Lugansk communist: ‘Donbass is in great need of international solidarity’ interview by Greg Butterfield

Workers World interviewed Maxim Chalenko, Secretary of the Communist Party – Lugansk Regional Committee in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LC). Chalenko is a founder of the Forum of Communist, Socialist, Workers’, Environmental and Anti-Fascist Forces. He helped to organize the Donbass International Forum titled “Anti-Fascism, Internationalism, Solidarity” held on May 8 in Alchevsk. This is part 1 of the interview.

Maxim Chalenko speaks at rally in Lugansk on May Day 2015.
Photo: Communist Party - Lugansk Regional Committee

Workers World: Where did you grow up and go to school? How did you become involved in the communist movement?

Maxim Chalenko: I was born on June 30, 1980, in Severodonetsk, in the Lugansk region [then part of Soviet Ukraine]. I spent most of my youth in Lugansk city, where my family moved in 1990. I graduated from Lugansk School Number 57, then East Ukrainian State University with a degree in history and archiving.

I’ve been active in the communist movement for 17 years. In 1997, I joined the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Ukraine (the youth organization of the Communist Party of Ukraine). I organized protests for the restoration of students’ rights in 2000-2003, and became a member of the Communist Party of Ukraine in 2000.

In Kiev, I was active in the movement "Ukraine without Kuchma" in 2002, when police violently broke up our tent camp. Later I organized a series of protests of workers and miners in the Lugansk region.

I was elected secretary of the Zhovtnevy District Committee of the Communist Party in Lugansk, then secretary of the Communist Party – Lugansk Regional Committee, Secretary of the Lugansk Municipal Committee of the Communist Party, and as a deputy to the Lugansk Regional Council.

WW: As a young person, what it was like to live through the collapse of the Soviet Union?

MC: As the son of a Soviet soldier, the collapse of the USSR hit me very hard. The destruction of this great country, whose cornerstone was to protect the workers’ interests, made many in the military burn with a desire to defend the Soviet Union. But unfortunately, after the collapse, those actively serving in the military were forbidden to speak of the USSR.

Many communists began to focus their efforts and energy on trying to build a just, socialist society within the framework of the national states formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, including us in Ukraine. Perhaps this was one of the main reasons for our failures.

In my opinion, the disintegration of the Soviet Union into national states, which each went into its own socio-political process, only sped up the transition from the socialist to the capitalist path. A powerful, ideologically cohesive communist movement was then split and disorganized.

WW: Tell us about the activity of the communists in Lugansk following the U.S.-backed coup in Kiev in February 2014.

MC: After the anti-people coup in Kiev -- and even during it, at the end of 2013 -- we organized the first militia squadron to protect the civilian population of Lugansk from fascism. Our goals were to protect the population from aggression, provocations and attacks by neo-fascists, and to protect monuments related to our history and culture. We worked to block the arrival of neo-Nazi militants from the West.

We also took on the important task of opposing attempts by the Lugansk authorities to negotiate the conditions for their surrender to the Kiev junta. After all, capitalists in power are indifferent to the problems of the people; all that is important is to preserve and increase their capital. We understood this, and moreover, saw it happening in practice.

Powerful politicians, dominated by members of the Party of Regions, were negotiating the surrender of Lugansk to the neo-fascists. With the tacit consent of the Kiev junta, they appointed new regional heads of the Interior Ministry, Prosecutor's Office and Security Service of Ukraine, whose purpose was to suppress the anti-fascist resistance in Lugansk.

We proposed to organize a broad anti-fascist front to stop the spread of fascism to the East and also raised the issue of geopolitical choice. At that time the issue of the restoration of the USSR came to the fore.

In the face of resurgent fascist ideology, including aggressive nationalism, we must intensify international work to demand the restoration of the USSR. We believe that now more than ever we have the basis to do it.

WW: What organizing and activities have you conducted since the start of the war?

MC: In April and May 2014, Lugansk residents were very worried about Slavyansk [in neighboring Donetsk] and its inhabitants, who were subjected to Ukrainian military aggression. We organized the first collection and shipment of humanitarian aid from Lugansk to the defenders of Slavyansk. No one realized that in a month we ourselves would need help.

Later, when the war came to our door, we actively engaged in the collection and transfer of humanitarian aid to Lugansk from Russia. We were really helped by the Communist Party committees of Rostov and Voronezh. These two areas border Lugansk, and even before the war we had established a wonderful comradeship with them. We appealed for help and they immediately responded, organizing the collection of food, medicine and clothing through their party structures. Almost every week throughout the summer, we brought this assistance into the LC.

Then, in early September, when the ceasefire agreement was signed in Minsk, we held a re-registration of the party ranks and started to restore our party structures. Some people had left, some had disappeared and did not respond to phone calls. Several communists were killed. The secretaries of the party committees were scattered, mainly engaged in solving problems in their cities. At that time communication and transportation were restored, and within a few months, we restored ties with all local organizations.

WW: Why did you decide to organize an international solidarity forum this spring?

MC: There were two reasons: First, it was the landmark 70 anniversary of the victory of socialism over fascism [the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II]; second, and most important, today the left-wing in Donbass is in great need of international support and assistance from allied organizations.

In spite of high ideals, including our own, the movement of the People’s Republics along the socialist path has not been simple and unambiguous. Yes, at the initial stage, all the revolutionary movements of the streets and squares were associated with anti-fascism and the desire of the majority of the population to take the socialist path of development. But no one really voiced the slogans “factories to the workers” and “land to the peasants,” and the socialistic character of the republics remained only in form but not in essence.

The forum was significant in that it gave youth of Europe and the world an understanding of the conditions in which we are fighting today.

Part 2
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/lugansk-communists-work-to-create.html


Democracy and Class Struggle was from the outset a supporter of the right of self determination for the people of Lugansk and Donbass even if we have had some criticisms of the leadership of the movement which needs to break internally  with anti oligarch populism for socialism and move from anti hegemonism to anti - imperialism on the external front.

Our counsel from afar was self reliance as the only way forward and we are pleased to see this has increasingly been the practice of Prizrak (Ghost) brigade.

We like Lenin never believed in a pure socialism of everyone simply lining up on one side and others lining up for the other side for capitalism and the other side for socialism  - real life is never so clear cut - and we welcome Russian Grandma's and Old Believers as part of the struggle for a future for Lugansk and Donbass even as we criticise the ideas of Alexandr Dugin for their absence of the modernity of the 21st Century and casting us back to the fundamentalism of the old believers of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The people of the Donbass are like the people of Wales and they are our class brothers and sisters hewn from the Coal seams and and the Iron and Steel works - a hardy people like our people and that is why we have confidence in their victory has we have in our own. 


