Philippines: Martyrs of India honored on Commemoration Sunday

We hereby share an unofficial translation of a report published by Philippine Revolution Web Central (PRWC).

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the revolutionary movement of the Philippines honored the martyrs of the Indian people as part of the Martyrs’ Commemoration Week from July 28 to August 3. The annual activity was summoned and launched by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist).

“The Filipino revolutionary forces join the Indian people recognizing the heroes and martyrs who offered the ultimate sacrifice in the heroic struggle against imperialism, feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism and fascism in India,” stated Marco Valbuena, Party information officer.

“The oppressed Indian masses will not have a path to liberation from imperialist domination without the sacrifice of their martyrs in waging revolutionary armed struggle,” Valbuena said. He added that the heroes of the Indian people can also be considered heroes by Filipinos because they sacrificed their lives in the struggle for national and social liberation.

In Southern Tagalog, the regional unit of the New People’s Army (Melito Glor Command) launched gatherings to honor the martyrs of India. Comrade Kathryn, political officer of the people’s army in the region, and Ka Cleo del Mundo, spokesperson of the NPA-Quezon (Apolonio Mendoza Command), led the activities.

The Red fighters made posters and chalk art to pay tribute to the CPI (Maoist), the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army and their martyrs. They particularly paid tribute to Comrade Basavaraju (Nambala Keshava Rao), general secretary of the CPI (Maoist), who was martyred along with 27 others on May 21 at Abhujmad in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, India. Ka Cleo read out the statement of the CPP’s May tribute to Comrade Basavaraju at their gathering.

According to the Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist), it has recorded at least 357 comrades martyred in the past year. These include four Central Committee officials, 16 of state committee level, 23 of district committee level, 83 AC/PPC, 138 Party members, 17 PLGA fighters, six from people’s organs, 34 from the ranks of the people, and 36 others for whom details are not available.

Many of the martyrs were victims of a brutal military operation, dubbed Operation Kagaar, as part of the Modi regime’s counter-insurgency campaign Operation Samadhan-Prahar. Some of the cases involved life-long arrest followed by deliberate killing, a violation of international humanitarian law.

Also martyrs and heroes of the international communist movement in various parts of the world are among those honored by the CPI (Maoist). “The Central Committee pays profound tribute to all the martyrs of our country and the international communist movement. We extend our condolences to the families, relatives, and friends of the martyrs,” the CPI (Maoist) leadership said in a statement.

Many other parties and organizations, including the International Campaign in Support of the People’s War in India (ICSPWI), from various countries joined the Indian Martyrs’ Commemoration Week.

“In both India and the Philippines, increasing numbers of workers, peasants, and oppressed classes will take the revolutionary path, forged and inspired by the enduring legacy of their heroes and martyrs,” Valbuena concluded.