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Thursday, January 14, 2010

India -CPI (Maoist) Sums Up Advances in 2009 and Challenges

Communist Party India (Maoist) Sums Up Advances in 2009 and Challenges Ahead
This statement appeared in Maoist Information Bulletin 11, dated October 7, 2009, which is available at Banned Thought.

As the unified Party enters its sixth year, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(Maoist) summed up the achievements of the past one year i.e., since 21 September 2008. The following is based on a Party Letter issued by the Polit Bureau of the CPI(Maoist) in the beginning of September, 2009.
Particularly in response to the Central Task of the Party to Build the Base Areas, transforming the guerrilla war into mobile war, and the PLGA [People's Liberation Guerilla Army] into PLA [People's Liberation Army], there have been significant advances on the war front beating back the attempts by the enemy forces to crush the revolutionary struggles. After the historic raid of Nayagarh and the wiping out of 38 Greyhounds in Chitrakonda (Ballimela) Dam near the AP [Andhra Pradesh] border in the preceding year, the current year has seen a quantum leap in the attacks on the enemy forces. Around 300 security forces have been wiped out in the past one year and there has been further consolidation of the new people’s power, particularly in Dandakaranya [DK-the forested area stretching across fives states in eastern and central India]. The emerging new democratic power, in the form of the Jantana Sarkars in spite of the vicious attacks by the Salwa Judum-State’s repressive forces has been a great source of inspiration countrywide.
If we look at the past one year we can pinpoint five main achievements:
(i) First, and most important, has been the more successful TCOC (Tactial Counter Offensive) in the current year, in which there have been at least a score of major guerrilla actions and scores of smaller actions. In most of our areas there have been a significant rise in the number of actions and losses inflicted on the enemy. In the past one year our heroic PLGA, people’s militia and revolutionary masses have wiped out more than 300 police, commando and central forces. Even greater number of the enemy forces was injured in our attacks. This is a significant development in the overall development of the people’s war.
Our resistance has become particularly significant from the time of the 15th Lok Sabha elections. Over 150 enemy personnel were wiped out during these four months alone. During these ambushes, raids and attacks on the enemy forces great courage was shown by our forces. There were massive protests during the bandh calls against the arrest of Com Ashutosh, the encounter of Com. Vikas and in support of the Lalgarh movement. For instance, in just the three months from April to June 2009, in the Bihar-Jharkhand area over 50 enemy forces were killed and an equal number injured. In DK the actions continue on a regular basis harassing the enemy forces and creating panic in their ranks. In the last six months hardly a week passed without witnessing losses to the enemy. This has had a huge impact on the morale of the enemy forces who are panic-stricken to operate in Maoist areas.
(ii) Second, the past one year has seen a consolidation and expansion of the organs of people’s political power, our janathana sarkars, in Dandakaranya. our organs of people’s power have spread to hundreds of new villages and have been consolidated at the area and divisional level. One more departmen–that of trade & industry–has been added to the existing eight departments under the janathana sarkars reflecting the expanding functions of the organs of people’s power. A magazine in Gondi language named Lokur Adhikar on behalf of our people’s governments was also started in May 2009. The consolidation and expansion of our people’s governments has become an inspiration to the oppressed people everywhere and a nigtmare to the reactionary ruling classes of India and the imperialists who are itching to crush these new alternative models of power based on functioning democracy, and models of development based on people’s needs and local resources.
(iii) Third, we have witnessed the armed mass struggles of the people of Nandigram forcing the CPM [Communist Party of India-Marxist, the ruling party in West Bengal] to retreat from its plans of seizing peasant’s lands for foreign-based industrial projects. This was followed by the historic uprising against the state and the social- fascist CPM rule in Lalgarh and the surrounding areas. The armed mass upsurge was a purely political action targeting the state and police forces. The masses came out in thousands armed with their traditional weapon and prevented the state administration from entering their area for over seven months. The forms of struggle adopted were: a social boycott of the police not giving them even food and water, gherao of police stations and camps in the area, physically resisting police attacks and chasing them out of the area, creating roadblocks.
The historic significance of these struggle lies not only in bringing forth a new form of mass resistance in which thousands participated with arms, but also it played a significant role in exposing the CPM social-fascists who lorded over the people of West Bengal for over three decades. Besides, the people of the area took up development works based on shramdan, building roads, irrigation schemes, health centres and education for the trbal children — schemes neglected by the corrupt CPM bosses over the past 30 years. Singur, Nandigram and more particularly Lalgarh have changed the face of the polity of West Bengal which had been in the vice- like grip of the social-fascists for over three decades.
There have also been extensive mass movements under the leadership of the Party together with other progressive forces, against the massive displacements taking place due to projects which is expected to hand over about one crore acres to big business. Extensive struggles have taken place against bauxite mining in Vishaka of AP, and the mining projects at Posco and other places of Orissa; in Chatttisgarh the aroused masses have stopped activity of not only the Tata plant at Lohandiguda but also the huge projects planned in North Bastar; so also in Jharkhand the huge mining projects are being resisted. Along with this there have been many movements throughout the country against displacement and the handing over of our land, wealth and resources to the imperialists and CBB, like Ganga Express Highway in UP, SEZs, etc.In all these movements our Party too played a significant role thereby gaining new experiences.
