Operation Green Hunt: For Whom? Against Whom?
The Indian government along with state governments of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal as well as bordering states like Andhra and Maharashtra and tugging along seemingly reluctant governments of Bihar and Jharkhand (as camouflaged by their CM-s in the first Calcutta Summit of the CEO-Home-Minister and the CM-s by not participating themselves) have declared Operation Green Hunt (abbreviated OGH) putting combined central and state forces in full combat gear. What these states have in common that prompted the governments to plunge into this adventure in such a vigour? The purported claim of the governments is to combat and end Maoist insurgency. Why Maoists are to be fought and finished? Sometimes the prime minister and the home minister said that Maoist are 'extremists' 'terrorists' like HUJI, LET, etc, and not only that, they are the most dangerous of the 'terrorists' operating in India, or India's greatest (internal) threat. Sometimes it is also said that their activities in those states are upsetting the development speed and goal of those states and also overall India. It may sound quizzical as to why a nuclear capable force like Indian Government having the second largest army of the world and the fourth largest Global Fire Power would consider perhaps only few thousands (or at most 10000-12000) strong 'guerrilla force' with armed squads having some explosive devices and some improved and/or snatched guns and etc as 'most dangerous internal threat'. Moreover Maoists are operational (or operate) in only a fraction of all the districts of those states. But well, since the govt is arguing so, we need to investigate deeper in search of the truth or any other 'hidden agenda' beneath government's argument. Three or four 'sides' of this 'war' are generally talked about by supporters and opponents of OGH, they are - the govt, the corporate houses, the Adivasis and the Maoists. We shall look into the role and interest of these countervailing forces, though not in this mentioned order.
Adivasi people or as they are referred to in the governmental literature - 'tribal', make up about 8 percent of the total population of India, a number not negligible. If we leave aside the north-eastern states later annexed by the British colonialist power, there are 9 states of India that have 5% or more Adivasi people among their population, of which 6 states have more than 10% Adivasi people among their population and Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh having 20% or more Adivasi people. Their very name, 'Adivasi', tells that they are the 'original residents'. As per 2001 census, which some Adivasi activists complained to be diluted to show 'less' Adivasi population, less Adivasi villages etc, put the total Adivasi population in the OGH states (MP, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, plus adjoining Maharashtra and Andhra) to be about 5 crores 28.5 lakhs in 2001.
The British colonial rulers declared the forest zones of central and eastern India as their govt property. They drove off the Adivasis in and around the forest zones to further interior, declared them intruders, 'criminal tribe' etc when the dispossessed Adivasi people tried to get only some essential items from the forest for their livelihood. The Adivasis, irrespective of their different tribes, never did any harm to forest or trees in general because in their culture-mythology-axiology or etc, which in turn were product of their hard lifestyle, trees are held in high esteem, whereas for the British colonialists the forest was nothing but a lucrative timber field. It is hard to tell how many millions of Hectares of the forest land were deforested at that time. The British colonial rulers also 'exported' thousands of Adivasis to their Tea Estates to work there as very cheap labourers and exploited them, often whipped them and punished them physically, as they did overseas to the African slaves. The British also introduced Jamindari system of feudal exploitation there which is yet to be uprooted totally; so along with colonial exploitation and plunder there were feudal lashes of British backed feudal lords, usurers, Forest-Babu-s and forest contractors.
Time and again the Adivasi people rebelled against the colonial rulers and some of the great wars for Indian independence were fought by them. But how are they now after more than 60 years of Indian independence? Last year H.E. Vice President Hamid Ansari said, (quoting from a source) "If there is any group of Indian people that has been shabbily treated it is my people. They have been disgracefully treated, neglected for the last 6,000 years. ..." And then he added, "Six decades later, a few questions need to be answered: 1. Has the experience of six decades been different from that of the earlier millennia and have Adivasis been treated with greater attention and justice? 2. Have Adivasis been afforded the equality of opportunity? The reality is unpalatable and the data speaks for itself. ..." (http://www.pib.nic.in/release/rel_print_page.asp?relid=52156) So why the govt is in so hurry now with the development agenda after six decades of sitting mum? It smells fishy.
