Maoist communalism

Odisha's powerful Maoist movement, which in the last one month has virtually brought the state government on its knees through a series of high profile kidnappings, seems divided on communal, ethnic and linguistic lines.

 

The recent kidnapping of two Italians suggests that this divide, if anything, is deepening and there is a full-fledged turf war between the Maoists to take centre stage. On March 14, the Odisha State Organising Committee (OSOC) of CPI (Maoist), an outlawed outfit led by Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil, kidnapped two Italians, Bosusco Paolo and Claudio Colangelo when they were trekking to Kandhamal. Thereafter Sabyasachi put forth a 13-point demand for their release and nominated two mediators to negotiate with the government.

 

A cornered government, left with little choice, had to accept the proposal. Formal discussions between the government and negotiators began in state capital Bhubaneswar.

 

Even while these negotiations were underway, another Maoist outfit - the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of CPI (Maoist) - kidnapped ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jhinna Hikka on March 24. The negotiations with OSOC came to a screeching halt.

 

After two days, the AOBSZC put out a separate list of demands, making them a prerequisite for releasing the abducted MLA. Apart from the general demands relating to the development of tribal areas, both outfits asked for immediate suspension of all operations against them and attached a list of 'innocents' who needed to be released from various jails.

 

Events took a dramatic turn after that. Sabyasachi released one Italian hostage Claudio Colangelo on March 25 as a gesture of goodwill before journalists who were present at the Maoist hide-out in Kandhamal to persuade the rebels to release the foreigners.

 

During his informal chat with news persons, Sabyasachi admitted that there was lack of unity in the division headed by him and those operating in Malkangiri and Koraput districts.

 

 After a brief halt, negotiations resumed again. The Odisha government – by then up to its neck in Maoist blackmail – declared a list of 27 persons to be freed from jails for the safe release of two hostages.

 

The list was divided into two, one meant for the AOBSZC and another for OSOC. While AOBSZC had demanded the release of several members of Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha, the OSOC forwarded names of seven persons which included Subhashree Panda, Sabyasachi's wife. On April 12, Bosusco Paolo was finally released from Maoist custody, a day after Subhashree Panda had been acquitted for lack of evidence in a case registered against her by Odisha police. She was arrested in 2010 for her alleged involvement in an encounter between Maoists and security forces in Kutinguda forest of Gudari area in 2003.

 

Though Sabyasachi Panda may have revealed 'differences of opinion' between Maoist groups recently, the fault lines have been evident since 2008 after the killing of VHP activist Swami Laxamanananda Saraswati. The latter had been working in Kandhamal for decades against forcible conversion and cow slaughter, issues close to Sangh ideology. After his brutal slaying, Sabyasachi Panda issued an audio tape and claimed responsibility.

 

This was the first instance where a Maoist outfit had resorted to killing on communal lines. As an immediate reaction, a new outfit calling itself ‘M2’ and claiming to support Hindus and tribals had surfaced and made its presence felt by enforcing a bandh in three districts on January 3, 2009.

 

Manoj Pradhan, MLA from G.Udaygiri of Kandhamal, concurs, "I have no idea about Maoists in other districts, but here most cadres belong to the Christian community. As per my information, a group of 32 cadres are active here and amongst them, around 28 are Christians. A majority of young boys and girls who have been attending Maoist training camps are Christians.”

 

Consensus on such issues is however hard to arrive at. Swarupananda Patra, president of the Odisha Minority Forum, disagrees flatly. “I do not believe that Christians are involved in Maoist activities in Kandhamal. I think, most Maoist cadres are Hindus," he says.

 

But Pradhan’s opinion cannot just be brushed under the carpet. During an exclusive interview to visiting journalists in 2008, Sabyasachi Panda revealed that "there was pressure on me to eliminate Laxamanananda as a majority of the cadres of this group belong to the Christian community.”

 

Though “M-2” has generally kept a low profile since then, preferring not to show its hand, the abduction in 2011 of IAS office R.Vineel Krishna once again exposed the split between AOBSZC and OSOC. AOBSZC demanded the release of Sirisha alias Padma, Eshwari, Roja Madangi alias Sarita, Andaluri Eswari, Gokul Kuldipia and Maoist sympathiser Ganti Prasadam along with others, all of whom are from Andhra Pradesh.

 

Interestingly, the list did not figure Subhashree, Sabyasachi’s wife, who was also behind bars at the time. The incident was further proof that the rift between Maoist groups was widening.

 

Fresh evidence suggests that Maoist organisations are also divided on linguistic lines. A recent press statement issued by Bashadara Divisional Committee of CPI (Maoist) has thrown light on the gravity of this divide. An appeal issued by Nikhil, spokesperson of the Bashadara Divisional Committee, is quite telling. The appeal – far from the universal ethos which Maoists claim as their own – is downright parochial.

 

"Dear friends, please do not provide shelter and help to Telugu and Chhattisgarh Maoist cadres any more. They are indulging in forcible exploitation of Odia women cadres and are behaving very badly. Odia cadres have been given old rejected dresses and shoes once used by Telugu and Chhattisgarh cadres. Recently they have also killed Odia cadre Comrade Ravi amidst opposition from Odia cadres,'' it said.

 

Senior journalist and Maoist expert Sandeep Sahu agrees. “When I met Sabyasachi at an undisclosed destination in 2008 during the Kandhamal riots he was surrounded by Chhattisgarh women cadres. During my last visit there in March this year, I found, Sabyasachi was guarded by mostly Odia speaking cadres.”

 

Sadly, the divisions between Maoist carders are proving dangerous for the state government which is being seen as too soft. But end of the day, this is India – a land of diversity and differences. If politics can be communal and ethnic, why not violence?

 

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“Kidnapping can help meet long standing demands”