The Maoists have taken responsibility for the April 26 Dantewada IED blast that killed 10 DRG personnel and a civilian. The attack was carried out by the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
“This is a counteraction of the savage attacks on people being carried out by ‘Brahminic Hindutva fascist Centre and anti-people state government’, a note issued by Sainath, secretary of the Darbha division committee of the CPI (Maoist) said on Thursday.
The note, which is addressed to people, said, “Our brave PLGA undertook a massive attack near Aranpur on April 26. In this attack, 11 DRG ‘goondas’ were killed and according to preliminary information many police personnel were injured.”
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah has launched a war against people under an evil scheme to eliminate the Maoist Party ahead of the 2024 elections. There is announcement to eliminate the revolutionary struggle against handing over of the natural resources of Bastar to national and international corporate houses. For this purpose, Bastar has been converted into a cantonment by deploying troops of military/para-military forces, NSG, DRG and CoBRA. These rental forces regularly engage in savage actions like atrocities and murders, arrests and looting of properties. Different kinds of drones and helicopters are being used for keeping a watch and launching air assaults on their own people in a manner normally adopted for foreign lands,” the note said.
“In such a situation, people have no option but to launch counteraction against the savage attacks. The latest act of resistance is against the notorious DRG goondas who were returning after attacking villages in the name of searching and was carried out by our PLGA,” the note added.
Through the note, the Maoists appeared to be urging the youth to join their ranks, not take up police jobs and launch struggles against the government to demand jobs in other sectors. “You are a part of the people who are struggling for their due rights in the country and across the globe. Remain on the side of people and take up the path of struggle,” the note said.
The note also appealed to the police not to take part in the attacks on "harassed people" to serve looters and remain on the side of the people fighting for their justified rights. “Our struggle is against feudalism, broker bureaucrats, capitalists, and imperialism. The Central and state governments are working for the benefit of these enemies of the people and using you as an instrument,” the note said.
It also mentioned the disinvestment of public sector units by the government under liberalisation policies, which they claimed is causing the widening of the gap between rich and poor. “In 2022 itself, the properties of Gautam Adani (Modi’s owner) increased by Rs 40 lakh crore. As a result, poverty, unemployment and inflation have increased and recruitment to most government departments except police has been stopped. In such a situation, you are forced to take up a job with the police to take care of your families. We understand your compulsion,” the note said.
In an obvious reference to the District Reserve Guards (DRG) of the Chhattisgarh Police that recruits surrendered naxals too along with the local tribal youth, the note said the eligibility conditions for police jobs had been changed in Bastar and only people adept in hunting, traitors and lumpen elements are being prioritised in recruitments. “Such forces undertake attacks on villages and engage in inhuman atrocities against their own families.”
Saying that Bastar was part of India and not a foreign land, the Maoists demanded through the note that the air attacks and other oppressive actions against the local people should be stopped. “More the oppression, more will be the resistance/counteraction,” it said.
Our morale is not hit: CM Baghel
After attending the last rites of the slain DRG soldiers on Thursday at Dantewada, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the Aranpur incident had not impacted the morale of the forces and the government. “Our soldiers and officers will strongly fight and will seek revenge,” he said.
The CM said the martyrdom of the DRG jawans will not go in vain and added that he was proud that they martyred while fighting back. “One Naxal was injured in the encounter that occurred before the blast and another was also taken into custody. But this incident occurred while the forces were returning (from anti-naxal operation). It was a matter of chance,” he said.
To a question of failure to implement standard operating procedure (SOP) as the DRG teams were using big (four-wheeler) vehicles instead of walking or using two-wheelers, the CM said since pucca roads were available, the risk was taken and the incident occurred. “However, earlier too, three of our jawans were martyred though they were using motorcycles,” Baghel said.