30/07/2015

Lugansk communists work to create "fighting left" to confront crisis interview by Greg Butterfield

Workers World interviewed Maxim Chalenko, Secretary of the Communist Party – Lugansk Regional Committee in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LC). Chalenko is a founder of the Forum of Communist, Socialist, Workers’, Environmental and Anti-Fascist Forces. He helped to organize the Donbass International Forum titled "Anti-Fascism, Internationalism, Solidarity" held on May 8 in Alchevsk. This is the second part of the interview.

Maxim Chalenko (top left) with other participants
in the Donbass International Forum.

Workers World: The Donbass International Forum was hosted by the Ghost Brigade anti-fascist militia in Alchevsk. How did that come about?

Maxim Chalenko: Originally, we planned to hold the forum in Lugansk city, but due to the worsening military confrontation and internal political situation, we decided to hold it in Alchevsk, the second largest city in the region. An invitation was extended by Brigade Commander Alexei Mozgovoi, who was ideologically a communist though not a member of the party, and he played an important role. I think the decision was correct; we not only held the forum, but also supported our ideological comrades in Alchevsk. [Mozgovoi and four other Ghost Brigade members were assassinated on May 23.]

WW: What were your impressions of the forum? What was achieved?

MC: One of the main objectives was to consolidate the efforts of leftist and anti-war organizations of the world on the issue of Donbass. This goal must seem very romantic, given current geopolitical realities, but we have already achieved some important steps.

The forum brought together a large number of left-wing organizations that are interested in the situation of the anti-fascist resistance in the Donbass. Generally, our situation is quite unusual, and I’m aware of the many contradictions and disputes among leftists around the world in relation to our assessment of events, and most importantly, how communists, internationalists and anti-fascists should operate in these conditions.

Even during the forum, on a par with the wishes for victories in the struggle against fascism in Ukraine, there were questions about the role of the left in the events in Ukraine and Donbass. What position should we take in a situation where the main question is which side to take in a geopolitical confrontation? The answer is very complex and the opinion of one person or national organization is not enough.

By and large, this was the second key objective of the forum: to begin a dialogue about the role of the left in events spurred by the geopolitical confrontation in southeastern Ukraine.

WW: The forum also announced the creation of an international solidarity committee. What will this body do?

MC: We are working for the creation of an international solidarity movement with Donbass, which we hope will be a platform to define a unified ideological position on the situation in Donbass and the forms and methods of work for left-wing political forces in these conditions.

To that end, we have initiated these projects:

1. Assist in the formation of a Committee for Solidarity with Donbass in every country of Europe and the world.

2. Analysis of the situation in the Donbass, preparation of reports, information, and messages about the social and political environment.

3. Preparation and holding of international seminars, round tables, presentations, conferences and meetings related to the current situation in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics of Donbass.

4. Organization of solidarity actions, like those which took place following the death of Brigade Commander Mozgovoi.

5. Publication of newspapers, pamphlets and books.

6. Struggle against political repression in Ukraine, informational pickets in support of demands to release political prisoners in Ukraine. Creating a list of repressions in Ukraine. Picketing of Ukrainian embassies in Europe. Protest rallies in Kiev.

7. Promoting media that openly and honestly cover the events taking place in Donbass.

8. Creation of online media resources to disseminate accurate information about the situation in the struggling republics.

WW: How do you see the role of communists in Lugansk today?

MC: Today the communists in Lugansk, as well as in Ukraine, are experiencing a serious systemic crisis. We were not prepared for a serious geopolitical confrontation here, could not give an ideological assessment as the events were occurring, or answers on how to proceed.

In fact, this problem is not unique to Lugansk. Here the issues were thrust to the forefront by the acute confrontation and war on our territory. But a similar trend is weakening leftist movements with repression and splits throughout the former Soviet Union. I'm afraid that we may soon witness the failure of the last bastion of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Russia.

It must be understood that the potential for progress envisioned by communists after the collapse of the USSR has already completely exhausted itself. If we do not find adequate answers and develop new ways of working, we will be excluded from the country’s political life for many years to come.

Therefore, in Lugansk, it is necessary to consolidate all communists around a unified organization, and then develop a new strategy and methods of work for its realization. We must search for new social bases for the party among the working class to enhance its capacity and size. And most importantly, develop a clear position on where we are going and what is the role of the left in the modern realities of the young Lugansk and Donetsk republics.

Another important issue is establishing an international left movement that will develop a concept of a fighting left in the new "post-unipolar" world that is today being built by the actions we have actively participated in.

WW: What is your vision for the future of socialism in Donbass?

MC: In many respects, it depends on whether we communists find successful ways of working to ensure the movement of the republics along the path of socialism, rather than something that may appear socialist in form, but is essentially a neoliberal state.

We are developing an organization to unite all supporters of socialism-communism under the name "Union of the Left of Donbass," and to the extent possible, to influence the political development of the republic.

Respect and revolutionary greetings to all comrades!

Part 1

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/lugansk-communist-donbass-is-in-great.html
 

Democracy and Class Struggle was from the outset a supporter of the right of self determination for the people of Lugansk and Donbass even if we have had some criticisms of the leadership of the movement which needs to break internally  with anti oligarch populism for socialism and move from anti hegemonism to anti - imperialism on the external front.

Our counsel from afar was self reliance as the only way forward and we are pleased to see this has increasingly been the practice of Prizrak (Ghost) brigade.

We like Lenin never believed in a pure socialism of everyone simply lining up on one side and others lining up for the other side for capitalism and the other side for socialism  - real life is never so clear cut - and we welcome Russian Grandma's and Old Believers as part of the struggle for a future for Lugansk and Donbass even as we criticise the ideas of Alexandr Dugin for their absence of the modernity of the 21st Century and casting us back to the fundamentalism of the old believers of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The people of the Donbass are like the people of Wales and they are our class brothers and sisters hewn from the Coal seams and and the Iron and Steel works - a hardy people like our people and that is why we have confidence in their victory has we have in our own. 


30/07/2015


 

   

Injustice and the Migrant : No Justice in Calais !

 

Democracy and Class Struggle says the hysteria in the British Media about migrants in Calais show how the ideas of justice and humanity live uneasily within the British Capitalist State.

Modern neo liberal capitalism is the engine that drives people to the shores of Europe just as Anglo/American Imperialism robs and bombs its way across the globe creating the crisis that it then blames on others  - especially its victims.

