CENTRAL COMMITTEE
Press Release
July 10, 2012
Punish the perpetrators of Basaguda
Massacre !
Demand the immediate withdrawal of all
paramilitary and military forces from Bastar !
On 28-6-2012 in one of the most brutal massacres
till date in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region 17 innocent, ordinary, unarmed
villagers were killed by about a thousand blood-thirsty CRPF-CoBRA, state
police forces and Koya Commandos and SPOs. These mercenary forces surrounded a
gathering of villagers discussing about their harvest and related festivals in
Sarkinguda on that night and killed several people in an indiscriminate,
one-sided cold-blooded firing reminding one of the Jallianwalabagh massacre.
Many more villagers were injured. Nine of the dead were juveniles between 12
and 16 years of age. There were children, women and elderly persons among the
injured too. The mercenary forces wreaked havoc the whole night and shot dead
some more villagers, looted their homes and resorted to sexual abuses on women.
They threatened the villagers who tried to help the injured that they too would
face the same fate. On the same day two more Adivasi peasants were murdered by
the same fascist government armed forces in Simlipenta, a nearby village taking
the toll to 19.
This massacre was perpetrated by the
mercenary forces as part of the second phase of Operation Green Hunt (OGH)
launched by the Indian ruling classes with the full support and aid of the
imperialists, particularly the US imperialists since mid-2009. The blue-print
for this well-planned massacre was prepared under the auspices of the notorious
ruling clique of Sonia-Manmohan-Chidambaram-Jairam Ramesh and their ‘reliable
lieutenants’ at the centre and in Chhattisgarh (CG) – secretary for Home RK
Singh, CRPF DG Vijaya Kumar-Raman Singh-Nankiram Kanwar-Longkumer-Anil
Navani-Ramnivas et al., who are carrying on this country-wide, multi-pronged,
counter-revolutionary massive military offensive on the Maoist movement areas
in the most atrocious manner and where massacres of ordinary villagers has come
to be one of the most common forms of repression in this “War on the People”.
The statements by Raman Singh and Nankiram Kanwar about a massive offensive on
Maoists to be launched in June in CG forewarned about what was in store because
as any keen observer of these ‘offensives on Maoists” is well aware – it is
most common for ordinary people to become victims in fake encounters, lock-up
deaths and massacres in such ‘offensives on Maoists’.
In Dandakaranya (DK) starting from Singaram
massacre in January 2009 several massacres of Adivasis have been carried on by
the state and central mercenary forces like in Vechapad, Singanamadugu,
Palachelima, Gompad, Gumiapal, Kokavada, Takilod, Ongnar and massive
destruction and murders as in Tadimetla-Morpalli-Chintalnar etc., and none of
the perpetrators – neither the ‘Generals’ like Sonia, Manmohan, Chidambaram,
Raman Singh, Nankiram Kanwar, Vijay Kumar, Longkumer or a Kalluri nor the
actual police-paramilitary officers and ‘foot soldiers’ who carried out their
orders - of these massacres have been booked or punished till date. All the
culprits are roaming scot-free in the corridors of power in New Delhi and
Raipur and the off the hook police-paramilitary forces are ruthlessly going
about their daily routine of mayhem, murder, loot, destruction, arson and rapes
in the heart of India.
The Basaguda massacre is all the more
bizarre for the utter lies, distortions, twisting of facts and the lower depths
the ruling classes could stoop to justify their unscrupulous deed. Firstly,
they for the umpteenth time repeated the routine story that armed Maoists had
attacked them and that these ‘Maoists’ were killed when they retaliated. They
even lied that they had seized weapons and explosives from the site. Six
injured jawans were shown as ‘proof’ of the fact that an exchange of fire took
place. Herr Chidambaram could not hide his glee at the death of ‘twenty
Maoists’ and in a moment of truth announced that ‘this was a pre-planned attack’
based on information. Later this Indian avatar of Goebbels had to eat his foul
lexis as every fact pointed out to a cold-blooded massacre and even the
Congress in CG was forced to form a committee on this after the people of the
village and neighboring villages came on the roads and stated the facts for the
entire world to hear. In spite of the facts put forward by the entire people of
the village and his own party, Chidambaram conveniently and shamelessly ‘passed
the buck’ to the Raman Singh government saying that it is for the state
government to decide if an enquiry is needed or not and that the central
government had nothing to do with this. Shedding crocodile tears he had the
audacity to say that he regretted if innocent people had died even while self contradicting
himself that this was a ‘transparent and upfront’ attack. Raman Singh not even
caring if any sane person believed him, once again spun the same old bull-shit
theory that Maoists used the ordinary people as human shields and so they died!
