USA: The Black Panther Party : Remembering and Celebrating - The Women of the International Section of Black Panther Party

Harsh Thakor Reports on Delhi Protest against Malkangiri Massacre and Operation Green Hunt

HARSH THAKOR SAYS SALUTE DEMONSTRATION IN JANTAR MANTAR IN NEW DELHI TODAY  CHALLENGING THE IRON FEET OF OPPRESSION ON THE MAOIST COMRADES AND ADIVASIS IN MALKANGIRI.

IT SYMBOLIZED THE ANTI-FASCIST VOICE OF ALL SECTION S OF THE ENTIRE PEOPLE OF INDIA WHOSE DEMOCRATIC RESISTANCE IS CRUSHED. 

ONE OF THE BEST ORGANIZED PROTESTS AGAINST STATE REPRESSION EVER IN NEW DELHI. 

Today New Delhi witnessed one of it's most vociferous and militant protests challenging state oppression ever in it' s history.

It gave the vibrations of a huge red torch of resistance .illuminating .Speakers and activists represented a huge range of section sand organizations.

It was heartening to see so many trends from the Marxist-Leninist camp participating be it the Maoist,Liberation,C.L.I  or New Democracy trend.

Speakers stressed on resurrecting the spirit of the Naxalbari armed struggle launched 50 years ago and none termed the Maoist  movement as 'terrorist.'

In earlier times many participating sections termed the Maoist movement as 'path of terrorism or anarchism'.

This was a healthy change.

In no protest before was such united rage expressed like thunder and lightning appearing.

From 12 noon to 3.30 the venue was literally lit alight.

It was impressive to also see participation of intellectuals who explained how oppression lay in the base of the socio-political and economic state of the country.

Overall over 100 people participated.I received a most encouraging report from comrade Saurabh who described it as one of the most memorable protests ever.

It is a lesson for comrades to organize mass protests irrespective of political differences.

Significant that even a leader of the Communist Party of India expressed dissent.

It proved how broad the united democratic front could be.

No doubt very progressive political orientation was expressed in the protest today.

PRESS RELEASE
2nd November 2016


A Report of Protest Demonstration at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, condemning the massacre in Malkangiri District, Odisha.

Condemning this brutal massacre conducted by the paramilitary forces, hundreds of intellectuals, cultural activists, democratic rights activists and individuals came together to register their protest on 2nd November at 11 am at Jantar Mantar.

The protest meeting was conducted by Sourabh, a democratic rights activist in Delhi. D. Raja, Rajya Sabha MP from CPI, strongly opposed this assault on the people fighting for their right to land and life and reminded us that this is an attack not just against one political party but against any voice that dares to stand up against the fascist regime at the centre.

He noted that any individual or organization that stands at the forefront of people’s resistance and raises their voice is brutally attacked by state forces. In these times, he found that we need to build a larger unity against fascism as every space for democratic dissent is under attack.

Dr. GN Saibaba, Professor in Ram Lal Anand College in Delhi University and democratic rights activist revisited the facts made available through the media.

The evidence of such a brutal massacre marks a pre planned operation meant to destroy and crush adivasi assertions across the country.

He found that since our so called political independence, this is the largest such ‘encounter’ conducted by the state.

In such a time, it becomes crucial to remember that this area and the people resisting the state were fighting against the acquisition of land for Bauxite mining worth lakhs of crores to the Central and state government. Aparna, CPIML (New Democracy), reiterated the brutality of the attack where bodies appeared to have been mutilated and posed as encounters.

These encounters, she found, have been staged and these people were brutally killed in cold blood.

She demanded that those who are in police custody be produced in a court of law and treated as political prisoners. Rakesh Ranjan, professor in SRCC in Delhi University, reminded us of the history of attacks against the adivasi, dalit and poor peasants in this country.

Earlier the policy of Operation Green Hunt was executed across Central India and the citizens of this country were attacked by its own paramilitary.

