The full letter containing Sabyasachi Panda's accusations against the CPI(Maoist) leadership is not available on-line but some extracts have been reported in the news media. This criticism is presented below along with the press release issued by the CPI(Maoist) expelling him.
Extracts from Sabyasachi Panda's Letter
Panda, 43, wrote two letters on June 1 to CPI(Maoist) general secretary Muppala Laxaman Rao alias Ganapathy, politburo members Prashant Bose alias Sumit, Narayan Sanyal alias Vijay, and other Maoist cadres. It is not clear if they reached their intended recipients.
“As I have not got proper democracy to discuss or write the political opinion... and as there is no scope for an immediate solution of our long-standing problems, I would like to write this,” Panda said in the letters, running into 39 pages and accessed by The Indian Express. Excerpts:
Replication
“People in Bihar may need one armed organisation in their struggle to face armed gangs of landlords. But for riot-affected people of Orissa or for the people of Lalgarh, we should not copy the form of organisation and form of struggle mechanically as per our subjective wishes... One democratic revolution cannot end all types of small and big exploitations from any society.”
Senseless violence
“When everybody is carrying mobiles in hand, we can’t influence people by blasting towers everyday. From 2000 up to now I have been witnessing so many unnecessary annihilations in Orissa... We can stamp anybody as an informer and kill him with our gunpowder without responsibility to convince the people for our action! This is our revolutionary birthright.
“...Jagabandhu Majhi [BJD MLA] was annihilated in 2011 by Chhattisgarh comrades. He was a person who had been moving in a wheelchair, a handicapped person. He had been threatened by our people for two years. Out of fear, he contacted me and wanted to surrender. Simply he was killed... Just after the unification of the erstwhile People’s War and the MCC, the comrades of the erstwhile MCC annihilated five or six villagers in Jujumara [Orissa]. The cause of annihilation was just like our all-time formal statements that they are informers.
“In 2009, when politburo member Basavraj [Namballa Keshava Rao] visited our area, he made some comments on other politburo members such as Kishenji. ‘He is not doing anything, not killing a single policeman, and giving statements’. As if killing police is the one and only job for a revolutionary.”
No alternative policies
“Yes, we have to fight against exploitation, but what is your special policy for a new democratic government in tribal areas? Your Janatana Sarkar is not the tribal autonomy body [nor is it] government by traditional tribal rules, even partially. You are destroying tribal culture for your selfishness. You have no alternative agricultural, industrial, medical and educational policies.”
No democracy
“Leaders think [of themselves] as masters and cadres have no courage to oppose the leaders’ mistakes... The policy in practice is to suppress or eliminate the opposing voice by force, either inside the party or outside in society. In a meeting of the Basdhara and Ghumsar divisional committees, central committee member Bhaskar [alias Modem Balakrishna] in the presence of member Chetan suspended member Chalapati saying that “in a communist party, for faults of a party member, we may suspend, expel and if needed can kill him/her(marne ki saaja bhi de sakte). Even innocent people may be killed sometimes for revolution...
“Only yes-men and good boys/girls of leaders are promoted. In the name of promotion, a type of feudal democracy, similar to that of the fascist RSS, prevailed in this party.”
Rules & theories
“Now it has become a common rule to issue blades to all boys and girls for shaving [their private parts]. Dandakaranya cadres have accepted this as a party rule, just like using only Lifebuoy and Rin soaps, Timex watches and Action shoes.... And it is also said that in the place for bathing, all should bathe without [wearing] clothes. What is the relation of a revolution to such stupid theories?
“...Oriya cadres are dissuaded from taking sugar in their food with the advice that it would cause diabetes. You can take as much mirchi and tamarind as you like, but are not allowed to mix sugar in your tamarind water, and you can’t eat onion as a substitute... If we use Margo soap for squad members instead of Lifebuoy, central committee members such as Basavraj will comment on us.”
No accounting
“Financial anarchy is a common trend in the party. AOB [Andhra-Orissa border] cadre Binoy accumulated money from various sources before he surrendered. In the party there is no fair accounting system. So many Dandankaranya cadres and main-force activists are expending money as per their wish and giving a round account... ‘Rs 10,000 we have done expenditures’. Bengal comrade Ashok did not give accounts of Rs 15 lakh. All these are symptoms of wrong trends that we are promoting from above.
