Indian Maoists call for protests against attacks

7 October 2013. A World to Win News Service. Following are slightly edited excerpts from a statement by Abhay, spokesman for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) dated 17 September, 2013. In protest against the killing of 14 Maoist villagers in the eastern central Indian state of Odisha, the party called for a "bharat bandh" – a general shut-down – on 5 October. According to press reports, state bus services were halted in the Malkangiri district of Odisha that day. On 14 September 2013, the SOG [Special Operations Group, an elite military force] of Odisha conducted a joint operation with the District Voluntary Force and the police in the Silakota forests in the Podiya block of the Malkangiri district in Odisha and brutally massacred 14 Maoists, including a woman comrade. The police seized their weapons too. Our CC, CPI (Maoist) is calling upon the people of our country to observe a bharat bandh on 5 October to protest this brutality perpetrated by the neo-fascist Naveen Patnaik government in collusion with the central government and under the guidance of the imperialists, particularly the U.S. imperialists. [Odisha Chief Minister] Naveen Patnaik has been shamelessly playing the ultimate comprador since he came to power by signing countless MoUs [agreements] with the MNCs [multinational companies] to hand over for peanuts the natural riches and resources of Odisha. The people of Odisha, particularly the Adivasis [tribal people] and the Dalit [formerly known as "untouchables"] peasantry are engaged in a life and death struggle against the central and state governments and their mining mafia which are hell-bent on displacing them and impoverishing them to please the corporate houses by implementing these MoUs. They are also waging a bitter struggle against the big landlords, usurers and liquor mafia that are sucking their blood like leeches. The militant, long-drawn and uncompromising struggles of the brave people of Odisha against POSCO [a multinational steel company] and in Kashipur, Niyamagiri and Narayanapatna have not only inspired the fighting people of our country but also every activist fighting against the ill effects of neo-liberal policies all over the world. The Naveen Patnaik government, born with deaf ears due to its comprador character, has ignored the genuine demands of the people and instead resorted to severe repression with the complete support and aid [of the centrql government], including 27 battalions of paramilitary forces including COBRA [counter-insurgency troops] against all the people's movements ongoing in Odisha. Massacres of people and activists including Maoists have become a common feature of this repression. Arrests, false cases, harsh punishments, inhuman incarcerations, beatings, atrocities, rapes, burning people's homes and property – the neo-fascists did not leave any stone of cruelty unturned to suppress the genuine aspirations of the people. Our party has been working since decades in Odisha and organizing the oppressed masses, particularly the Adivasis, against the exploitation, oppression and suppression they are suffering at the hands of the ruling classes. It has either been in the forefront or has extended its full support to all the people's movements against liberalization, privatization and globalization not only in Odisha but in the majority of the states in our country. So the Indian ruling classes, under the guidance and goading of the imperialists, launched the multi-pronged, country-wide offensive Operation Green Hunt, a war on the people, in mid-2009 to wipe out our movement and suppress the genuine struggles of the people. Repression of the oppressed masses is the hallmark of any exploiting state and OGH denotes a crucial node in this as it has surpassed all the previous offensives both in its scale and brutality. Though OGH is supposed to wipe out the Maoist movement it is in fact aimed to suppress every genuine democratic demand of the people, particularly for Jal, Jangle and Zameen [land, water and forest resources]. That is why the Maoists, democratic organizations and individuals and the people are at the receiving end of this offensive... Our beloved comrades who were killed in Malkangiri are mostly Adivasis who have taken upon themselves the duty of fighting the neo-liberal policies that are most detrimental not only to the Adivasis but all other exploited and oppressed masses in our country. Protesting their "encounter" [murders disguised as an armed clash] means lending your voice not only against the brutal offensive OGH but also saying a big NO to the pro-imperialist economic policies of the ruling classes. This year alone has seen massacres of people and Maoists in places like Lakadbandha in Jharkhand, Govindgaon, Bhatpar, Sindesur, Medri and Bhagawanpur in Gadchiroli of Maharashtra, in Edesmetta and Puvvarti in Chhattisgarh to name a few. In almost all these incidents both village women and women Maoists were also brutally murdered. All of them belong to the oppressed sections of our country and they have been fighting for the liberation of all oppressed sections in the society. Protesting these massacres should be done by whoever opposes the lopsided development model of the ruling classes and we appeal to every citizen who aspires for democracy in our country to participate in the protest. We appeal to all the genuine democratic organizations, parties and individuals of our country to unequivocally condemn the 14 September massacre and organize and participate in protests against it. We appeal to the people of our country to observe a bharat bandh on 5 October and participate in the protests in huge numbers.