| Communist Party of India (Maoist) | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Muppala Lakshmana Rao |
| Founded | 21 September 2004 |
| Ideology | Maoism Communism Anti-Revisionism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Website | |
| People's March | |
| Politics of India Political parties Elections |
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The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a Maoist political party in India which aims to overthrow the government of India through violent means.[1] It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the People's War, and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). The merger was announced to the public on October 14 the same year. In the merger a provisional central committee was constituted, with the erstwhile People's War Group leader Muppala Lakshmana Rao, alias "Ganapathi", as General Secretary.[2]
The CPI (Maoist) are often referred to as Naxalites in reference to the Naxalbari insurrection conducted by radical Maoists in West Bengal in 1967.
They claim to be fighting for the rights of the tribes in the forest belt around central India. That region contains deposits of minerals[3] which are of interest to mining companies like Tata and Essar, and there have been numerous human rights violations of the tribal people at the hands of government agencies.[4] [5]
Naxals have been charged by the government with running an extortion economy in the guise of a popular revolution, extorting vast amounts of money from local branches of mining companies and other businesses.[6][7][8] They have been involved in several cases of blowing up schools and railway tracks, and accused of keeping the areas under their control away from modernity and development, so they can impose their will on the uneducated rural populace.[6][9][10][11][12]
In 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to the Naxalites as "the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country."[6][13] The Indian government, led by the United Progressive Alliance, banned the CPI (Maoist) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as a terrorist organisation [14] on 22 June 2009. As of June 2010, the Indian government has identified 83 districts in nine states as "Naxal-hit".[15]
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According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the two factions of the Party adhered to differing strands of communism prior to their 2004 merger, although "both organizations shared their belief in the 'annihilation of class enemies' and in extreme violence as a means to secure organizational goals." The People's War Group (PWG) maintained a Marxist-Leninist stance while the MCC took a Maoist stance. After the merger, the PWG secretary of Andhra Pradesh announced that the newly formed CPI-Maoist would follow Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its "ideological basis guiding its thinking in all spheres of its activities." Included in this ideology is a commitment to "protracted armed struggle" to undermine and to seize power from the state.[2]
The ideology of the merged group is contained in a "Party Programme." In the document, the Maoists denounce globalization as a war on the people by market fundamentalists and the caste system as a form of social oppression.[16]
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) claim that they are conducting a "people's war", a strategic approach developed by Mao Zedong during the guerrilla warfare phase of the Communist Party of China. Their eventual objective is to install a "people’s government" via a New Democratic Revolution.
The party also views Islamist militancy as a struggle towards national liberation against imperialism, rather than as a clash of civilizations, and condones it as having parallel goals to the group's own. In the words of deputy leader Koteshwar Rao, or Kishanji: "The Islamic upsurge should not be opposed, as it is basically anti-US and anti-imperialist in nature. We, therefore, want it to grow."[16] Although it is an extreme left wing political organisation it considers the democratic left parties in India as "class enemies" and has killed some of their supporters in the western part of West Bengal.