The article below is by Tim Chester is against the tide of racism and xenophobia and holds to human values of justice and humanity but we also need to recognise the class character of mass migration and defend the poor and dispossessed of their dignity has human beings as the same system that robs us our rights and dignity also robs migrants of theirs.

The British State is always happy to discuss immigration on the media as it acts as a lightening rod for peoples anger against the neo liberal capitalist system and diverts people from the necessity of global and national class struggle to overthrow the Jurassic neo liberal capitalism which tries to create carnivores and cannibals of us all fighting and devouring each other instead to creating the basis for the transition to revolutionary socialism - a form of society long overdue which can ensure the survival of the human race.

End the inhumanity of neo liberal capitalism before it ends us or it will not just be our hearts buried in Calais but humanity itself.

30/07/2015
 

 

 

LONDON —Another man died in Calais Tuesday night. The victim, believed to be in his late 20s and from Sudan, was crushed under the wheels of a truck as he tried to stow away on a vehicle bound for England.

He's not the first - nine have died since June - and he almost certainly won't be the last.

He was one of some 1,500 people attempting to enter the Channel Tunnel that connects northern France with England on Tuesday night, a huge desperate wave that followed quick on the heels of a surge of some 2,000 on Monday. Eurotunnel, who say they have blocked around 37,000 attempts since January, insist it's a "nightly occurrence."

See also: 1,500 migrants storm Eurotunnel at Calais leaving one dead

 

As the situation escalates, France deployed extra police and the Home Office pledged to spend £7 million on 1.2 miles of extra fencing.

Here's a look at some of the popular myths around the people lining up to reach England, and their motivations

 

Myth 1: Britain is getting flooded with more migrants than anywhere else

 

The UK received over 29,000 asylum applications in 2013, according to a report from Oxford University's Migration Observatory, placing it fourth in the European Union after Germany (126,000), Sweden (54,000) and France (66,000). As for the number of asylum applications per capita, the UK places 16th out of 28.

By 2014, applications to the UK had grown to 31,300, according to The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), far lower than Germany (173,100), Turkey (87,800), Sweden (75,100), Italy (63,700) and, for that matter, the U.S. (121,200).

The migrants at Calais represent a tiny fraction of the displaced people across Europe, UNHCR’s Andrej Mahecic insists. “They are a symptom of what’s happening elsewhere,” he told Mashable. "The big crisis in the Middle East and Africa is pushing an increased number of people to cross the Med.

Very few end up in Calais. Most end up in other countries, mainly Germany and Sweden.”

 

Very few end up in Calais. Most end up in other countries, mainly Germany and Sweden.”
By the end of last year, refugees, pending asylum cases and stateless persons made up just 0.24% of the UK's population, the UNHCR say, adding that "the vast majority of refugees stay in their area of displacement."

The Oxford University report concludes that "for many reasons, including geographical location, the UK currently receives below the EU average number of asylum claims per capita, and receives fewer asylum seekers in absolute numbers than several other EU member states."

Myth 2: Britain is a "soft touch" for asylum seekers

 

 

An accusation that's fired again and again, with the Mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart, insisting, "everyone who comes to Calais, comes because they believe they will be looked after if they get to Britain."

"Under British rules they get free accommodation, they can work on the black market easily and they are given money. For poor people from Africa this is very attractive.

Britain is too soft on migrants."

Adult asylum seekers are offered £36.95 per week, or £43.94 if they're a lone parent. Couples get £72.52. In France, adults receive £56.82 per week.

The offering is purposefully meagre - amounts paid were deemed "cripplingly low" by Refugee Action last year - and many other EU countries offer more appealing options. Sweden, Germany and Italy allow asylum seekers jobs if they fulfil certain criteria, for example.

Illegal migrants, on the other hand, can't work, can't claim benefits, don't have a legal right to healthcare and are subject to deportation if discovered. Cameron announced in May he would seize the wages of any workers who are found to have entered illegally or overstayed as proceeds of crime.

Immigration was a key battleground at the general election in May, with most of the main parties promising a hardline approach and the victorious Conservatives insisting that migrants will have to wait years to be eligible for certain benefits. They pledged to reduce net immigration from 243,000 to under 100,000.

Myth 3: Migrants are coming for your jobs

 

Asylum seekers can look for work if their claim has taken more than a year to process.
However, the majority of the migrants huddled in makeshift camps have other things on their minds, having fled war and persecution, from countries including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan.

 

"Many making the perilous journey are coming from conflict, human rights abuses and so on," UNHCR's Mahecic told Mashable. Their main priority at this point is finding refuge.

 

Myth 4: Migrants are coming for your houses

 

Asylum seekers are indeed offered "a flat, house, hostel or bed and breakfast," but they have no choice where to live, and places in London or south-east England are highly unlikely.

For every "Asylum seekers housed in hotel with 'spectacular sea views'" headline, there are nine people crammed into a room in another spot.

As the Red Cross points out, asylum seekers don't get offered council houses, but specific and often cramped accommodation. If refugee status is given, they have to pay for housing or ask for government help like any other UK citizen.
 

 

 

Solidarity from Lugansk and Donetsk with Istanbul and Kobane by Prizrak (Ghost) Brigade and Borotba

Solidarity Statement from Borotba in Turkish and English

Derneği "Borotba" Türk ve Kürt artık eşitsiz olan solcular savaşı ile dayanışma ifade iki cephede de İslam faşistleri hükümet baskı ve teröre karşı.

Sosyalist gençlik yaz kampı barbarca bir saldırıda 30'dan fazla arkadaş, yüzden fazla yaralı hayatına mal oldu. Faşist İslam Devleti tarafından terör eylemi için Türk solcular intikam bilinen İslamcı militanlar IG bir cevap verdi.

Türk Hükümeti sadece İslami faşist terör örgütü işi bastırmak değil, ama aslında onların tarafına Komünistlerin baskı üzmeye geldi. Solcu katliamı İstanbul ve diğer şehirlerde eylemciler, Kürdistan bombalama sosyalizm savaşçılarının tepkiye neden oldu. Şimdi İstanbul Gazi Mahallesi'nde gerilla-Komünistler ve halk mücadele eden Türk ordusu milisleri girdi ile Kürdistan Bölgesi askeri polis güçleri ile eşit olmayan bir savaşa girdiler.

Biz, Ukraynalı Komünistler, Türk ve Kursky yoldaşların mücadele, dayanışmamızı. Sağ Naziler sol ve muhalefeti yok etmek için hükümetin elinde, halka gözdağı zaman durum aşina. Ukrayna Komünistler ve Türkiye ve Kürdistan Komünistleri mücadele mücadele bir savaş.

Faşizme karşı Birleşik cephe ve emperyalizme – ve İstanbul cobán için Lugansk ve Donetsk!

