Volume 5, No. 11-12, November-December 2004

The popularity of the politics of people’s war in AP has once again been evident by the huge turn-outs for rallies organised in the name of the erstwhile CPI(ML)(PW), now called the CPI(Maoist). When the Party was banned and even liberals were being hunted down and massacred in cold blood such open mobilization became impossible. In such conditions many tended to fall prey to bourgeois propaganda that the Maoists of AP are mere terrorist bands with no popular support. This has once again been proved a fallacy just as it was in 1990. For those who talk about joining the mainstream the open rallies of the Maoists were far larger than any of those held by the electoral parties just a few months earlier. By the time of sending this report over two million people have participated in the various meetings of the Maoists during the past few months.

In fact, for AP, Naxalite politics is the mainstream. As mentioned by some leaders "Naxalism is not a problem but the solution to the problems" and also that "the question of carrying arms and conducting armed struggle were non-negotiable".

The real "problem" is of democratic rights; the "problem" is of deep-rooted poverty, the "problem" is of land hunger; the "problem" is of joblessness; the "problem" is of rising debts and suicides; the "problem" is of growing bankruptcies of small business; the "problem" is of imperialist policies and its devastation; the "problem" is of state terror and black, murderous gangs; and the "problem" is of rising inequalities. Do the rulers have any solution to these problems that have only magnified no matter which party is in power? But, the Naxalites have a solution. If state terror and brutal violence is unleashed on even the most peaceful of struggles, like the peasants of Rajasthan and Punjab, the Muslims of Hyderabad, on the dalits of Haryana and Tamilnadu, on the workers of Pantnagar and elsewhere, etc, then what moral right do the rulers have to dictate who should carry arm and who should not?

To understand the situation in AP leading to the ‘peace’ talks, it is necessary to understand the developments in the state in the past one year, especially since the Alipiri attack on Chandrababu Naidu, the then Chief Minister of the state, by a brave unit of the PGA of the then CPI(ML)[People’s War], on October 1st, 2003. The attack symbolized the heroic resistance of the masses who were suffocated under the autocratic TDP rule. It was a reply to the anti-peasant, anti-working class, anti-dalit, anti-adivasi, anti-employee, anti-women, anti-Muslim, in short, the anti-people, policies of the TDP government led by the imperialist stooge, Chandrababu Naidu. It was a fitting rebuff to autocratic Naidu’s bluff that the revolutionary movement was suppressed and exposed the hollowness of the TDP’s claim that within a short time the PW would be completely wiped out.

The attack had set into motion a chain of events that had changed the very political scenario in the state. The TDP government led by Naidu miscalculated the people’s sentiments thinking that the attack could be used to its electoral advantage. So, he dissolved the state Assembly ten months before it was due, and opted for mid-term elections. He made the issue of wiping out Naxalism from AP as one of his main electoral planks. But, the exact reverse happened. The people, who were actually inspired by the daring attack carried out by the PGA, showed their anger through the immediate means available to them by trouncing the TDP in the elections. The anti-people policies pursued by the TDP proved their nemesis. The negative vote for the TDP, combined with the numerous promises made by the opposition during the elections, brought the Congress to power.

The ten days from 11th October—the day when the three top state leaders of the then CPI(ML)[People’s War] in AP came out of their Nallamala forest base accompanied by the two leaders of CPI(ML)-Janashakti, for the first round of ‘peace’ talks with the state government—to the 20th of October, when the leaders returned to their forest base after the completion of the Talks, have been tumultuous days. And in the whole drama, the people were not mere spectators but active participants. They poured out in huge numbers to the numerous meetings organized by the CPI(ML)[PW], which later became CPI(Maoist) following the unification with the MCCI on September 21. Such a prospect was dreaded by the former TDP government led by Chandrababu Naidu which had backtracked from the Talks in July 2002 fearful of the mass movement resulting in advantage to the CPI(ML)[PW].

However, this became possible only in the background of the electoral defeat of the TDP and the political compulsions on the YSR government since the Congress party had promised to the people that it would hold Talks with the Naxalites after coming to power. The Congress government tried to go back on its promise by placing preconditions for Talks such as not carrying arms during the period of Talks. However, the pressure from the various people’s organisations had compelled the government to go for Talks without insisting on the pre-condition.

The massive support expressed by the masses of AP towards the communist revolutionaries had taken the wind out of the sails of the ruling classes who had been campaigning that the Naxalites had no mass base and were merely a bunch of terrorists. The media that normally attacks the revolutionary movement was forced to report the impact of the mass upsurge to retain their credibility in the eyes of the readership. All the regional newspapers, TV channels and a section of the national media commented that AP had never before witnessed such a warm and enthusiastic welcome to the leader of any party, that even the visit of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would not inspire such a wide media coverage. For ten days, the Telugu media had made the itinerary of the Naxal leaders the major cover story. The important events during this period such as the Maharashtra Assembly elections, YSR’s Delhi visit, and so on, evinced hardly any interest, so preoccupied was the AP media with the new turn of events. The warming up had begun a few days prior to October 11 when the Naxal leaders had come over ground for the first round of Talks with the state government.