Partiality
“Our AOB leaders always tried to treat the Orissa committee as subordinates. They never want to develop one independent Orissa revolutionary struggle... Commanders of Dandakaranya and Andhra-Orissa Border are giving regular irrelevant interviews as they wish. In 2009, a resolution was adopted that without a decision I should not give any interview.”
Minority policy
“As per the new theory of central committee members, Christianity is the main obstacle before building a revolutionary organisation. Central committee member Manoj said Christianity is an organised religion... and so for any organised revolutionary work it will become an obstacle... Left sectarian friends of AOB distributed a leaflet against Christianity in Srikakulam... Later, AOB cadres and squads who were Christian were removed from that area... When Christian people organised around us, politburo members such as Basabraj started advising us to write in circulars and pamphlets that ‘Christianity is not the solution to people’s problems’.”
Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/if-we-use-margo-instead-of-lifebuoy-they-will-comment/987854/0
Other Accusations by Sabyasachi Panda
In an audio message issued late on Sunday night the senior Maoist leader said the party's decision to expel him comes seven months after he and his supporters had severed all ties with it, and a month after he had announced the formation of a new outfit called the Odisha Maovadi Party (OMP).
The CPI-Maoist party had, in a four-page press release on Friday, announced the expulsion of Sabyasachi Panda for indulging in opportunism, anti-party activities and for being a 'renegade'. The 16-page letter, addressed to the party general secretary Ganapathy, also dismissed the serious allegations brought by Panda against the party leadership.
In a 5-minute long audio message Panda has accused the party of following anti-tribal, anti-minorities and anti-people policies and condemned the party's growing dependence on the politics of eliminating individuals without any justifiable reasons. He has blamed a section of the party's leadership, especially those from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, for the 'degeneration' that has set in within the party. He has specifically named party's central committee member Modem Balkrishna alias Manoj for conspiring against him and trying to impose a number of unacceptable decisions on the Odisha party cadres.
"They have killed activists and workers from the SUCI, CITU, CPI-ML and even ordinary people without any justifiable reasons. I have been critical of their politics of murder and acts that spreads terror. We were not willing to play slaves to a party that denies internal democracy and works against the interests of the people," the audio message said.
Panda has also alleged that the Maoist leaders are collecting huge amount of money from corporates who are displacing the local people for their industries despite a party decision not to seek funds from such private operators. "It was the anti-people and sectarian politics of the party that had forced us to go for a rethink and we finally decided to move away from the party," he said in the message, adding he had decided to expose the wrongdoings in the party in November 2011 after he was placed under 'party arrest' for about three months on the basis of false charges by intolerant and narrow-minded leaders.
Panda has ruled out any possibility of any kind of armed conflict with the CPI-Maoist factions opposed to him and said he and his associates will continue with their work for the poor and oppressed people in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal districts where they have been serving the poor and oppressed people since 1995.
Panda has dismissed allegations that he had leaked the content of his long letter to the central committee members of the party and said the police had intercepted it while it was on its way from Kolkata to a jailed party leader.
In his message Panda has said the CPI-Maoist party is moving along a self-destructive path and that it would perish unless it reviews its anti-people policies, admits its mistakes and takes corrective action. "We would welcome it even if we are no longer a part of the party," he said.
Significantly, Sabyasachi Panda has not given any indication at all about the possibility of his surrender or return to mainstream politics, something that has been the subject of wide speculations ever since reports of his differences with top CPI-Maoists appeared in the media.
Source : http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/expelled-maoist-leader-sabyasachi-panda-warns-party-leadership-through-audio-message-254152
Press statement of CPI(Maoist) on Sabyasachi Panda is given below
Sabyasachi Panda, the secretary of our Odisha State Organizing Committee released a 16-page letter addressed to the General Secretary of our party, Comrade Ganapathy to the media on 14-07-2012. In cahoots with the ruling classes he spit venom on the CPI (Maoist) and the revolutionary movement led by it and hurled several baseless, sham allegations and fabricated lies. He released this letter with the evil intention of liquidating the party and the revolutionary movement, discarded the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and left the vanguard party of the proletariat. He openly declared that he is completely disassociating himself from the People’s War line and revolutionary practice and exposed his modern revisionist face. In the most abominable, crooked and conspiratorial manner he betrayed the party and revolution and the great cause of the toiling masses, particularly of the oppressed masses of Odisha and proved himself to be a renegade.
