New developments in the People’s War in India
Featured image: map of the districts of Chhattisgarh.
In the last weeks there have been, reportedly, numerous actions done by the Indian Maoist guerrillas, which occurred in the framework of the People’s War lead by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) – CPI (Maoist). All these actions on which we report have been carried out in the federal state of Chhattisgarh, a Maoist’s stronghold. During the month of February we have reported on other actions.
During the month of February, two paramilitaries would have been eliminated and another one would have been injured in actions reportedly carried out by the Maoists in the Bijapur district. On Sunday 11th of February a paramilitary was injured after activating an improvised explosive device (IED). On Sunday 18th of February, a commander of the paramilitaries was allegedly ambushed and eliminated with an axe just 200 meters away from the camp where the troops are located. Additionally, on Sunday 25th of February, another paramilitary was eliminated after activating an IED.
In the first week of March there have been two other casualties from the old Indian State: on 1st of March a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was eliminated, after being, reportedly, ambushed with sharp weapons in the district of Bijapur. In the last year, seven BJP leaders have been eliminated in similar circumstances in Chhattisgarh. On Sunday 3rd of March, in the Kanker district, an officer of the paramilitary Bastar Fighters, was eliminated in a shooting with Maoist guerrillas, in which a Maoist guerrilla was also allegedly eliminated. But regarding this Maoist casualties, nowadays these figures given by the old Indian State are being questioned. In the Chhattisgarh district the repression against the Indian people has been exacerbated and there have been several reports of new fake encounters among alleged Maoists and the repressive forces from the old Indian State. District villagers point out that the alleged Maoist casualties achieved by the Indian repressive forces are false, and that they are victims of fake encounters. In this case, three villagers were killed by the Kanker police, which claimed that these murdered villagers were Maoist, but the families of the victims have denied it.
As we have reported, democratic rights organizations denounce this type of repressive practices, such as Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) and Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization (FACAM), and they denounce that these are common cases in Chhattisgarh. These encounters are nothing more than undercover murders of innocent civilians in areas where Maoists have a strong presence. Thus, it is possible to continue terrorizing the population, trying to cut their links with the Maoists and enlarge the official figures of guerrilla casualties given by the old Indian State.