Union Borotba expresses its solidarity with the Turkish and Kurdish leftists that now lead an unequal battle on two fronts -- against government repression and the terror of Islamic fascists.

A barbaric attack on the Socialist Youth summer camp claimed the lives of more than 30 comrades, and more than 100 were injured. Turkish leftists responded to this act of terror by the fascist Islamic State with retribution against known Islamist militants.

The Turkish government has not only failed to stop the Islamic fascists’ terrorist network, but actually assist them, by unleashing a crackdown against the communists. The massacre of leftist activists in Istanbul and other cities, and the bombardment of Kurdistan, have provoked a reaction from the fighters for socialism. Now in Istanbul's Gazi neighborhood, communist guerrillas and local residents are engaged in an unequal battle with paramilitary police forces, while in Kurdistan the militia has entered into battle with the Turkish army.

We, the Ukrainian communists, express our solidarity with the struggle of our Turkish and Kurdish comrades. We know firsthand how a right-wing government uses fascists to destroy leftists and oppositionists, to intimidate the population. The struggle of communists in Ukraine and the struggle of communists in Turkey and Kurdistan is one struggle.

United front against fascism and imperialism -- from Lugansk and Donetsk to Istanbul and Kobáne!

 

Democracy and Class Struggle applauds the struggle of the Prizrak Brigade whose political understanding has deepened over the last year - for your anti oligarchic struggle to succeed you have to raise the struggle for socialism and not just populism and for the external situation to change you must not just be anti hegemonic but anti imperialist .

 

 Red Salute to the Prizrak Brigade in the frontline of struggle against Fascism and Imperialism.

 

 

 

India: Charu Mazumdar : Carry on the Struggle Against Modern Revisionism

 

 

We shall have to carry on daily the struggle against revisionism, adopting the tactics of area-wise seizure of power. Certain revisionist ideas are firmly rooted inside the party. We shall have to carry on the struggle against them. We are discussing some questions here.

(1) The question that has assumed importance today in the struggle against revisionism is the complete support given by the Soviet leadership to the reactionary ruling class of India.

They have announced that they will give India an aid of Rs. 600 crores during the Fourth Five Year Plan.

The idea that Soviet aid is strengthening India's Independence is extremely wrong.

For, there is no class analysis behind this.

We shall have to place clearly before the people our views against this support. If support is given to the government of India which is following the path of co-operation with imperialism, and feudalism, it is the reactionary class which is strengthened.

So Soviet aid is not strengthening the democratic movement of India, but is increasing the strength of the reactionary forces in co-operation with US-led imperialism and the Soviet.

It is the Soviet-US. co-operation of modern revisionism that we are observing in India—a satanic association against the people's liberation struggles in the future.

We are seeing from our experience in India that the dominance of the big monopolists exists on the production of the big industries that have grown in the public sector with Soviet aid.

So the State will not be able to control the power of the monopolist employers through public sector industries, it is the monopolist employers who are controlling the production of the public sector industries. Our experience is the same in both the cases of steel and petroleum.

(2) The question that has become important to us to-day is bourgeois nationalism. This nationalism is extremely narrow and it is narrow nationalism that is today the biggest weapon of the ruling class. This weapon they are using not only in the case of China, but also on any question like Pakistan, etc. By raising the slogan of national unity and other slogans, they want to preserve the exploitation of monopoly capital.

We should remember that the sence of unity of India has arisen as a result of anti-imperialist movement. As the Indian Government is carrying on compromising with imperialism, that sense of unity is being struck at its root.

There is only one aim at the root of the slogan of unity given by the present ruling class, and that is unity for the exploitation by monopoly capital. So this slogan of unity is reactionary and Marxists must oppose this slogan.

The slogan—"Kashmir is an inalienable part of India"—is given by the ruling class in the interest of plundering. No Marxist can support this slogan. It is an essential duty of the Marxists to accept the right of self-determination by every nationality.

On the questions of Kashmir, Nagas, etc., the Marxists should express their support in favour of the fighters. The consciousness of a new unity will come in the course of the very struggle against this government of India of imperialism, feudalism and big monopolists, and it is in the interest of the revolution that it will be necessary to keep India united then.

That unity will be a firm unity. It is from this consciousness of nationality that there have been struggles in South India against the imposition of Hindi and 60 people have lost their lives in this year of '65. So if the significance of this struggle is belittled, the working class will isolate itself from the struggles of the broader masses. It is in the interest of the working class that the efforts for development of these nationalities should be supported.

(3) "Establishing class analysis in the peasants' movement". At the present stage of the revolution the entire peasantry is the ally of the working class, and this peasantry is the biggest force of the People's Democratic Revolution of India and it is by keeping this in mind, we shall have to march forward in the movement of the peasantry.

But all peasants do not belong to the same class. There are mainly four classes among the peasants—rich, middle, poor and landless—and there is the rural artisan class. There are differences in their revolutionary consciousness and ability to work according to the conditions. So Marxists must always try to establish the leadership of the poor and landless peasants over the entire peasant movement.

The mistake that is often made while analyzing the class of the peasants is to determine it on the basis of the title deeds of land. This is a dangerous mistake. It has to be analyzed on the basis of their earning and level of living.

The peasant movement will become militant to the extent we establish the leadership of the poor and landless peasants over the entire peasant movement. It should be remembered that whatever fighting tactics is accepted on the basis of the support of the broad peasantry, it can never be in any sense adventurism.

It should be remembered that all these years, basing ourselves on the support of the non-peasantry we have looked for narrowness of the peasant movement, and whenever repression came we thought that there must have been some adventurism. It should be remembered that no movement of the peasants on basic demands will follow a peaceful path.

For a class analysis of the peasant organization and to establish the leadership of the poor and landless peasants, the peasantry should be told in clear terms that no fundamental problem of theirs, can be solved with the help of any law of this reactionary government. But this does not mean that we shall not take advantage of any legal movement.

The work of open peasant associations will mainly be to organize movements for gaining legal benefits and for legal changes. So among the peasant masses the most urgent and the main task of the party will be to form party groups and explain the programme of the agrarian revolution and the tactics of area-wise seizure of power.

Through this programme, the poor and landless peasants will be established in the leadership of the peasant movement.

(4) From 1959, on every democratic movement of India, the government has been increasingly launching violent attacks. We have not given leadership to any active resistance movement against these violent attacks.

We gave the call for passive resistance in the face of these attacks, like the mourning procession after the food movement, among such instances. We shall have to remember Comrade Mao Tsetung's teaching—"Mere passive resistance against repression drives a wedge in the fighting unity of the masses and invariably leads to the path of surrender."

