Maoism, as everyone knows, is a present-day form of Naxalism. What had started as a ‘movement’ against exploitation by landlords in West Bengal, from a village called Naxalbari, has, over the years, degenerated into an even more violent and manipulative terrorist organization working against Indian democracy in the garb of ‘protracted people’s war’. More dangerously, it has become more urban than rural as far as planning, financing, and nexus-building activities are concerned. This change has come over the years, though its violent activities continue to be in remote, forested and tribal-dominated parts of the country.
For the uninitiated, Maoists may be champions of people’s cause. However, for them, two statements may be worth pondering over. One statement was famously made by the then Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh. He had described CPI-Maoist as the ‘Biggest Internal Security Threat’ to India. Another statement is not that widely known, but it was made by none other than Kanu Sanyal, who co-founded Naxalbari movement with Charu Mujumdar. Dejected with degeneration of Naxalites into Maoists, Sanyal had described Maoists as ‘anarchist caricature’ months before his suicide.
Before getting to know its urban dimensions, one must take a look at the evolution Naxalism into present-day Maoism. Let us start with brief history of the ‘movement’. After the China-inflicted war on India in 1962, Communist Party of India split into two – one was pro-Soviet Russia faction (also dubbed as ‘Rightist’ and ‘Revisionist’ by pro-China faction), and pro-China faction. Later, these factions came to be known as CPI and CPM. The CPM later split into CPM, Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), All India Coordination Committee of Revolutionaries, AP Revolutionaries Cordon Committee, due to individual aspirations and degree of radical approach in thought and action.
The All India Coordination Committee of Revolutionaries founded in 1969, split within a year and a group renaming itself as CPI (Marxist-Leninist) or CPI (ML) broke out in 1970. CPI (ML) broke into several other factions. Kanu Sanyal led one faction, but there were other factions. MCC also broke into factions. There was an era when various factions fought with each other, and killed each other’s cadres. Naxalites describe this period as ‘dark period’. Gradually, there were occasions of regrouping and split. But, two big groups emerged on the scene – MCC active in northern India and Peoples War (PW) or Peoples War Group in southern parts of the country. In 2004, MCC and PW merged to form CPI-Maoist after reorganization carried out in the garb of talks with the then AP Government.
Since then, CPI-Maoist has emerged as the biggest Left Wing Extremist organization engaged in terrorist and subversive activities in India. As per the Ministry of Home Affairs’ data, upto December 2019, CPI-Maoist has killed 5,941 civilians since its coming into existence in 2004. In the initial years, it killed more civilians up to 2010. Since 2016, there is a steady drop in the number of civilians killed by Maoists, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs’ data. Still, if we consider overall picture, the Maoists have killed on an average more than 371 persons per year in these 16 years. Also, it means, on an average, Maoists have been killing 31 persons per month, that is, one civilian every day! These are figures of only the civilians killed by Maoists. These figures do not include the number of security forces personnel killed by the Left Wing Extremists. Adding it will mean that every day, Maoist ultras are killing 2-3 persons! All, in the name of championing the ‘people’s cause’. If one considers the destruction of economic infrastructure, Maoists surely emerge as more destructive force. Still, there are people who Lenin once described as ‘useful idiots’, who keep on supporting such destructive force.
Violence has been, thus, inherent part of the ideology of the Left Wing Extremists. Whether it is Marxism, Leninism, or Maoism, these ideologies are of foreign origin, and violence is inherent part of them. The origin of present-day Maoists of India is rooted in degeneration of Marxism into Leninism and further into Maoism.
Soon after Naxalbari violence, ‘Peoples Daily’ of Central Committee of Communist Party of China had published an editorial titled ‘Spring Thunder Over India’ on July 5, 1967. While appreciating the ‘revolutionary storm’, the editorial had quoted Mao’s teaching, “The seizure of power by armed force, the settlement of the issue by war, is the central task and the highest form of revolution.” This makes it clear that violence is ingrained in Maoism.
Naxalites of yesteryears (who gradually became Maoists) did not only have ‘influence’ of Mao and his Chinese Communism, but had established a connection with China. This is clear from their own records. In September 1970, some of the Naxalite leaders namely Kanu Sanyal, Khudon Mallick, Khokon Majumdar, Deepak Biswas, Sourin Bose went to China via Nepal and Tibet. At Peking (now Beijing), they met Mao Zedong and Zhou-En-Lai. Mao asked them to ‘create a mass organisation along with armed revolution’. Some accounts even state that once Mao even spoke of ‘borderless’ India-China relationship ‘if Naxals seized power in India’.