Currently the Party has a presence in remote regions of Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, as well as in Bihar and the tribal-dominated areas in the borderlands of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Orissa. The CPI (Maoist) aims to consolidate its power in this area and establish a Compact Revolutionary Zone from which to advance the people's war in other parts of India.[2] A 2005 Frontline cover story called the Bhamragad Taluka, where the Madia Gond Adivasis live, the heart of the Naxalite-affected region in Maharashtra.[17]
The current general secretary of the party is Muppala Lakshmana Rao, who uses the alias "Ganapati". The highest decision making body of the party is the Politburo, comprising thirteen or fourteen[18] members, six of whom were killed or arrested between 2007-10. Amongst those arrested, Kobad Ghandy is the senior-most member.[19] Other arrested Politburo members include Pramod Mishra, Ashutosh Tudu, and Amitabha Bagchi.[18] Cherukuri Rajkumar, alias "Azad", the spokesperson for the party, who was gunned down in Andhra Pradesh, was another Politburo member.[18]
Prashant Bose, alias "Kishan-da", Mallojula Koteswara Rao, alias "Kishenji",[20] and Katakam Sudarshan, alias Anand, are the three most prominent members of the Politburo. Kishenji who was killed by the security forces in November, 2011[21] headed the Eastern Regional Bureau of the party until his death. Anand currently heads the Central Regional Bureau of the party.[22] The Central Committee of the party, which takes command from the Politburo and passes on the information to its members, has 32 members. The party hierarchy consists of the Regional Bureaus, which look after two or three states each, the State Committees, the Zonal Committees, the District Committees, and the "dalams" (armed squads).[19]
The military wings of the founding organisations, the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (the military wing of the MCCI) and the People's Guerrilla Army (the military wing of the PW), also underwent a merger. The name of the unified military organisation is the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army. P.V. Ramana, of the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi, estimates the Naxilities' current strength at 9,000-10,000 armed fighters, with access to about 6,500 firearms.[23] Other estimates by Indian intelligence officials and Maoist leaders suggest that the rebel ranks in India number between 10,000 and 20,000, with at least 50,000 active supporters.[6][24]
In their efforts to intimidate and consolidate control, the Naxalites tax local villagers, extort businesses, abduct and kill "class enemies" such as government officials and police officers, and regulate the flow of aid and goods.[6] To help fill their ranks, the Maoists force each family under their domain to supply one family member, and threaten those who resist with violence.[25]
The organisation has been holding "Public Courts", which have been described as kangaroo courts,[26][27] against their opponents. These "courts" function in the areas under de-facto Maoist control.[28] The Maoists have also taken care to demolish government institutions under their de facto jurisdiction.[29]
The Party retains the tactics of its predecessor, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War, of rejecting parliamentary democracy and capturing political power through protracted armed struggle based on guerrilla warfare. This strategy entails building up bases in rural and remote areas and transforming them first into guerrilla zones, and then into "liberated zones", in addition to encircling cities.
The military hardware used by Maoists, as indicated through a number of seizures, include RDX cable wires, gelatine sticks, detonators, country-made weapons, INSAS rifles, AK-47s, SLRs, and improvised explosive devices. According to MHA reports, as of October 2008, the CRPF has seized over 6,000 kilograms (13,000 lb) of explosives in Bihar and 893 kilograms (1,970 lb) in Jharkhand. Security forces also recovered codex wire in Jharkhand; this is a highly potent explosive with a blast-range of up to 720 metres (2,360 ft), which has so far been used only by modern national armies.[30]
The funding for the Maoists comes from abductions, extortion and by setting up unofficial administrations to collect taxes in rural areas where official government appears absent.[6][31][32]
Poppy cultivation is another major source of funding for Maoists in the Ghagra area of Gumla district in Jharkhand and in parts of Gumla, Kishanganj and Purnia districts in Bihar. Security forces claim that opium fields are hidden among maize crops. Reports from Debagarh district in Orissa indicate that the Naxals also support hemp cultivation to help fund their activities.[32]
| Organizations listed as terrorist groups by India |
|---|
| Northeastern India |
| National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) Naga National Council-Federal (NNCF) National Council of Nagaland-Khaplang United Liberation Front of Asom People's Liberation Army (Manipur) Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) Zomi Revolutionary Front |
| Kashmir |