The unusual interest shown by the media is not difficult to comprehend. Naxalism is topics of keen interest to the masses of AP. thousands, of the cream of AP society have given their lives for the cause of the oppressed people. The masses value such a party of selfless sacrifice compared to the greedy mafia of the parliamentary outfits. Therefore the interest of the people is quite understandable, in a state where Naxalite politics has deep roots. The issue of ‘peace’ talks had been in the air for quite long since 1999. It seemed to have made a beginning in 2002 but was aborted by the TDP government in July that year. It became a controversial issue since then that divided the political parties in the state vertically. It became the most prominent issue during the elections when Naxalism was made the main Law & Order issue in the state and the principal agenda by the TDP while the opposition asserted that Naxalism was not only a Law & Order problem but also a socio-politico-economic issue to be resolved through dialogue. This issue had been one of the vital issues for the defeat of the TDP and the unpopularity of Chandrababu Naidu.

Ever since the YSR government assumed office in May 2004 after the Assembly election, the issue of Talks had been in the air but it took five months to be transformed into a reality. There was suspense whether the Talks would eventually take place at all since both sides determinedly stuck to their respective standpoints, that is, on the question of carrying arms during political propaganda in the villages and when attending public meetings during the period of Talks. The stalemate continued for almost four months from June 16. The period saw massive meetings of the Naxalites in various parts of the state.

Thus the most important factor leading to the actual realization of the ‘peace’ talks is the active role of the masses. It was mainly to appease the masses that the very slogan of the ‘peace’ talks and Naxalism as a socio-politico-economic issue was put forth by the Congress party, TRS, CPI, CPI(M) etc., during the last elections thereby reaping the benefits in the form of votes. And when the Congress government tried to renege on its promise by placing impracticable condition that the Naxalites should not carry arms to the villages and must remain in the forest during the period of ‘peace’ talks, it was again the masses who opposed this move by the YSR government and demanded unconditional Talks. Hence, the controversial 7th Clause had to be set aside temporarily. The massive rally of September 30 in Hyderabad captured the opposition of the masses to YSR government’s insistence on the 7th Clause for the ‘peace’ talks and the growing pressure of the various democratic organisations and individuals on the government for going for Talks without any conditions.

The massive turn-outs at the meetings of the Naxalites, the cheering by the crowd all along the route taken by the Naxal leaders, the unending stream of delegations from various mass organisations and parties who met the Naxal leaders and submitted their petitions on the burning problems they were facing,—all these demonstrated the overwhelming mass support enjoyed by the PW, now CPI(Maoist), notwithstanding the ban imposed on it and on the revolutionary mass organisations for almost 12 years.

All these proved beyond any doubt that it is the Naxals who are in the mainstream while all other parties are actually in the Parliamentary mire in the name of mainstream. What the ruling classes mean by mainstream is nothing but parliamentary stream, and the bourgeois, reactionary political leaders never visit nor act in the interest of the masses once they get elected and are away from the actual mainstream of the masses whereas the Naxals live among the masses, rely on the masses round-the-clock, and die for the masses.

The popularity of the Naxals among the masses of AP can be gauged from the fact that when they came out for attending the memorial meeting of comrade Charu Majumdar on October 11 at Guthikonda Bilam where a huge column was constructed in memory of comrade CM, people began to throng the place from the various corners of the state. This was the village where com. CM had come in Feb. 1969 to reorganise the party in AP after the formation of the AICCCR attended by top leaders at a secret gathering to form the AP state unit. There were about two lakh people at the meeting in Guthikonda Bilam though there was no transport to the place and people had to walk long distances. Then there were thousands of well-wishers who wanted to see the Naxal leaders making it quite difficult for the organizers to control them.

The various bourgeois parties and the so-called Left parties have been continuously appealing to the Naxalites to join the mainstream. What they mean by the mainstream is nothing but the parliamentary stream while it is actually only a stinking gutter that emits the putrid smell of the rotten, corrupt, dishonest, hypocritical politicians. The fact is that the Naxalites live among the people every day, every hour, and every minute, whereas the dishonest and reactionary politicians, who swear by the people at the time of the elections, never see their faces until the next elections after five years. They are never part of the Janajeevana Sravanthi or the people’s living stream. This fact was once again illustrated in the most crystal-clear terms in AP in the past few months when lakhs of people poured into the streets to attend the rallies and memorial meetings, and other activities throughout the state. The fact that no cricket or cine star, no political leader could attract such a huge crowd of people so effortlessly, indicates the deep roots of the revolutionary ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism in AP, based on its revolutionary programme, the political tactics and the long revolutionary practice of the erstwhile CPI(ML)[PW].