As Khudon Mallick recalled in an interview to ‘The Week’ magazine in 2016, during their three-month stay in China, these Naxal leaders got arms training too. Another member of this group, Khokon Majumdar, said that Mao had assured ‘all kind of support’ to Indian ‘revolutionaries’ as he wanted India to ‘become a true Communist state.’ Later on, Kanu Sanyal and Charu Majumdar parted ways. Sanyal was critical of Majumdar. As a result, today’s Maoists do not even mention Sanyal’s name in their history documents. Instead, they mention Charu Majumdar along with Kanhai Chatterjee or KC.
Why KC? Here is the reason: In his document ‘Outline of a Strategic and Tactical Line for Indian Revolution’, prepared after drawing references from articles and books written by Lenin, Stalin, and Mao, KC had stated, “The path of the new democratic revolution of India is the path of the great Chinese revolution.”
Over the years, there have been numerous reports in different media about how Naxalites, till the grand merger to form CPI-Maoist, have been China’s proxy soldiers in India. Indian Maoists have been in touch with Nepalese Maoists too, who are deeply influenced and backed by China. To achieve their goal of creating anarchy and internal turmoil in a diverse-yet-united India, Maoists focus on creating divisions in society by attacking and placing one culture against another. This is part of their divisive agenda, which most of their urban supporters and rural foot-soldiers do not understand. As mentioned in CPI-Maoist document issued in March 2016 regarding 50th anniversary of Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China, “Chinese Revolution reinforced Mao’s teaching that many cultural revolutions will be necessary on the path to Communism by building and consolidating Socialism.”
To achieve their goal of radicalising people by pitting Indians against each other in the name of cultural, caste, linguistic, political, ideological, gender divisions and weakening unity and integrity of India, Maoists and their sympathisers and backers are using social media and other media platforms aggressively. This is relatively newer phenomenon as far as tools used are concerned. However, the armed foot-soldiers of Naxalites/Maoists waging the war against democratically elected and Constitutionally established Indian Government, have always been backed by their sympathisers and supporters operating from urban areas. In that sense, these Left Wing Extremists have been using two-pronged strategy:
- To create misleading and false narratives, legal, organizational, theoretical, and financial support bases in urban areas and to draw cadres for violent activities.
- To mount violent activities in rural, forested, and tribal-dominated parts of the country and block development there. The lack of development due to their violent activities is further used by their urban supporters to create anti-Government narrative.
Now, let us take a good look at their work in urban areas. Not many know that the Maoists themselves have spelled out their strategy in this regard in a document titled ‘Urban Perspective – Our Work In Urban Areas’. This particular document details several things. For instance, it details ‘Policy and Guidelines’ of Maoists regarding urban work, role of urban work within Political Strategy as well as Military Strategy, mass mobilization, coordination between legal and illegal organisations, work in urban areas through legal democratic organisations, reorganizing technological mechanism in cities, drawing up National and State-level perspective plans etc.
The main objective of the CPI-Maoist, as far as urban work is concerned, is ‘party building’. For the purpose, it identifies potential candidates from among farmers, workers, students, intellectuals etc. They ensure that these potential ‘comrades’ go through a ‘process of politicization in struggle, ideological and political education’ in ‘activist groups, study circles, and political schools’, and consolidate into ‘candidate and party cells’.
The ‘activist groups’ are divided into two — secret and open. Through secret groups, not only potential recruits are cultivated but also an effort is made to ‘politicise’ their ‘life decisions’. If you have seen too much of politicization of everything, now you must have realized how this is being done and who is doing it. These activist groups are formed “at the workplace — factory, mine, industrial estate, shift, department, section, office, branch, or any other level which is a unit for organizing; it may be formed at the place of residence — the slum, chawl, street, society, or any other level which is a unit for organizing; it may be formed in schools, colleges, or other institutions; and where the organizing is based on a particular section, the activist group can be formed at the level suitable for that section.”
To further their goals, the Maoist recruiters and leaders operating in urban areas use even the open forms. Through the commonly open forums they frequently try to achieve ‘political education’. In their own words, “We should try to adopt and adapt all locally prevalent forms. These can be like libraries, street corner reading posts and other such means which can be used to disseminate progressive literature among other general books; lecture series during festivals, debate competitions, elocution competitions, etc. where our comrades express progressive views; public speaking courses, personality development courses, etc. with political topics included in the syllabus; mass organization training camps, and the like.”