Sabyasachi Panda worked for some period in the CPI (M) and later in the CPI (ML)-Liberation. He was influenced by the revolutionary movement and joined the erstwhile CPI (ML) [PU] in 1998 leaving the right opportunist Liberation party. Due to the merger of parties he continued to work in the erstwhile CPI (ML) [PW] and latter in CPI (Maoist). He worked as a member of the AOBSZC between 2003 and 2005, as a member of Odisha State Organizing Committee from 2005 and as its secretary since 2008. In his 15 year long practice, though he worked in a revolutionary party he failed to transform himself into a genuine proletarian revolutionary and had been criticized several times by his colleagues, cadres and the CC comrades for his anti-revolutionary opportunist political views, stands and practice. Even in the state level Special Plenum held in December last year, when he was criticized he accepted only some of his mistakes that too for namesake and escaped answering some of them. This coward ran away leaving the revolutionary movement instead of sincerely realizing and rectifying his mistakes like a true proletarian revolutionary.
His 16-page letter is full of rotten lies, distortions and twisting of facts and there is not an iota of truth in them whatsoever. They were hurled with the most awful intention of liquidation and destruction of revolutionary movement in Odisha and damaging the image of our party that is serving as a ray of hope for the toiling masses and renowned for dedication to a great cause, the cause of liberation of our country and selfless unparalleled sacrifices. It is an open secret that he hurled them with the evil and appalling intention of fulfilling his selfish political motives that serve the ruling classes. Ruling classes bring to the fore people like Panda to gain legitimacy for the foul propaganda they carry on about the revolutionary movement and such phenomena occur frequently in history. The enemy has been hurling such fabricated lies on several of our leaders like comrades Charu Mazumdar and Kanhai Chatterji, on our party and the revolutionary movement ever since the launch of the revolutionary movement by keeping opportunists like Panda in the front.
Before going into the allegations made by Panda and the reasons behind them, we want to clearly state the fact that our party conducts meetings, plenums and conferences in order to correct and improve our practice and to advance with higher tasks. It realizes its mistakes and corrects them through criticism – self-criticism, reviews and rectification campaigns taken up specifically. This is a continuous process. Panda’s evil intentions can be gauged from the fact that in spite of knowing all these things he placed before the people his 16-pages of sham allegations. The actual fact is that he decided to leave the party as he was not ready to rectify himself in such a process.
The list of Mr. Panda’s filthy and foul-smelling allegations is long enough, some of the allegations he hurled prominently are as follows :
1. Violence for no reason and killings of innocent persons has become the norm for the Maoists; cadres are being ordered to kill innocent and unarmed policemen indiscriminately
2. There is domination of Telugu and Koya comrades in the Party.
3. Adivasis are exploited the most by the Maoists, they are made to cook and carry luggage; cadre are not allowed to meet their families even during festivals; Adivasi women are being exploited sexually by the Maoists
4. Ganapathy wants to establish a dictatorship based on terror and fear.
State suppresses people fighting for their rights with all kinds of weapons available with it. And if that fight is for the liberation of the people i.e., for the political power of the toiling masses, the state suppresses it most severely. Its police, paramilitary and military carry on this offensive from the front while all its other components participate most cruelly in the offensive in a planned, coordinated and conspiratorial manner. So it becomes absolutely necessary for people to resort to armed struggle.
Anybody who knows ABC of Marxism would know about this fundamental and primary principle about revolutionary violence. Nobody would think that Panda did not know about this party line when he left the right opportunist CPI (ML)-Liberation party, accepted the line of the revolutionary party and joined the party and when he accepted the line of the Unity Congress. However as Panda wanted to disassociate himself from the party, he is spitting venom that Maoists resort to violence for no reason and that they are killing innocent people. He is trying to show that he is opposing all this so that the Indian state takes a benevolent attitude towards him. Class enemies like Laxmananand and Jagbandhu, government armed forces and officers who carry on the state repression and participate in it, who severely torture the people, destroy their lives in all aspects and resort to killings, are suddenly being perceived as innocents by Panda. He is displaying more faith than the master to kowtow before the ruling classes and is surpassing the enemy foul propaganda in uttering lies.