He found that now the brutality of the paramilitary forces is visible on the bodies of the dead and reflects the policy of the state renamed ‘Mission 2016’.

Mrigank from CPIML (New Democracy) stressed the need to unite at such a time and fight this fascist assault of the state on the people of this country. Girija from CPIML (Liberation) hailed the long history of people’s struggles, from Naxalbari to the fight against brahmanical-fascism today and the need to fight unitedly. Pankaj Tyagi, advocate from Haryana, asserted that this is not just a fight for individuals.

He found that those who were killed fought for their right to jal-jangal-jameen and this is an attack on an ideology and those upholding their rights. He found that those sitting in the boardrooms of democracy were the true terrorists as they orchestrate and execute such brutalities in the name of ‘national interest’.

The killing of 8 members of SIMI in Bhopal, the attack on the people of Kashmir, the repeated violence on dalits across the country and now this massacre in Malkangiri, all these are related and need to be fought together.

Saroj Giri, professor of Political Science in Delhi University, reminded us that the form of violence changes over time and the only way to fight it is by sharpening our struggle.

Members of student organizations like Democratic Students Union, All India Students Association, Krantikari Naujawan Sabha, Bastar Solidarity Network,

All India Students Federation and several such democratic voices spoke in solidarity condemning this fake encounter and raised their voice in unison to fight fascism in order to build a truly democratic society.

On the 24th of October 2016, in the district of Malkangiri in Odisha, adivasis, cadres and leaders of CPI (Maoist) were massacred by security agencies in an unprecedented covert operation. So far in this brutal massacre, about 39 people were killed according to the leaders of adivasi organisations in the region.

The brutality and the secrecy of this joint operation of the police forces of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Central government’s paramilitary forces reveal that it was a well planned cold blooded massacre.

The police announced that 15 people were killed.

But over the next few days it became clear that many more had been brutally killed by the paramilitary forces in a combing operation.

The bodies of those killed revealed brutal marks of torture, heads were cut off, women’s breasts were chopped off and most of the bodies were mutilated to the point where they were unidentifiable.

The names announced by the police did not match the bodies that could be recognized and on the 30th of October, the police buried the remaining bodies by saying that no one came to claim the bodies.

Among the dead, women outnumbered the men. Moreover, the police took 10 adivasis and RK, CPI (Maoist) Central Committee leader, into police custody and have not produced them in court.


All the participants in the protest demonstration united agreed to raising the following demands:

1. Order Judicial Enquiry into Malkangiri Massacre by a Supreme Court judge to establish the facts
2. Akkiraju Haragopal (Ramakrishna, RK) and 10 others under the custody of Andhra Pradesh government should be immediately produced in a court of law
3. Stop Devastating Adivasi Villages in the name of Combing Operations and stop harassment of adivasis
4. All those responsible for this massacre, including police and paramilitary personnel, should be charged with murder.

ABSF, AIPWA, AISA, AISF, BASO, Bastar Solidarity Network – Delhi Chapter, BSCEM, CAFAU, CFI, CPI, CPI (ML) New Democracy, CPI (ML) Liberation, CRPP, DSU, IMK, KNS, Matidari, NCHRO, NFIW, Nowroz, PUCL, PUDR, WSS, PFI and others.

Norway : Verdicts in the Great Norwegian State Frame Up of SOS Racism

Verdicts so far in the great Norwegian State frame up of SOS Racism is that three comrades have got sentences to serve time.

Our Comrades Kjell Gunnar Larsen, Bjarne and  Trond has got sixty days - given the years the Norwegian State have prosecuted this case and the millions spent on it by Government this is a victory for comrades who exposed in Court this frame up by Norwegian State for all to see

.
Our Comrades Kenneth Fuglemsmo, and  Jan Erik  and Anne Elizabeth Hansen and Henrik Ormasen got six months probation no jail time.