The Union Govt has declared 150 districts of India as the most poverty stricken districts. And 94% of the districts of Chhattisgarh, 90% of the districts of Orissa, 86% of the districts of Jharkhand are in that list. In another estimate the document put forward by "Riders for NREGA: Challenges of backward districts" shining states like Gujarat has 8 of its districts in the top 150; Maharashtra has 15 districts within top 150; West Bengal has 7 districts among top 150 including those of the Jangal Mahal. (http://nrega.nic.in/Planning_Commision.pdf) In WB, which is thought to be not as poverty stricken as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh etc, about 95% of Adivasi children suffer from anaemia due to malnutrition whereas for the state in general this rate is much lower, nearly 50%.
The extent and depth of poverty among Adivasis are so well known and discussed now that they need no further mention here. Only a few thing can be added to the list of utter disregard shown to them, e.g.: One of the most spoken Adivasi language is Santhali, the mother tongue of Santhals, one of the biggest Adivasi tribes, and it is the 15th largest language spoken in India. But it took Adivasis to fight several decades in India Independent to compel govt to teach that language in school in the Santhal domiciled places. Still govt support for publishing books in Santhali on various subjects is lacking even after creation of Jharkhand, a state that was also a product of prolonged bitter struggles in which many were martyred. So Santhali children are forced to learn Hindi, Bengali and Oriya.
Most of the Adivasi people, 92%, are rural ( e.g. About 98% of them are rural in Chhattisgarh, 93% of them are rural in Jharkhand, and connected with agricultural work mainly as agro labourers and the remaining work in forest related and other rural work. (See Table below.)
State Vs % of Households in categories (Total will not give 100% as minor activities not shown)
State | Self employed | Rural labour | ||
Agriculture | Total | Agriculture | Total | |
Bihar | 20.6 | 41.4 | 47.3 | 55.3 |
Chhattisgarh | 52.3 | 54.9 | 29.5 | 34.2 |
Jharkhand | 62.4 | 67.2 | 12.8 | 26.3 |
Orissa | 31.4 | 41.2 | 39.6 | 50.9 |
WB | 20.9 | 25.4 | 54.8 | 65.4 |
Source: NSS 65th round
One should not think that in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh the Adivasi rural households are in a better position because they are 'self employed in Agriculture' i.e. 'independent' 'farmers'. E.g., in Bihar, 79.8% of rural Adivasi households own/possess less than or equal to 0.4 Hectare or roughly less than 1 acre of land - perhaps mostly in less productive terrains - and it will be too much daydreaming to label them as 'independent' 'farmers'. So it is better to say the most of rural Adivasi households in these states work as 'labourers' or 'poor peasants' or 'tenant peasants', how much 'independent' those labourers or tenants are is something not exactly known.
Feudal exploitations, extortions are still rampant and the Adivasis, often illiterate, find it difficult to calculate rates, and hungry, so that even a half-meal a day is more important than no-meal at all, had no way out than to succumb to the joint forces of pre-capitalist exploiters. And if we hear from persons on the other side of the fence speaks about 'how the Naxal menace has to be stopped' we shall get some idea about the Adivasi life (http://naxalwatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/deadly-naxalites-talk-is-cheap.html): "There is an urgent need for the badly-affected States to undertake joint operations ... ... coordinated intelligence gathering, .......Two, the distortions in the social system need to be dealt with on a war footing, to alleviate poverty, ensure speedy development and enforce law and order strictly. Three, take up land reforms with a fresh revolutionary zeal and approach. ... With a majority of India's population engaged in agricultural pursuits, one would expect the tillers to be rich. Instead, they are not only poor but continue to be at the mercy of the rich landlords." (italics ours). We see that persons on that side too agree with the naked facts of pre-capitalist exploitation, extortion of the Adivasi people and the way the government deals with them, undemocratic set-up there, the total negligence in executing land-reform even half-heartedly in a J?nker way let alone doing that with 'revolutionary zeal'.
