This story is from July 21, 2016

We may be down, but will bounce back, says Maoist leader Chalapati

The multi-pronged attacks by the state government through its security forces as well as own mistakes has led to the Maoists being in the situation now.We have some weaknesses in waging the class struggle.
We may be down, but will bounce back, says Maoist leader Chalapati
The multi-pronged attacks by the state government through its security forces as well as own mistakes has led to the Maoists being in the situation now.We have some weaknesses in waging the class struggle.
Admitting that the Naxal movement has received serious setbacks in recent times in the form of encounter deaths and surrender of leaders, East Division secretary Pratapareddy Ramchandrareddy alias Appa Rao alias Chalapati said security forces have made quite a few strikes but claimed that the 'people's movement' has not been suppressed and will bounce back.
In an exclusive interview with TOI in the interiors of the Andhra Odisha Border (AOB) on the eve of the Martyr's Week to be observed by the Naxals from July 28-August 3, Chalapati said like their comrades elsewhere in the country, the Naxals of the East Division too need to change the strategy to match the changing socio-economic, political and global scenario.
Where does the Maoist movement in AOB stand now? And why has it been facing such hard times?
n The multi-pronged attacks by the state government through its security forces as well as own mistakes has led to the Maoists being in the situation now. We have some weaknesses in waging the class struggle. Moreover, we have not actively mobilised the people as well as our own cadre to launch counter attacks against the security forces. We have to re-examine our guerilla warfare techniques as well as strengthen our underground network.
So would it be correct to say that the Maoists have totally failed in mobilising the masses?
n That is not true. If we have failed in all aspects, we would have ceased to exist. While admitting that we have faced setbacks, I would like to remind you that the party has faced difficult times in the past and regained its strength and lost glory. At the same time, I am willing to concede that we have constraints in attracting the people in all levels to the party ideology and policies. We shall do so now by strengthening our political and organisational setups.

There are allegations that some of the militia members have been misguiding the party for their selfish motives and causing the death of innocent people after branding them as police informers?
n Ours is a party of the masses. We will not take anybody's word that so and so is an informer and kill him. The party has been strictly following the standard procedure laid down by the higher committees. However, I must add that in the conspiracy to eliminate the Maoists party, the ruling classes and the state government have been exploiting people in the tribal areas by converting them as police informer and agents. Such people are being given arms by the police and a special police officer (SPO) network created. It is such elements that we are eliminating.
Your party has lost the stronghold areas such as Narayanapatna, Bandugaon in Odisha and many more places in Visakha and East Godavari districts. Party leaders are not in a position to visit many villages in both the Visakha Agency and AOB now as they have no support. Did the party analyse these conditions?
n Learning lessons from mistakes and failures is a continuous process. The Naxalbari and Srikakulam armed struggles were formed through the lessons learnt from the Telangana armed struggle. Likewise, the Dandakaranya, Bihar and Jharkhand movements were based on the lessons learnt from the Naxalbari and Srikakulam struggles. Losing or gaining the dominance of areas or places would depend on the relative strength of the movement as of its rivals. Therefore, you need to examine the overall strength of the movement. For example, in China, the revolutionaries had lost their strongholds several times before finally taking over the entire country. The lessons from these struggles will guide the future agitations.
Any particular reason why the party has lost its grip over its so called bastions in the AOB?
n The state through its security forces has launched a massive repression on the movement since 1996 with a clear strategy. We failed to counter it by involving people in large numbers. As a result, by 2006, the movement began growing once again after receiving many setbacks in the AOB. We reduced the number of squads and converted them into platoons to counter the increasing strength of the enemy. Since then, the people of AOB are very much with us.
If the movement is strong and is being backed by the people, why is it seeing so many leaders surrendering to the police and coming overground?
n Many of those who surrendered did so for health reasons. You need to recall that the movement gained new strength in 2004 after the merger of three parties. We lost many people and strongholds due to Operation Greenhunt, an all-out offensive by paramilitary forces and the state forces in 2009 along the borders of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Following that, our Central Committee meeting in 2013 analysed the present conditions and changed our strategy. These hard times are only temporary. I can confidently say that the party will overcome this situation. The movement will sustain till the oppr essed sections get the living rights and ownership of the land.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA