Greek Solidarity

Reports
Greek Solidarity
– Dipak Sapkota
A large group from the Communist Organisation of Greece (KOE); including the General Secretary of KOE, Rudi Rinaldi, members of the secretariat, members and supporters of the KOE that included engineers, workers, company employees, students, teachers, and anthropologists came in the second week of June to show solidarity with and learn from the Nepalese revolution.
General Secretary Rudi said that after the Maoist victory in CA election, Nepal and the Maoist movement started getting media attention in the West: “Before the election, the Western Media didn’t even mention Nepal, but when the Maoist won the election, they were obliged to state something.”
The Greek delegation went to the Chitwan cantonment of the People’s Liberation Army. All the visitors were very proud and happy to meet the PLA. The group were given a tour of the cantonment and had an interaction with members of the PLA. The PLA were also much enthused to meet Greek Communists, and the PLA soldiers were very happy to know that even as far away as Greece people respected their stuggle. The KOE delegation presented some gifts from Greece, including a disc of Greek revolutionary songs. For the General Secretary it was very emotional and he thinks that the `Nepali people have a very strong weapon in the struggle against reactionaries, expansionist and imperialist. ‘
Before returning back to Greece, the Greek group met with Chairman Prachanda and other party central leaders. On the occasion, General Secretary Rudi presented a gift to Chairman Prachanda that symbolises the Greek civilisation. Expressing his happiness at meeting with the Maoist leadership, Rudi said it was an honour to meet the leaders of one of the successful revolutions in the world. Maoist Chairman Prachanda said the Nepali revolution had developed a new model after studying the experience of revolutions in 21st century.
Nikos Taviris was impressed in his first hour in Kathmandu. He saw Maoist posters and slogans on the walls. He found the Nepali people smiling and optimistic about the future, which he thinks is the result of Maoist revolution: “After the republic, people think they have a way out. If people think there is a future, they can do a lot of things.”
Yannis Triantafillou, a computer programmer, was impressed at the unity and the relation between the Maoist party and the masses.
Yiota Tzani saw a Red Army for the first time in her life, which she found very impressive. She was also delighted to see red flags, posters, slogans on the wall everywhere in the city. She also found out that Nepali people had a strong connection with the party. Axhikkeas Stavtou, a student, was impressed that the CPN-M had done a great job to expand its work to the every level of the society. As the KOE is trying to organise people in Greece, the experiences of Nepal, the tactics of the party, are worth learning.
Merina Bresta, who works in a company in Greece, thinks that when she will go back she will tell the people of Greece and Europe that the first revolution in the 21st century is happening in Nepal. She said: “This is the best example how things can be changed for a better world. She also hopes that Nepali revolution will win soon.
Nepal and Greece are very different in terms many aspect. Giorgos Papathanasiou, who is studying civil engineering, spoke on the differences between the two countries. He thinks that Communists in Greece need to fight against capitalism, whereas Nepali Communists have to fight against feudalism. Many Nepali people, especially youth, look towards the West. They think the solution to their problems lies there. Many youth have a dream to go to Europe and the US. But many people in the West are looking towards the East and towards the Himalayas. Isn’t it strange? Why are the people who are aspiring for a better world looking towards the Himalayas? The student organization secretary of the KOE, Costas Costopoulos, thinks: `the revolution of Nepal is very important for all the people all around the world.’ He further said: `I think it’s a lot for us to see and hope from the struggle of Nepal.”
The journalist Stelios is impressed with friendliness of the Nepali people. He found Nepali people very tolerant. Chris Katsoulas, a member of the KOE secretariat, said that although Nepal is far behind Greece economically, they had a desire to see the revolution of Nepal, and they were pleased to be in Nepal. He thinks that despite the differences between two countries, the international language of struggle is same.
After meeting the Greek delegation, a question came to my mind again and again. What do the people of developed countries like Greece have to learn from a very poor and backward country like Nepal? The Greek communists, after their second conference, are `concentrating all their strength to create a Communist movement’. How does the Nepali revolution can help their movement; all the members of the delegation had the same feeling: “The Nepali revolution has not only given hope to Nepali people but to all the peoples of the world.”

Response to the anti-peasant CARP: Agrarian revolution!

The US-Arroyo regime’s move to extend the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for another five years is violative of the class interest of the peasant masses who have long been desirous of genuine land reform. The US-Arroyo regime has no other objective but to continue deceiving and oppressing the peasantry and keep on pocketing huge funds meant for CARP. In previous years, fund allocations for CARP served as one of the biggest milch cows of bureaucrat capitalists.