No wonder that the Adivasi people repeatedly were glorious co-fighters in the India's famous anti feudal peasant struggles like Telengana, Naxalbari, and later in Bihar and other states.
The picture or history presented above may seem to be irrelevant with respect to specifically the OGH that is going on. But there is a strong connection. Adivasi people time and again revolted against exploitation this oppression and exploitation of their own. Also it is not surprising that if some agency or group etc, be that once much famed Chhatisgarh Mukti Morcha (or now blemished JMM) or any organisation at present, takes up the cudgel of 'justice' in its own hand, punishes the cruel landlords, cunning traders, usurers, contractors, forest officials and/or their organised representative, the govt, that agency or group will get many devoted or loyal supporters, or even persons ready to join in their ranks. Rather it is natural. But it is just the start of the present episode which can explain the possibility of the Maoists gaining some foothold in these states though it does not prove that. Moreover not only Maoists, but also other organisations like CPIML, CPIML (New Democracy), CPIML (Liberation) etc gained foothold in some parts or other of this region at different times and many mass struggles took place. Whether that possibility turned into reality and whether the present happenings can be termed as Maoist violence or a Govt. vs. Maoist war is something different and we shall see that later.
The other part of the picture or the more important part unfolded in the post NEP, liberalisation period. Though the first attack came on the workers when 'restructuring', 'rationalising' had started in the 1980s. In the 1990s the globalisation, liberalisation, privatisation brought in more forcible retirements, freezing and decreasing of benefits and more and more workers were being employed as 'casual', 'contract' workers with abysmally low wages, no benefits like pensions, health benefit etc and no job security. Curtailment of the already infinitesimal legal rights of workers began too. After initial setback and fumble (due to the meekness of the surrendered TU-s) the workers have started to fight of their own though very slowly till now. Attacks on peasantry started from almost mid-1990s with rising input cost due to withdrawal of subsidies and still continuing with, say, the forcible entry of imperialist corporate manufactured GM cultivation. Feudal exploitation and extortions that were there in post-1947 India (like usury, the domination of market by Artiyaa-s or pre-capitalist big traders in the mandi-s, hoarders, caste-Hindu control over land and abuses on Dalits, Adivasis etc) continued all the same and the collusion of fudge, fuzzy foreign funds with the 'capital' of the pre-capitalist market entities began to increase food prices at their whim and deformed market farther.
At such a backdrop, geological explorations became once again in notice of the MNC sharks. A mind-boggling amount of mineral wealth lies beneath these states. Below is a Table showing which of these states have how many percentage of that mineral/ore wealth with respect to whole of India (exact figures and much more can be had from "Rich Lands Poor People" - a 'Centre For Science And Environment' publication).
State | coal | iron ore | aluminium ore | chromium ore | manganese ore | diamond |
Madhya Pradesh | 8 | 10 | 32 | |||
Chhattis Garh | 16 | 10 | 28 | |||
Orissa | 24 | 17 | 51 | 98 | 35 | |
Jhar khand | 29 | 14 |
Besides, Chhattisgarh has 23% of the high quality iron-ore reserve and Indian iron ore sources are so first-rate that Indian iron and steel factories reject iron ores having less than 60-65% iron concentration whereas the international standard is generally around 50% only.
