Decline in naxal movement worries Maoist leadership
Friday, March 9, 2007
Srinivas Reddy
| Rebel activity in Bastar forest is, however, intense |
HYDERABAD: The Maoist leadership is concerned that the current setback to the naxalite movement in Andhra Pradesh could have an adverse impact on the movement in the country, especially in the neighbouring States of Orissa and Chhattisgarh.
A crackdown by the State, for over six years, forced the ultras to vacate their strongholds and reduced their armed struggle to a mere fight for survival. The three committees overseeing the naxal movement in North Telangana, Andhra-Orissa Border and the State committee have now conceded that the movement is on the wane. However, rebel activity in the Bastar forest of Chhattisgarh is extremely intense, while in the Orissa districts abutting Andhra Pradesh, their hold continues to be unhindered.
The Maoist think-tank is now devising strategies and tactics that could rejuvenate the movement in Andhra Pradesh. This was the theme that dominated the meeting of the Polit Bureau (PB) of the CPI Maoist, held at an undisclosed location three months ago.
Party general secretary Ganapathi's view, that the review of the movement in Andhra Pradesh should be considered as the review of revolutionary activity in the entire country, shows how much importance the rebels accord to the State.
The meeting, the minutes of which are available with The Hindu , was of the view that there was a tactical error in not ordering the retreat of cadres from North Telangana in 2001, the when the police were just getting the better of them.
The understanding that repression could be countered only through severe resistance was totally wrong. As the police continued to deliver blow after blow to naxals, the militants, instead of retreating, formed platoons to hit back and in the process suffered irreparable losses in North Telangana and State committee areas. As a result, in almost all districts of Andhra Pradesh the party had reverted to the one-plus-one formation, wherein just two cadres move together and accord top priority to self-defence.
The PB felt that the rebel activity in South Telangana, Guntur and Prakasam districts as well as the Rayalassema and Nallamala forest areas weakened considerably due to the continuous onslaught of the State.
While trying to scale up the revolutionary activity, the leadership did not give any thought for retreat. If the minutes are any indication, there were differences of opinion among the leaders.
The meeting was attended by prominent naxal leaders Ganapathy, Katakam Sudershan, CherukuriRajkumar, Akkiraju Haragopal, Wadkapur Chandramouli (shot dead later), Namballa Kesava Rao and others. T he Hindu
Labels: Andra Pradesh, NEWS
posted by Resistance 3/09/2007 02:14:00 PM,