Like all the previous land reform programs of the reactionary state, CARP is bogus and has no real relation to agrarian reform. The fake land reform program merely served to further intensify land monopoly in the country, and allow foreigners to own land pursuant to imperialist “globalization” policies. Claims by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) that 80% of agricultural lands have been distributed to the farmers is a big lie. The vast majority of peasants remain landless or land-starved and continue to be victims of feudal and semifeudal exploitation.

To evade the genuine distribution of land to the tillers, landlords devised numerous schemes in CARP’s name, including the division of vast tracts of land into small parcels and so-called land redistribution to bogus beneficiaries through the Voluntary Land Transfer/Direct Payment Scheme, Leaseback/Buy- back Scheme, Crop Conversion/Land Conversion Scheme, Contract-growing Scheme, Joint Venture Scheme, Cooperative Scheme, Corporative Scheme, Stock Distribution Option Scheme and related schemes.

CARP worsened the rampant land grabbing of farmers’ lands in different parts of the country. Concentration of lands in the hands of old and new landlords intensified, swelling the number of landless farmers. Landlords now control over 80% of the 13 million hectares of agricultural lands in the country, while more than 80% of peasants in the country do not have their own land to till.

Malacañang and its cabal only utilized CARP to enrich themselves. A big portion of over a hundred billion pesos allocated for CARP since 1988 merely went to the thieves in Malacañang and its so-called chief implementors.

Moreover, Arroyo and her cohorts feasted on the P27-billion fund sourced from the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth sequestered in 2004. The sequestered funds were intended for CARP as mandated by law. The insatiable Arroyo camp is now eyeing with gusto the more than P100 billion budget for CARP’s five-year extension.

The cry to end CARP is attendant to the farmers’ clamor for genuine land reform. It is advocated by all revolutionary forces and democratic sectors of society.

As contribution to the democratic struggles for genuine land reform, progressive solons in Congress are pushing for the passage into law of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Program (GARP). The bill is expected to meet with stiff opposition by the Arroyo regime in connivance with the big landlords who dominate Congress.

Agrarian revolution is the revolutionary movement’s key solution to widespread landlessness and land starvation in the country. Learning from the rich history of peasant struggles in the Philippines, genuine land reform will only be realized through agrarian revolution. Agrarian revolution aims to liberate the peasant masses from feudal and semifeudal exploitation and oppression.

Agrarian revolution is the principal feature of the national democratic struggle currently being waged by the armed revolutionary forces across the archipelago. Through this, the peasant majority are enjoined to take part as the main revolutionary force and in the formation of the basic alliance of the proletariat and peasantry.

In guerrilla zones and fronts across the archipelago, the revolutionary peasant masses implement various levels of the revolutionary land reform program. The minimum program being implemented on a wide scale involves the gradual reduction of land rent, the elimination of usury, wage increases for agricultural workers, attainment of just farmgate prices for agricultural products, improvement of different forms and levels of cooperation and various socio-economic, educational and cultural programs for the benefit and welfare of the peasant majority.

In areas where the armed revolutionary forces are relatively strong and the enemy forces are weak, certain components of the maximum program for land reform are already being implemented. In these areas, farmers are given rights to till for free lands that have been confiscated from despotic landlords and land grabbers, or idle or abandoned lands. This they do under the direct supervision of their agricultural cooperatives and organs of political power. This program proves to be effective and exceedingly gainful for the beneficiaries. There will be more of these cases as the revolutionary movement expands and advances and total victory becomes imminent.

As a result of advancing genuine land reform and the victories achieved therein, millions of peasants are joining revolutionary organizations and becoming active participants in revolutionary struggles. Thousands of the more advanced elements from their ranks are taking up arms and joining the people’s army. With the revolutionary movement’s continuous advance, agrarian revolution will spread like wildfire, gradually defeating feudal and semifeudal power in the countryside and fuelling the advance of people’s war across the land.

Orissa raid fetched Maoists about 500 weapons

The number of weapons procured during the Maoist raid on Nayagarh town of Orissa in February last could be around 500, considering the fact that 175 Maoists had participated in the raids and that each of them carried away two or three weapons each, according to a ¡®Maoist Information Bulletin¡¯ issued by the Maoist Central Committee. .