So, in the present era during any mass movement, active resistance movement will have to be organized. The programme of active resistance has become an absolute necessity before any mass movement. Without this programme, to organize any mass movement today means to plunge the masses in despondency.

As a result of the passive resistance of 1959, it was not possible to organize any mass rally on the demand for food in Calcutta in the years 1960-61. This organization of active resistance will arouse a new confidence in the minds of the masses and the tide of struggle will arise. What do we mean by active resistance? First, preservation of cadres.

For this preservation of cadres, proper shelters and communication system are necessary. Secondly, teaching the common people the techniques of resistance, like lying down in the face of firings, or taking the help of some strong barrier, forming barricades, etc. Thirdly, efforts to avenge every attack with the help of groups of active cadres, which has been described by Comrade Mao Tsetung as "Tit for tat struggle."

At the initial stage, in proportion to their attacks, we shall be able to avenge a few attacks only. But if even a little success is gained in one case, extensive propaganda will create new enthusiasm among the masses. These active resistance struggles are possible in cities and in the countryside, everywhere. This truth has been tested in the Negro resistance movement of America.

(5) There is no clear-cut idea in the Party about the underground organization. A secret organization does not grow merely if a few leaders stay underground. On the contrary, these very leaders face the danger of getting isolated from the Party ranks. If party leaders go underground and work as leaders of open mass organizations, they will invariably get arrested. So the underground leadership will have to go forward with the work of building a secret Party.

So, it is not a fact that the task of forming a secret Party is solely that of the underground leaders; every Party member should work for the secret organization and through those new Party cadres the Party's links with the masses will be established. Only then the underground leaders will be able to work as leaders.

So in this era, the main call before the Party is—every Party member will have to form a Party Activist Group. These Activist Groups will have to be enthused with revolutionary politics. This task of forming Activist Groups will be the main task for all Party members of all fronts. How soon we can raise these activists to Party membership will depend on how many new activists these activists will be able to collect.

Only then we can get a large number of Party cadres unknown to the police and all the difficulties of underground leaders in maintaining links with the party ranks will disappear. Some revisionist ideas among us, about political and organizational matters and mass organizations etc. have been pointed out here.

Today Party members will have to think anew about every mass movement. In the style of our movement, in our organizational thinking, in other words in almost every sphere of our lives, revisionism has built its nest. As long as we cannot uproot it, the new revolutionary Party cannot be built, India's revolutionary possibilities will be hindered. History will not forgive us.

India: May the name of Charu Mazumdar and Tarimela Nagi Reddy be written in red bood by Harsh Thakor

 

The following article is the personal view of Harsh Thakor and not the view of Democracy and Class Struggle and is published for discussion

Salutes to both Tarimela Nagi Reddy and Charu Mazumdar on their martyrdom and death anniversary on July 28th,today

May their names be written in letters of gold.Both were truly great communist leaders and made a great contribution to Indian Revolution.

Today revolutionaries celebrate the martyrdom day of comrades Charu Mazumdar and Tarimela Nagi Reddy.

Sadly certain streams that uphold T.Nagi Reddy do not uphold Charu Mazumdar and the main organization ,the C.P.I.(Maoist) upholding Charu Mazumdar does not recognize T.N as a true revolutionary. In fact we must also remember Comrade Devullapali Venkateswara Rao.

Today we recognize the contribution of such comrades as immortal who asserted that we are a semi-feudal,semi-colonial country and demarcated from revisionism.

I was pleased that a Punjabi Communist revolutionary journal Surkh Rekha ,on martyrdom anniversary posted photos of CM and T.N.

This reflects the correct approach.It is fascinating that before the merger of the 2 organizations into the Communist Party-Re-organization centre of India (Marxist Leninist) the Central Team never accepted Nagi Reddy as a true revolutionary while the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India did not uphold Charu Mazumdar.

When merging both parties agreed that each played an important role and that only when the final party conference of the re-organized Communist party is held can the verdict be decided on the corrrectness of the formation of the C.P.I.(M.L.) in 1969.

In earlier documents of 1978.82 and 89 the Central Team group virtually rejected any constituent that did not have it's roots in the legacy of the 1969 . C.P.I.(M.L.)

Their work together in Punjab facilitaed their merger.The earlier jounals of Unity Centre of Comunist Revolutionaries of India of later even Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India unanimuously did not recognize the Charu Mazumdar led C.P.I.(M.L).

The Central Team insisted that the 8th central Commitee of the C.P.I.(M.L.) should be reestablished which existed till 1972,while all other centres were revisionist.

One important historical development of the C.P.I.(Maoist) was it's recognition of C.P.I.(M.L.) and M.C.C.and Kanhai Chaterjee.(The M.C.C did not recognize the 1969 C.P.I-M.L.).These unities depict the importance of unity in sphere of practice rather than just past history or theoretical exchange.

Even the C.P.I.(Maoist) should uphold the contribution of T.Nagi Reddy and apply his teachings or lessons on the mass line.

Both leaders made mistakes but we need to make a synthesis of their positive and negative points.

Appropriately they are commemorated together. in a meeting to be held in Tanjore,Tamil Nadu.Earlier erstwhile C.P.I.(M.L.) Peoples war group or erstwhile U.C.C.R.I.(M.L.) never commemorated both leaders.Peoples war group villified Nagi Reddy while U.C.C.R.I.(M.L.) termed C.M.as a terrorist.

TALK BETWEEN SOUREN BOSE AND CHOU EN LAI

In memory of Charu Mazumdars martyrdom on July 28th I am posting an abridged version of a historic talk in 1970 between Souren Bose and Premier Zhou En Lai.

It is one of the best examples of proletarian internationalist help.and proves that the C.P.C.did not play a big -brother role over communist parties of other countries.

It contains the suggestions of C.P.C.leader Chou En Lai.

On October 29th,1970 premier Zhou gave his views on the C.P.I.(M.L.) of Charu Mazumdar to Com.Bose.

This is an invaluable work on mass line re-printed by Red Flag publications.

Notable,is the premier's view of Lin Biao's military theory and how it is alienated from political line..I recommend all readers to obtain this leaflet.

1.The Chinese party grew and developed by fighting alien trends-both left adventurism and right deviation.

2.The Chinese Revolution became successful with 3 magic weapons a.the Party b.People's army c.the United Front.

3.To call a chairman of one party as the chairman of another party is wrong,and,it will would the national sentiment of the working class of a country.

4.Your idea of united front is wrong stating that it will come into being only after the formation of base areas.,The United front comes into being at every stage of struggle,again again it breaks down.

