statement by the Anti-Imperialist Front published by Red Flag News.

REST IN POWER COMRADE BASAVARAJ, FRIEND AND SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE!

On the 21st of May, comrade Nambala Keshava Rao, whose nomme de guerre was Basavaraj was martyred in cold blood alongside 25 other Adivasi activists and Guerilla by Hindutva fascist forces during intense clashes in the state of Chattisgarh whilst receiving medical treatment.

The Hindutva fascists, bolstered by their media arm, have demonstrated a habit of claiming supposed victories against the supposed ‘Maoist threat’, when in reality, what they are boasting of is the brutal violence against their own peoples, primarily the indigenous Adivasi communities, peasants, workers and oppressed castes. While mass organisations and civil society demand peace talks amidst heightened anti-people brutality, the path taken by the state and its lackeys in the CRPF has shown itself to slavishly defend whatever shreds of bourgeois power still exist in the face of the mighty people’s war. All in the name of reinforcing corporate and military dominance within the forests and communities in Bastar and Chattisgarh at the expense of these populations.

Basavaraj’s sacrifice shall be cherished for the international communist, anti-fascist and anti-imperialist movements around the world. His practise is one forged in the steel of the PLGA’s rifles and the hearts of people of conscience from the red bases of India to the rest of the world. His martyrdom has indeed shaken the international communist movement, but we reiterate that with the power of the revolution, as seen in the mass movement of students, peasants, Adivasis, youth and their people’s army, his death can only be viewed as a minor setback in the wider path for the realisation of new democracy, equality and progress for the Indian people. After all, the masses are the makers of history.

LONG LIVE THE PEOPLES WAR IN INDIA!
LONG LIVE THE CPI (MAOIST)!
DOWN WITH HINDUTVA FASCISM!

IT IS RIGHT TO REBEL!

Anti-Imperialist Front, Britain, 23/05/2025