Neither the Orissa government nor the Centre had disclosed the exact number of weapons looted during the raid. The bulletin sent to media institutions in Hyderabad on Friday night is again a new initiative by the rebels to open a channel of communication with the media.

The chief of central military commission (CMC) Basavaraj, who is quoted in the bulletin, disclosed that the Maoist raid teams had hoped to seize some 400-500 weapons, but they found many more. ¡°We had ourselves burnt a large quantity of arms and ammunition as it was difficult for us to carry all of them. Since the place was far away from our stronghold areas, it was impossible to carry the entire load. So we burnt around 400 inferior arms, which the police claimed they recovered¡±.

The rebels made good with sophisticated weapons like AK-47s, Insas rifles, SLRs, LMGs and scores of short weapons. They left behind mostly the .303 bolt action rifles, which were seized by the police later.

Basavaraj also made light of the Orissa government claims that 20 naxals were shot dead when police pursued the fleeing rebels in Gosama forest area. He is quoted as saying that only two rebels, Rambathi and Iqbal from 7th and 9th companies of the PLGA were killed in the exchange of fire. Three policemen were also killed by rebels. The CMC chief said that they had christened the Nayagarh raid as ¡°Ropeway Operation¡± where the strategy was to descend on the enemy forces like commandoes descending from a ropeway, ¡®take them by surprise and swiftly complete the task¡±. Basavaraj claimed that 52 rebels took control of the Police Training School which had a presence of 400 policemen.

Press release from Communist party of Bhutan.

I got my hands on one press release from the Communist Party of Bhutan – Maoist. It is dated February 02, 2008.

Here’s what it says in general, with “raktim abhivadan” (red salute, I reckon)

“In the changing political scenario of Bhutan, the Communist Party of Bhutan – Maoists has also changed its strategies. CPB – Maoist, which considers all the parties against the monarchy as cohorts, has decided to take brutal actions against those parties that try to harm this party.”

Then it lists out the “Present Targets for Physical Action” that are –

Block Chiefs (Gup) and their allies living on the land of refugees (in Bhutan) and ruling over the people.
Government officials and Indian traders that have alliance with the state and are engaged in commission-ism.

The press release also states “the CPB Maoists has decided to take a vicious physical action against one unidentified Moto Rai of Beldangi 3 for attempting to disrupt the party’s people’s revolution.”

I suppose that Beldang 3 means the Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal and the party is taking in a lot of inspiration from what CPN Maoists did during the insurgency in Nepal.

recieved via mail by bhutan kranthikari.

Barefaced Lies Fail to Erase the Legitimacy of New People’s Army Tactical Offensive (A Statement on the Death of 4 Phil. Army Soldiers)

Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Spokesperson
Merardo Arce Command
Southern Mindanao Regional Operational Command
New People’s Army
June 19, 2008

 

The 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has again concocted a barefaced lie and presented it as a very untenable excuse in regard to the death of four 73rd Infantry Battalion soldiers in Sitio Lower Bintuin, Brgy. Fatima, Paquibato, Davao City last June 14, 2008. But for its clear dubiousness, nobody is biting.

 

The narrative about their 4 casualties being “unarmed” and doing “community service” when ambushed by a unit of the 1st Pulang Bagani Company of the New People’s Army is a fabricated story that only shows the AFP’s deceit. Many, including people from the mass media, are quick in questioning how in the world has the AFP – in the thick of massive and sustained ground and aerial combat operations to defeat the revolutionary forces by 2010, and in an area which they very well know was inside a guerrilla zone – suddenly become unarmed?

 

Since when has 73rd IB-AFP combat and intelligence operations – with the 73rd IB-AFP long leading the charge against Ka Parago, the 1st PBC and the Guerrilla Front 52 been considered as “community service”? And last time we checked, the Geneva Convention and its Protocols that set the Rules of War still provided that combat units of warring parties, except for their medical personnel and chaplains and those who are considered hor’s de combat, are legitimate military targets. Again, their patent ignorance of International Humanitarian Law is revealed. They are so quick in fabricating lies when their troops are hit by NPA tactical offensives but celebrate in silence when they are able to kill unarmed civilians and non-combatants, as in the case of Danilo Pitao, Ka Parago’s brother.

 

The following are the basic facts denied and hidden by the 10th Infantry Division-AFP:

 

 

1. The four 73rd IB-AFP men were armed. Two of them who were wounded, able to run but died later were armed. The other two who died on the spot were armed with short firearms (one .45 caliber handgun and one 9mm pistol) and an apple-type hand grenade which were seized after the ambush. 

