Marching CCOMPOSA, Limping SAARC
12 Sep, 2002 · 855
PV Ramana throws light upon how Maoist insurgency in Nepal is being fought n Belgium
In fact, the Flemish did what the Worker?s Party of Belgium (WPB), could not ? vocally oppose the sale. It is not known if Agalev and WPB have any linkages. But, certainly, the WPB has close linkages with Nepal?s Maoist insurgents. Both have shared public fora and the WPB continues to disseminate Maoist propaganda. Moreover, it undertakes advocacy on behalf of the Maoists. For instance, at a conclave of Communists that the WPB organised in Brussels between 2 and 4 May 2002, it helped table a resolution to ?condemn and oppose the malpractice of the fascist state of Nepal and demand life security for the disappeared?.
The resolution listed the names of several Maoist leaders and activists whose whereabouts are not known, but were allegedly picked up by Nepal?s security forces. No less than 42 groups ranging from South America to South East Asia signed the resolution, in early September 2002. The signatories include the Communist Party of India?Marxist-Leninist (Janashakthi) group of Naxalites.
The Janashakthi seems to be among the latest entrants in the ever-widening network that the Maoists have been developing with the Naxalite and other extremist groups operating in India. The firmest link yet that the Maoists have established in India is with the People?s War Group (PWG) that has created a reign of terror in Bihar and distant Andhra Pradesh, besides operating in other states like Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
The bond between the Maoists and PWG is strengthening with each passing day. The Maoists had sent a delegate to the PWG?s Congress in 2001. Both are members of the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA), whose formation was announced a few months later in July. An India-Nepal Border Regional Committee reportedly exists to ?coordinate? the activities of the two groups in the border districts of Bihar. A report of 11 May 2002 also informed that a Naxalite leader of Bihar is on the Politburo of the Maoists. Earlier, on 25 January 2002, the Central Committee of the Politburo of the Maoist insurgents resolved to launch a campaign against the proscription of the PWG and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Reports in August 2002 indicate that the Maoists and the PWG are training together in the jungles inside Nepal and on the Bihar-Nepal border. Heightened operations by security forces in Andhra Pradesh have compelled the PWG to shift its training camps to safe areas. Recently, the PWG had mobilised participants for a Maoist rally.? Quite a few among the enthusiastic Nepalese participants were girls and young women, who also constitute the weapon-wielding cadres in both the PWG and Maoist squads. A credible report from Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh stated that they are deliberately inducted into the armed squads to retain male cadres. The Maoists, too, are adopting a similar tactic.
Among the ?newest? discoveries of Maoists? linkages with Indian extremist groups is with the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) that primarily operates in West Bengal, where the Naxalite movement originated in 1967. The KLO provides sanctuary to fleeing Maoist cadres while, in turn, being a beneficiary of Maoist training and a recipient of weapons looted from the Nepalese security forces. It is possible, though, that it pays for the latter.?? The discovery that Nepal?s Maoists are training Indian extremist groups suggests that they are, in fact, running a terrorist training school on Indian soil.
While extremists in South Asia are marching ahead together within and without CCOMPOSA, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) continues to convene a succession of meetings to deliberate on unified counter measures. It is time for action, not unending discussion.