The worker-peasant unity is it's main basis.The characterisation of the entire bourgeoisie as comprador is wrong.Some exploiter sections have to be united.

5.It is wrong to reject open trade Union,open mass organizations and mass movements and to solely uphold secret assasination.Formally we misunderstood what you meant as 'anihilation.'We used to think that the idea is taken from Charmain's war of annihialtion'.But from 1970 issue of liberation we came to understand that this assasination meant secret assassination.

6.You have wrongly and mechanically applied Chairman Lin Biao's theory of peoples war. It was only a military affair having no relation to political and organizational questions.During the anti-Japan war resistance we had an army of 10 lakhs ,at that time some army comrades raised the slogan that positional and mobile warfare were the only means to mobilise people.

7.The formulation that a revolutionary dose not make his hand red with the blood of class enemies then he is not a communist.

With this yard stick a Communist party would not remain a communist party.

8.No emphasis on agrarian revolution and slogan in connection with seizure of State power.No agrarian programme and state power is counter-posed to land problem.

9.Without mass struggle and mass organization the peasant's armed struggle cannot be sustained.The CPC supported Naxalbari struggle not merely as a struggle of seizure of state power.

Red article in 'Spring Thunder' published in China to support Naxalbari.

10.The authority and prestige of a leader cannot be created but has to be developed.

11.The general orientation of C.P.I.(M.L.) is correct but it's policy is wrong.

Quoting Kanu Sanyal,Souren Bose,Kolla Venkaiah ,Nagbushan Patnaik,Chowdhary Tejeswara Rao and D.Bhuvan Mohan Patnaik on November 4th,1972."

To our great disappointment Charu Majumdar our general secretary did not accept any of the criticisms,nor the Central Committee.

He refused to circulate the criticism amongst party members.Comrade CM was principal;ly responsible for the deviations and all members of the central Commitee cannot shirk responsibility.

We call on all party members and sympathisers to make a firm critique of the C.C. and plead them to owe responsibility for the gross errors.

The path of the movement deviated from the path of the glorious Naxalbari uprising."

In addition Premier Zhuo explained how dangerous it was to organize red guards in schools and in big cities. as the C.P.I.(M.L.) did and was critical that the party Congress was held in a big city.

Personally I feel the 6 Indian leaders were theoretically correct but practically too harsh on Charu Mazumdar who needed more time to rectify his errors.

In the mist of a major upheaval and chaos Charu could not correct his errors so quickly.

Remember later even erstwhile groups like C.P.I.(M.L.) Peoples War felt that Charu Mazumdar tried to correct his mistakes at the end.

 

 

Marxism Leninism Maoism Study Course in London - Starts 8th August

We will begin with Marxism-Leninism-Maoism Basic Course Part 1 Written by Indian comrades and produced for us in English by Serve the People, Norway.

If you wish to attend contact : nickglais@yahoo.co.uk 

See Also;
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/marxism-leninism-maoism-and-mao-tse.html

End Gurkha Recruitment Now ! Oppose Imperialist Army Recruitment

 

 

 

Red Salute to the Event at Marx Memorial Library on the 16th August 2015 from 16.00pm to 20.00 pm

 

See :

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/804883099624575/permalink/804883226291229/

Kurdish Protest at BBC in London and Mass Kurdish Rally In Paris and Protest in Berlin All Condemn Turkey and its Attacks on the Kurds

Wales: Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr condemns the recent murderous attack on Suruc in Turkey , near Kobani against Turkish and Kurdish people who were helping to rebuild the  city of Kobani.

The Turkish State plays a perfidious role in Middle East supporting ISIS in its attacks on the Kurdish and Turkish people.

The Turkish State must relentlessly be exposed for it collaboration with ISIS and Imperialism.

Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr supports the Kurdish People in their struggle for independence and condemns all the intrigues with ISIS and Imperialism against the Kurdish People.

The many dead and injured remind us of the urgent need for Welsh International solidarity for the people of Suruc and Kobani.

Long Live Welsh People's Solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Kurdish Struggle for National and Social Liberation.

Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr

23/7/15

See Also :http://www.todayszaman.com/national_intelligence-failure-negligence-in-deadly-suruc-blast-exposed-in-official-document_394317.html


See Also : http://greatunrest2012.blogspot.co.uk/2014


DEMOCRACY AND CLASS STRUGGLE SAY :

The Turkish policy of live and let live towards ISIS has not changed fundamentally just cosmetically,

The policy towards PKK is kill and kill and marks Erdogan and his road coming to an end soon.

SEE ALSO:

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/26072015

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/25/us-mideast-crisis-turkey-kurds-idUSKCN0PZ06020150725

October 4th 1943 Posen : Heinrich Himmler on Russian Military Leadership

 

　

Speech of the Reichsführer--SS
at the SS general officers' conference in Posen
on 4 October 1943

　

The Russian Leadership

Next -- the war situation. I begin with Russia. As -- I think it was in 1937 or 1938 -- the great show trials took place in Moscow and the one-time Tsarist lieutenant and later Bolshevik General Tukhachevsky and other generals were shot, we in the Party and the SS shared the common view in Europe, that with this the Bolshevik system, that with this Stalin had committed one of his greatest mistakes.

In this judgement of the situation we were absolutely mistaken. This we can establish for certain.

I believe that Russia would not have endured the two years of war -- and she endures already a third year of war -- if she had kept the earlier Tsarist generals.

She has, I suggest, made the political commissar a general, or selected the same who rose out of the Red Army as commander, as general, so that he could simultaneously be a political commissar.

The strongest supporter for the Bolshevik -- doctrine, I can call it, not world-view -- is there simultaneously commander and leader.

　


Source for German text:
International Military Tribunal, Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, 14 November 1945 - 1 October 1946, Nuremberg Germany, 1948; Volume 29, Document 1919-PS, p. 111,
a reprinting of -SS bei der SS-Gruppenführertagung in Posen am 4. Oktober 1943."
described as follows:

　

Rede des Reichsführer--SS
bei der SS-Gruppenführertagung in Posen
am 4. Oktober 1943

[...]

