Int’l Campaign to Condemn the Assassination of Azad, spokesperson of CPI (Maoist)

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Tuesday July 13, 2010 12:42 by TIKKO - International Campaign Against War on the People in India Search info at icawpi dot org

Support the Resistance Movement of Indian People

For Immediate Publication.

We call on Progressive Irish Organisations and Individuals to endorse this statement.

On July 1, 2010 the special police branch of the Indian state assassinated in cold blood, Azad, (Cherukuri Rajkumar) the spokesperson of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) having earlier forcefully abducted him and Hem Chandra Pandey, a freelance journalist accompanying him. Both were tortured and executed and their bodies dropped and left in a distant forest. Yet the state and the media at its disposal claim that the two were killed in an “armed encounter”.

The assassination of Azad is a continuation of state terror and war on the people of India. This act exposes the disinformation campaign surrounding the state’s “ceasefire” proposal, which is nothing but a deception by the Government of India. It puts a spotlight on the real intentions of the regime in launching “Operation Green Hunt” which has turned the whole of India into a war zone and hurled the unrestrained brutality of 250,000 paramilitary and police forces against the people, in its attempts to auction off the natural resources of the country.

Those in power in India know full well that the brutal abduction and killing of Azad and other popular leaders of the resistance will deter neither the tribal people nor his party the CPI (Maoist) nor any who oppose the “Operation Green Hunt.” This is an act of desperation of a system in deep crisis that seeks to extract maximum profits through unbridled exploitation. The Indian state does not and will not hesitate spilling the blood and extending terror against the majority of the people, in order to plunder every inch of the country for profits of the multinational corporations.

India has a long history of heroic popular resistance to the savage brutality by the imperialist powers and local reactionaries. The glorious struggle of independence against the savage domination of the British colonialists and the martyrdom of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh eventually led to the end of the colonial rule in India. Today, it is “Operation Great Hunt” and the contemptible assassination of Azad, a prominent leader of a people’s movement which has challenged the exploitative rule of the state, and who had been willing to negotiate for a ceasefire so that the poorest of the poor of India could get a respite from the military campaign by the state. This is a sign of the coming ruin of the Indian ruling classes which conceal its service to imperialism and reaction by masquerading as “the world’s largest democracy.”

Azad was assassinated but we know there are many more Azads in India. While the Indian ruling classes and their controlled media continue their jubilant pretence about their recent “success”, they tremble, knowing that Azad is immortalised and continues to live in every chant, in every dream and aspiration of the oppressed calling for Azadi (freedom) not only in India but in every region and in every country and every prison and torture chamber that the imperialist powers and reactionaries have constructed to continue their domination.

The struggle of the people of India against state terror and war deserves the support of all people across the world joined in common struggle against the plundering of natural resources and the exploitation of the common people for the benefit of the imperialists, fascists and their cohorts.

As democratic and freedom loving organisations and individuals across the world we condemn the brutal assassinations of Azad (Cherukuri Rajkumar) and journalist Hem Chandra Pandey, and support the call to join together to express solidarity with the people in India in their just struggle against the war and terror perpetrated by the Indian state in the name of “Operation Green Hunt”.

Let us join our efforts and support the just struggle of oppressed everywhere!

This statement, being initiated by ICAWPI, is open for all the concerned that may wish to co-sign it. Please send your or your organisation’s name and your email address to [email protected] to be listed as signatory of this statement. (The e-mail addresses will only be used for future notifications; they will not be published).

The International Campaign Against War on the People in India, further calls on organisations and individuals supportive of the campaign and all other progressive, democratic and freedom loving people across the world to join together and wherever possible take initiative to launch protest actions in front of the Indian embassies and consulates in order to:

* Denounce the criminal war on the people of India,
* Condemn the recent brutal assassination of Azad, the spokesperson of CPI (Maoist) and other leaders of the popular resistance by the Indian state; and, to demand
* An end to “operation Green Hunt”;
* Freedom for all political prisoners in India.

Please forward this call widely; and join others in protesting the war and targeted assassinations of people’s leaders by the indian government. For further details please visit: www.icawpi.org