| Al-Badr Al-Badr Mujahideen Al Barq (ABQ) Al Fateh Force (AFF) Al Jihad Force (AJF)/Al Jihad Al Mujahid Force (AMF) Al Umar Mujahideen (AUR/Al Umar) Awami Action Committee (AAC) Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DEM) Harakat-ul-Ansar Harakat-ul-Jihad-I-Islami Harakat-ul-Mujahideen Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) Ikhwan-ul-Musalmeen (IUM) Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) Lashkar-e-Mohammadi Jammat-ul-Mujahideen (JUM) Jammat-ul-Mujahideen Almi (JUMA) Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF) Jammu and Kashmir Jamaat-e-Islami (JKJEI) Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) Jaish-e-Mohammed Kul Jammat Hurriyat Conference (KJHC) Mahaz-e-Azadi (MEA) Muslim Janbaaz Force (MJF/Jaanbaz Force) Muslim Mujahideen (MM) Hizbul Mujahideen Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Farzandan-e-Milat United Jihad Council Al-Qaeda Students Islamic Movement of India Tehreek-e-Jihad (TEJ) Pasban-e-Islami (PEI/Hizbul Momineen HMM) Shora-e-Jihad (SEJ) Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TUM) |
| North India |
| Babbar Khalsa Bhindranwala Tigers Force of Khalistan Communist Party of India (Maoist) Dashmesh Regiment International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) Kamagata Maru Dal of Khalistan] Khalistan Liberation Force Khalistan Commando Force Khalistan Liberation Army Khalistan Liberation Front Khalistan Liberation Organisation Khalistan National Army Khalistan Guerilla Force Khalistan Security Force Khalistan Zindabad Force |
| Central India |
| People's war group Balbir militias Naxals Ranvir Sena |
The party is regarded as a "left-wing extremist entity" and a terrorist outfit by the Indian government. Several of their members have been arrested under the now-defunct Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act.[2][33] The group is officially banned by the state governments of Orissa,[34] Chattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh, among others. The party has protested these bans.[35] On 22 June 2009, the central home ministry, keeping in mind the growing unlawful activities by the group, banned it under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).[36] Earlier, the union home minister, P. Chidambaram had asked the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, to ban the Maoists following the Lalgarh Violence.[37]
Following the ban, the Maoists are liable for arrest under the UAPA. After the ban, they are barred from holding rallies, public meetings and demonstrations, and their offices, if any, will be sealed and their bank accounts frozen.
The Party are regarded as a serious security threat and the Indian government is taking countermeasures, pulling the affected states together to coordinate their response. It says it will combine improved policing with socio-economic measures to defuse grievances that fuel the Maoist cause.[25] In 2005, Chattisgarh State sponsored an anti-Maoist movement called the Salwa Judum. The group, which the BBC alleges is "government backed", [38] an allegation rejected by the government as biased and Indophobic,[39][40] has come under criticism from pro-Maoist activist groups[41] for "perpetrating atrocities and abuse against women",[42] using child soldiers,[28] and the looting of property and destruction of homes.[42] These allegations were addressed and rejected by a fact-finding commission of the National Human Rights Commission of India, appointed by the Supreme Court of India, who determined that the Salwa Judum was a spontaneous reaction by tribes against Maoist atrocities perpetrated against them.[43][44] The camps are guarded by police officers, paramilitary forces and Salwa Judum activists[25][28] empowered with the official title "special police officer."[28][45] However, on July 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of India declared the Salwa Judum as illegal and unconstitutional. The court directed the Chhattisgarh government to recover all the firearms given to the militia along with the ammunition and accessories. It also ordered the government to investigate all instances of alleged criminal activities of Salwa Judum. [46]
In transcripts made available to PTI on October 5, 2008, the prominent Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, alias "Sunil", mentioned that there was pressure from both Christians and Dalits to eliminate VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, noting that most of the cadre members and supporters in Orissa belonged to the Christian community and not tribes, unlike in other states where the tribes form the biggest support base of the Maoists. He admitted that the Maoists had, for the first time, intervened in a religious dispute, by killing Saraswati.[47][48]
The CPI (Maoist) maintains dialogue with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) who control most of Nepal in the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA), according to several intelligence sources and think tanks.[2] These links are, however, denied by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)[49]
While under detention in June 2009, a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative indicated that the LeT and the CPI (Maoist) had attempted to coordinate activities in Jharkhand state.[50] Latest reports indicate that the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines, Southeast Asia’s longest-lived communist insurgent group, has been reported to have engaged in training activities for guerrilla warfare with Indian Maoists.[51]
The Indian Maoists deny operational links with foreign groups, such as the Nepalese Maoists, but do claim comradeship.[52] Some members of the Indian government accept this,[53] while others argue that operational links do exist, with training coming from Sri-Lankan Maoists and small arms from China.[54] China denies, and is embarrassed by, any suggestion that it supports foreign Maoist rebels, citing improvements in relations between India and China, including movement towards resolving their border disputes. Maoists in Nepal, India, and the Philippines are less reticent about their shared goals.[55]
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