But here the mining, metal and extraction industry biggies had other ambitions too. After liberalisation started India had to fall in line with some other so called 'non aligned countries' to liberalise which actually meant selling state-sector companies at throw away prices to Indian Bourgeoisie and trans national corporate houses and let them have increased amount of stake in older and newly proposed industries. This was visible in the mining sector too. But here the international bourgeoisie and their Indian counterpart waited for something more. When that 'more' was not arriving quickly and smoothly, they, through their international 'business media', created a hue and cry in the early years of this millennium saying Indian Govt should open up more, should throw down all remaining veils prostituting its Nature and Human resources. Their consorted pressure tactic can be understood from the fact that after slowly gearing up investment to Rs 103.96 Cr in 1998 (Rs Crores, if halved, will give corresponding figures in $ million approx) they slowed down and finally made a screeching halt on and from 2001. This they continued till 2004-05, almost stopped discussing proposals formally, till govt granted 100% private, even 100% Foreign Direct Investment in mines and mineral field, barring only Uranium and some other ores.
And this richness of the Nature of Adivasi habitation came as a curse to our Adivasi people. The lust of the business magnets to plunder, to loot the abundant resources coupled with this abject surrender of the government to the foreign monopoly capitalists, imperialists and their Indian junior partners that finds expression in this latest forced land-grab. Taking into considering the total exploitation on the Adivasis and considering usurping their land-rights the Honourable [ex]President of India once, perhaps apologetically, 'confessed', "Let it not be said by future generations that the Indian Republic has been built on the destruction of the green earth and the innocent tribals who have been living there for centuries." - and he spent nearly a fifth of his speech on this issue in that 'address to the nation'. [President K. R. Narayanan's address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day, January 25, 2001] This is a softened reflection of the condition of the Adivasis who being only 8% of population made up almost half of "development victims" through their own dislocation; and 'destruction the green earth and of the innocent tribals' is perhaps the fittest synonym of OGH. So we get the answer of the first question - OGH: for whom?
Now, let us go to the next part, OGH: against whom? FICCI, the topmost organisation of the Indian bourgeoisie (and foreign bourgeoisie working in India) to look after their class interest did set up a Task Force named FICCI Task Force on National Security And Terrorism to submit a report (at http://www.ficci.com/SPdocument/20032/terrorism-report.pdf). Among 9 members of the Task Force we just mention 5 ? Ajit Kumar Doval, Former Director, Intelligence Bureau; Lt. Gen. Satish Nambiar (Retd); Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy (Retd.); B. Raman, Additional Secretary (Retd.), Cabinet Secretariat; Ved Prakash Marwah, Former Director General, NSG (remember the Black Cat commandos?). Engels would laugh form his grave seeing this beautiful example of "what is State" and collusion of the ruling class and the state machinery that serves them, why FICCI did not invite a retd. person of court too! ? anyway, let us proceed. In page 38 we find FICCI candidly admitting - "The appearance of mining crews, construction workers, and truckers in the forest has seriously alarmed the tribals who have lived in these regions from time immemorial. ... Judging from their past experience with development, the tribals have a right to be afraid of the mining and constructions that threaten to change their environment." So FICCI knows what they are going to do - in ex-President's language "destruction the green earth and of the innocent tribals". In exchange of what? "The tribals are supposed to be justly compensated for any land used by the companies, but the states' record in this area is patchy at best." Just a bit more compensation to 'tribals' would do!
But they have determination - they present it that they are doing it not for their interest but for the interest of urban consumers! Meanwhile India's affluent urban consumers have started buying autos, appliances, and homes, and they're demanding improvements in the country's roads, bridges, and railroads. To stoke Indian manufacturing and satisfy consumers, the country needs cement, steel, [Page 38] and electric power in record amounts. In steel alone, India almost has to double capacity from 60 million tonnes a year now to 110 million tonnes." Again, "Just when India needs to ramp up its industrial machine to lock in growth and just when foreign companies are joining the party - the Naxalites are clashing with the mining and steel companies essential to India's long-term success. The threat doesn't stop there." Well, well, well - there were 'tribals' - how and where from Naxals appear? "Chhattisgarh, a hotbed of naxalite activity, has 23 per cent of India's iron ore deposits and abundant coal. It has signed memoranda of understanding and other agreements worth billions with Tata Steel and Arcelor Mittal (MT), De Beers Consolidated Mines, BHP Billiton (BHP), and Rio Tinto (RTP). Other States also have similar deals. And U.S. companies such as Caterpillar (CAT) want to sell equipment to the mining companies now digging in eastern India".
