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The "talks episode"
moved a step forward with the Home Minister K.Jana Reddy formally inviting
naxalites for talks on May 8. After about 20 days of confusing and vague
statements, talking of ‘a nodal team’, ‘reconciliation teams’ and ‘talks
committees’, discussions with civil liberties leaders and the Telangana Congress
MLA’s, meetings with intellectuals, after all kinds of exercises, finally he has
sent an invitation for talks to the People’s War Party and other ML parties
without specific assurances and actions. If at all the Congress government
achieved anything (that too, temporarily), it is only to make some intellectuals
put pressure on our party.
It is not difficult
for observant people to understand the degree of integrity in the statement of
the government. We clarified our approach towards talks unequivocally in the
press statements released by our party on May 16 itself. We made it clear in
those statements that committed to people’s democratic aspirations we are ready
for talks, but that there should be a conducive atmosphere. If such thing should
happen both sides should declare a ceasefire for a specific period of time and
honestly practice it. Though there was no vagueness in our statement, the police
officials, the Home Minister and the Chief Minister have been whiling away time
with vague and contradictory statements for the past 20 days, having overlooked
"the minimum basis of declaring ceasefire", without as much as mentioning about
ceasefire, the Home Minister states that the police are showing restraint, that
the police and the armed squads will not be sent into the forests, that the
atmosphere is already conducive, the guns of the police have gone silent, and at
least now the leaders of People’s War should respond and come forward with their
agenda. Influenced by his statements some democrats have responded,
unfortunately, by asking us to respond saying that the ball is now in our court.
They should in fact have demanded the government that a ceasefire be declared
for a specific time.
We still respect the
suggestions made by the Committee of Concerned Citizens (that both sides should
declare ceasefire for a specific time period) in January 2002. We think that is
the basis for talks with any government.
If the government
claims that no encounters took place since it had come into power, that the
situation was peaceful and the conducive atmosphere was established due to the
orders issued to the police by them, we need not believe the claim without
independent observation and knowledge of the grassroots reality. The Congress
government after all does not have a spotless past.
We should keep in
mind that between January 24 and March 11, 2002, no "encounters" occurred only
due to the restraint of our party despite the combing operations, provocations
and harassment of the police. Even today, though meetings are disrupted (Devanna
memorial meeting at Chirala was an example), martyr columns are dismantled (When
a mother built a matyr colimn for her son in Julakallu of Guntur district the
police got it demolished by herself), arrests are made, combing operations and
harassments are continuing in the rural areas of several districts like Guntur,
‘surrender’ dramas are performed and offensive war against us continues, we are
showing restraint being committed to people’s interests and their aspirations.
It is a fact that this is also an important reason for why major encounters have
not taken place. However, can either the government or any of the democrats
assure that ‘Tupakulagudem’ will not be repeated and people’s dearest leader
like Padmakka will not be killed? Can anybody who examines the statements being
made by the congress government and the practice of the police, believe this?
While our party declared and sincerely observed a unilateral ceasefire two years
ago with the objective of avoiding human rights violation and reviving of civil
liberties keeping people’s interests in mind, all we got back is the murderers.
The SP of Karimnagar, who bloodied the Nerella vagu by most brutally killing our
comrades, has now become the group commander of the greyhounds that comb all
over the State to shoot at us. Then, how can we or the people or the democrats
believe that the police will implement the vague statements of the government?
Gautham Savang, DT Naik, Nalini Prabhat, Praveen Kumar, Sajjanar, Ayyannar,
Balasubrahmanyam and several such SIB officials and others were notorious for
their brutality and sadism. They created coverts like Siraj and Ashok, encourage
black gangs like the Nayeem gang, plotted for the elimination of People’s War’s
leadership, and ruled the state as they liked. Do the go Un punished?
How can we believe
that the Congress government will implement conducive atmosphere for talks
without punishing killer Nalini Prabhat, who kidnapped four persons right in
front of the public, killed them at padmakshamma gutta and cooked up an
encounter story. As well as circle inspector Gulam Santhani who called
revolutionary intellectuals to Hanumakonda police station everyday and tortured
them. Do we call it a conducive atmosphere if one murderer Gowtham Savang is
replaced by another murderer Purnachandra Rao.