Once a person is influenced or brain-washed through such activities of activist groups, that person is recruited in CPI-Maoist and is sent to forest areas to act as armed foot-soldier of extremism. This is the basic task of the CPI-Maoist party cell operating in cities. In the past, as has been reported by ‘The Indian Express’, some brilliant youngsters from slums and other localities of Pune were recruited by Maoists in this manner. Again, in Maoists’ own words, “The basic tasks of the urban cell include organizing the masses, politicizing them, educating the advanced elements and recruiting them into the party, and preparing its members and other activists to go to the countryside to work for the success of the agrarian revolution.” This effort is guided by ‘professional revolutionaries’. Obviously, what they call as ‘revolution’ is nothing but violent activities against the democratically elected and Constitutionally established Government, irrespective of the political party in power. For, as Mao had said, these Left Wing Extremists are working to settle the issue by war and grab the power to further their anti-democracy designs.
Of course, when these Left Wing Extremists talk of ‘settlement of the issue by war’, they are well aware of the dynamics of a society. While fighting this ‘protracted peoples war’ they resort to violent activities in remote forested areas but build the support system in cities. Over the years, they have created well-oiled but clandestine support system. This clandestine system operates through existing mass organisations. In their document, Maoists also explain in detail how they should operate from within ‘cover mass organisations’ and ‘legal democratic organisations’.
Since they operate from within existing organisations, it becomes very difficult for the security agencies to act against them. If security agencies act against them while Maoists are working from within such known organisations, the agencies attract widespread criticism for ‘suppressing democratic voices’. Maoists know this well. Hence, they keep on working in such organisations, and slowly poison the minds, take up the task of ‘political education’ of members. Gradually, the Left Wing Extremists rope the ‘converted’ and ‘politically educated’ members into ‘party cell’ operating secretly within the said organisation.
Then, they resort to forming part-timer party committees outside with the help of newfound ‘comrades’. They work in various layers, but they maintain co-ordination and links with other structures of their party. At the same time, their intellectual sympathisers work to confuse public mind and reach out to different democratic movements in an effort to form ‘united front’.
The Maoists aim at working in different sectors. These range from working class, industry-based class, ‘issue-based unity’, ‘area-based unity’. They try to fulfill the objective of worker-peasant alliance to groom workers and peasants into potential fighting force of the future. They also make an attempt to achieve what they call ‘unity of the urban exploited classes’. They wish to gain entry among white-collar employees, sections of ‘petty burgeoisie’, ‘national burgeoisie’ too. Being in India, their plan has been to target the country’s majority by forming ‘United Front Against Hindu Fascist Forces’.
While working in social, cultural, academic spheres of urban activities, the Maoists and their sympathisers do not forget of the ‘military tasks’. Study of their internal documents reveals that they have formed various organisations, registered as well as unregistered, to defend their ‘urban movement’. Their goal is to shape this ‘urban movement’ and organise the cadres chosen through scrutiny and grooming into ‘urban militia’. While doing so, they gather local Intelligence, and set up mechanism to help the armed activities in rural areas. Thus, they source their recruits from the urban, educated class and also from among upcoming artists (painters, writers, lyricists, folk singers), groom them as cadres, and then send them to ‘fighting areas’ as gun-wielding members of ‘Peoples Guerrilla Army’ (armed wing of CPI-Maoist).
In their own admission, Maoists plan to form their ‘city action teams’ once their strength in urban areas increases. Besides, their cadres and sympathisers are suspected to have been deeply rooted in various big organisations including Government set-up. Some years ago, there were reports in the media that minutes of a high-level meeting of security agencies were found referred to in some of the seized Maoist documents. This indicates that their intelligence in urban areas and capital cities is well-oiled. If these terrorists are to be crushed, their intelligence and support base needs to be busted first. Beyond gathering intelligence, they have been trying to focus on high-end technology. The security agencies got indications of this when some of the seized documents of Maoists had mentions about ‘online closed chat rooms’ and ‘cyber warfare’.
In the ‘Bhima Koregaon’ case, there were media reports quoting investigating agencies that some of the attempts to stoke violence had been made by way of circulating provocative messages through social media platforms. The content in such cases had come from abroad, using high-end technology. So, it is clear that the Maoists and their supporters or ‘users’ are sitting not only in India but also abroad.