Panda is resorting to the age-old cheap ‘divide and rule’ tactic of the British colonialists and the Indian ruling classes who are retracing their steps by making the allegation that Telugu and Koya comrades are dominating in Odisha. The revolutionary movement led by CPI (Maoist) follows the path of Protracted People’s War and builds the revolutionary movement to finally seize political power all over the country by spreading from smaller areas to vaster areas, isolated areas to all over the country, and by developing from a small force to a mighty force. From the beginning with a strategic outlook it deploys its forces in various areas accordingly and carries on the work. It develops local mass base, develops party and army and establishes area-wise political power. By following this line, it brings a change in the strength of forces, finally surrounds the cities and captures political power all over the country. Keeping this in view, every member of our party must be prepared to go to any part of the country to work. Moreover, as internationalists communists must be prepared to go any country or area and work shoulder to shoulder with the people there for their liberation.
The entire history of Indian revolution indicates that revolutionary movement spread to various parts of the country due to the determined and revolutionary efforts of comrades who left their areas and states and went to other areas and states to work. Such comrades learnt the languages, respected the cultures of the people there and integrated themselves with them. The movements built in new areas are proof of this collective effort of comrades. Due to his narrow-minded regionalism not just today, but Panda could never accept the fact that comrades from other states are coming and working in Odisha.
Instead of appreciating the selflessness of those comrades he continuously and conspiratorially tried to create a divide between them and the Odiya comrades by resorting to factionist methods. Panda displayed narrow-minded regional chauvinism towards comrades from other states who came to work in Odisha according to the needs of the movement and behaved in a domineering, undemocratic and sectarian manner with them. The fact is Odiya people and the Odiya comrades have happily welcomed and accepted the fact that comrades from Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are coming to work for them and with them. We hope that those handful of cadres who are with Panda would rethink about the People’s War path, see through the lie and expose him by realizing his conspiracies.
Nothing could be more deceiving than Panda shedding crocodile tears like the ruling class butchers and hurling accusations about the ‘exploitation of Adivasis’ by the Maoists even while discarding the aim of liberating the Adivasis as part of people’s revolutionary movement. For Panda who never participated in collective works while he was in the party, the striving of Adivasi comrades for revolution by bringing out their energy to the full voluntarily and with the highest level of revolutionary consciousness is looking like ‘exploitation by Maoists’ after he wore the glasses of the ruling classes. And, who are Maoists? Who are Adivasis? Are not all the Adivasi comrades inside the party Maoists?
We are not at all surprised that the individual labor necessary in the daily life of a revolutionary movement, the collective labor necessary in military, technical, production-development, welfare and other fields and the various kinds of labor that people do in the course of people’s movements looks like ‘exploitation by Maoists’ to this brand new opportunist who left the revolution and became an apologist for the ruling classes. In a proletarian party everybody does one’s own work as part of daily life. Everybody participates in collective works and carries luggage too. Patients, physically weak persons and those with special responsibilities are extended help by other comrades. A people’s army itself means that apart from participating in war it does its works like cooking and carrying luggage that are an integral part of it on its own.
Everybody must inevitably do all these works as part of People’s War with no discrimination based on nationality, gender, region etc. This has happened in all the guerilla zones in our country and is still continuing. In fact, the culture in a Maoist party is a democratic, socialist culture that does not discriminate between man and woman, literate and illiterate and cadres and leaders. This is one of the major factors in attracting a huge number of Adivasis towards our party. It is this kind of culture that our party strives to spread among millions of people.
The allegation that Maoists are raping and sexually harassing women in the party/Adivasi women has been hurled repeatedly by the state. In what other manner can we expect the newly turned renegade to attack the Maoists than in the heinous manner of the ruling classes? The answer given by our party several times in the past is the answer to this allegation now too. But the best answer to this allegation is being given by the hundreds of women comrades who are joining the party, the thousands-lakhs of members in revolutionary women’s organizations along with the women in our movement areas and the hundreds of women martyrs who had laid down their lives for the liberation of the toiling people in the past 45 years since Naxalbari.
