Maoists in CD roam mode spread the word

Rajib Chatterjee

KOLKATA, 30 JULY: In a bid to create new leaders from among youngsters CPI (Maoist) activists are taking classes to propagate ‘ultra-Left ideology’ among children residing in remote villages bordering Jharkhand with “commandants” of the outfit’s militant wing ~ People Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) ~ giving demonstrations of their latest weapons to “prospective trainees” in the villages which the rebels refer to as “liberated zones”.

A Compact Disc (CD) showing how the Maoist leaders hold “village meetings” and give “demonstrations” of their sophisticated weapons to youths, mainly in the 14-16 age group, and their parents, has been procured by a Central Intelligence agency. The CD ~ a copy of which is available with The Statesman ~ also contained photographs of the outfit’s top leaders across the nation. It also contains a video-clipping that showed how the Maoists hold “village meetings”.

In the CD, a Maoist leader has been found delivering speech to villagers including women and children between 13 and 17 years. A makeshift martyrs’ memorial (Shahidbedi) was set up and flags of the CPI (Maoist) were planted on the ground. The leader was shown urging people to fight against “exploitation of state through its various wings including the police and the Army”. Addressing the rally, the speaker told villagers that no one would be able to exploit them further if they reject the parliamentary democracy of the country and follow the “path of revolution”.

But, how is the impact of such meeting on villagers, most of whom depend on forest resources to run their families? In the video-clipping, a villager, who identified himself as Chotelal Majhi was seen saying that Maoists have set up “a bridge” and “dug up a pond” in their village. The Maoists, the villager, said are now constructing a health care centre there. The man said they extend “their full support to the Maoists” and will continue to give support to the rebels in the future. “If we don’t support them (Maoists), we will not be able to free ourselves from exploitation of capitalist class,” Majhi said.

A woman, who was also interviewed, said she would “send her son” to the Maoist training camp after he becomes an adult. “Like others, we don’t refer Maoists as terrorists,” the woman said adding that the wages of women in the state’s tribal belt, have “gone up” due to the movement being spearheaded by the Maoists.

In the same video-clipping, a commandant of the PLGA was shown giving demonstration of a firearm which, he claimed, can fire “600 rounds in one minute”. The PLGA member also gave details about how to operate such a sophisticated firearm.

“This weapon was manufactured in the year 2005 and is used by jawans of the Indian Army. Now we have got it,” the Maoist commandant claims in the video footage.