MÉXICO: CR-PCM Statement on the Murder of Comrade Basavaraj in India

A few days ago, we knew about the murder of Nambala Keshava Rao, better known as Comrade Basavaraj, who was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). He was martyred along with 26 other comrades from his Party during a massacre committed by the fascist regime of Narendra Modi.

His assassination took place on May 21 in the Abhujmad area of Chhattisgarh state, and it occurs in the context of the counterinsurgency “Operation Kagaar,” which is unleashed by the reactionary classes of India and its Hindutva-Brahmanical State, with the backing of both U.S. imperialism and Russian imperialism, which are competing for absolute control of the country and the region.

Like the military strategies that preceded it, the so-called “Operation Kagaar” is doomed to failure, despite the apparent military might of the old State and the criminal brutality with which the reactionary armed forces of India conduct their war against the people. During the nearly 17 months that this operation has been ongoing, the State has mobilized thousands of soldiers, police, and paramilitaries, launching ground and aerial attacks against villages and communities, leaving hundreds injured and killed, criminalizing the Adivasi and Naxalite peoples, and committing persecution and arbitrary detentions of workers, peasants, students, and intellectuals, while unleashing genocide in the countryside. The aim of all this is to hand over natural resources, minerals, water, forests, etc., into the hands of monopolistic companies, deepening the semi-colonial condition of the country, while maintaining the concentration of land in the hands of large landowners and reinforcing the caste system, which also strengthens the semi-feudal condition prevailing in India.

To achieve this objective, the old Hindutva-Brahmanical State needs to intensify the war against the people, clearly understanding that its main obstacles are the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the People’s War it leads, considering them a threat to national security.

However, all military actions and crimes against the people by the State are futile and will not be able to stop the firm advance of the People’s War, which is building support bases for the New Democratic Revolution, giving rise to the New Power in the forests, jungles, and mountains of the so-called “Red Corridor” that extends across the eastern, central, and southern parts of India. This People’s War is the largest in the world and has reached its 58th anniversary this week since it began on May 25, 1967, with the Naxalbari uprising.

Comrade Basavaraj, martyr of the Revolution and hero of the people

From a very young age, at the age of 20, Comrade Basavaraj took a stand in favor of the people, beginning his revolutionary activities in the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (People’s War), of which he became a member of its Central Committee and part of its Central Military Commission, where he excelled in both operational and leadership capacities, serving as both a military chief and a political leader.

Later, in 2004, at the Unity Congress where the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (People’s War) and the Maoist Communist Center of India declared the foundation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Comrade Basavaraj was appointed a member of its Central Committee. At that Congress, the leadership of the Party was assumed by Comrade Ganapathy, who later stepped down for health reasons and was succeeded by Comrade Basavaraj in 2018.

Comrade Basavaraj, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), was forged over more than five decades of relentless class struggle under the fire of the People’s War and the struggle of two lines that he helped develop. He was rightly feared by Modi’s fascist regime, the reactionary State, and imperialism for his prominent role in the People’s War and his multiple democratic achievements.

Comrade Basavaraj was trained as a communist under the thought of Comrade Charu Mazumdar, and as the head of the Party, he contributed to the formation of thousands and thousands of new cadres, fighters, and popular masses through his example, fighting under the banners of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), and the Revolutionary People’s Committees/New Power amidst the ongoing New Democracy Revolution.

Comrade Basavaraj has passed away at the age of 70, and undoubtedly the CPI (Maoist), the PLGA, and the RPCs have lost one of their most beloved leaders amidst the ongoing People’s War. The death of Comrade Basavaraj carries the weight of the highest mountains in all of India; his life and struggle must be honored by communists and revolutionaries around the world.

The Committee for the Reconstitution of the Communist Party of Mexico honors the memory of Comrade Basavaraj and the 26 comrades who were martyred alongside him. We salute the comrades of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, the Revolutionary People’s Committees, and all the democratic-revolutionary formations in India that are carrying out the tasks of the ongoing New Democracy Revolution.

We lower our red flags in memory of the martyrs of the Indian revolution, now honored as heroes of the people, whose names will be inscribed on the wall of honor of the international proletariat.

Red Salutes (Lal Salam) to the memory of Comrade Basavaraj and the martyrs of the Indian revolution!

Eternal honor and glory to Comrade Basavaraj!

Long live the Communist Party of India (Maoist)!

Long Live the People’s War in India!

CR-PCM

Central Committee

Anáhuac-México