The massive support to the Naxalites is a slap in the face of the ruling classes led by the Congress party which has been saying that CPI(ML)[PW] was not a political party and that only when it lays down arms will the government recognize it as a political party. It is a slap in the face of the US imperialists who had declared the CPI(ML)[PW] and the MCCI as terrorist organisations. Moreover, the unity of these two ‘terrorist’ organisations is a fitting rebuff to the US, the No.1 international terrorist. On the very eve of the day of the talks, the news that the PW and the MCCI had merged, and a new Party — the CPI(Maoist) — formed, struck the country like a lightening bolt.

The rush of petitions to the Naxal leaders by people from virtually all sections indicate the depth of the economic-political-social crisis in the state and the profound crisis afflicting the existing system. It shows the lack of credibility of the so-called elected representatives in the eyes of the people and the discrediting of the so-called democratic institutions and their futility for the people. It points to the immense confidence exuded by the people at large on the revolutionary politics and the revolutionary alternative presented by the CPI(Maoist). It demonstrates the heart-felt love and affection of the masses towards the Naxalites as expressed through their attendance at the meetings and rallies called by the Naxals and by thronging in thousands to see them when they came overground for a very short period of ten days. The credibility of the CPI(ML)[PW], now CPI(Maoist), lies in its uncompromising, relentless struggle waged for over three decades facing severe repression and the sacrifices made by thousands of its cadres and leaders in their struggle for the people’s cause.

The theme of the petitions was that the government had completely neglected their problems, that Courts did not give them justice, police were on the side of the oppressors and the corrupt leaders, that land was illegally seized by the landlords and encroacher with powerful connections and hence it was the Naxalites alone who can mete out justice to them. The people came from all walks of life: those who were evicted from, and deprived of, their lands by the landlords, moneylenders, forest department, Courts and other government agencies and powerful lobbies; the peasants who are on the verge of committing suicides due to bankruptcy arising out of the deepening agrarian crisis and the unbearable pressure from the moneylender-trader-bureaucrat nexus; workers thrown out of jobs due to closures, lay-offs and retrenchments due to World Bank dictated privatisation; urban poor and middle classes who had lost their land due to land-grabbing by the politician-bureaucrat-industrial houses and the neo-rich and influential sections backed by the private armed mafia sponsored and maintained by the police top brass; hapless customers of Banks like the Vasavi, Prudential Banks that had become bankrupt due to the fraud perpetrated by the rich and mighty; the doubly oppressed Dalits, adivasis, women, religious minorities, whose lives were shattered by the policies of imperialist Globalisation besides the oppression by the feudal, upper-caste chauvinist and Hindu fascist forces; victims of domestic violence; students who complained about the undemocratic atmosphere in the Campuses and the communalization, commercialization and the elitist nature of the education; and so on.

The land issues occupied the largest number, around 150, followed by water-related issues, which were around a hundred. Then there were the issues of workers, rural poor and peasants, Dalits, women, adivasis, Muslim minorities, employees, hut-dwellers and other urban poor, handloom weavers, handicapped, corruption cases and financial frauds of bureaucrats and political leaders, political disputes, etc.

At the end of the first round of Talks, the representatives of the two Parties-CPI(Maoist) and Janashakthi-explained at a press briefing that the Talks were not concluded satisfactorily as the government had "not come out with any concrete solutions or initiatives on any of the people’s problems raised", that " the ruling classes failed to implement the Constitutional obligations and their own promises till now"( which was why, they said, they had to demand their implementation but the government failed to give any categorical assurance), that "the announcements were very vague and were just like the promises they have been making for the last 57 years". The leaders declared that in spite of this poor performance of the government representatives, they would wait and see how the government would act in the next two months and that their participation in the next round of Talks would "depend on the government’s initiative during the next two months."

The ‘peace’ talks were held for four days from October 15-18 in Marri Chenna Reddy Human Resources Development Institute. There were three underground leaders from the former CPI(ML)[People’s War] and three legal representatives while from CPI(ML)-Janashakti there were two from the leadership and two from the legal organisation. Besides the ten delegates from the two Parties there were eight from the Government of AP. Eight mediators were present as Observers.

The Naxalites caught the attention of the masses of the entire state and even in other parts of the country; they could muster the support of the people for the democratic rights of the masses and create a new wave of mass political mobilization across the state and involve the masses in the political battle on a wide scale; they focused on the problems faced by the various sections of the masses and propagated the politics of new democratic revolution with armed agrarian revolution as its axis and the necessity of protracted people’s war to liberate the country; they sought to prove the hypocrisy of the Congress government in meeting the people’s demands placed by the Naxalite parties; in short, they posed a revolutionary alternative before the people.

