Ashutosh Bhardwaj - Maoist leadership admits depleted strength
After a decade of violence across the country, the CPI (Maoist) Central Committee has admitted that the organisation's strength both in terms of its manpower & arms & ammunition stands considerably depleted, noting that "the enemy damaged our central weapon manufacturing & supply departments, political & military people's intelligence departments". Pointing at its eroding base across the country and decreasing support of the middle-class and intellectuals, it has said that its movement is facing a "critical situation". The Central Committee has also admitted that it faced "political losses" after the abduction of Malkangiri and Sukma Collectors.
These admissions are part of an 11-page resolution that the Central Committee drafted at its fourth meeting earlier this year, the first Central Committee meeting held in recent years — the fourth since the PWG and MCC merged to form the CPI-Maoist in September 2004. The Central Committee, the highest decision making body, comprises about 20 top members and is headed by general secretary or "supreme commander" Muppala Laxman Rao alias Ganapathy. The resolution, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, chalks out an elaborate future strategy to "defeat revisionist and post-modernist theories" as the party enters its tenth year on September 21, and plans to "celebrate this occasion on a huge scale all over the country".
This is the first time that the Central Committee has admitted its depleted strength. Its earlier documents were full of euphoria about Maoist attacks and "victory". A chapter titled "Assessment of the present condition of our countrywide movement" begins with the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, the party's most important guerrilla unit. "In DK (Dandakaranya) mass base decreased in considerable area, the intensity and expanse of the resistance of the PLGA (People Liberation Guerrilla Army) decreased; non-proletarian trends increased in the party and the PLGA recruitment decreased; number of people leaving the party and the PLGA increased. As a result of all these this movement is facing critical situation," it notes.
"The movement in NT (North Telangana) and AOB (Andhra-Orissa Border) is in ebb. Gondia division is continuing in a weak condition since a long period. Due to a series of arrests in the past few years the Maharashtra movement is facing setback," it says. "Due to betrayal of (Sabyasachi) Panda and enemy onslaught, the Orissa movement has weakened a lot. Due to heavy losses to the leadership and subjective forces and due to decrease in mass base the BJ (Bihar-Jharkhand) movement suffered setback," it adds. The resolution notes similar setbacks in the eastern region for "the Paschim Banga movement, Lalgarh movement", and in "Asom" (Assam), saying the encounter of the state committee's secretary and arrests of other comrades has weakened the party.
Stating that the "north regional bureau was completely damaged and movements of various states weakened a lot", the resolution notes that in the south, "the political and organisational weaknesses led to the weakening of the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka movements", further worsened by the arrest of "three state committee members in Tamil Nadu and two in Karnataka and some cadres at various levels". In a major admission about its depleting weapons, the resolution notes, "Between 2009 and 2012, the enemy damaged our central weapon and manufacturing and supply departments, the political and military people's intelligence departments, the central magazine department, central SUCOMO (Sub-Committee on Mass Organisations) and the international department."
Noting that since the third Central Committee meeting, four Central Committee members — Bhupesh, Amber, Sukant and Jaspal —- had been arrested and politburo member Kishenji had been killed, it says: "The countrywide urban movement weakened to a large extent. The movement is facing critical situation as we have not formulated appropriate tactics keeping in view the changing domestic and international social, economic and political conditions... the shortcomings in correcting the non-proletariat trends in our party, PLGA and revolutionary movement, decrease in mass base and recruitment, increase in the number of persons leaving the movement and limitation in the fighting ability of the PLGA."
In another chapter, "On arrest of political prisoners", the resolution admits that the abduction of Malkangiri Collector Vineel Krishna, Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, MLA Jhina Hikaka and Italian tourists did not prove successful as "we faced more losses than political gains through the above incidents" and "we could not get our important cadres released from jail". Significantly, the leaders resolve to "at no cost arrest persons who are not people's enemies", and "not give lot of time to the government to fulfill the demand... when we understand the government is taking an adamant stand, we must annihilate the people's enemy in our custody."
After pointing at a general gloom, the resolution expresses hope in the "favorable material conditions" and "major contradictions sharpening and intensifying inside the country and in the world", and adds that several mass movements against the existing government policies are going on across the country. "We must formulate a strategic plan to overcome the critical situation. The first point in this is strengthening the entire party ideologically and politically, defeating the anti-Marxist bourgeois and revisionist theories, fight back the post-modernist theories," it says.
Chalking out a plan for the next two years, it says "priority should be given to preservation of top level leadership" and "secondary leadership should be developed in a planned manner at all levels". Noting the significance of protracted war, it says "we should carry on guerrilla war to the best of our capacity in all areas and make the plan of the enemy unsuccessful by dragging on this war." The resolution also decides to "intensify political agitation for the unconditional release of senior party leaders Narayan Sanyal, Sheela Di (Sheela Marandi), Kobad Gandhy and Amberda (Purnendu Shekhar)." It says a "defence committee" will be formed and an office opened in Delhi for the purpose, and lawyers appointed "for solving the cases". "Appeals should be made inside the country and internationally for the release of these comrades," it adds.
Taking pride in the fact that the party enters its tenth year on September 21, the resolution plans a series of celebrations to mark the occasion. "Central Committee must bring out a special issue of PW (People's War) on the 10-year occasion. Central Committee comrades should write articles and send to GS (General Secretary Ganapathy) six months prior to its release," it says. "Once again we can create favorable subjective situation and advance for the fulfillment of the tasks given by the Unity Congress (of September 2004)," it adds.
Commenting on the present status of the CPI (Maoist), prominent Leftist ideologue Varavara Rao admitted that "there is no mass organisation now to propagate the philosophy of Marx-Lenin-Mao" and criticised the present mass leaders for giving up the struggle. "Organisations like Narmada Bachao Andolan are more involved in debating violence versus non-violence. The issue is not violence, but justice," he told The Indian Express. Rao, however, expressed confidence that the Naxalbari-Maoist movement will resurrect itself like it has done earlier. "The wave length between the middle-class and the movement has got disconnected now, as it was in 1970s-80s. But, it rebuilt itself later. It's not the first time that the movement is facing this crisis, it will recover. Material conditions are more ripe than earlier."
WHAT THE RESOLUTION SAYS
Present status
* Setbacks in all zones and divisions across the country; north regional bureau 'completely damaged'
* Urban movement 'weakened'; middle-class and intellectual support eroded
* Central weapon manufacturing and supply unit 'damaged'
* Movement facing 'critical situation'
Future plan
* Abduction of 'political prisoners' has limitations, to be used selectively
* 'Preserve' top leadership, develop 'secondary leadership' at all levels
* Strengthen party 'ideologically and politically',
defeat 'revisionist' and 'post-modernist' theories
* Rectify 'non-proletariat trends' in the party, intensify guerrilla war
See also:
Dilip Simeon: On the Salwa Judum
Jairus Banaji: Fascism, Maoism and the Democratic Left
JNU SFI unit condemns murder of T P Chandrasekharan
A Hard Rain Falling - private armies & political violence in India-EPW, July 2012
JNU SFI unit condemns murder of T P Chandrasekharan
A Hard Rain Falling - private armies & political violence in India-EPW, July 2012
