Volume 7, No. 7, August-September-October, 2006

 

Government Prepares for a Massive Clamp Down on Maoists

 

As though the butchery of Maoists in AP and Dandakaranya are not enough the Hitlerian state prepares for a massive crackdown on Naxalites to please their imperialist and comprador masters.

In AP the fake encounter of the AP State secretary of the party, Com. Madhav, is just the latest in the series of ruthless brutality of the state. This was preceded by the massacre of nine comrades in Rayalseema in end April 2006 followed by four killed a few days later on May 1st; the butchery of eight in Mahboobnagar; the killing of state secretariat leader, com Shridhar and two others; and now the state secretary of the party together with another seven to eight. In all the incidents senior leaders of the CPI(Maoist) Party have been martyred. But not satisfied with this level of brutality the AP government is demanding the introduction of the Army.

In the DK area since the Salwa Judum terror was started last June over 250 innocent villagers have been massacred by the marauders. But here the Maoists have been able to effectively hit back. The latest action at Errabore village of Dantewada district in which about 33 SPOs and Salwa Judum lumpens were wiped out, and the camp destroyed, under the very nose of the CRPF, have created even greater panic in the rulers, with the Chhathisgarh government also demanding the introduction of the army.

In Bihar over hundred have been arrested over the last few months and Jharkhand extensive combing operations are going on. Both the states have already beefed up their forces. Yet both the states have also been demanding the introduction of the Army.

It was not surprising therefore that on August 9th at a top secret conclave top brass of the Naxalite affected states and para-military forces gathered at Bhatinda (in Punjab) and held a high level meeting with the army authorities at the local military station. The participation of senior police officials of AP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhathisgarh was reported. It was attended by various DGPs, ADGPs, IGs, and even some of SP rank officials from these four states, along with officials from the Indian army, the CRPF and the Intelligence Bureau. The meeting was also attended by the Punjab DGP.

In addition the Centre has allocated five of the most sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles, latterly purchased from Israel, to spy on the Maoist camps and bomb them. These are being allocated to all the effected Maoist states.

While all other meetings, and there have been a series of them, have been held under the auspices of the Home Ministry, this was the first to be initiated by the army in their own headquarters. In fact the Union Home Secretary, V.K.Duggal, appears to have become an expert on planning and execution of anti-Naxalite activities. In just the last few months he has held a series of such meetings.

In end April itself at a meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary, V.K.Duggal, and attended by the Chhatisagrh Chief Secretary and DGP, besides KPS Gill, CRPF Chief and IB top brass a tentative plan was chalked out to be vetted by KPS Gill.

But the action at Errabore upset these plans and new plans were chalked out at a hurriedly called meeting by the Union Home Secretary, V.K.Duggal. Present at this meeting were Chhathisgarh Chief Secretary, IB Director, CRPF Director General, and senior officials of the MHA. At this meeting the Centre proposed full time arming of the SPOs, consolidation of the camps by bringing down the numbers, drawing up of a proper security plan for the ‘relief’ camps of SJ lumpens, strengthening of local intelligence and also enhancing the number of the CRPF.

A few days later, on July 21st yet again a high level meeting was held in Bubhaneshwar which was attended by the Chief Secretaries and DGPs of the Naxalite affected states.

And so the preparations for an even more ruthless offensive are taking place. Even the web site of this independent magazine has been illegally banned. Though this is a legally registered magazine the rulers have banned the web site sine May 15th.

Two states, Orissa and Jharkhand, have recently banned the Maoist Party and many mass organisations. This was done in a crude and blatant manner to placate the mining mafia don, Laxmi Mittal. The latter, on a recent visit to these states, had openly threatened that he cannot be expected to invest such large sums in his mining projects unless the Naxalites are crushed. Obviously the army and police are to be used for the service of the likes of the Mittals, TNCs and the big time compradors. This fact should not be missed by those who tend to equate the violence of the revolutionaries with that of the state.

Unfortunately some human rights activists are unable to understand the ruler’s game-plan in this Salwa Judum campaign of using tribals as cannon fodder and tend to condemn both the State and Naxalites for the deaths of tribals. If they do not want innocent tribals not to be killed they should first talk of their upliftment where thousands and thousands die each year out of hunger, disease and poverty. This is no less a brutal violence against the lives of the people. In areas of naxalite influence for the first time ever the tribals saw a better life — of dignity and self-respect. For the first time ever they saw an end of their inhuman exploitation and were able to better their standard of living.

The masses of the country and all progressives need to strongly demand of the government to stop the use of the para-military and the proposed use of the army against its own people. Of course the oppressed masses will resist any onslaught on them by these forces and beat back their offensive however ruthless it may be.

 

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