Democracy and Class Struggle salutes the struggle of Norwegian comrades who waged a protracted struggle in the Norwegian Courts against the Norwegian State and its frame up - given the millions spent by the Norwegian State and the years taken comrades should  take some satisfaction with their struggle.

Red Salute to Norwegian Comrades

Norway : Verdicts in the Great Norwegian State Frame Up of SOS Racism

Verdicts so far in the great Norwegian State frame up of SOS Racism is that three comrades have got sentences to serve time.

Our Comrades Kjell Gunnar Larsen, Bjarne and  Trond has got sixty days - given the years the Norwegian State have prosecuted this case and the millions spent on it by Government this is a victory for comrades who exposed in Court this frame up by Norwegian State for all to see

.
Our Comrades Kenneth Fuglemsmo, and  Jan Erik  and Anne Elizabeth Hansen and Henrik Ormasen got six months probation no jail time.

Democracy and Class Struggle salutes the struggle of Norwegian comrades who waged a protracted struggle in the Norwegian Courts against the Norwegian State and its frame up - given the millions spent by the Norwegian State and the years taken comrades should  take some satisfaction with their struggle.

Red Salute to Norwegian Comrades

India: Release the injured RK and 9 adivasis, the prisoners of war, and respect the international law - Varavara Rao

                                           Varavara Rao      

Release the injured RK and 9 adivasis, the prisoners of war, and respect the international law - Varavara Rao

Statement from Revolutionary Democratic Front 

This time the Greyhounds and their Odisha counterparts were taking no chance. About 80 of them, armed to the teeth, were ferried by copters to Munchingput three days before they attacked their targets.

With only dry fruits to sustain them, they covered the 25 km carefully to avoid being spotted.

At times we moved 200 mts in two hours and there were occasions when we sprinted 2 km in 30 minutes. We swam across rivulets and crawled on our bellies?, said a Greyhounds commando on condition of anonymity.

They maintained radio silence and reached the designated area based on GPS inputs.

The assault team closed in on the camp in a v formation and opened fire, leaving only one side open for the Maoists to flee.

The escape side had a hillock and we did not encircle the camp, as our men might be hitin the cross fire. Even before the lone sentry could fire and alert the sleeping cadres, we struck and their retaliation was not to the expected scale, said a senior police officer engaged in anti-Maoist operations.

Sources said the planning took place with consultations between the top police and paramilitary officials posted in Odisha, AP and Chattisgarh and with inputs from IB.

This is the excerpt from The Hindu website dated 31st October 2016.

This strengthens our allegations that the AOB Encounter is not a real one but one sided attack by the AP Greyhounds, their Odisha counterparts and the central governments paramilitary forces.

 It was a planned cold blooded murder.

This was the biggest ever Encounter which in its first phase concluded on the 29th of October due to incriminating weather resulted in the death of 32 people in total started on the midnight of the 23rd October.

In the first casualty, it was 18 on the spot in Bejjangi Ramaguda area of Malkangiri district in Odisha. It is also the cut off area near Balimela reservoir constructed between AP and Odisha. This Encounter killing spree continued with 4, then 2 and ended with 4.

We have come to know about it in the morning hours of the 24th. Andhra SIB deliberately gave misleading information.

It was called operation RK. The target was Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna( CPI Maoist central committee member), Gajarla Ravi alias Uday ( Secretary AOB Special zonal committee), Chalapathi (AOB state committee member) and Aruna(Chalapthis wife) .

Earlier in 2004, Gajarla Ravi had participated in the Talks with the government of undivided AP. He was the state committee member of North Telangana SZC.

It turned out that chalapathi and aruna are safe but RK is injured and not out of danger. Since the Greyhounds had failed to kill their target, the DGP and the Rural SP of Visakhapatnam and the DGP of AP are deliberately giving news to divert the minds of the people who are anxiously waiting for the whereabouts and safety of the leaders and cadres of Maoist party and the Adivasis.

