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India's two largest Maoist groups merge
In a move with far-reaching consequences, India's two dominant Maoist groups, the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and People's War Group (PWG), have merged and formed the Communist Party of India (Maoist). A press release issued by Ganapati, the long-standing underground leader of PWG, said the unity was aimed at furthering the cause of "revolution" in India. Ironically, the acronym of the new party will be CPI-M, the same as for the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).The latter is a long-standing political party in India The new party pledged to work in close collaboration with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which is leading a bloody insurgency in the Himalayan kingdom. The Jharkhand police, who keep a close track on developments on the Maoist front, have confirmed the development. Ganapati said in his statement that the new party would fiercely oppose the central government run by the Congress and its mainstream communist allies, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the CPI-M. He also announced the formation of a People's Liberation Guerrilla Army and extended support to "revolutionary struggles" in Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, Turkey and other places. That would be their fellow Maoists such as the Shining Path, New People's Army etc. As well as groups in Bangladesh, Iran, Colombia and Sri Lanka. For the last five years, the PWG and the MCC had been trying to merge but repeated efforts failed for a variety of reasons. Officials admit that the merger will have serious implications in Jharkhand and others states facing the Maoist threat. In the 1980s and 1990s, the PWG and the MCC were locked in a fierce internecine war for supremacy in different parts of undivided Bihar, causing the death of hundreds of guerrillas and their sympathisers. The creation of Jharkhand in November 2000 and anti-Maoist operations launched by the administration pushed MCC and PWG to forge closer links. A truce came into being between them three years ago. The merger has caused uneasiness among police officers here who have vowed to work out fresh strategies to deal with the development. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-10-19 |
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