It is the duty of the
democrats to find out the distinction between the YSR brand democracy and
transparency and Chandra Babu regime’s police state. YSR had enacted a surrender
drama of 32 naxalites along with 8 commanders by bringing in ordinary villagers
clothing them with new uniforms and putting guns in their hands and placing
Bakkanna who fled the the movement 2 years ago, And calling all of them as CPI
(ML) prathighatana cadre. It has to be clarified before the people whether this
was the surrender drama enacted by YSR and Jana Reddy or a cock and bull story
created by Sukumara, Krishna Prasad and Praveen Kumar. If it was a fake affair
enacted by the police it is the minimum responsibility of the government to
suspend those cheating officials. Or if it was a drama enacted by YSR and Jana
Reddy they have to tender an apology to the people and assure that this kind of
Chandra Babu type farce will not happen again. If democrats do not question
these kinds of undemocratic and evil acts today the mandate of the people
against Chandra Babu’s fascist policies, misrule and police state and the
mandate for democratic aspirations will go waste and YSR rule would turn out to
be much more dangerous. If the YSR government has an intention to implement the
promises made by the Congress and its allies, if it wants to establish peaceful
and democratic atmosphere if it understands the essence of people aspirations it
has to immediately put a full stop to the past history of the government which
plunged peoples movements in blood. And the police rule which had created a
terrorized atmosphere by suppressing the right of people to question in several
areas of the state. The government has to keep to its oft repeated promises of
instituting a judicial enquiry into all the encounters that took place under
Chandra Babu’s regime. It has to withdraw the ban on our party and all
revolutionary mass organizations. It has to revoke the prices not only on the
dead naxalites but also on all the living. It is the government’s responsibility
to arrest all armed gangs including Nayeem gang in order to not pollute the
conducive atmosphere for talks. Though we do not treat this as-pre condition for
talks we think they are crucial for creating mutual trust and a friendly
atmosphere. If somebody thinks they are impracticable demands they are not
seeing the people’s problems and difficulties for the last nine years from a
people’s perspective. It is not recognizing the sacrifice of the people and
those who stood by the people.
The way would become
clearer if both sides declare a cease fire for a specific duration to implement
the above mentioned issues. Police who are responsible for lack of peace,
massacres, harassment and tortures in villages should not be sent to villages.
If police are sent to villages it is only to continue the police state. It is
everybody’s experience in the state how police behave in the villages. Creating
informers, preparing coverts and sending them into the revolutionary movement,
threatening people not to feed and co-operate with naxalites, killing those who
have not obeyed them arresting and harassing people. These are the duties of the
police. Thus the government should give clear instructions that policemen should
not enter villages unless people want them there. Then only people will regain
the liberties they have lost. What will happen if police are confined to
villages and naxalites to forests as announced by the home minister? It will
lead to a police state that brings in much more ruthless suppression than
Chandra Babu’s rule. It is describing the conspiracy of ChandraBabu who snatched
away peoples leadership by banning Peoples War revolutionary mass organizations
in a new language by the new government.
Our party doesn’t
live in forests. It remains in villages among the oppressed masses and preparing
them every minute for revolution. We have been able to survive in plains and
villages amidst brutal repression and bans, combings and raids with the help and
co-operation from people. While we live along with rural masses YSR himself
asking us not to go to villages, shows that they are not having any
understanding of our movement. Even as he is saying again and again that
naxalism is a political, social and economical problem, he is trying to trace
our roots in forests. We want to reiterate that we are not a problem but a
solution for the problems.
We have been becoming
stronger, like fish in the water among the ocean of the people, though there is
a ban on us between 1992 to 94 and later from 1996. Similarly we will become
much more stronger by retaliating against the YSR government’s tactics. If
police are sent to the villages, people cannot but rebel. Encounters like
Azmapur will be inevitable. A blood soaked history of the past will have to be
repeated. Police want exactly that. But people will teach a lesson to the ruling
classes that unleash violence.
WHY DOES THE
GOVERNMENT FEAR TO DECLARE CEASEFIRE?
Why is the government
hesitating to declare a ceasefire? The strange argument it puts forth is that "ceasefire
will be there between two independent countries. This is not an affair between
two countries thus ceasefire does not come in to picture." In the past
Chandra Babu also raised this surprising argument. Doesn’t the Home minister
know the parties between which ceasefire happened in Nepal, Srilanka,
Philippines and Columbia? Not only that, the Vajpai government itself has
entered into a ceasefire with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland. Does
that mean that our government recognizes Nagaland as a separate country? Does it
mean that democrats asking the government to declare ceasefire do not know these
facts? Further asking the Peoples War to declare a ceasefire unilaterally will
be only ignoring past history. It is only giving up a democratic attitude.
The government’s
hesitation to declare ceasefire demonstrates its lack of sincerity on talks.