On the 25th of October, under the leadership of Amarula Bandhu Mithrula Sangham (ABMS), the organization of martyrs relatives and friends, families of the declared and suspected deceased left for Malkangiri. Chiiti Babu( president of APCLC), G. Kalyan Rao (virasam) and I had accompanied them from vishakapatnam.

In the afternoon around 2 pm, two photos of the deceased appeared on WhatsApp. They were identified as Venkatramana alias Ganesh of vishakapatnam district and Samala kishtaiah alias Daya of dasireddyguda, yadadri district of the Telangana state.

Both of who were the state committee members of AOB SZC. On reaching Malkangiri, we got to know of 18 names given in the statement issued by Jagabandhu, spokesman of AOB SZC.

The later inclusion was PKM Prabhakar alias Gangulu who was a renowned performing artist and cultural activist for the last 25 years, founder member of the Praja kala Mandali. He had gone underground after the formation of Telangana state in 2014. He was from Yapral, cantonment area now in Medchal district of Telangana.

Irony is that his wife Devendra, leader of chaitanya mahila sangham, was accompanying her collegue swapna to collect the dead body of her mother-in-law Bharathi alias Latha( Area committee member AOB). Bharathi, a middle aged woman, was the wife of Dubas Shankar( State committee member AOB SZC). Now its turned out that devendra also had to collect her husband Prabhakar?s dead body.

Sirisha, wife of Rama Krishna, had come to collect her son pruthvi alias munna(section commander AOB). She had come from Aalakura padu, prakasam district of AP. Now her husband RK?s life is in danger.

In Malkangiri SP office, 28 dead bodies were put in wooden boxes. By then, only 14 were identified by the police. The photos of the deceased were numbered along with the boxes. Whether the post mortem was conducted according to the NHRC and the recent Supreme court?s judgment is not known. The dead bodies were not preserved in the ice box(freezer).

Even if the post mortem was conducted, the bodies were not shown to the relatives of the deceased before it was conducted. Whatever may be the claims of the authorities, the dead bodies were not preserved as per the law.

The blood was oozing out of the bodies and on each body severe torture was to be seen.
Faces were defaced, legs were cut, intestines and flesh was coming out, breasts of women were cut. In the box numbered 20, we found a beheaded woman?s dead body and we were shocked.

We complained to the SP. He had shown the photograph of the deceased and said that the head must have been removed at the time of post mortem and the doctors must have forgotten to stitch it back. It shows the carelessness and sheer disrespect for the killed human beings, as they were alleged Maoists.

The encounter continued in thekilling fields of Malkangiri area up to paderu of  Vishakapatnam district till the 29th October. Paderu is the ITDA headquarter. 2+2 dead bodies were thrown in the government hospital on the 28th and the 29th.

This paderu is the epicenter of the 16 year long struggle of adivasis of chintapalli forest under the leadership of CPI Maoist against the bauxite mining operation of a Dubai company.

The adivasi women of Vakapalli and Bhalluguda were mass raped by the Greyhounds for fighting against the bauxite mafia. The mass rapes in these two areas caught the attention of the people country wide.

The issue had gone up to the Supreme Court.South Odisha is known for the struggle against Vedanta and POSCO.

Though this Encounter was called Operation RK?, it is in fact operation mining of rich minerals in AOB area. This hunt of adivasis and Maosists is infact the third phase of green hunt operation. Now called, ?mission 2016 - war on people?. More than half of the encountered are adivasis and about half are women.

Hence, we demand for the judicial enquiry by the Supreme Courts sitting or retired judge, as the two states and the central government deployed their military forces in these killing fields.

Alarmingly, it has been more than a week now that the whereabouts and safety of RK, the central committee member CPI Maoist, are unknown. People all over the country, particularly of the two Telugu states, are agitated over it.

He had become a familiar face during the Talks with the undivided Andhra Pradesh (October, 2004) through media, so people can easily recognize him.

