COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST)
CENTRAL COMMITTEE & DKSZC
Press Release
24 October 2016
Boycott the 17th anniversary celebrations of the formation of Chhattisgarh state in protest against the anti-people policies of Raman Singh Hindu-fascist government!
Demand stringent punishment for Raman Singh, Kalluri and others guilty of perpetrating heinous crimes against the people of Bastar!
Modi-led Hindutva-fascist government must be held accountable for the genocidal campaign against the Adivasi masses!
On 25 March 2011, a joint force of Chhattisgarh Police, central paramilitary forces and Special Police Officers (SPOs) carried out a massive arson, loot and murder campaign in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. At least three Adivasi villagers were brutally murdered, many were mercilessly beaten up, several women were raped and 252 houses were burnt down in Tadimetla, Morpalli and Timmapur villages during this genocidal campaign. These barbarities were widely condemned by the revolutionary and democratic parties, organisations and individuals of Chhattisgarh and the country at that time. They demanded an impartial inquiry and the punishment of the guilty police and paramilitary officers and jawans. Instead of responding to the just demand of the people, however, Raman Singh government had blatantly tried to protect the mercenary terrorist armed gangs of the state by completely denying their culpability. The government and the officers of Chhattisgarh Police made a futile attempt to escape responsibility by putting the blame on the Maoists for the attacks, a claim which nobody except the die-hard lackeys of the imperialists and the ruling classes ever believed. This was at a time when the affected people were saying loud and clear what the government armed forces had perpetrated in their villages.
As has been the long-standing practice in the areas of intense people’s movements, in this instance too the government and its forces tried by all means to suppress the truth of their heinous crimes against the people from coming out. Just as they are doing in the ongoing third phase of Operation Green Hunt, Raman Singh government and the police at that time tried to prevent the social and civil liberties activists, journalists, intellectuals, well-wishers of the Adivasis, advocates and the democratic forces and even Congress and CPI from raising their voice and standing in solidarity with the masses facing state terror. A team of social activists led by Swami Agnivesh who were going on a fact-finding visit to the affected villages were attacked by Salwa Judum goons under the direction of the notorious murderer SRP Kalluri who was posted as Dantwada SSP at that time and his political bosses, particularly the neo-Nazi Hindu-fascist ringleader Raman Singh. Swami Agnivesh and Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the lies of the police and holding the police and Salwa Judum responsible for the attacks. The court directed the CBI to enquire into the incident.
After several years, CBI has now finally come up with its findings which it submitted to the Supreme Court in a report on 21st October. Exposing the blatant lies of Raman Singh government and Kalluri, CBI has concluded that the Maoists were in no way involved in the incidents in the three villages as well as the attack on the social activists. It held Special Police Officers (SPOs), the jawans of paramilitary-police forces and top police officers leading them squarely responsible for these incidents. Following these findings, social activists, democratic and civil rights organisations and individuals, opposition parliamentary parties like Congress, AAP and Chhattisgarh Congress, etc., have demanded that Kalluri be removed from his post immediately as his involvement has now come been confirmed by CBI itself. They complained that the police have been denying their role for the last five years in spite of the overwhelming evidence to show the involvement of government armed forces including the SPOs. But now the government has no scope to hide behind lies since an organ of the fascist Indian state itself was compelled to admit the truth which the people of Bastar and outside were saying for a long time.
It has been reported that more than 20 political parties and social organisations of Chhattisgarh have come together to start a united movement demanding the government to act on the CBI report and punish Kalluri and other guilty police-paramilitary officers, jawans and SPOs. This initiative should be welcomed and supported by all the revolutionary and democratic forces of the country. Without doubt, neo-Hitlerite police officers like Kalluri deserve severest of punishment for their innumerable crimes of all kinds against the Adivasis in the past and the present. Such mass murderers and gangsters in khaki uniforms and saffron clothes always enjoy protection from the reactionary ruling classes for acting as their faithful running dogs. They hardly ever get punished by the judiciary. It is not surprising that in spite of numerous allegations of heinous crimes such as massacres, fake encounters, mass rapes, arson and loot, etc. in the past, Kalluri has been promoted to be the IG (Bastar Range) as a ‘reward’ for his services to the Indian ruling classes, saffron-terrorist BJP and the imperialists. Displaying his servility, Kalluri is presently leading in Bastar the third and most repressive third phase of Operation Green Hunt – the war on the people by the state – in the name of ‘Mission 2016’. This has already claimed the lives of over a hundred Adivasis – an overwhelming majority of whom were unarmed villagers, including a large number of women, who were branded as ‘Maoists’ and killed in fake encounters. Therefore, it is only a strong and united movement that can force the central and state governments to take sternest action against these culprits.