So, naxalism is bad because it is spoiling the "party" of Indian and Foreign companies for the sake of India's "affluent urban consumers". FICCI blamed the governments for inept and unfair handling of peoples movements like in Lalgarh, FICCI blamed the 'paltry' and 'patchy' compensation scheme for the tribals and peasants ? and according to FICCI, the naxalites or Maoists took advantage of peasants' and tribals' discontents. A well knit a logic it is, which fits both the claims of government which want to project OGH as anti-Maoist war, and also the Maoist who want to project themselves as the representative or leader of the Adivasi-fight that is going on for the tribals and against the corporate interest. Other similar accounts of some media persons and members of the intelligentsia say in a bit different words; according to them the Maoist movement which is for them a revolutionary struggle and the Adivasi movement against displacement converged into a anti-govt resistance. The Dantewada warfare and other Maoist 'actions', speeches of some members of intelligentsia point to this aspect. From the opposite side, the 'Committee On State Agrarian Relations and Unfinished Task of Land Reforms' report which mentioned the corporate warfare as the largest land-grab after Columbus said - "The first financiers of the Salwa Judum were Tata and the Essar in the quest for 'peace'. ...640 villages as per official statistics were laid bare, burnt to the ground and emptied with the force of the gun and the blessings of the state. 350,000 tribals, half the total population of Dantewada district [Chhattisgarh] are displaced, their womenfolk raped, their daughters killed, and their youth maimed...". And hence the Adivasi people with the help of the Maoists are I the war path. So this gives answer to the second question - OGH is against the Maoist or against Maoist-Adivasi combine. But is it so? Is it the full truth?
The atrocities of Salwa Judum and/or OGH are so well known that they do not need mention again. The report just mentioned above suffice. Let us cite only a few additions. A strong opponent of Naxalites, Anoop Saha, who offered to help the Chhattisgarh DGP with his expertise, admitted in his column in MERINEWS about the complicity of state machinery and capitalists and that anti-Naxal pogroms like Salwa Judum had been running at the behest of capitalists, even by the financial support of the state and the capitalists: "People are forced to shift into designated camps. The camps are fortified. Those who don't come to camps are attacked. The people who choose to live in villages have their houses burnt down, their crops destroyed, hitting them economically. All connections between those living in the villages and the outer world are systematically broken down. All allegations are summarily dismissed as naxal propaganda. .........All of us have a right to know who the real beneficiaries are in this civil war. The stories of Essar and Tata steel plants, Essar funds for Salwa Judum camps, their mining leases, the MoUs being kept under wraps, the forced, undemocratic and unconstitutional acquisition of land for these plants, the arrests, the murders, the rapes, and the brazenness of the whole affair might give us some clues.. (italics ours, http://www.merinews.com/article/dantewada-naxalism-and-salwa-judum/126541.shtml; dated Mon, Sep 24, 2007) The Times of India reported a nasty scene on 5 Dec 09 about the manners of the joint forces in the vicinity of Lalgarh: "... But when the Gohmidanga school was finally vacated on Thursday, teachers and administrative staff were in for a shock. The classroom floors were littered with empty bottles of liquor and used condoms. Blackboards were defaced, benches and chairs were broken and electricity boards damaged." (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Joint-forces-leave-behind-condoms-booze-bottles-in-school/articleshow/5298221.cms)