    

2. The 73rd IB-AFP is conducting Oplan Bantay Laya II military offensive operations against the NPA in its area of responsibility.

 

Having a cheek for lies and deception is trademark of the AFP. But no matter how hell-bent they are in twisting the truth, two obvious facts stand out: First, that they are disgraced and publicly embarrassed by this successful tactical offensive in the outskirts of Davao City by an NPA unit which they claim to be supposedly “weakened and on the run”; and second, that the US-directed Oplan Bantay Laya II counter-revolutiona ry campaign of Gloria Arroyo is one big frustration for the AFP.

 

 

(Sgd) Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Spokesperson
Merardo Arce Command
Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command
New People’s Army

Heighten the struggle to end the people’s sufferings under the US-Arroyo regime

Communist Party of the Philippines
June 16, 2008

 

The Filipino people have long been suffering under a regime of intransigent puppetry, deceptions, corruption, anti-people socio-economic policies and repression.

 

The people’s conditions have critically worsened especially in the recent years under the Arroyo regime. Its mendicant neoliberal, deregulatory and other pro-imperialist “globalization” policies and sellout of national and people’s interests in collusion with big foreign, comprador and bureaucratic plunderers have resulted in the current series of rapid and sharp increases in the prices of fuel, power, food and other basic commodities and the ensuing increase in government tax collections.

 

Oil prices in particular have risen more than 250% since the start of the regime in 2001. Since the start of the year, these have risen 15 times, escalating to weekly hikes at record levels the past few weeks. Rice prices have more than doubled in Metro Manila (and more than tripled in other areas like Mindanao) since the start of the regime, with the most rapid and steepest hikes during the past three months. Inflation of basic commodity prices are presently at a record high since 2001.

 

The ruling regime has done nothing to alleviate the plight of the people amid the upwardly spiralling prices. Worse, it has stubbornly continued to block the demand of workers for a P125 legislated increase in the daily minimum wage. It rejects price controls and obstinately defends the oil price deregulation policy. It refuses to remove the 12% Value Added Tax (VAT), especially on oil and electricity, that imposes a tremendous burden on the people.

 

The Arroyo regime is even now taking advantage of the people’s plight and deceiving them by showcasing “subsidies” for “lifeline” power users, farmers and students as cover for Arroyo and her ilks’ self-indulgence with the increased VAT collections. Just as they did with the previous “subsidies” like the Ginintuang Masagang Ani, the bulk of these new and bigger “subsidies” worth tens of billions of pesos will only be used to line the pockets of Gloria Arroyo and her clique and grease their electoral and political malevolence. Malacañang has yet to account for scores of billions of unaccounted juggled public funds.

 

As head of the reactionary puppet regime, Gloria Arroyo is criminally culpable for collusion with foreign oil monopolies and big bourgeois comprador and bureaucrat capitalists and for the escalation of the prices of fuel, power, food and other basic commodities and services. The US-Arroyo regime is principally responsible for the worsening backwardness and destruction of the country’s industry and agriculture, massive unemployment and underemployment and the intensifying and unprecedented poverty and hunger of the mass of the Filipino people.

 

It is criminally culpable for stealing billions of pesos from public funds. Arroyo and her cohorts have engaged in pocketing and splurging billions even as they deprive the people of much-needed support for education, health, low-cost housing and other urgently needed social services.

 

The Arroyo regime has wrought even worse cruelty and brutalities upon the people with its relentless “all-out war,” extrajudicial killings, abductions, illegal arrests and detention, torture, ruthless bombings, mass destruction and evacuations of communities and widespread repression and terrorism.

 

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) champions the unity and struggle of the Filipino people against the US-Arroyo regime’s sellout of national and people’s interests and plunderous collusion with big foreign companies, comprador capitalists and bureaucrats. The CPP supports the people’s demand for the scrapping of the Oil Industry Deregulation Law and other deregulation laws, for the nationalization of the oil industry and other basic and strategic industries, for the imposition of state control on the prices of fuel and food and other basic commodities and services, and for the guaranteed delivery of much-needed public social services.

