Press Conference held by FACAM in Delhi, India
Featured image: Some of the speakers during the press conference. Source: 7 Star TV News.
On 3rd of November a press conference was held by the Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization (FACAM) in Delhi, India.
This conference was on the current repressive operations by the old Indian State, including the Surajkund Scheme, the Operation Kagaar, and within them, the extensive use of fake encounters as well as illegal detentions of activists, under the use of draconian laws as the UAPA.
The event received several messages, among them, one from Ajith, who denounced the role of the old Indian State in handing over the resources of Central India, where the Adivasis resist, to the foreign and national corporations. Ajith highlighted the role of Comrade Basavaraj, martyred General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in the struggle against the genocidal policies of the old Indian State, and denounced recent manipulations about Comrade Basavaraj:
“The government, in violation of all norms, refused to hand over the bodies of these comrades [Comrade Basavaraj and those who fell with him] to their relatives for proper burial. Instead, it secretly moved the bodies and cremated them. In this way, the Indian government has brutally exposed its inhuman nature. In addition to this, some traitors led by the Sonu-Rupesh faction are now accusing Comrade Basavaraj in the most despicable manner. They say that he gave up arms and supported surrender. Thus, they are mocking the heroic resistance shown by Comrade Basavaraj and his comrades, despite being numerically inferior and facing a much superior enemy force. Those comrades chose to fight till the end. They were not ready to surrender. Instead, they held the flag of revolution high in true communist tradition and set a great example of sacrifice.”
The full message can be read on his webpage:
During the event several speakers spoke out. Gurkirat, student from Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch, who was illegally detained, denounced the increasing repression, torture and bogus cases against students and intellectuals; Shanti Priya, the wife of late Central Committee member of Communist Party of India (Maoist) Katta Ramchandra Reddy, denounced the torture she faced in her own arrest and the fake encounter which ended with the life of his husband; Raja Chandra, son of Katta Ramchandra Reddy, spoke about the manipulation post mortem to hide the evidence of the fake encounter and torture that took place; Ravi Narla highlighted the Adivasi armed resistance and the murder of unarmed Maoists by the old Indian State; Damodar Turi, anti-displacement activist from Jharkhand, denounced the fake encounters.
Avani News published the speech by Himanshu Kumar, who highlighted that under the guise of fighting “Naxalism”, the old Indian State is unleashing a criminal offensive against “anyone who is against patriarchy, against casteism, against their Brahminical dominance—they are all their enemies.”
After the event a booklet titled “White Terror in the Mainstream” was released at the press conference. Karwaan-e-Inquilab, a Delhi University based cultural group present a song on the anti-displacement movement at the end.
Some parts of the event were recorded and published:
