan of 23 members of Bharatiya security forces and Home Minister Amit Shah and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel had to rush to the state leaving the election campaign.
The Maoists have now released a statement which gives interesting insights into their ideology and goals. The statement, poorly drafted in broken Hindi, is signed by “Abhay”, an alias of Mallojula Venugopal, the propaganda chief of the Maoists and a senior Maoist commander. The statement is being provided in full below.
The statement starts by paying respects to the 28 Maoists killed in police encounters during recent times under the “Samadhan” and “Prahaar” operations of the security forces, which seek to end the Maoist domination of the jungles of Chhattisgarh. It must be noted that the area under Maoist influence has shrunk rapidly in the last decade. Whereas, once the Maoists dominated a belt from “Pashupati to Tirupati” i.e. Nepal to Andhra, their influence has been severely curtailed in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand. Bastar and nearby heavily forested regions of southern Chhattisgarh, also called “Dandakaranya” in Maoist literature, are their last strongholds and there too security agencies are making good progress. The recent attacks are not due to revitalized Maoists claiming new areas, but the desperate actions of a cornered enemy intent on defending its last strongholds.
The statement further blames the “North Block” for the deaths of security forces and also salutes their own cadres for killing and looting weapons from the government forces. It calls for a countrywide strike on 26th of April and also claims that government is “making issue out of Maoism unnecessarily”!
The Hinduphobia of Maoists is not much talked about. They usually hide this behind their rhetoric, but in recent times the anti-Hindu rhetoric from Maoists has increasingly converged with other Hinduphobes across the spectrum and they even share the same vocabulary. Ironically, it condemns the “Bhagwa Brahminical Hindutva Fascist Terrorists” after committing an act of terrorism. Incidentally, many columnists and politicians including Aakar Patel conveniently ignore the atheist roots of Communism and the evident Hinduphobia of Maoists to brand them “Hindu terrorists” as a counterpoint to Muslim extremism.
The Maoist statement goes on to say that they are unfairly being called terrorists. It is certain that if asked, Osama Bin Laden would also have protested his being called a terrorist, but truth is evident to all. The communists are unique in the sense that they commit terrorism even when they are in power against their own citizens in peacetime. This started with the “Red Terror” when Communists captured Russia. According to conservative estimates, in the last century communist terrorism has killed more than 10 crore people in the countries ruled by Communists themselves. No other ideology, including radical Jihadis, come close to this figure. The violence continues in China, North Korea, Cuba and other countries as well as in communist insurgency affected areas in Bharat.
However, that does not stop them from giving sermons on peace, brotherhood or even constitutionalism. The statement condemns Amit Shah for saying that Maoists will have to pay for their actions. It calls such a declaration as “unconstitutional” and declares Amit Shah a “fascist” for saying so. It declares its support for the “farmer movement”, which has been evident for months.
The statement further condemns the efforts of one Shubranshu Chaudhary and his organisation named as C-4 which wants the Maoists to talk to government. The government understandably wants them to give up violence, which according to Maoists is “cruelty”. It is another matter that Maoists have recently called for talks as a prerequisite for releasing CRPF commando Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, who they claim is in their custody. However, their willingness to talk is likely to be a strategy to reduce the pressure by security forces. than due to genuine desire for peace.
The statement claims that they want to live with “peace, love and equality” while also branding certain classes as “enemy of the people”. At the end, it calls upon the Maoists and their sympathizers to be careful from the “conspiracies” of the “government officers”. It once again condemns the “Brahminical Hindutva Fascists” and appeals to make the strike on 26th of April successful.
Upon analyzing the statement of the Maoists, many things become clear. Despite all the bravado, Operation Samadhan has made deep inroads in the previously inaccessible areas of Chhattisgarh and Maoists are fighting a losing battle to maintain their hold. The multi-pronged strategy to carry security and development together in such areas has ensured that government consolidates its gains. Secondly, it is also a signal to the frontal organisations of Maoists, which are staffed by urban naxals, to rescue them. The call for strike is a means to assess their support in the so called “civil society”. After the deaths of people like Swami Agnivesh and also of various senior Maoist commanders in recent years, they probably need to establish new channels and find new supporters.
The strategy of Maoists to band together with other Hinduphobes such as radical Ambedkarites and Jihadists was also seen in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon riots. It has been in alliance with the Christian conversion mafia in many parts since decades and many Christian priests are alleged to be working closely with Maoists.
Hopefully, the government would be aware of this axis of evil and take actions accordingly. Maoists remain influential in about 90 districts of Bharat, but nowhere more than in Chhattisgarh. The state needs to learn from the experience of Andhra, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra or even Jharkhand and ensure more cooperation from local police with central forces to stamp out the remnants of Maoist terrorism in the country.
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