Since communist party was formed in India in 1925 till now, in the more than 90 years of Indian communist movement’s history, it is not an exaggeration to say that never before had the communist party integrated itself with the people, their culture and all the aspects relating to people’s lives as in the past 25 years. Not only had our party integrated but it is also holding aloft all the progressive elements in the political and cultural lives of the people, imbibing them, developing them and revolutionizing them. The revolutionary masses would anyway not believe the allegation by Panda who worked as a state secretary that party is not allowing activists to go home even for festivals. This is just another instance of an opportunistic attack by him to make those who are not familiar with the realities of the revolutionary movement to believe that the revolutionary party is so horrible as to not send activists home even for festivals.
The allegation that Ganapathy wants to establish a dictatorship based on terror and fear is so ridiculous that it in fact does not even deserve an explanation. CPI (Maoist) is not at all any bourgeois party. Its immediate aim is to overthrow the present semi-colonial, semi-feudal system in our country and establish new democratic revolutionary rule, i.e., the democratic dictatorship of four classes – workers, peasants, petty-bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie under the leadership of the proletariat and based on worker-peasant unity. Its ultimate goal is the establishment of socialism and communism. Panda is fully aware of this. Panda is making false allegation on comrade Ganapathy and our party with the selfish motive of gaining a place through compromise in the dictatorship of the comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie and the land lords that are in collusion with the imperialists and carrying on an unprecedented despotic rule wearing the mask of parliamentary democracy.
In reality, it was Panda who was trying to establish his dictatorship inside Odisha. After seeing the reviews and decisions made in the Special Plenum he realized that the party cadres are no longer prepared to accept his domination. They criticized his bureaucratic behavior and his undemocratic and sectarian attitude towards comrades from other states. Realizing that he can no longer carry on his bureaucratic methods, this opportunist decided to quit the party and doubled his preparations for the same since then.
In fact, Panda stopped contacting the Odisha state in-charge CC comrade since the completion of the state level Special Plenum. Since then, for nearly half a year he went on spitting venom on the party in interviews and statements. This created political and organizational problems in the party and caused severe damage to the Odisha movement as he was taking stands that were against the decisions of the Special Plenum, party’s political line and policies. He resorted to downright opportunistic methods during the arrest of Italian tourists under his leadership. He declared a one-sided seize-fire for the entire state of Odisha. But in fact, it was not correct on his part to declare so when two different state border party committees are working in considerable parts of Odisha and its borders and he had no right to dictate terms to the other two party committees. He not only openly criticized AOB comrades for arresting a MLA and killing a SI after he had declared his one-sided seize fire but even went to the extent of saying that it had become a fashion for AOB comrades to kill.
Keeping aside the reviews made by the entire party under Odisha SOC, he declared that the annihilations of class enemies Laxmananda and Jagbandhu were not correct. He began a malicious campaign by giving statements in the name of comrade Nikhil, trying to create divide between comrades hailing from various communities and states. It is not a coincidence that when stories were being published continuously in the media about Panda leaving the party and forming a new group, Panda who always stays in touch with the media did not release any explanation. It is clear as the day that since the completion of the Special Plenum, Panda had been planning to desert the party and resorted to all these opportunistic methods and liquidationist activities. Finally he quit the party as a culmination of his degeneration.
Panda took a right opportunist stand regarding some political issues that came to the fore in the course of the Odisha movement and finally degraded into a revisionist who rejects the line of Protracted People’s War. His sectarian, bureaucratic, ultra-democratic, factionist attitudes, careerism, craving for name and fame and organizational indiscipline caused severe damage to the Odisha party and the movement. He sought an easy life and was not hard-working. This opportunist utilized the situation where Odisha party and the State Organizing Committee that were in the course of consolidating faced severe losses and the enemy offensive was seriously concentrated on the CC, to carry on his disruptionist activities.
The root for all this lies in his spilling over individualism which keeps the individual at the centre. Apart from this, there has been a considerable change in the counter-revolutionary war carried on by the Indian ruling classes with the full support of the imperialists, particularly US imperialists since mid-2009 in the name of Operation Green Hunt. Panda’s degeneration and betrayal must be seen in the context of the country-wide, multi-pronged massive military offensive that is being carried out on our movement since then. Party suffered serious losses all over the country in this offensive. Even Odisha state where class struggle is still weak had to bear the brunt and it suffered serious losses from end-2010.