Die Russische Führung

Zunächst die Kriegslage. Ich fange mit Russland an. Als -- ich glaube, es war 1937 oder 1938 -- in Moskau die großen Schauprozesse stattfanden und der ehemals zaristische Fähnrich und spätere bolschewistische General Tuchatschewski und andere Generäle erschossen worden, da waren wir in ganz Europa, auch wir in der Partei und in der SS der Ansicht, dass damit das bolschewistische System, dass damit Stalin einen seiner grössten Fehler begangen hätte. Wir haben uns in dieser beurteilung der Lage absolut getäuscht. Das können wir wahrheitsgetreu einmal feststellen. Ich glaube, Russland hätte die zwei Jahre Krieg -- und es steht jetzt im dritten Kriegsjahr -- nicht durchgehalten, wenn es die früheren zaristischen Generäle behalten hätte. Es hat, das stelle ich voraus, den politischen Kommissar zum General gemacht oder denjenigen, der aus der Roten Armee als Kommandeur, als General hervorwuchs, so ausgesucht, dass er zugleich politischer Kommissar sein konnte. Der sturste Willensträger der bolschewistischen -- Doktrin möchte ich es nennen, nicht Weltanschauung -- ist zugleich dort Kommandeur und Führer.


SEE ALSO:

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-soviet-german-war-1941-1945-myths.html


http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/stalingrad-on-february-2-1943-battle-of.html


http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/henry-metelmann-personal-account-


https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/tukhpdf.pdf




　

India: Kobad Ghandy Letter to Friends and Relatives from Tihar Jail-3

Letter to Friends and Relatives from Tihar Jail-3

Monday 20 July 2015, by Kobad Ghandy

The following letter reached us late. We are thus belatedly publishing it for the benefit of our readers in general and Kobad Ghandy’s friends and relatives in particular.

This is to thank you all ever so much for the support you rendered, in so many ways, against the harassment I have been facing since the past nine months due to routine three-four monthly jail transfers.

This method of routine jail transfers is a notorious weapon of harassment (earlier used as a form of punishment), more so at my age, with all my serious ailments.

One can say it was intended, consciously or unconsciously, to cripple me or, even worse, to see that I do not come out alive. And sending me to Jail-8, which has one of the worst living conditions of all High Risk wards (and maximum deaths compared to the other nine jails), was the proverbial last straw.

Though my health was already frail, I had no alternative but to resort to hunger strike, as all my appeals in this regard since the last year (and to be put in the Senior Citizen ward since three years), had fallen on deaf years. It was the prompt action by all of you that saw me back in my earlier cell and prevented the decline in my health becoming irretreivable.

By the sixth day of my fast, on June 4, my condition had seriously deteriorated. I was continuosuly dizzy and nauseus, my BP had dropped, my weight was reduced six kilograms, and even two bottles of intraveneous drip that day did not help much. By the evening of that day I felt my health may not be able to take the strain much longer.

But fortunately that very evening the DS (of Jail-8, all of whose staff showed consideration about my health) told me that I was to immediately move back to Jail-3. This time, with all the assistance given, I came back to my earlier cell (with the facilities) in Jail-3. It was 9.30 pm, and it was then that I broke my hunger strike with food given by neighbouring inmates.

Such quick results would have been incon-ceivable (I am not yet sure about the assurance to not be transferred in the future) had it not been for your tremendous support outside, and the jail authorities realising the extent of inhumanity involved. Though the DG-Prisons seems a humane person (just a month earlier he had positively intervened in a complaint against the smo on my health issues), bureaucratic procedures, like such transfers, function machine-like, with no conside-ration for individuals, just numbers; so a 25-year-old petty-bladebaz and myself get put on the same plane.

For my quick return I thank you all very much.

Special thanks must go, first and foremost, to those who helped carry the message out (inmates and others); second, to the lawyers who put in enormous efforts; third, the journalists, particularly those who helped make it a human and social story nationally (I am told); fourthly, and most importantly, relatives and friends who showed the type of concern one rarely sees; and finally all the many silent (and not-so-silent) supporters who enabled the drops of support become an ocean of sympathy.

Last but not the least, though I am still to know what transpired outside, a special thanks to the PUDR which is said to have negotiated some agreement. I, of course, may not know for some time as to what transpired, as I have discovered they have stopped my mulaaquat for 15 days (first time ever) and a PUDR representative was turned back from the jail gates on Tuesday (June 9).

 This is not a positive omen (I gathered this from a phone call the next day), and so your support may be needed in the future. But, for now, a peaceful resolution to a painful problem has been settled, the details of which I will know later.

Meanwhile, the Delhi case drags on and on, with no end in sight; maybe the Delhi judiciary/lawyers need to take a lesson from the Marathi film ‘Court’.

Kobad Ghandy
Tihar Jail-3
Date: June 12, 2015 New Delhi

P.S.: On June 11 the Law Officer visited our ward and verbally assured me that I would not be transferred; but here verbal assurances need further confirmation.

SOURCE: http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article5815.html

SEE ALSO : http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/fight-for-unconditional-release-of-com.html

The Ages of Empire - The universal and the particular

Whilst this video deals with the universality of Empire our comrades in the Yr Aflonyddwch Mawr in Wales are dealing with the particularity of the injustice of British Empire in Carmarthen - Wales exposing the beast of Trinidad - Sir Thomas Picton and calling for justice retrospectively for Luisa Calderon.

                     Injustice and Empire are synonomous

See  Also : http://greatunrest2012.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/picton-unveiled-sir-thomas-pictons.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/injustice-and-empire-sir-thomas-picton.html

                              Sir Thomas Picton - The Beast of Trinidad

 

See Also : http://greatunrest2012.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/sir-thomas-picton-khafra-kambon-told.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/luisa-calderon-victim-and-survivor-by.html






Internal Colonialism by England precedes the rise of the British Empire - the English conquest of Wales a template for colonialism applied centuries later in India, Africa and West Indies.

See Also : http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/englands-first-colony-wales-study-in.html

Shouresh the Revolutionary Maoists of Iran : Open Letter to the oppressed and exploited at the bottom of society of United States

See PDF here : https://shouresharchive.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/an-open-letter-to-english3.pdf

VISIT SHOURESH SITE HERE : http://www.shouresh-iran.com/search/label/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA

 

See Also :

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/behrooz-navaii-statement-by-maoist.html

‘Projecting Me As An Urban Face Of The Maoist Movement Is Part Of A Larger Conspiracy’: GN SAIBABA

Delhi University professor and rights activist GN Saibaba was released on “temporary bail” after 18 months of incarceration in solitary confinement in Nagpur Central Jail, Maharashtra. In an interview he says that his arrest and harassment throw up larger questions over the means and ends of counterinsurgency and the nature of the Indian State that uses the Maoist label to silence dissent

Edited Excerpts from an interview

In 14 months of imprisonment, you have been denied bail four times. Now that you have got temporary bail, what do you see ahead of you?

Health is my priority right now. I am extremely weak now. Apart from a heart condition, I have several other ailments that have become worse during the period of captivity. A few of my organs are failing and if I don’t take treatment for it, I might not survive. I had never experienced anything like this and the government is to be blamed for it.

