MAKING REVOLUTION THE INDIAN MAOIST WAY
Daya Varma
Guerillas of the Communist Party of India (Maoists) attacked police stations in Orissa killing 16 including 2 women and a civilian. One police man was burnt alive and another castrated. A number of intellectuals and journalists have condemned this as well as the violent response by the government.
Nearly 100 guerillas of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) attacked a police training school, two armories and a police station in Orissa on February 17 leaving 16 dead including two women and a civilian.
According to media reports, one policeman was burnt alive and another castrated like what was done by the Taliban to their opponents after ousting the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan. In Chhattisgarh, six Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed by the Maoists.
However, assessing the overall situation, the Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said that the Maoist insurgency is “not the biggest threat” facing India as was earlier stated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Maoist violence and the violent response by the government has been condemned in a statement signed by Amit Bhaduri, Achin Vanaik, Apoorvanand, Aditya Nigam, Amit Sengupta, Mamata Dash, Praful Bidwai, Rabi Shankar, Sumit Sarkar, Satya Sivaraman and Tanika Sarkar.