Earlier when the CPI Maoist had taken the political leaders including the MLAS, IAS officers as hostages, it had released them unharmed with the intervention and appeal of the democratic forces. 

Same could be seen when police constables were taken as hostages in Chattisgarh, Jharkand and AP. Unless it is a face to face real encounter, in most of the cases, the hostages were released sooner or later by CPI Maoist.

We demand the police and the government to treat RK and 9 adivasis as prisoners of war and to release them, respecting the international law.

As the Hyderabad High court division bench observes (31st October,2016), in the context of information the Maoist party need not be underestimated.? We allege that the Maoist leader, RK is in the knowhow arena of the AP intelligence.

The division bench further observes situation is very turbulent. More than anything, the life of a human being is very precious-whether he is a Maoist or some other person is irrelevant.

The governments primary duty is to safeguard the lives of people.

So we demand to produce RK and 9 Adivasis, who might have been injured and likely to be in the custody or vicinity of police, in any court of law without intending any harm to their lives.

Varavara Rao
President,
Revolutionary Democratic Front

Turkey: Heavy Clashes Between Turkish Army and Kurdish Militants in Hakkari

Heavy clashes between Turkish soldiers and militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been reported in both the Turkish and Kurdish media.

The clashes in the rural areas of Hakkari province in Turkey's Kurdish southeast, which borders the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, have been ongoing for several days according to Kurdish sources.

Turkish media reported this morning that three soldiers had died and a soldier was injured in clashes in the Yuksekova district of Hakkari. Four militants were killed according to military sources while sporadic clashes continue.

Meanwhile ANF has reported clashes in the Semdinli, Yuksekova and Cukurca districts of Hakkari since 29 October. Sixteen soldiers have been killed in several attacks on military outposts according to figures released by the media centre of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), the military wing of the PKK. The Turkish media has not reported on these clashes.

The HPG has not yet made a statement about the clashes today.

Clashes between the Turkish army and Kurdish fighters have been under-reported in international media recently with attention directed at developments in Syria and Iraq.

Germany : Jugend Widerstand in Berlin protests the Malkangiri Massacre in India and Operation Green Hunt the War on the People

Red Salute to Comrades of Jugendwiderstand who demonstrate proletarian internationalism by their actions and not just words

India: Protest the Malkangiri Massacre at Jantar Mantar New Delhi on November 2nd 2016

HARSH THAKOR SAYS SALUTE PROTEST ON NOV.2 IN DELHI.

CONDEMN THE BRUTAL REPRESSION ON ADIVASIS IN FALSE ENCOUNTER IN ORISSA.

IT IS SYMBOLIC OF THE FASCISTIC POLICIES OF THE STATE TO SUPPORT THE INTEREST OF THE CORPORATE LOBBY AND SUPRESS THE DEMOCRATIC RESISTANCE OF THE ADIVASIS.ARGUABLY THE WORST EVER LOSS OF MAOIST FORCES AND AN ACT WHICH WILL RANK AMONG  THE MOST BRUTAL EVER BY THE POLICE FORCE.

IT EXPOSES THE HYPOCRISY OF INDIA CALLLING ITSELDF THE WORLD'S LARGEST DEMOCRACY.

WE HAVE TO ORGANISE  TO COMBAT THE WRATH OF SUCH FASCIST ACTS AS THE STATE MACHINERY IS BECOMING MORE ORGANIZED DAY BY DAY IN FORTIFYING IT'S MECHANISMS FOR CRUSHING PEOPLES ORGANISED MOVEMENTS.

SUCH A PROTEST REPRESENT THE VOICE OF INDIAN PEOPLE AS A WHOLE AGAINST TYRANNY.PROTESTS LIKE THIS MUST OCCUR ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.VERY IMPORTANT TO MOBILISE ALL SECTIONS,PARTICULARLY THE WORKING CLASS ON THIS ISSUE.

IT IS HEARTENING TO WITNESS GROUPS REPRESENTING SO MANY TRENDS INCLUDING LEFT PARTIES UNITING AGAINST THE FASCIST ASSAULT IN MALKANGIRI.

