Issued by the Office of the Chairperson
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
09 July 2012
We, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, vigorously condemn the massacre of 20 adivasis (indigenous people) in Chhattisgarh on the night of the 28th of June 2012 by the Cobra battalion of the CRPF and the Chhattisgarh police under the command of top police officials. Official press reports immediately described the victims as “hardcore Maoists.” In fact, they were unarmed villagers, including children, women and the local village drummer who were preparing for the celebration of the seed festival.
The massacre is part of the Indian state’s campaign to exterminate the Maoist revolutionary movement and the adivasis of central and eastern India within the framework of Operation Green Hunt which had been launched in September 2009. In a futile attempt to cover up the massacre of the adivasis villagers, the central Home Minister Chidambaram and the top officials of the CPRF and police spread the lie that there was an encounter with the Maoists and important Maoist leaders were killed.
The Maoists have a strong following among the indigenous people for over ten years in this region and have been instrumental in carrying out land reform, local governance, education, health programs and other activities for the benefit of the people. But over 150,000 adivasis have been displaced from the region by brutal actions of the Indian reactionary forces in the Operation Green Hunt in order to make way for grabbing the adivasi ancestral domain and plundering the natural resources.
In line with the neoliberal economic policy, the Government of India has signed the Memorandum of Understanding with local and international mining corporations to extract ore from the region. This involves the quick superprofit-taking (dig-extract-export) by the mining companies, the wanton destruction of the forests, mountains, land and rivers and the use of brute force by paramilitary forces to suppress and drive away the adivasis.
The ILPS holds the Indian State and the local government accountable for wanton economic plunder and environmental destruction, the genocidal campaign of suppression against the adivasis and the blatant cover-ups of massacres and other serious human rights violations. The ILPS calls on its member-organizations, its allies in the anti-imperialist and democratic struggle and all justice-loving people to carry out activities in solidarity with the adivasis and the entire people of India and in support of their resistance to the imperialist powers and Indian reactionaries. ###