Like a pet dog more faithful than the master Nankiram Kanwar went to the end of
saying that whoever is with the Maoists is also a Maoist implying that those
villagers could be (or deserved to be) killed as ‘they were with Maoists’.
The stark fact is that there were no
Maoists with the villagers and no exchange of fire had taken place. The
mercenary forces just surrounded the villagers from all sides and fired upon
them and some were pulled out of their homes and shot dead. Even the so-called
injuries of the jawans must have been a hoax as in some earlier instances or
they might have been injured in their own cross-fire.
This massacre happened in the backdrop of
the deployment of Indian Army in Bastar in the name of training and the attacks
already being launched by the Air Force in the pretext of logistical support
and self-defense. It is like a curtain-raiser to the things in store and let
nobody make the mistake of seeing this massacre as a mistake of the government
forces in the field. As every concerned democratic citizen in this country is
increasingly realizing and as our party has stated several times, this “War on
People” is being perpetuated with the sole aim of the plunder of the rich
natural resources of our country and to crush every kind of force that proves
to be a hurdle to it. The people led by the CPI (Maoist) and the party are
perceived by the imperialists and the Indian ruling classes as the most
formidable ‘hurdle’ (read biggest threat to the ‘internal security’ of the
plunderers) to the loot of our country and particularly that of Adivasi areas
by the imperialists, comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie and the big landlords
of our country which explains this massive military offensive on our movement
areas. In the name of crushing Maoists the ruling classes are crushing all
kinds of democratic and patriotic forces in this country and we once again
appeal to the people to realize that this is not just an offensive on the
Maoists but a “War on the People”. This is what lies behind massacres like the
one at Basaguda.
The lives of ordinary citizens and Adivasis
of this country hold no value for the ruling classes is something that has been
proven hundreds of times in police firings and such massacres. The only new
thing is that now they are shouting this fact from the roof-tops openly. The
convoluted logic that whoever is with the Maoists deserved to be killed or
could be killed should be thoroughly exposed and condemned as this is nothing
but a thinly veiled threat to the lives of the citizens of this country and
particularly the Adivasis in the Maoist movement areas. The full scale
preparations for drone attacks and the future deaths of Adivasis in these
attacks would also be justified with the same logic of ‘collateral damage’ as
in Afghanistan or a Pakistan. Already in Peda Kedwal and Chinna Kedwal villages
of Bastar the government forces conducted an aerial operation in December 2011
using more than a dozen helicopters for deployment of forces. In all the
massive military operations conducted recently in Dandakaranya, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh-Odisha Border and Andhra-Odisha Border areas involving
Brigade level of forces, UAVs were used. They had openly declared that this is
how future attacks would be conducted in Maoist areas.
We appeal to all citizens of this country,
democrats, patriots, well-wishers of Adivasis and all civil liberties
organizations to condemn the Basaguda brutal massacre in no uncertain terms and
demand severe punishment for the perpetrators. Demand the immediate withdrawal of
all paramilitary and military forces from Bastar. We particularly appeal to the
media persons to bring the facts about this massacre into light as some
pro-government corporate media persons are trying to hide the facts and falsely
portray this massacre as ‘people being crushed between government forces and
Maoists’. We appeal to one and all to build a vast and united agitation all
over the country with these demands. We appeal to all revolutionary and
democratic forces in the country and the world to condemn this massacre, to
oppose the deployment of UAVs to crush the Maoist movement in India and to
demand an end to “War on People” – the Operation Green Hunt.
(Abhay)
Spokesperson,
Central Committee,
CPI (Maoist)
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