The offensive is bound to intensify in this state too. The reason for the intensification of this massive offensive is the MNC and our country’s comprador corporate interests that want to crush every organization and the people that prove a hurdle to their plunder of natural resources and raw materials in backward countries like India. As the financial crisis that is engulfing the world economy intensifies, the offensive on the revolutionary party, its leadership, movement and the oppressed and toiling masses would also be intensified in proportion by them in order to come out of it. In such a backdrop, to lead the revolutionary movement is like walking a sword’s edge for any leader of the revolutionary party.
Any true party leader would strive to utilize the excellent revolutionary material conditions in the country and the world to politically prepare the people, to develop the People’s War and turn the tide in favor of the revolution. It requires commitment towards revolutionary ideology, tremendous grit, courageous decision-making, mobilizing the party, people’s army and the people in a unified way, and sacrificing nature to fulfill this task. It requires a steely will to transform oneself and the party according to the needs and tasks of the revolution. Those who do not display these qualities either fail to give leadership to the revolution or lose their capacity to lead. Some among them run away like cowards from the battlefield or join the enemy ranks.
These opportunists and renegades take the side of the ruling classes and resort to all kinds of allegations to cover up the fact. There have been such renegades not only in our party history but also in the revolutions of various countries in the past and Panda would not be the last one.
Keeping all these things in view, our Central Committee began putting special efforts to rectify him by placing all allegations on Panda in front of him in a political manner and giving him a chance to rectify. But since the completion of the state level Special Plenum, he cut his contacts with the CC in-charge comrade and went on attacking our party, movement and the leadership openly and in a series. As a culmination of all this, he released this letter to the media and proved himself to be a renegade. So our CC is expelling Sabyasachi Panda from the party and declaring the fact to our party comrades in Odisha, the entire revolutionary masses and the revolutionary camp in our country.
We are appealing to the Odisha comrades, mass organizations of Odisha and the revolutionary- democratic masses to condemn Panda’s enemy-like opportunistic stand towards our party, movement and leadership and the pro-ruling class, anti-people stands taken by him and to completely reject him and his rotten modern revisionist politics and his allegations.
History has proven several times that renegades such as Panda who boast about themselves as the heroes of revolution and who are focused as such by the ruling classes would be relegated to the dustbin and that the true revolutionary party, its leaders and the revolutionary masses led by it would advance en-route for victory in the midst of great storms and whirlwinds with undaunted courage and bravery. It is people who are makers of history and not sham revolutionaries like Panda. Our party is fully confident that the revolutionary masses of Odisha would certainly reject traitors like Panda who try to be in the limelight in the name of Odisha and immerse themselves in the service of the ruling classes to their heart’s content and that the Odisha comrades and the vast toiling masses would follow the revolutionary path under the leadership of the CPI (Maoist).
Anand
PBM, Central Regional Bureau Secretary
For Central Committee, CPI (Maoist)
Source : http://www.bannedthought.net/
Extracts from Sabyasachi Panda's Letter
Panda, 43, wrote two letters on June 1 to CPI(Maoist) general secretary Muppala Laxaman Rao alias Ganapathy, politburo members Prashant Bose alias Sumit, Narayan Sanyal alias Vijay, and other Maoist cadres. It is not clear if they reached their intended recipients.
“As I have not got proper democracy to discuss or write the political opinion... and as there is no scope for an immediate solution of our long-standing problems, I would like to write this,” Panda said in the letters, running into 39 pages and accessed by The Indian Express. Excerpts:
Replication
“People in Bihar may need one armed organisation in their struggle to face armed gangs of landlords. But for riot-affected people of Orissa or for the people of Lalgarh, we should not copy the form of organisation and form of struggle mechanically as per our subjective wishes... One democratic revolution cannot end all types of small and big exploitations from any society.”
Senseless violence
“When everybody is carrying mobiles in hand, we can’t influence people by blasting towers everyday. From 2000 up to now I have been witnessing so many unnecessary annihilations in Orissa... We can stamp anybody as an informer and kill him with our gunpowder without responsibility to convince the people for our action! This is our revolutionary birthright.
