Message in seized documents: Dalits to be Maoists146; driving force

Khairlanji sparked a debate on the link between Naxals and the protests by Dalits in the state. If policy documents of the Communist Party of India...

Khairlanji sparked a debate on the link between Naxals and the protests by Dalits in the state. If policy documents of the Communist Party of India Maoist, seized during the past two years, and the recent three letters purportedly written by CPI Maoist secretary Chandrakant to some newspapers are anything to go by, then the Naxalite plan to absorb Dalits in their fold appears to be in full swing.

8220;Strategy and Tactics8221;, a Naxal policy document issued by the state committee of CPI Maoist to its cadres, seized immediately after the formation of CPI Maoist in 2004 following the merger of erstwhile People8217;s War Group and Maoist Communist Centre in 2004, says, 8220;The Dalits and Scheduled Castes should be treated as a special social section that is peculiar to the obnoxious caste-ridden Indian society. Though a vast majority among them belongs to poor and landless peasantry and to the proletariat and other wage-earning sections, they are also the victims of social oppression and upper caste atrocities. While mobilising the vast masses of the Dalits who constitute around 17.5 per cent of the Indian population into the agrarian revolution, we must also lay special emphasis upon the task of fighting all forms of social oppression and caste discrimination practiced by upper castes against them.8221;

The document mentions that 8220;appropriate organisational forms should be evolved at various levels to fight the evils of untouchability, upper caste atrocities and other forms of discrimination. At the same time, we must desist from forming an exclusively caste-based organisation for the Dalits, which will only lead to their further segregation8221;.

8220;We must expose the hollowness of the policies of the ruling class and the opportunist Dalit leaders who build their own electoral fortunes in the name of taking up Dalit issues,8221; the document further says.

Another document seized in 2005 from arrested state committee member Madanlal, however, tries to distinguish between Prakash Ambedkar and other Republican Party faction leaders. 8220;Athavale Ramdas, Gavai R S and Dhasal Namdeo have lost their independent public base and have become puppets in the hands of main ruling parties. By taking up a broad socio-economic programme, Prakash Ambedkar tried to break ahead of the exclusive Dalit cordon, but it hasn8217;t been able to gather momentum because of semi-capitalist class Dalits remained within the political framework,8221; says the document.

While decrying the 8220;petty bourgeoisie8221; exclusive Dalit organisations, the 2004 document, as a matter of strategy, advises to 8220;sometimes work jointly with these bourgeoisie organisations while exposing the reformism and opportunism of the leadership.8221;

Interestingly, the 2005 document also eulogises the effort to establish a separate Maratha religion called Shiv Dharma by Puroshottam Khedekar, a state Public Works Department engineer. 8220;It has come up to counter Hindutva politics and Brahminism,8221; says the paper.

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The document also refers to the murder of goon, Akku Yadav, in a Nagpur court two years ago, saying it indicates revival of the dormant women8217;s movement.

8220;The linking of Naxalites to post-Khairlanji struggle attracted ridicule and criticism, but the documents clearly show how Naxalites have been taking keen interest in Dalit struggle since the past two years,8221; said an official. 8220;The attempt here is to exploit the Dalit ire to swell their ranks,8221; he added.

Maoists torch equipment, camp

JAMSHEDPUR: Maoists set fire on equipment and makeshift camp of a construction company, engaged in bridge construction, at Shyamsunderpur in Jharkhand8217;s East Singhbhum district last night. About 30 armed extremists beat up some labourers of the Chaibasa-based construction company engaged in building of a road-bridge over Swarnarekha river which linked Shyamsunderpur and Ghatsila, police sources said. The extremists also set on fire a motorcycle, a makeshift camp and a generator set and looted Rs 1.25 lakh before leaving the site, the sources said. The incident took place three weeks after the extremists torched valuable equipment of another construction company engaged in laying of road under the Central government scheme in Patamda block of Ghatsila sub-division on November 29. Officials led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Ghatsila SP Burnwal went to Shyamsunderpur. 8212;PTI