 

Amid the rapidly worsening socio-economic and political crisis of the ruling regime and system, the CPP encourages the people to go to the streets and other public venues to express their outrage and wage their struggles. Rallies, marches, protest concerts, public video showings and other cultural presentations, fora and community meetings, alternative classes, school and office walkouts, factory protests, transport strikes, noise barrages, boycotts and other forms of collective protest action are bound to spiral towards a generalized and nationwide protest movement as the Arroyo regime remains intransigent and continues to ignore the people’s legitimate and just demands.

 

In the face of intensifying fascist repression by the regime and its armed forces, security forces and police, activists have to work hard, exercise creativity and redouble their efforts in agitating, organizing and mobilizing the people in factories, communities, schools and all other places of their work and residence. They must immerse themselves among the people, address their day-to-day problems at the grassroots, link these with the basic problems and key issues facing the whole country, and raise the level of the people’s determination and militancy in struggle. With the people’s help, they must learn how to deal with enemy spies and efforts of government forces to intimidate, harass and suppress them and the people and to overcome the regime and its armed forces and police’s fascist counter-organizing and counter-rally measures.

 

For its part, the New People’s Army (NPA) under the guidance and command of the CPP is accelerating its recruitment and training of new Red fighters and commanders and acquisition of arms in order to carry out more tactical offensives against the armed forces of the puppet reactionary state. The revolutionary masses are expanding the revolutionary mass organizations, building their local organs of political power, stepping up agrarian and other mass struggles in guerrilla bases, fronts and zones and other areas, and participating actively in the armed struggle.

 

The CPP calls on the Filipino people to rise and intensify the revolutionary struggle and all other forms of struggle to bring down the rotten reactionary puppet ruling regime and the entire underlying semicolonial and semifeudal system. From the rubbles of the rotten system, the people’s revolution will build a people’s democratic government and a revolutionary system to finally achieve genuine national freedom and democracy and continuing socio-economic progress in the country

Now, Maoists spreading base in coastal districts

BHUBANESWAR: The arrest of Gouranga Charan Jena, said to be a Maoist who was involved in several operations, from Panchupali village in Jagatsinghpur district has established the fact that Left wing extremism (LWE) is spreading its base in the State easily.The Naxalites, who were earlier based in southern and western districts, have entrenched themselves firmly in coastal districts. The arrest of one of their hardcore members from Jagatsinghpur district has made it clear that the area has become a hotbed of Naxalite activities.However, police have turned a blind eye to the increased activities of the ultras. Even after the Nayagarh incident on February 15 and arrest of two wanted ultras from Erasama area in the last two months, the State Government is yet to declare Nayagarh and Jagatsinghpur districts as the Naxalite-affected.Criticising the State Government for its failure to check the increased activities of the ultras, a senior Congress leader alleged that it has become complacent. Less number of incidents compared to Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand does not prove that the Naxalites are not active here, he said and warned that if not checked in time they will become entrenched in industrial pockets of the State in the coming days.Besides, four killings within the last two months in Malkangiri and Rayagada districts have left the police worried.Lower-level functionaries of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) were mostly killed by the ultras. Political observers believe that this may affect the campaigning of the BJD in the coming months as the grassroots level functionaries have become scared.Even though the ultras do not have any inclination towards any political party, targeting functionaries of a particular political party would definitely have an impact on its organisational preparedness.The BJD leadership is now busy chalking out a strategy to counter the challenge politically and organisationally

Eyes on the Maobadi: 4 Reasons Nepal’s Revolution Matters

11/06/2008 — Mike Ely
Something remarkable is happening. A whole generation of people has never seen a radical, secular, revolutionary movement rise with popular support. And yet here it is – in Nepal today.

This movement has overthrown Nepal’s hated King Gyanendra and abolished the medieval monarchy. It has created a revolutionary army that now squares off with the old King’s army. It has built parallel political power in remote rural areas over a decade of guerrilla war – undermining feudal traditions like the caste system. It has gathered broad popular support and emerged as the leading force of an unprecedented Constituent Assembly (CA). And it has done all this under the radical banner of Maoist communism — advocating a fresh attempt at socialism and a classless society around the world.

People in Nepal call these revolutionaries the Maobadi.

Another remarkable thing is the silence surrounding all this. There has been very little reporting about the intense moments now unfolding in Nepal, or about the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) that stand at their center. Meanwhile, the nearby Tibetan uprisings against abuses by China’s government got non-stop coverage.

There are obvious reasons for this silence. The Western media isn’t thrilled when people in one of the world’s poorest countries throw their support behind one of the world’s most radical movements.