Talks have to be an instrument towards a democratic atmosphere, democratic
values, revival of values and expression of people’s aspirations. We are ready
to declare ceasefire just because we respect people’s democratic aspirations. We
strongly believe that this will lead to taking the political debate and
propaganda among the larger masses, as well as to establish a democratic
atmosphere. If both sides simultaneously declare ceasefire for a specific
duration people will be able to play their role in talks without any fear. This
is the atmosphere of talks in our view.
‘Talks’ do not mean a
discussion between the naxalites and the government. They should become an
instrument to articulate people’s democratic demands and for the solution of
people’s basic issues. They should become a democratic space to reduce violence
in the society, to enhance human values and for the people’s to boldly express
their options on violence. A conducive atmosphere does not just mean the
stopping of bogus encounters for a few days, removal of rewards on dead
revolutionaries and other such minor gestures. People should be free to conduct
meetings, to expose publicly and peacefully any social injustice and brutal
violence (Whoever be the perpetrator) and to express their thoughts without
fear. In short their freedom of speech and conducting meetings and right to live
should be guaranteed. Talks become meaningful only in such atmosphere. As
revolutionaries we openly declare our ideology, politics and goal. Our ultimate
goal is communism. In order to achieve it, we facilitate the way for the
ultimate goal by dismantling imperialism, feudalism, and the comprador and
bureaucratic burgioisie, and establishing a new democratic system with a
protracted people’s war in the light of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. This is the
essence of our revolutionary politics. These are uncompromising politics. So it
is meaningless to form ‘Compromise committees’. Nevertheless in the immediate
interests of the people, as long as the enemy stops all armed action and
responds positively, we are also committed to stopping our armed actions.
In this class war
each party has its own objectives. Though the Congress and its allies, and the
opposition parties completely oppose on politics that seek to form a new
democratic system that fulfill the interests of a majority of people by
demolishing through armed struggle the present system of exploitation that
serves the interests of a minority of exploiters, they should learn to recognize
and respect the People’s War Party, that represents those revolutionary
politics, and other revolutionary parties. They should display dignity and
political maturity by stopping appeals for surrenders and for us to become part
of the mainstream (such as the one made during the recent ‘surrender stunt’
enacted by the police), and statements, such as the one made by the CM, that
signals were received that the leadership of the People’s War Party was ready to
give up armed struggle, they should display sufficient political will and
integrity for establishing a democratic atmosphere according to the aspirations
of the people, without succumbing to the pressures of the police. Nobody need
entertain the illusion that we give up armed struggle or that the ruling party
that represents the exploitative ruling classes would destroy
imperialism-feudalism-comprador despotic capitalism. This class war will
continue till the oppressed people attain their ultimate goal. Only by looking
at the process of talks from this perspective can the government and the
People’s War Party put forward the issues cleanly before people without any
ambiguity. We assure you that naxalites will continue to be armed, but as long
as the police and the armed black gangs patronized by them do not attack the
people and the activists, and their guns are silent, we too will not use our
guns. At the same time we once again warn you that as soon as the offensive
starts against us and the people we will be forced to take up counter offensive
attacks.
Our specific
proposals:
1.Both the sides
should declare ceasefire for a specific period of time and sincerely implement
it. This may last for3 to 6 months.
2. A supervisory
committee should be formed for supervising the implementation of the ceasefire
to examine and put forward before the people any incidents that spoil the
positive atmosphere and any violation of human rights, whichever side commits
them. This committee should be formed with persons acceptable to both sides soon
after the ceasefire is declared.
3. The
representatives of the government should conduct talks with the persons
suggested by the party and formulate modalities. We will suggest the names of
these mediators soon after the ceasefire is declared.
4. After the
modalities are formulated representatives of the state committee or our Party
will hold talks with the representatives of the state cabinet. The government
should take complete responsibility for the safety of our Party representatives.
The talks process
should be completed within the specific time period set for ceasefire. The
duration of the ceasefire may be extended if both the sides feel the need for
it.
We demand that the
government respond to the specific proposals that we mentioned above. We also
demand that the talks be held without further delay. We hope that people of
different sections, democrats, the TRS, CPI, CPI(M), MIM, BSP, SP and ML parties
will respond positively to these proposals. We request them to convey their
suggestions to make these proposals more meaningful and comprehensive.
Prakash,
polit bureau
Central committee,
CPI(ML)(People’sWar)
Ramakrishna,
secretary,
CPI(ML)(People’s War)
Andhra Pradesh State Committee,
Date:14 th june 2004
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