New actions in the People’s War in India
Banners of Maoist guerrillas in Rayagada, State of Odisha. Source: Odishabytes
From the beginning of the month until now there are several reports of guerrilla activities in numerous territories of India. This activities are part of the ongoing People’s War lead by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) (CPI(Maoist).
Many of these actions are linked with the struggle lead by the Maoists with the poor peasantry against the expansion of the big construction companies, big mining companies, etc., which are against the interests of the Indian peasantry. In Rayagada, Odisha, Maoists have put up some banners on Sunday 8th of July, on the road between Serakapadi and Niyamgiri. These banners seriously warned the government of the State of Odisha, demanding the stop of the constructions being made in these areas. Also these banners sent a message to the companies, demanding the end of exploitation of peasants of the area in the hills of the Niyamgiri and Sasubahumali villages. The Maoist guerrillas sent another similar warning against Dharmararao Baba Atram, who is a new Minister of the State of Maharashtra, and is responsible of opening six new mines in the district of Gadchiroli.
In the State of Chhattisgarh, on Sunday 23rd of July, the Maoist guerrillas detained and executed a police informer. This occurred in the district of Narayanpur. Chhattisgarh is one of the areas which are causing more troubles to the Indian State. In the State of Chattisgarh, the Indian State is unable to eliminate the Maoist activity, and, as we reported earlier, even the Maoist presence is being increased.
The State of Jharkhand is the area with most of the Maoist activities in thMap-india.pngMap-india.pnge last weeks, and where the Indian State is putting more efforts and resources now to try to stop the People’s War. The anti-Maoist operation continues: the 17th of July one Indian police officer was injured after he triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Afterwards, the Indian Police deployed a huge number of policemen to try to detect and capture Maoists in the area. But after one week they have not obtained big results. On 24th of July another police officer was injured in the same circumstances than the previous one, by an explosion of an IED.
The Maoists guerrillas carried out further actions in the State of Jharkhand: on Wednesday 19th of July a group of Maoist guerrillas raided a camp of a construction company and set fire to an excavator in the village of Tungun, district of Chatra. The same day, in the district of Latehar, a police informer was killed. The guerrillas also emphasized that the locals should focus their attention in the problems of the people, for example the forced evictions of the peasantry.
The casualties suffered on the side of the repressive forces of the Indian State are inside the context of a reactionary offensive against the People’s War. This offensive is being carried out in several States simultaneously. For example, from the end of June there are reports that are pointing out the reinforcement of the CPI(Maoist) in the area of Magadh, State of Bihar. The Indian State has detained several alleged Maoists, but the research still continue.
Numerous activists and groups are pointing out that these repressive campaigns and their results are being exaggerated by the Indian State: for example, anyone who has a “Marxist” book, can be defined as Maoist and then charged, and this is happening to a lot of students and activists. Therefore, the Indian State is detaining a lot of common people just to increase their numbers and “success” of their operations. Also, the CPI (Maoist) stated that are fake around one third of the alleged casualties caused to the Maoist guerrillas in encounters with the Indian State during the last year. These fake casualties were because other causes as diseases, old ages or other contexts. Therefore, the Indian State is inflating the figures and the alleged success of their anti-guerrilla operations.