But clearly many alternative news sources don’t quite know what to make of the Nepali revolution. The Maobadi’s mix of communist goals and non-dogmatic methods disturb a lot of leftist assumptions too. When the CPN(Maoist) launched an armed uprising in 1996, some people thought these were outdated tactics. When the CPN(Maoist) suspended armed combat in 2006 and entered an anti-monarchist coalition government, some people assumed they would lose their identity to a corrupt cabal. When the Maoists press their current anti-feudal program, some people think they are forgetting about socialism.

But silent skepticism is a wrong approach. The world needs to be watching Nepal. The stunning Maoist victory in the April elections was not, yet, the decisive victory over conservative forces. The Maobadi are at the center of the political staqe but they have not yet defeated or dismantled the old government’s army. New tests of strength lie ahead.

The Maoists of Nepal aren’t just a opposition movement any more – they are tackling the very different problems of leading a society through a process of radical change. They are maneuvering hard to avoid a sudden crushing defeat at the hands of powerful armies. As a result, the Maobadi of Nepal are carrying out tactics for isolating their internal rivals, broadening their appeal, and neutralizing external enemies.

All this looks bewildering seen up close. This world has been through a long, heartless stretch without much radicalism or revolution. Most people have never seen what it looks like when a popular communist revolution reaches for power.

Let’s break the silence by listing four reasons for looking closely at Nepal.

Reason #1: Here are communists who have discarded rigid thinking, but not their radicalism.

Leaders of the CPN(Maoist) say they protect the living revolution “from the revolutionary phrases we used to memorize.”

The Maobadi took a fresh and painstakingly detailed look at their society. They identified which conditions and forces imposed the horrific poverty on the people. They developed creative methods for connecting deeply with the discontent and highest hopes of people. They have generated great and growing influence over the last fifteen years.

To get to the brink of power, this movement fused and alternated different forms of struggle. They started with a great organizing drive, followed by launching a guerrilla war in 1996, and then entering negotiations in 2006. They created new revolutionary governments in remote base areas over ten years, and followed up with a political offensive to win over new urban support. They have won victory in the special election in April, and challenged their foot-dragging opponents by threatening to launching mass mobilizations in the period ahead. They reached out broadly, without abandoning their armed forces or their independent course.

The Maobadi say they have the courage “to climb the unexplored mountain.” They insist that communism needs to be reconceived. They believe popular accountability may prevent the emergence of arrogant new elites. They reject the one-party state and call for a socialist process with multi-party elections. They question whether a standing army will serve a new Nepal well, and advocate a system of popular militias. And they want to avoid concentrating their hopes in one or two leaders-for- life, but instead will empower a rising new generation of revolutionary successors.

Nepal is in that bottom tier of countries called the “fourth world” – most people there suffer in utter poverty. It is a world away from the developed West, and naturally the political solutions of the Nepali Maoists’ may not apply directly to countries like the U.S. or Britain. But can’t we learn from the freshness they bring to this changing world?

Will their reconception of communism succeed? It is still impossible to know. But their attempt itself already has much to teach.

Reason #2: Imagine Nepal as a Fuse Igniting India

Nepal is such a marginalized backwater that it is hard to imagine its politics having impact outside its own borders. The country is poor, landlocked, remote and only the size of Arkansas. Its 30 million people live pressed between the world’s most populous giants, China and India.

But then consider what Nepal’s revolution might mean for a billion people in nearby India.

A new Nepal would have a long open border with some of India’s most impoverished areas. Maoist armed struggle has smoldered in those northern Indian states for decades – with roots among Indian dirt farmers. Conservative analysts sometimes speak of a “red corridor” of Maoist-Naxalite guerrilla zones running through central India, north to south, from the Nepali border toward the southern tip.

Understanding the possibilities, Nepal’s Maobadi made a bold proposal: that the revolutionary movements across South Asia should consider merging their countries after overthrowing their governments and creating a common regional federation. The Maobadi helped form the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) in 2001, which brought together ten different revolutionary groupings from throughout the region.

A future revolutionary government in Nepal will have a hard time surviving alongside a hostile India. It could face demands, crippling embargos and perhaps even invasion. But at the very same time, such a revolution could serve as an inspiration and a base area for revolution in that whole region. It could impact the world.

Reason #3: Nepal shows that a new, radically better world is possible.

Marx once remarked that the revolution burrows unseen underground and then bursts into view to cheers of “Well dug, old mole!”