MAKE THIS PROTEST IN JANTAR MANRAT A SUCCESS.

Endorse and Participate

Joint Protest Demonstration

Condemn the Massacre in Malkangiri District, Odisha
at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on 2 November (Wednesday) 2016 at 11 am

* Order Judicial Enquiry into Malkangiri Massacre
* Stop Devastating Adivasi Villages in the name of Combing Operations
* Produce all those in police Custody in a Court of Law
* Stop War on People

It was not an “encounter” as claimed by AP and Odisha Governments.

It was a massacre of local adivasi people, cadres and leaders of CPI (Maoist) in an unprecedented covert operation that took place in the Malkangiri District of Odisha on the 24 October 2016.

So far in this brutal massacre, about 39 people were killed according to the leaders of Adivasi Organisations in the region.

The brutality and the secrecy of this joint operation of the police forces of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Union’s paramilitary forces reveal that it was a well-planned cold-blooded massacre.

Initially the AP Police announced only 15 people as being killed.

In the next few days, more killings were announced claiming that more people were being killed in the ensuing combing operations in the forest, though all of them were captured, tortured and killed on the same day.

The families revealed that there were brutal marks of torture on the bodies they received. Most bodies were unidentifiable.

Heads were cut off from the rest of the bodies.

Breast of women were cut off. Most names announced were not matching with the bodies.

Many families informed by the police to receive the bodies found no member of their family among the dead bodies.

Earlier 28 bodies were shifted to the Malkangiri Police Superintendent’s office, from where only 11 bodies were given to the families from Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, while 2 bodies were shifted to Paderu Government Hospital in Vishakhapatnam District. On 30 October (Sunday, Diwali) the Malkangiri police buried the remaining bodies saying that no one came to claim those bodies.

These adivasis were mostly from Maad region of Bastar and some from Malkangiri.

Regarding the rest of the adivasi people killed, the police of the two states have not provided any information.

Adivasis of Gurrasetti Junction in Malkangiri District demonstrated protesting that 13 adivasis of their Panchayat have been missing since 24 October incident. Half of the people killed in this operation were adivasis and there were more women than men among the massacred.

Adivasi leaders also informed the press that they received information from the place of the fake encounter that about 9 more adivasi people along with Ramakrishna (RK) alias Akkiraju Haragopal, Central Committee member of CPI Maoist were in the custody of the police since 24 October.

He was seriously injured, but police weren’t allowing any medical treatment.

Gaajarla Ravi, another Central Committee member was suspected that he was also injured and encircled without medical treatment.

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad High Court gave a ruling on 31st October 2016 that Ramakrishna (RK), CPI-Maoist Central Committee leader and 10 others, who have been in the custody of the police since 24 Oct should be protected.

The High Court ordered AP Government that there should be no danger to their lives. The court asked the Govt. to produce RK and others in the court and the court believed that RK was in the police custody.

The High Court also ordered that by Thursday AP Govt. should file an affidavit regarding the safety of RK and others.

This unprecedented and massive military operation is aimed at capturing adivasi lands and forest as part of Operation Green Hunt and Mission 2016, particularly in Andhra-Odisha border districts where huge deposits of Bauxite worth 140 lakh crore rupees is available.

This massacre is planned to suppression the resistance of adivasis in the region to handover the bauxite mines to the corporate houses.

Demands:

1. A Judicial Enquiry by a Supreme Court Judge should be ordered to establish the facts of the massacre.

2. Akkiraju Haragopal (Ramakrishna, RK) and 10 others under the custody of Andhra Pradesh government should be immediately produced in a court of law.