During the process of the ‘peace’ talks, the unification of the two Maoist Parties in the country into the CPI(Maoist) generated great enthusiasm among the people and carried the message of the new Party widely among the masses. With the unification, the Talks which were to have been held under the banner of the CPI(ML)[People’s War] took place under the name of the CPI(Maoist) which was announced on the evening of October 14th, by com. Ramakrishna, the secretary of the AP state committee of the party, one day before the commencement of the first round of Talks. The PGA volunteers accompanying the CPI(Maoist) leaders, promptly changed their nomenclature to PLGA. The significance of the merger and the revolutionary line of the newly unified Party were explained as part of the Talks process.

Although the government did not concede any demand in reality, widescale political propaganda was carried of the CPI(Maoist) alternative. The CPI(Maoist) leaders had meetings with the SC/ST/BC associations, Muslim organisations, women’s organisations, and even some bodies belonging to the national bourgeoisie.

The ruling classes may have hoped to use the talks as part of their LIC (low intensity conflict) strategy, to try and wean away the party, or some sections of it, away from the path of armed struggle to peaceful co-existence. But, in this, they failed miserably. On the contrary, the debate over Clause 7 brought the question of armed struggle on to the agenda, and it was the rallying slogan of the Naxals "the question of carrying arms and conducting armed struggle were non-negotiable" that spread far and wide. As Mao once said: reactionaries lift a rock only to drop it on their own feet — Clause 7 became one such rock.

YSR fumed that the Naxalites did not know the difference between industry and agricultural lands, that they were placing "absurd and illogical demands" and were "playing to the gallery", and that it was impossible to meet the demands such as redistribution of the lands given to the industrial houses and film studios in and around Hyderabad. The YSR government shamelessly came out in support of the illegal allotments made by the previous TDP government to the imperialist corporations, IT, pharma and Bio-tech companies, film studios and influential individuals all for a nominal price. It was the same YSR who had earlier fumed and fretted, when in the opposition, about the dubious deals of the Naidu government. The sudden change in the stance has exposed the true colours of the Congress government in the most convincing manner before the masses.

The YSR government has been wooing the Big Business houses, the imperialist MNCs, and the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to set up their operations in the state. YSR had unveiled a grandiose plan to create 30 million square feet of space in Hyderabad for IT and other companies and has dreams of making the city second only to Bangalore in software exports. Hence his impatience is exhibited in even hearing the demands about illegal encroachments and allotments to the business houses, let alone implementing them.

The DGP too was furious with the demand raised by the Naxal leaders about raising the salaries of the policemen and stopping the giving of awards for ‘encounter’ killings. The police chief who had overseen the fake encounters during the last phase of Chandrababu’s brutal rule, had a lot to lose if enquiries were conducted into land deals in the City for he had his finger in the attractive pie. No wonder then, he lost his temper when the demand for enquiry into the land deals was made by the Naxal leaders, and hurled abuse at the CPI(Maoist) leaders like a lunatic.

There is also growing pressure from the Central government, the state governments of Chathisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and others on the AP government to give up talks with the Naxalites. The Chief Ministers meeting of nine states, held in Hyderabad on September 21, had exerted immense pressure on the YSR government in AP to give up the ‘peace’ talks and to adopt strong-arm tactics. Some complained that the Naxalites were carrying out attacks in their states and escaping to AP which was "a safe zone" thereby pushing the AP government to adopt repressive measures. Though the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, had declared that the issue of Naxalism was a state issue and each state was free to choose its policy independently, he warned that the aim everywhere was to ensure that the Naxals did not strengthen themselves. The Centre gave the government in AP the choice to hold talks but to ensure that the strength of the Naxals did not grow. In fact the three day annual conference of the country’s DGPs/IGs with the Home Minister, focused primarily on the MCCI/PW merger and the ‘dangers’ of "left-wing extremism". The Home minister stated here that they should not "use the ceasefire as an opportunity to consolidate".

Against this background it is doubtful whether the government would be prepared to hold another round of talks with the revolutionaries. It is more likely that the government would bring the issue of arms once again into the agenda and insist that further progress in the talks would be possible only by accepting the 7th Clause. It is once again the people who can tilt the scales through their active participation in opposing the government’s moves. Whatever be the next step, whether another round will take place or not, one thing is clear: the revolutionaries, particularly the Maoists, had carved a deep niche in the minds and hearts of the people in the state in the brief period of the ‘peace’ talks and are now certainly better placed — politically and morally — to confront the enemy and further advance the people’s war.

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