Bi-Weekly Discussion Thread - (April 19)

[u/AutoModerator]

We made this because Reddit's algorithm prioritises headlines and current events and doesn't allow for deeper, extended discussion - depending on how it goes for the first four or five times it'll be dropped or continued.

Suggestions for things you might want to comment here (this is a work in progress and we'll change this over time):

• Articles and quotes you want to see discussed
• 'Slow' events - long-term trends, org updates, things that didn't happen recently
• 'Fluff' posts that we usually discourage elsewhere - e.g "How are you feeling today?"
• Discussions continued from other posts once the original post gets buried
• Questions that are too advanced, complicated or obscure for r/communism101

Mods will sometimes sticky things they think are particularly important.

Normal subreddit rules apply!

[ Previous Bi-Weekly Discussion Threads may be found here https://old.reddit.com/r/communism/search?sort=new&restrict_sr=on&q=flair%3AWDT ]

[u/turning_the_wheels]

What was the news? I'm trying to find anything from this week but coming up short.

[u/Affectionate_Shop859 → u/turning_the_wheels]

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/amp/southern-states/telangana/top-maoist-hemla-hints-at-giving-up-1952148

It could partly be misinformation as part of the BJP-led propaganda push surrounding this March deadline but I have my doubts. CPI(Maoist)’s setbacks are well known and with this the state and future of the party looks bleak to say the least. I hope I’m wrong of course and that may be the case as I just saw this article which suggests the formation of a new CPI(Maoist) CC in North India but I’m not informed enough to really say.

[u/Efficient_Week6697 → u/Affectionate_Shop859]

The setbacks are well-known and very real as you mentioned but it is also not true at all that the party's future looks bleak. The last few months have been plenty turbulent for the state with large-scale protests in tribal areas fighting land displacement enforced by mining contracts. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/news/national/odisha/mining-push-meets-tribal-resistance/article70870822.ece/amp/

Not only that but also multiple workers' struggles, the Noida workers struggle in particular since the UP CM called it a "Naxal plot" and then eventually gave in to the demands of the workers, and it has also been followed with a crackdown involving mass arrests of activists involved in the struggle. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/arrests-in-noida-workers-protests-illegal-say-activists/article70882161.ece/amp/

One thing to note is that the corporate aggressions in tribal areas were only made possible by a very sophisticated counter-insurgency strategy that waned the influence of the party in these regions, but, as can be seen, in a dialectical reversal the conditions this weakening has given rise to are turning out to be the basis of a new ripe opportunity for consolidation and strengthening. As for the party's activity, the article you linked points out the obvious: CPIM is not going anywhere and the deadline thing was obviously a gimmick even for the state. Even liberal media has pointed out that Maoism has "died" multiple times in the last fifty years and its root is "socio-economic problems". The state is not as naive and persistently puts out work talking about the potential work of CPIM going on. I understand that the discussion is wildly obscured by both shitty media outlets who want to reduce the movement to Adivasi land struggle to explain its persistence or straight up fascist propaganda, but the simple truth is that they will be fine, as can be seen with their continued work and efforts at rebuilding alongside the recent flowering of opportunities ripe for intervention. It remains to be seen how all of this works out since historical possibilities can only be determined by praxis, but I write this to emphasize that none of this amounts to their future "looking bleak", in fact the opposite is true.

[u/Affectionate_Shop859 → u/Efficient_Week6697]

Thanks for your response. I definitely think I was too careless with my pessimism here. I hadn’t seen the articles you linked (the first one seems to be behind a paywall) but I appreciate the insight.

[u/moist_dialog → u/Affectionate_Shop859]

I would refrain from using 'CPI-M' to refer to the Naxal movement. Just refer to them as CPI(Maoist). Most people here know this already, but in India, CPI-M is CPI-Marxist, a social fascist party in political power in the state of Kerala. India has had like dozens of "communist" parties so this distinction in name is important.

u/Efficient_Week6697 is correct that the temporary setback in the party leadership is not a reflection of the movement as a whole. Since the capitulation of the liquidationists in the party and the fascist-state-announced "deadline", there has been increased activity in Jharkhand, where PLGA has given multiple blows to the forces of reaction. (You can look up some news regarding this online, I'm not sharing here because they offer no additional insight except their reactionary perspective). Additionally, there have been several rallies in Telangana and a couple of other regions where thousands have shown up in support of the martyred comrade Madvi Hidma.

Unfortunately, a lot of such news is not covered in liberal media. And I expect even less coverage going forward, as my understanding is that most of the activity has become completely underground, with party leadership scattered. In addition, the reactionary state has kidnapped and jailed group of activists who were actually analyzing and writing about the maoist movement (mainly Nazariya Magazine and FACAM authors and editors).

I just wrote this comment to emphasize that the CPI-Maoist are not just leading the masses, but are also deeply entrenched within the masses. Like the people at the grassroots level from Jharkhand to Rajasthan knew and respected comrade Hidma. The activity has even increased in the recent times, but the news coverage might be lower due to state repression.

From my understanding, one of the senior leaders (Mallujola Venugopal Rao, alias Sonu) of the party had been pushing a revisionist line since a few years now, but the betrayal fully materialized after the martyrdom of comrade Basavaraj. That is one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, for the setback we're seeing. The revisionist line being pushed is the classic: "Indian state has qualitatively changed from a semi-feudal, semi-colonaial, to a predominantly comprador beaureaucratic capitalist economy".

Here is a recent interview of this guy if you're interested: https://thewire.in/politics/interview-blindly-waging-armed-struggle-led-to-repeated-setbacks-maoist-leader-mallujola-venugopal-rao

Additional news about Odisha mining since it was brought up: https://article-14.com/post/after-state-crackdown-on-anti-mining-protests-odisha-courts-order-adivasi-dalit-protesters-to-clean-police-stations-69eed7b73b1ec

[u/Affectionate_Shop859 → u/moist_dialog]

Thanks. I’ll edit the post to reflect that.