India: Maoist CPI plans to form liberated zones

From the Hindu.com;

The banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) is planning major strategies to increase its influence and strength.

An important task the Maoists have set for themselves is to create a liberated zone, in Bihar, Jharkhand and Dandakaranya (Chattisgarh). Towards this end, the party's strike force — People Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) — is being developed.

This was stated by Prasad, party's Andhra-Orissa Border State committee member during an interview at a remote place on the Andhra-Orissa border. A few reporters reached the place, guided by a local Girijan, trekking a small distance after travelling on a bumpy dirt track on either side of which landmines and directional mines were reportedly planted to keep the area out of the reach of the police.

The CPI (Maoist) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of PLGA, from December 2 to January 2, 2011. As part of it, the party organised a meeting at which local Girijans vowed to take over the Forest Department's coffee plantations.

He said the PLGA should be transformed into the people's liberation army for which a liberated zone was necessary. PLGA formations were being developed to achieve this target and it had also carried out "mobile" war by carrying out raids on targets at faraway places, by mobilising its armed cadre from different parts and taking assistance from the people along the way.

PLGA cadres, over a period of two to three months, successfully carried out an attack at Nayagarh in Orissa as part of this mobile war.

"The creation of a liberated zone and beefing up PLGA for this purpose is in its early stages. The process is being commenced by forming village-level committees which will be expanded to mandal (taluk) and district levels. Already, the Janatana Sarcars [revolutionary people's councils-RPCs] have been formed in Dandakaranya," he said.

The PLGA, which has grown to the strength of creating companies, is also planning battalions. "We have already reached this stage in Dankaranya. We don't have a timeframe for other areas but the process will be completed early if the conditions suit us, that is until people take up armed struggle."