3. Stop immediately combing operations in the Andhra- Odisha border forests and stop harassment of Adivasis.

4. A murder case should be booked on the police officers and personnel responsible for the brutal massacre.

Participating Organisations:

ABSF, AIPWA, AISA, AISF, BASO, Bastar Solidarity Network, Delhi Chapter, BSCEM, CFI, CPI, CPI (M-L) New Democracy, CPI (M-L) Liberation, CRPP, DSU, IMK, KNS, Matidari, NCHRO, NFIW, Nouroz, PFI, PUDR, WSS, CAFAU and others.

India : Produce A. Haragopal Ramakrishna and all other cadre of the CPI (Maoist)/adivasis/villagers taken into custody in the operation before the court of law without delay.

COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
185/3, FOURTH FLOOR, ZAKIR NAGAR, NEW DELHI-110025

Date: 31 October 2016

PRODUCE MR. A. HARAGOPAL RAMAKRISHNA, SENIOR MAOIST LEADER—WHO IS EITHER IN CUSTODY OR INJURED AND SURROUNDED BY THE PARAMILITARY IN THE LANDLOCKED MALKANGIRI FORESTS—BEFORE
THE COURT OF LAW!

PRODUCE ALL OTHER MAOIST ACTIVISTS/ADIVASIS CAPTURED BY THE GREYHOUNDS BEFORE THE COURT OF LAW!

STOP FAKE ENCOUNTER KILLINGS
UNDER THE GARB OF COMBATING MAOISM!

It is almost a week since the so-called ‘encounter’ (claimed by the top police officials of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa) that has by now seen the death of 39 people—11 adivasis and 28 Maoists (as corroborated by human rights and civil society organizations).

Last four to five days also witnessed a slew of psyop stories from the side of the state and the section of the embedded sensation-driven media sold out to the stories of ‘surgical strikes’ and ‘clinical prowess’ of technology.

In the din of this ‘success’ story of the greyhounds—a synonym for lawlessness and impunity—slowly we are privy to isolated reports of adivasis of the nearby villages petitioning the SP of Malkangiri of the disappearance of eight of their people who have failed to return to their villages since the encounter happened.

From the statements issued to the press by the Maoists it is reported that the killings of their cadre was facilitated through exact information provided by some surrendered cadre.

Despite all the bravado of clinical strike and superior fire-power claimed by the state agencies and its sensational reportage, any serious observer of the modus operandi of anti-naxal forces operating in the respective regions would not buy the story.

It is very clear that exact information provided by informer networks and surrendered naxalites turned approvers has enabled this trek of the greyhounds and their counterparts from Odisha (SOG) into the deep inhospitable terrain of the landlocked region in Malkangiri.

If you set aside the role of the surrendered naxalite for a while then the process of getting the local villagers on the side of the security forces is all the more insidious.

If one looks into the spate of encounter killings happening in the Malkangiri region for some time (last 3-4 months) where scores of adivasis are killed and shown as Maoists, we are not far away from the truth of getting the defiant adivasi as an ‘informer’ on the side of the state.

This carrot and stick policy—the former being the lure of the structural violence in the form of some money or material and the latter being the brutal physical manifestation of the perpetuation of that—is what is being carefully camouflaged in the din of fighting ‘terror’.

From the method of the operation of the forces and the way it has been reported and yet acknowledged by the perpetrators themselves, it is clear that the intention right from the beginning was to physically eliminate the cadre of the Maoists.

Not to take them as surrendered combatants. The sanction for this murderous route of impunity is through the systematic depiction of Maoists as dreaded terrorists without any political ideology.

Separating the political from the Maoists and constantly portraying them as trigger happy elements indulging in extortion and preventing ‘development’—a euphemism for the loot and plunder of resources in the region such as bauxite, aluminum, and iron ore—enables the sanction for impunity when confronting them.

Thus anything except the rule book takes precedence, lawlessness becomes the law. So when some reports say that the maoist cadre was sedated before killing them the possibility of such criminality in the behavior of the security forces is quite high given their antecedents while dealing with this 50 year long political mobilization.