We have all been told that radical social change is impossible. Rebellion against this dominant world order has often seemed marked by backward-looking politics, xenophobia, lowered sights and Jihadism. And yet, here comes that old mole popping up in Nepal — offering a startling glimpse of how people can transform themselves and their world.

Some of the world’s poorest and most oppressed people have set out in the Nepali highlands to remake everything around them — through armed struggle, political power, and collective labor. Farming people, who are often half-starved and illiterate have formed peoples courts and early agricultural communes. Wife beating and child marriage are being challenged. Young men and women have joined the revolutionary army to defeat their oppressors. There is defiance of arranged marriage and a blossoming of “love matches,” even between people of different castes. There is a rejection of religious bigotry and the traditions of a Hindu monarchy. The 40 ethnic groups of Nepal are negotiating new relations based on equality and a sharing of political power.

All this is like a wonderful scent upon the wind. You are afraid to turn away, unless it might suddenly disappear.

Reason #4: When people dare to make revolution – they must not stand alone.

These changes would have been unthinkable, if the CPN(Maoist) had not dared to launch a revolutionary war in 1996. And their political plan became reality because growing numbers of people dared to throw their lives into the effort. It is hard to exaggerate the hope and courage that has gripped people.

Events may ultimately roll against those hopes. This revolution in Nepal may yet be crushed or even betrayed from within. Such dangers are inherent and inevitable in living revolutions.

If the Maobadi pursue new leaps in their revolutionary process, they will likely face continuing attacks from India, backed by the U.S. The CPN(Maoist) has long been (falsely!) labeled “terrorists” by the U.S. government. They are portrayed as village bullies and exploiters of child-soldiers by some human rights organizations. Western powers have armed Nepal’s pro-royal National army with modern weapons. A conservative mass movement in Nepal’s fertile Terai agricultural area has been encouraged by India and Hindu fundamentalists.

Someone needs to spread the word of what is actually going on. It would be intolerable if U.S.-backed destabilization and suppression went unopposed in the U.S. itself.

Here it is: A little-known revolution in Nepal.

Who will we tell about it? What will we learn from it? What will we do about it?

Maoists begin urban push.

ASIAN AGE, London edition.
By Sanjay Basak
New Delhi
 
June 10: Maoist rebels, who are now observing “Jan Pituri Saptah (revolutionary week)” in Chhattisgarh (in tribal belt in central India), have blown up power lines and disrupted communication links, targeting industries and power stations in the Abhujmar and Bastar regions and plunging much of the state into darkness.
 
A senior state police officer, in a telephonic conversation with this newspaper, said that the Maoists, who had declared a “parallel government” some time back, were now trying to move from the jungles to urban areas. The blast at Durg on June 8, in which three CRPF jawans were killed, and the attack on the Bishrampur police station “are clear signals that they are pushing towards urban areas,” he said. Comrade Sonu, a top Maoist central committee member, confirmed this. “If we fail to build our movement in the cities, the revolution will remain a dream,” he told this newspaper.
 
The police officer also said there were intelligence inputs that the Maoists were trying to teach Hindi to their Gondi-speaking “red cadres” from south Bastar as it was getting difficult for them to interact with Maoist leaders from Andhra Pradesh. The top leadership of the CPI (Maoist) is run by Andhra cadres.
 
Chhattisgarhs DGP Vishwa Ranjan told this newspaper that due to the Maoist-imposed blackout, the administration had arranged to supply at least six hours of electricity to affected areas. “We have moved 100 huge generators to give relief to people.” He also claimed adequate forces had been deployed to provide security to possible targets, including towers and transmission lines. “The Maoists are hitting soft targets,” he said.
 
The DGP said the state police was fully capable of handling the situation, and did not need help from the Centre. The so-called “soft targets” attacked by the Maoists included the Essar Steel Plant at Kirandul in Bastar. The Maoists had set the plant and 20 trucks inside on fire.
 
Last year, while observing the “Jan Pituri” week, the Maoists had plunged the entire Bastar region into darkness for almost a fortnight.
 
A police officer in Kanker district pointed out that so far not a single political leader in Chhattisgarh had issued any statement condemning the “Jan Pituri” week, which ends on Friday. A state government official based in New Delhi said, however, that since the “government is at war with the Maoists, there is no point issuing statements on their activities.”

CPI-MAOIST information bulletin-2

recieved via mail.

mibulletin-2