The use of the term ’users’ might have surprised the readers. Here is some explanation. Of late, the Maoists’ designs of forming a ‘united front’ have been joined by some disruptive and anti-India forces. Given the limited fields where Maoists have been ‘active’, these disruptive and anti-India forces are suspected to have been supporting these Left Wing Extremists with finances, technological resources, and even providing International forums for anti-India propaganda in the name of anti-Government voices. In effect, these anti-India forces are ‘using’ alliance with Maoists to further their own objectives of creating hurdles in the path of progress of India. This support comes in the form of help in setting narratives, and often, planting false narratives with purely political intentions.
When it comes to narratives, media and social media both are useful. As far as electronic media is concerned, a major chunk operates mainly from metro cities. Maoist sympathizers identified this weakness of electronic media and started organizing themselves into civil society groups ‘easily accessible to media’ and presenting ‘the other side of the story’. There was a time when the print media highlighted how Maoists brutally killed tribals branding them as ‘police informers’, and electronic media and web portals operating from metro cities engaged in an exercise of justifying the stand of English-speaking urban sympathizers of Maoists. Some magazines bash the Government for neglecting the developmental needs of the hinterland ‘resulting’ in the growth of Maoists. In the recent past, some magazines also offered their space to writers to provide a ‘rare glimpse’ of how Maoists were fighting for the rights of deprived sections. Gradually, however, suave urban sympathizers of Maoists appear to have been successful in finding space for them in print, electronic, and digital media. But, for the past couple of years, there is the emergence of intellectuals who are straightforward and open in their criticism of Maoists as well as their sympathizers.
Since the media and social media space have become all the more important, the Maoists’ urge for dominating this scene is driven more and more from urban areas. They have started creating a hue and cry over anything and everything that does not suit them. Sometimes, they are subtle in this kind of narrative setting. Sometimes, they are very vocal. For instance, in case of arrests of civil society activists sympathising with Maoists, and of Maoist cadres, the intellectual ecosystem groomed by Left Wing Extremists over the years and backed by anti-India forces, raises hue and cry in media especially in the metros. This helps Maoist sympathisers to mount pressure on Government and/or to influence the opinion of other pillars of democracy. More than the facts, opinions and discourse gather more attention in metros while Maoists continue to kill people in the hinterlands. The exercise of justifying the actions of Maoists and criticizing the action of the Government is becoming more and more common in this ecosystem operating from urban areas.
The attack against the existing (irrespective of the political party in power) State machinery is becoming louder and more shrill. This is an indication that the Maoists have stepped up their efforts for ‘rainbow coalition’. These words were used in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court of India by Daljit Singh Chawdhary, Director in Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, in the year 2013. Here is the verbatim quote from the affidavit: “The third strategy of the CPI (Maoist) Party is to form a rainbow coalition of various insurgent groups in India so as to launch a ‘united front’ attack against the existing State machinery.” The other two strategies of the Maoists as mentioned in the said affidavit are – to launch a ‘protracted peoples war’ against the Indian State by way of capturing territory in the countryside and gradually encircle the urban centres, and to mobilise certain targeted sections of the population, especially the urban population through ‘mass organisations’.
To further these strategies that pose a direct threat to the unity and integrity of India, Maoists and their sympathisers have been coining several new slogans. A more recent example of Maoists trying to forge unnatural alliance with misleading propaganda and false narratives is the slogan ‘Jai Bhim, Lal Salaam’. ‘Jai Bhim’ and ‘Lal Salaam’ do not go hand-in-hand. ‘Bharat Ratna’ Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, after whose name ‘Jai Bhim’ is a popular slogan, had made it clear in his famous writing ‘Buddha or Karl Marx’ the difference between Buddhist and Marxist philosophies. Maoism is a more radical off-shoot of Marxism. Dr Ambedkar had stated, “Means adopted by the Buddha were to convert a man by changing his moral disposition to follow the path voluntarily.” “The means adopted by the Communists are equally clear, short, and swift. They are — Violence, and Dictatorship of the Proletariat.” “As to Dictatorship, the Buddha have none of it. He was born a democrat and he died a democrat.”
When Dr Ambedkar was so clear about fundamental difference between Communist and Buddhist ideologies, some people are hell-bent upon portraying a scholarly Dr Ambedkar as ‘Radical’ Ambedkar. One can gauge the intentions of such elements. And, such ideas are originating in urban areas, mostly on university campuses and elitist writers are popularizing those.
