Chakadoba, West Bengal: India has seen several attacks by so-called Maoists since 1 April, the most violent of these being the killing of 19 people in simultaneous attacks across Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh on 16 April, the day elections to the 15th Lok Sabha began.
Since the late 1960s, the Maoists are said to have killed an estimated 6,000 people. The frequency of their attacks has risen in recent times. Some analysts consider the Maoists India’s biggest threat in terms of internal security. Yet, they remain a shadowy group or loose affiliation of groups, preferring to live in jungles from where they emerge to carry out guerilla attacks, and shunning all forms of publicity.
On his terms: Koteshwar Rao, the 51-year-old Maoist leader, refused to be photographed. Indranil Bhoumik / Mint
In a rare interview, Koteshwar Rao, a member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the underground outfit’s highest decision-making body, who is also head of the ultra-left party’s guerilla operations in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa, said the Maoists had joined forces with separatist groups in the North-East such as the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) in Assam, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Manipur.
“We support all outfits fighting state-sponsored oppression—the likes of Ulfa, NSCN and PLA—because our enemy is common. We have recently signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the NSCN, Ulfa and PLA for helping each other in our fight against the state,” Rao said in the interview that took place in the deep interiors of a forest in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal.
Rao has been on the run from law enforcement bodies for 31 years and is guarded by a protective circle of 25 bodyguards. The 51-year-old Maoist leader refused to be photographed and set his own terms for the meeting. Mint’s reporters were asked to arrive at a school in Chakadoba where they waited for around 5 hours. At around dusk, they were escorted to where Rao was—a clearing in the jungle that was reached after a brisk 30-minute walk.
In a conversation that lasted at least 5 hours, Rao, who greeted the reporters with the Maoist “Lal salaam” or red salute, explained the Maoist philosophy. And his group’s ultimate objective. Edited excerpts:
The administration alleges that you ambush people and run away—that you don’t have the courage to fight them…