(iv) Fourth, our PLGA forces with the active help of the revolutionary masses freed our beloved leader, PBM, Com. Sunirmal from the clutches of the enemy, through a daring and well-planned raid in broad day-light in the district town of Lakkisarai, Bihar. In the light of the continuing losses of our leadership comrades this heroic action has had a great impact and has come as a slap in the face of the Chidamabaram clique. This has created a hope in the hundreds of prisoners who have been leading heroic struggles in the jails, created panic in the enemy camp and raised the confidence in the entire ranks of the Party and among the masses.
(v) Another important impact on the polity of the country was the wide-scale boycott by the Party during the recent Lok Sabha elections. Notwithstanding the presence of huge contingents of central and state police forces for over three weeks in the areas under Maoist influence, our Party, PLGA, revolutionary organs of people’s power and mass organizations carried out a mass political propaganda campaign, besides undertaking several tactical counter offensives against the gun-toting enemy forces who were desperately trying to coerce people to vote. Our propaganda campaign was so effective that there was hardly any electioneering by the political parties in Dandakaranya, many parts of Bihar and Jharkhand, West Midnapore, Bankura and Purlia districts and near-total boycott in Lalgarh area of West Bengal; in parts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada and other districts of Orissa; and other places. Besides, significant educative campaigns were taken in many parts of the country exposing the fake nature of the democratic process which is merely an expensive exercise to give legitimacy to the ruling classes to loot the country and the people.
(vi) Another significant episode which particularly has given much hope to the minorities and dalits of the country was the annihilation of the VHP fascist Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal of Orissa. The fascist gangs of the RSS. VHP, Bajrang Dal, etc have been instrumental in perpetuating genocide against the Muslims in Gujarat and elsewhere and also attacking the Christians in Orissa in a big way, and actively promoting discrimination and attacks on dalits, with State complicity, either directly or indirectly. The great political impact of the action on Laxmanananda and some other RSS-VHP leaders has aroused a hope that the Maoists will always be in the forefront standing with the minorities and dalits to resist the discrimination and attacks on them.
In spite of these important advances we have faced serious losses in the past one year. The losses we have been facing of leadership comrades in the past few years has continued in the present year seriously impacting the Party and the movement. We have lost our beloved comrade and CCM, Com Vikas, as also the arrest of an important CCM, Com Ashutosh.
Though these important developments in the advance of the Maoist movement of the country over the past year have aroused a great hope in the masses, yet, given the vastness of the country and our insignificant impact in vast urban and plain areas, the Party faces serious challenges in spreading the movement to newer and newer areas, with a focus of spreading the armed struggle throughout the country with the orientation of fulfilling the Party’s Central Task.
Challenges & Tasks
The above mentioned situation places the following challenges and tasks before the Party:
1) Take serious steps to thoroughly Bolshevise the Party by (a) ridding it of all non-proletarian tendencies (b) adopt a Maoist style of work and leadership, ensure committee functioning at every level with deep integration of the Party with the masses and the leadership with the cadres and (c) adopting a correct class line and mass line in all our activities.
2) Utilise the growing crisis situation to build our subjective forces by recruiting large numbers to the Party and develop all our party forces ideologically and politically. Conduct the rectification campaign in an effective way by concretely pin-pointing concrete manifestation of non-proletarian trends.
3) Utilize the unfolding excellent crisis-ridden situation to intensify the people’s war in the areas of armed struggle and in other areas build the Party deep in the masses with the aim to spread the war and revolutionary mass movement to newer and newer areas of the country.
4) Prepare the Party, PLGA and masses to counter the growing multi-pronged fascist offensive of the ruling classes. Take specific attempts at knowing the enemy’s methods thoroughly, through a deep study of our LIC document, and, in the particular, by studying the concrete steps being taken by the enemy in our respective areas of operation.
5) To take serious steps to stop the continuous loss of leadership comrades at all levels by going into the roots of the specific problems, also develop time-bound plans for the generation of new leadership at all levels in the course of advancing the revolutionary movements.
6) Counter the enemy’s attempts to isolate us and build vast united fronts against the reactionary forces with all progressive forces and particularly the Nationality forces.
7) Pay specific attention to building and strengthening secret structures of the Party and build up a strong, consolidated, political and organized mass base through revolutionary mass practice.
8) Take initiative to utilize the growing crisis situation in the world and its effect on our country by a concrete study of its manifestation in our areas of operation to evolve effective tactics. Seeing the possibility of big people’s uprisings in the light of the unprecedented crisis in the capitalist system, make timely and effective interventions to arouse the masses not only on their demands but also into political struggles and also to draw them into the war against the existing unjust system.
9) Establish the Party as a significant political entity in the polity of the country by effective political intervention on all issues of the day. The political intervention should entail mass propaganda, agitation and selective military actions, drawing in the vast masses on the issue.



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