Similar attempts have been, and are being, made by Maoist sympathisers to portray Shaheed Bhagat Singh, an icon of Indian freedom struggle, as a ‘radical’. They have been trying to project a hero like Bhagat Singh as someone who supported the idea of violence. In fact, if one studies Bhagat Singh carefully, one realizes that if he wanted to espouse violence, he and his friend Batukeshwar Dutt could have easily lobbed grenades to leave many dead. “In 1929, in order to court arrest, Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw political handouts and smoke bombs at the Delhi Central Legislative Assembly. The aim behind the bombing was not to cause harm but protest against the passing of two repressive bills, the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bill.” (India Today website, 8 April 2017). Thus, it was clear that Bhagat Singh wanted the British Government to lend an ear to Indians and not to kill people. This makes him brave and not a ‘radical’.
Maoists and their sympathisers operating out of urban centres use the word ‘revolutionary’ for Maoists and deliberately commit mischief of calling revolutionaries of Indian freedom struggle as ‘radicals’. They glorify Naxalites and Maoists as ‘peoples warriors’ but call their own dissenters as ‘revisionists’.
On one hand Maoists and their sympathisers including intellectuals have been making attempts to portray the heroes of India’s freedom struggle as ‘radicals’. On the hand, the same ilk has been making efforts to radicalize various sections of the society by way of selectively blowing up some incidents and then giving those a communal, casteist, religious colour. They utilize such incidents to radicalize one or the other segment of the society, with an intention to weaken the strong fabric of social harmony. Instead of pressing for punishment in some incidents, they try to vitiate the political and social atmosphere by projecting those as indicators of ‘some kind of pattern of exploitation’. They stoke the sentiments in the name of minority rights in India, but remain silent on China’s brutal and violent crackdown against the same community. Whenever China wanted, the erstwhile Naxalites criticized ‘Indian expansionism’. In recent times, everyone has seen how the Left Wing Extremists and their sympathisers reacted when China committed unilateral aggression against India and 20 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice preventing Chinese advance. But, all these years, these Left Wing Extremists – Naxalites or Maoists – never ever condemned visible Chinese expansionism.
Often, Maoists speak of ‘new democratic revolution’ and their sympathisers cry hoarse over ‘murder of democracy’ or ‘silencing of dissent’ whenever the Government cracks down against anti-national terrorist activities. Many urban intellectuals, who are unaffiliated to Maoist ideology but get easily influenced by Maoist sympathisers’ propaganda or narrative, fall prey to such cries. But, since these unaffiliated-yet-influenced intellectuals have not studied Maoist documents, they are unable to raise questions about practice of democracy and preservation of tribal/indigenous culture within CPI-Maoist.
Despite speaking of democracy, CPI-Maoist practices authoritarianism within its organisation. This was exposed in detail by Sabyasachi Panda, who was himself a part of Maoist organisation. While hitting out at ‘autocratic’ style of functioning of leaders, Panda had also pointed out financial irregularities, corruption, exploitation, violence against and suppression of dissenters. “I think doing any work for so-called revolution under an undemocratic party means doing another crime against people and society,” Panda had stated in his letter to Maoist leaders.
In the same letter, Panda had also exposed Maoists’ double-speak on protecting tribal culture. “The main problem is the gun-holder commanders are not tolerating the local tribal people’s assertion… You are destroying tribal culture for your selfishness…,” he had stated without mincing words. It is open secret that Maoist organisation is still dominated by ‘Telugu-speaking cadres’. Tribals are just used as foot soldiers by Maoists. Similarly, if an analysis is done, it will reveal that Maoists have brutally killed people from marginalised sections by branding them as ‘police informers’. At one place, Panda even mentioned, “Outside the meeting, Telugu leaders and cadres have their separate meeting and plan to impose their wrong ideas on others.” Further, Panda’s letter pointed out sexual exploitation of tribal girls and women. Women cadres are asked to bathe without clothes, he had stated.
One can go on and on. But, given the confines of the article, it would be more appropriate to allow the readers to draw their own conclusions about Maoists and their so-called cause. One thing, however, has to be mentioned clearly – Maoists are not who they project to be. They are simply terrorists. They are no more operating in rural, tribal-dominated, forested, remote areas. The danger is closer home. They have stepped up their activities that are aimed at weakening social harmony, and threaten the unity and integrity society and nation. The only appeal to the people is three-pronged ‘Read, Write, Speak’. Read to know Maoists’ anti-national designs. Write to bring clarity of thinking about Maoists’ nefarious designs in society. Speak to make people aware of the impending danger and prevent them from falling prey to Maoist designs.
- Kartik Lokhande, Nagpur
(The author has been studying Naxalite/Maoist movement for 20 years)