It must never be forgotten, however, that Kalluri and his ilk are only implementing the policies of the governments at the centre and the states that represent the interests of the imperialists and their comprador ruling classes of India. So the mere removal of an individual from his post or the punishment of a few foot-soldiers is not enough. A struggle must be waged for the punishment of Raman Singh, the commander-in-chief of the war on the people of Bastar and chairperson of the Unified Command of the government armed forces in Chhattisgarh. He is responsible for directing the massacre of Adivasis of Bastar in their thousands and the displacement of lakhs of them in the last twelve years of his tenure. Likewise, the Brahmanical Hindu-fascist Narendra Modi-Rajnath Singh-Amit Shah-Mohan Bhagwat clique which is leading the genocide of Adivasis-Moolvasis in the country to pave way for the loot of natural resources at gunpoint in the name of ‘development’ must be held accountable for their crimes. It is therefore necessary that the movement demanding action against Kalluri and other police-paramilitary officers, jawans and SPOs involved in the March 2011 attacks be a part of the movement to resist the fascist war on people waged by the Modi clique, Raman Singh and the saffron gangs throughout the country with the close co-operation of various state governments, no matter whichever party is in power. If this movement is not strengthened, expanded and intensified, it is not possible to stop the ongoing massacre of Adivasis and its intensification day by day across the country.
The Central Committee of CPI(Maoist) welcomes and expresses solidarity with the struggle to bring the culprits of Tadimetla, Morpalli and Timmapur atrocities and attacks on social activists to justice. It appeals to the workers, peasants, democrats, patriots, religious and national minorities, Dalits, Adivasis-Moolvasis, women, students, youth, employees, unemployed and all sections of the people and their organisations, parliamentary opposition parties including Congress, CPI, AAP and Chhattisgarh Congress Party to strengthen this movement with their active participation. Our Party firmly believes that the people of the country will give a fitting reply to the ruling-class elements who have committed untold crimes against humanity and the country’s masses through such barbarities.
In the two years after the NDA government led by Modi came to power, the combined assault of state terrorism and Hindutva fascism is intensifying day by day. The Maoist movement and different democratic movements, Muslims and Christians, Dalits, Adivasis, national minorities, women and other oppressed genders, workers, peasants, intellectuals, academics, students, artists and other sections of the vast masses of people have come under their severe assault. Raman Singh, for instance, promised a hike of additional 300 rupees to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for rice to the peasants but instead it has reduced the MSP by 40 percent. On the other hand, it is spending thousands of crores of rupees on police and paramilitary forces in the name of anti-Maoist operations. Similarly, yesterday the BJP government of Jharkhand resorted to police firing to suppress the people agitating against forcible land acquisition, killing one demonstrator. In such conditions prevailing across the country, the democratic movement to resist this fascist assault must be intensified and expanded by uniting all the forces in opposition to the comprador-feudal Hindutva fascism of BJP and Sangh Parivar. Opposition to the third phase of Operation Green Hunt is a significant a part of this resistance.
Maoist revolutionaries have taken up arms for the just cause of the people and the country after all peaceful avenues for the people to establish genuine democracy, freedom, sovereignty, self-reliance, progress, prosperity and people’s political power were closed by the country’s reactionary rulers. The history of our country and other semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries of the world has shown conclusively that only through a protracted people’s war can these objectives be achieved. Nevertheless, the CC of CPI(Maoist) is open to holding talks with the government in perusal of the cause of the country and the people. But the country’s rulers have shown no seriousness about talks, peace or the wellbeing of the masses. Top government functionaries like Rajnath Singh are portraying the revolutionary movement fighting for the sacred cause of the people and the country as a criminal and terrorist movement and are issuing repeated calls for surrender. At the same time, they are deploying more and more armed forces and introducing more and more lethal weapons including combat helicopters to suppress the people, raising more armed forces and vigilante gangs and taking further repressive steps.
It is quite obvious that under such conditions the Supreme Court’s suggestion for peace talks between our Party and the government will remain a dead letter. Subverting the spirit of Supreme Court’s suggestion, Chhattisgarh Home Minister Ramsewak Paikra has insisted on peace talks only after the Maoists to give up ‘violence’ and join the ‘mainstream’. This is nothing but a thinly veiled call to the Maoists to surrender. It demonstrates the unwillingness and insincerity of the government towards peace talks. Kalluri has stated that the morale of the government forces will go down if the people demand punishment for the perpetrators of the barbarities in Tadimetla, Morpalli and Timmapuram. But the reason behind such statements is to carry out further barbarities and repression of the people by silencing all voices of opposition. The CC, CPI(Maoist) hopes that the genuine democratic and peace-loving forces of the country will continue their efforts to force the Modi and Raman Singh governments to stop their genocidal war on the people, which alone can open-up the possibilities for peace and create a conducive atmosphere for talks.
- Boycott the 17th anniversary celebrations of the formation of Chhattisgarh state from 1 to 5 November 2016!
- Demand the dismissal of Raman Singh and Kalluri!
- Stand in solidarity with the struggling peasants of Chhattisgarh demanding Rs.2,500 for per quintal of paddy as MSP!
- Demand scrapping of all MoUs signed with MNCs and domestic big corporates!
- Fight for establishing people’s rights over Jal-Jangal-Zameen!
- Organise protest rallies and public meetings in the villages, towns and cities from 1 to 5 November 2016!
(Vikalp)
Spokesperson
Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC)
CPI(Maoist)
(Abhay)
Spokesperson
Central Committee
CPI(Maoist)
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