Further the Maoists in their statement to the press have said that some of their cadre which were shown dead later in alleged encounter killings were actually taken into custody the same day when the first encounter happened and tortured throughout to elicit information to be later killed and thrown in the forest.

With the news pouring day by day of a new ‘encounter’ and the statement of human rights organizations and civil society leaders that the life of Mr. A Haragopal Ramakrishna, one of the senior most Maoist leaders to be missing in the developments is in danger.

One has every reason to believe that he may also meet the same fate of his comrades from the lawless police.

It is ironic that Ramakrishna who had led the then delegation of the CPI (Maoist) that had agreed to initiate talks with the erstwhile AP government in 2004 and had to beat a hasty retreat as many of his comrades were again killed in fake encounters contrary to the agreement between the naxalites and the AP government is today facing the same situation.

And it is important to reminisce the words of exasperation of late KG Kannabiran when he lamented that the government of AP was not interested in genuine peace as it had continuously violated the agreement that was reached under the auspices of the civil society and failed miserably to implement a single agreement related to the welfare of the people in the present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The irony is that this so called encounter happened just a day after the Supreme Court advised the Government of India (GoI) to initiate talks with the Maoists so as to bring lasting peace.


Given the manner and method of deviousness and criminality of the forces of the state, the SC’s advice is at best wishful thinking as none of the civil society actors who took the risk and responsibility last time to usher in talks in 2004 would come forward as it is becoming clearer and clearer day by day, year by year that the state or the various governments that politically represent it, irrespective of color of the flag they uphold, do not have faith in any of the modalities that it sets forward vis-à-vis the interests of the people let alone the constitution of this country. In short the state does not believe in the rule of law!

The contradiction between the people and the governments of the day are on the rise with all parameters of the economy showing a slump despite the hyperbole and chest thumping jingoism. Increasingly the masses of the people are left to tend with themselves with the centre as well as the states making no bones to toe the interests of the domestic money bags and their imperialist masters. All promises of the Narendra Modi government to usher in a new era of prosperity have become empty talk. More and more of the oppressed are convinced that the law of the land is only a tool in the hands of the powers that be to further repress and exploit the poor and downtrodden. The desperation of the state to face this grim situation is evident from the all round violence in all forms unleashed on the masses of the people. Can such state brutality win the 'hearts and minds' of the people of this subcontinent? The lives of Mr. Ramakrishna and his comrades become important all the more for the State if the emperor still has any clothes left.

We demand:

1. Produce A. Haragopal Ramakrishna and all other cadre of the CPI (Maoist)/adivasis/villagers taken into custody in the operation before the court of law without delay.

2. Withdraw all security forces, paramilitary, from the struggle areas where the adivasis and the local people are struggling for the lives and livelihoods, to protect their resources.

3. Stop criminalizing people’s movements including the Maoist movement.

4. Stop fake encounters.

5. Appoint a SC level judicial commission along with reputed civil libertarians to look into the alleged encounter killings in Malkangiri forest.

In Protest

SAR Geelani
President
Amit Bhattacharyya
Secretary General
Sukhendu Bhattacharjee
Vice President
Sujato Bhadra
Vice President
Jagmohan Singh
Vice President
MN Ravunni
Vice President
Malem
Vice President
Ravindranath
Secretary AP-Telangana Chapter
HanyBabu
Media Secretary
Rona Wilson
Secretary, Public Relations

What does Washington Plan B in Syria Really mean ?

Democracy and Class Struggle says Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already supporting Al Nusra - the question of the NATO Trojan Horse Turkey and its covert support operations are not discussed in video above reflecting South Front's uncritical support of Russia and its mistaken Foreign policy towards Turkey

Democracy and Class Struggle says any future Plan B by US Imperialism in Syria will utilize Turkish NATO forces in Northern Syria and the sooner the analysts of South Front realize that the more realistic will be their analysis.

Any analysis that ignores the Kurdish / Turkish Conflict in the Washington Syria Plan B scenario is fundamentally flawed.