“...Jagabandhu Majhi [BJD MLA] was annihilated in 2011 by Chhattisgarh comrades. He was a person who had been moving in a wheelchair, a handicapped person. He had been threatened by our people for two years. Out of fear, he contacted me and wanted to surrender. Simply he was killed... Just after the unification of the erstwhile People’s War and the MCC, the comrades of the erstwhile MCC annihilated five or six villagers in Jujumara [Orissa]. The cause of annihilation was just like our all-time formal statements that they are informers.
“In 2009, when politburo member Basavraj [Namballa Keshava Rao] visited our area, he made some comments on other politburo members such as Kishenji. ‘He is not doing anything, not killing a single policeman, and giving statements’. As if killing police is the one and only job for a revolutionary.”
No alternative policies
“Yes, we have to fight against exploitation, but what is your special policy for a new democratic government in tribal areas? Your Janatana Sarkar is not the tribal autonomy body [nor is it] government by traditional tribal rules, even partially. You are destroying tribal culture for your selfishness. You have no alternative agricultural, industrial, medical and educational policies.”
No democracy
“Leaders think [of themselves] as masters and cadres have no courage to oppose the leaders’ mistakes... The policy in practice is to suppress or eliminate the opposing voice by force, either inside the party or outside in society. In a meeting of the Basdhara and Ghumsar divisional committees, central committee member Bhaskar [alias Modem Balakrishna] in the presence of member Chetan suspended member Chalapati saying that “in a communist party, for faults of a party member, we may suspend, expel and if needed can kill him/her(marne ki saaja bhi de sakte). Even innocent people may be killed sometimes for revolution...
“Only yes-men and good boys/girls of leaders are promoted. In the name of promotion, a type of feudal democracy, similar to that of the fascist RSS, prevailed in this party.”
Rules & theories
“Now it has become a common rule to issue blades to all boys and girls for shaving [their private parts]. Dandakaranya cadres have accepted this as a party rule, just like using only Lifebuoy and Rin soaps, Timex watches and Action shoes.... And it is also said that in the place for bathing, all should bathe without [wearing] clothes. What is the relation of a revolution to such stupid theories?
“...Oriya cadres are dissuaded from taking sugar in their food with the advice that it would cause diabetes. You can take as much mirchi and tamarind as you like, but are not allowed to mix sugar in your tamarind water, and you can’t eat onion as a substitute... If we use Margo soap for squad members instead of Lifebuoy, central committee members such as Basavraj will comment on us.”
No accounting
“Financial anarchy is a common trend in the party. AOB [Andhra-Orissa border] cadre Binoy accumulated money from various sources before he surrendered. In the party there is no fair accounting system. So many Dandankaranya cadres and main-force activists are expending money as per their wish and giving a round account... ‘Rs 10,000 we have done expenditures’. Bengal comrade Ashok did not give accounts of Rs 15 lakh. All these are symptoms of wrong trends that we are promoting from above.
Partiality
“Our AOB leaders always tried to treat the Orissa committee as subordinates. They never want to develop one independent Orissa revolutionary struggle... Commanders of Dandakaranya and Andhra-Orissa Border are giving regular irrelevant interviews as they wish. In 2009, a resolution was adopted that without a decision I should not give any interview.”
Minority policy
“As per the new theory of central committee members, Christianity is the main obstacle before building a revolutionary organisation. Central committee member Manoj said Christianity is an organised religion... and so for any organised revolutionary work it will become an obstacle... Left sectarian friends of AOB distributed a leaflet against Christianity in Srikakulam... Later, AOB cadres and squads who were Christian were removed from that area... When Christian people organised around us, politburo members such as Basabraj started advising us to write in circulars and pamphlets that ‘Christianity is not the solution to people’s problems’.”
Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/if-we-use-margo-instead-of-lifebuoy-they-will-comment/987854/0
Other Accusations by Sabyasachi Panda
In an audio message issued late on Sunday night the senior Maoist leader said the party's decision to expel him comes seven months after he and his supporters had severed all ties with it, and a month after he had announced the formation of a new outfit called the Odisha Maovadi Party (OMP).
The CPI-Maoist party had, in a four-page press release on Friday, announced the expulsion of Sabyasachi Panda for indulging in opportunism, anti-party activities and for being a 'renegade'. The 16-page letter, addressed to the party general secretary Ganapathy, also dismissed the serious allegations brought by Panda against the party leadership.