But despite atrocities committed by the state forces Adivasi resistance to what was nicknamed "Operation Mineral Hunt" by Gladson (http://www.countercurrents.org/dungdung210310.htm) is there and had been there. As the motive force, he wrote, "Therefore, one has every reason to believe that the so-called operation green hunt or anti-Naxal operation is to get the Adivasis and other local settlers lands clear for the Corporate Houses rather than cleansing the Maoists from the region." And again, "Indeed, the operation green hunt is a license to kill the Adivasis who oppose the unjust development process, protest against the state suppression and [are] determined to protect their ancestral heritages." But he also presented some other pictures. # "The government has been telling us for the several years that the Palamu region of Jharkhand is the most Maoists infested area. Presently, Simdega district comes under the same category but it is strange that the anti-Naxal operation was firstly launched in the Kolhan region. Needless to say that the Jharkhand government has signed most of the MoUs with the corporate houses for establishing the mining industries, the power projects and the steel plants in this region. It is obvious that the anti-Naxal operations are being carried out in those districts (East Singhbhum, West Singbhum, Khunti, Gumla, Bokaro, Giridih, Chatra, Latehar, Ramgarh and Hazaribagh) where either the villagers are opposing the proposed development projects or the government foresees as the investment corridor." (http://www.countercurrents.org/dungdung210310.htm) Or, "The first brutal rehearsal was done in Garhwa. The CRPF brutally assaulted to the primitive tribes (the Indian state is proud of being able to keep some indigenous people in the primitive stage) who were protesting in front of the collector's office in Garhwa. Their only crime was they demanded for 200 days employment in ...NREGA, direct appointment in the government jobs and implementation of the forest rights Act 2006 (which prime objective is to right the historic wrong that's what our government told us). ...when the Adivasis entered into the collector's office premises on February 2; the CRPF closed the gate and beat them up mercilessly for 20 minutes. Consequently, 50 Adivasis including women were severely injured and admitted to the hospital." (http://www.odiaa.com/2010/02/hunting-adivasis-in-mineral-corridor-2/) And there are Adivasi struggles in Jharkhand that were not led by or not connected with Maoists. As was the case of anti-CESC struggle in Dumka. Should we write off Dungdung's writings just because of his 'NGO connection'? Can we just write off some thousands-strong peoples move just saying it is the NGO-s who 'made' the movements? It is fact that nobody 'built' the movements from above, it is the oppressed, exploited and cornered Adivasi people who stood up and struggled for their own existence.
The Adivasi people practically had to organise stiff resistance to the state offensive for corporate interest. Adivasi people of Kalinganagar of Orissa first flared up with a big bang. In 2nd January 2006 police force killed 13 Adivasi people there who came to resist forcible occupation of land for an upcoming TATA project. When the news spread Adivasi people of far away places a joined hand with Kalinganagar Adivasis, Adivasi resistance virtually stopped roads in the steel belt of Orissa. The Kalinganagar Adivasi resistance was in no way connected with the Maoists or any party whatsoever, neither were they organised by NGO. Before Kalinganagar another big resistance took place in Kashipur of Orissa in which 2 persons were killed by police force. Both the struggles were not at all connected with the Maoists. The same is true for the anti-POSCO struggle in Orissa and in several such anti displacement Adivasi struggles in Jharkhand. There some leaders of so called left parties are there in these movements. Even, when the Lalgarh struggle first erupted it was difficult even for the govt to demonstrate and prove it to be a Maoist led struggle except for the fact that Maoists were operative there for some time, but the later can have several reasons like what we have discussed regarding the possibility of Maoists gaining some ground in Chhattisgarh. But Lalgarh is somewhat different from the other OGH zones, because (1) it started to fight the repression of the police/administration on the Adivasi people there, (2) it demanded, though indirectly, 'democracy' to prevail and (3) they did not have any displacement agendum before them like their counterparts in Chattisgarh, Orissa, etc. The stubborn autocratic attitude of the WB govt complicated the matter; this bossy and bureaucratic CPIM action was the creator of Lalgarh situation; and later the peoples' movement there got overlapped and juxtaposed with Maoist actions.