How did your family and friends cope with your absence?

When I was arrested, my mother, wife and daughter were given immense support and care, thanks to the friends I made in Delhi. The college where I teach also took care of the financial needs of my family. Many staged campaigns for my release and I see this as a great gesture on their part. So, in many ways, when I sat in my cell, I was at peace when I thought about my family.

How did the Delhi University administration respond to your arrest?

According to the rules of the Central University Act, when a professor is suspended, he is entitled to 50 percent of the salary for the first three months. Then it must be hiked to 75 percent. But, the DU administration, bypassing the rule, only paid me half the salary over 14 months. This affected me badly, especially when I have several loans. They would have also thrown my family out of the staff quarters if it wasn’t for the court order.

While you were in jail did your wife face any harassment?

You could have asked this question to my wife, but I can answer this, since I was a part of the ordeal that she went through. My house was raided for the first time on 12 September 2013. There were many police personnel on my premises.

It was extremely difficult for my daughter, wife and mother to move around because they kept following them day in and day out. Noticing these intimidating tactics, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman had told the police commissioner of Delhi, “No one should be planted before their house.” But, soon after my arrest, plainclothesmen began appearing before my house. My wife was followed and she received threatening calls.

Whenever she carried books or stationary for me, the jail authorities wouldn’t allow her to give it to me. She would also try to come over to talk to me which they would stall as much as they could.

Worse still, I never got the medicines that my wife brought for me. Both of us would remain unaware of this until her next visit. As a result of this, my wife also spent sleepless nights. In a way, my wife, along with me, suffered the same kind of torture and harassment.

There was news of your hunger strike in jail. Why did you choose such a course?

While I was in the prison, I had to write letters to the trial court seeking small facilities such as a toilet, a table, fruits and a cot. Considering my physical condition, I couldn’t sleep on the floor. Each time that I wrote a letter to the court, it always ruled in my favour. But none of the court rulings were implemented. Usually, inmates speak through the gap in their cell door.

I couldn’t do that because of my wheelchair. So, the court passed an order allowing me to interact with visitors outside of my cell but within the jail premises. This was also not followed by the jail authorities. The only time they did anything in my favour was when there was a hearing over my bail application. Then, they used to provide me with whatever they can and take those things back as soon as the application got rejected.

This happened to me over four times in a circular loop. In the month of April, my wife was not allowed to visit me. That is when I went on a hunger strike. In a week, I fell unconscious because I wasn’t having foods or medicines that I was supposed to have.

Soon, I was admitted in a government hospital. Subsequently, the court passed another order to transfer me to a private hospital and even that wasn’t implemented. By the month of May, my condition worsened. It was then that the doctor, who treated me, trained adivasi boys (prisoners) at the anda cell to take care of me.

These boys hailing from Chhattisgarh and Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) were taught first-aid techniques and they kept me awake every time I lost consciousness. This was also the time when the court passed an order asking the authorities to provide me with five helpers and an air-conditioner or a cooler. These ,too, did not happen. By then, my condition worsened. It was during this time that The Hindu published a report on my state of health and an activist, Poonam Upadhyay, whom I had never met or known, had emailed the chief justice, throwing light upon my sad plight.

This is by no means a comparison. But before you were abducted by the intelligence officials, a physically challenged jnu student, Hem Mishra, was also taken by the authorities due to his alleged Maoist activities. While you have had tremendous support and were even featured on the cover of a magazine, Hem Mishra was largely forgotten. Can one say that there are many such Hem Mishras in prison?

Hem is a brave boy. He was subjected to third degree torture in the jail for 28 days because he was asked to follow a script.

They told him to confess that ‘Saibaba had Maoist links and was going to give them (Maoists) information.’ Even after being tortured to such lengths, I never thought someone would show such strength and bravery. I fully agree with what you say. I was in the cell for 14 months and given a temporary bail. Hem, who is 60 percent physically challenged, is in the cell for the past two years and he has not been given a bail at all.

But, then again, if Hem went through 28 days of torture, imagine those neglected adivasi boys who were tortured continuously for 400 days! Which court allows the police to keep a prisoner in custody for so long? Nobody cares about these things.

In a 2013 affidavit filed at the Delhi High Court, the erstwhile UPA government had stated the following: “The ideologues and supporters of the CPI (Maoist) in cities and towns have taken a concerted and systematic propaganda against the state to project it in poor light. It is these ideologues who have kept the Maoist movement alive and are in many ways more dangerous than cadres of People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA).” Do you think that the State identifies you as someone who was trying to push forth the politics of the Maoist movement in urban spaces?

My protest against Operation Green Hunt had nothing to do with the Maoist movement. It was about fighting against genocide. I feel it is foolish to think of me as the ‘urban face’ of the Maoist movement. I think this idea of projecting me or Arundhati Roy as ‘urban faces’ is part of a larger conspiracy. All of us occupy autonomous places as intellectuals, writers and so on. In these spaces, we attempt to engage with whatever that comes our way. My study as a researcher and teacher tells me to engage with literature and read about various types of struggles. I think, as intellectuals, all of us must take part in people’s movements and study it. So by saying that we are ‘urban faces’ of the movement, the state is only trying to pull us down.

So then why did states such as Odisha and Andhra Pradesh ban the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF)?

The RDF wasn’t talking about armed struggle in these two states. In Odisha, the conditions of the people were worsening day by day. At that time, the RDF had proposed people’s alternative model of development.

For instance, we proposed small changes over the large ones of the government. For instance, we called for the construction of small dams instead of large, so that they do not displace people and create environmental disasters. Soon, people starting taking to us seriously and the miffed Odisha government banned us.

In Andhra Pradesh, too, a similar story happened. Despite the imposition of such a ban, no RDF member was arrested over any activity in either of these states. But, in Delhi, a state where there was no ban on RDF, I, a member of the RDF, was arrested over my alleged Maoist activities. I was also transferred to the Nagpur Central Jail in Maharashtra, another state that had no ban on the RDF. So, in this case, the reasons that led to my arrest are obviously different.

You were under suspicion during the previous UPA regime. A week before the Modi government came to power, you were arrested. How do you draw a line between the two regimes?

(Laughs) I think you can tell me more about it as you were staying outside. I was kept in a cell for 14 months, so I don’t think I can analyse the present government. I wasn’t given newspapers to do that.
 

http://www.tehelka.com/projecting-me-as-an-urban-face-of-the-maoist-movement-is-part-of-a-larger-conspiracy-gn-saibaba/#.VaT4ZyzC7jE.facebook