As the reportages of Chhattisgarh pour in from different corners, it may be said that the Adivasi fight back was connected with the Maoists there in the sense that in some places the Maoists inspired and organized them to fight against the local wrongdoers from well back in mid '80s or early '90s . But even in Chhattisgarh, there was, as for example, the anti-SEZ struggle at Rajnandgaon district, which was in no way connected with the Maoists. And they even put up a candidate in the Lok Sabha by-election as far as reports are there. There were severe problems of such 'independent' mass-movements, mass-struggles in Chhattisgarh due to the war like situation there where both the warring sides - the state machinery and the Maoists were more inclined to 'armed-actions', whereas, it can be said that certainly the level of the mass of workers' & peasants' movement in India now is nowhere near such 'armed interventions'.
So it can be said that the Operation Green Hunt is more of an Anti-Adivasi operation in the garb of Anti-Maoist operation and it is also an operation against the Maoists who due to their way of activities and the proximity (or coincidence) of their operational zone and Adivasi lands; and it is designed to fulfil the capitalists' target of getting the land beneath which lie the treasure troves so much desired by them. In fact, the Adivasi resistance struggles happened and is still continuing in many places and perhaps in most cases they neither sought any help from Maoists or any other party, nor are they led by the Maoists, though they did not and do not disallow any activist with a party background, as is the case in the anti-POSCO struggle where a prominent CPI leader joined as an individual and is still in the same plank. [A section of the media months back aired remarks allegedly of some Maoist leader that they helped Trinamool Congress in the Nandigram struggle. But Maoists were not anywhere there, nor the Trinamool leaders, when the masses took decisive actions during the first weeks of Jan 07 or during the valiant recapture of Nandigram on 16th March 07, just two days after the massacre of 14th March. Moreover it is not at all sensible to see any mass struggle as handiwork of some one or two political outfit.]
Globalisation has put forward an additional objective basis of the united fight of workers, peasants and other oppressed people. The advanced members of the working class must raise its voice against the attacks of globalisation and the attacks it brought on the Adivasi people who for generations were co-fighters in the workers'-peasants' struggle of India (and here, it should be kept in mind that a section, though only a very small section, of the Adivasi people had been co-opted in a 'creamy-layer' and there are now obedient to the ruling class and its state machine). The advanced members of the working class must raise its voice of protest against the repressive OGH. They should not be content seeing the fight back of the Adivasi people. Because, Adivasi fight, however militant and massive it is/becomes cannot fight with India's state machinery of their own - they need to be fortified with the total strength of the workers' and peasants' struggles of India. The history of revolutions of the past century proved beyond doubt that a proletarian revolution, a revolution de facto led by the working class, and brought in by workers, peasants and all oppressed masses can move towards the goal of real equality between nations, nationalities, can put an end to age old exploitation, discrimination and can free a country from imperialist exploitation - and without this leadership of working class the abovementioned aspirations will remain unfulfilled however valiantly other oppressed peoples fight. Only a radical change of India that will really change the policy of the state power by changing the ruling classes can solve the problem. They should remember that the class which will have to lead the struggle - their class, the working class, is not yet prepared and organised as a revolutionary contingent so that they may lead other oppressed masses like the peasantry and other non-class oppressed sections like oppressed nations, castes, tribe people like the Adivasis etc to liberation, to socialism through a peoples democracy. It is a fact based on long term observation that neither the Maoists nor many other so-called revolutionaries are keen to shoulder this arduous task. Is it not imperative now to organise this class and take this work as the primary task? And so, intense and extensive agitation-propaganda works in the industrial areas and workers' quarters are much more important, the agitation-propaganda should focus on the present assault going on in the Adivasi zone at the behest of the capitalists of the world so that more and more workers come out to protest Operation Green Hunt. Agitation-propaganda regarding other burning issues of the workers and peasants should also be carried out giving emphasis on consolidating the section of advanced workers and bring forward newer elements ready to join the section of revolutionary advanced workers.
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