In a 5-minute long audio message Panda has accused the party of following anti-tribal, anti-minorities and anti-people policies and condemned the party's growing dependence on the politics of eliminating individuals without any justifiable reasons. He has blamed a section of the party's leadership, especially those from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, for the 'degeneration' that has set in within the party. He has specifically named party's central committee member Modem Balkrishna alias Manoj for conspiring against him and trying to impose a number of unacceptable decisions on the Odisha party cadres.
"They have killed activists and workers from the SUCI, CITU, CPI-ML and even ordinary people without any justifiable reasons. I have been critical of their politics of murder and acts that spreads terror. We were not willing to play slaves to a party that denies internal democracy and works against the interests of the people," the audio message said.
Panda has also alleged that the Maoist leaders are collecting huge amount of money from corporates who are displacing the local people for their industries despite a party decision not to seek funds from such private operators. "It was the anti-people and sectarian politics of the party that had forced us to go for a rethink and we finally decided to move away from the party," he said in the message, adding he had decided to expose the wrongdoings in the party in November 2011 after he was placed under 'party arrest' for about three months on the basis of false charges by intolerant and narrow-minded leaders.
Panda has ruled out any possibility of any kind of armed conflict with the CPI-Maoist factions opposed to him and said he and his associates will continue with their work for the poor and oppressed people in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal districts where they have been serving the poor and oppressed people since 1995.
Panda has dismissed allegations that he had leaked the content of his long letter to the central committee members of the party and said the police had intercepted it while it was on its way from Kolkata to a jailed party leader.
In his message Panda has said the CPI-Maoist party is moving along a self-destructive path and that it would perish unless it reviews its anti-people policies, admits its mistakes and takes corrective action. "We would welcome it even if we are no longer a part of the party," he said.
Significantly, Sabyasachi Panda has not given any indication at all about the possibility of his surrender or return to mainstream politics, something that has been the subject of wide speculations ever since reports of his differences with top CPI-Maoists appeared in the media.
Source : http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/expelled-maoist-leader-sabyasachi-panda-warns-party-leadership-through-audio-message-254152
Press statement of CPI(Maoist) on Sabyasachi Panda is given below
Sabyasachi Panda, the secretary of our Odisha State Organizing Committee released a 16-page letter addressed to the General Secretary of our party, Comrade Ganapathy to the media on 14-07-2012. In cahoots with the ruling classes he spit venom on the CPI (Maoist) and the revolutionary movement led by it and hurled several baseless, sham allegations and fabricated lies. He released this letter with the evil intention of liquidating the party and the revolutionary movement, discarded the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and left the vanguard party of the proletariat. He openly declared that he is completely disassociating himself from the People’s War line and revolutionary practice and exposed his modern revisionist face. In the most abominable, crooked and conspiratorial manner he betrayed the party and revolution and the great cause of the toiling masses, particularly of the oppressed masses of Odisha and proved himself to be a renegade.
Sabyasachi Panda worked for some period in the CPI (M) and later in the CPI (ML)-Liberation. He was influenced by the revolutionary movement and joined the erstwhile CPI (ML) [PU] in 1998 leaving the right opportunist Liberation party. Due to the merger of parties he continued to work in the erstwhile CPI (ML) [PW] and latter in CPI (Maoist). He worked as a member of the AOBSZC between 2003 and 2005, as a member of Odisha State Organizing Committee from 2005 and as its secretary since 2008. In his 15 year long practice, though he worked in a revolutionary party he failed to transform himself into a genuine proletarian revolutionary and had been criticized several times by his colleagues, cadres and the CC comrades for his anti-revolutionary opportunist political views, stands and practice. Even in the state level Special Plenum held in December last year, when he was criticized he accepted only some of his mistakes that too for namesake and escaped answering some of them. This coward ran away leaving the revolutionary movement instead of sincerely realizing and rectifying his mistakes like a true proletarian revolutionary.
His 16-page letter is full of rotten lies, distortions and twisting of facts and there is not an iota of truth in them whatsoever. They were hurled with the most awful intention of liquidation and destruction of revolutionary movement in Odisha and damaging the image of our party that is serving as a ray of hope for the toiling masses and renowned for dedication to a great cause, the cause of liberation of our country and selfless unparalleled sacrifices. It is an open secret that he hurled them with the evil and appalling intention of fulfilling his selfish political motives that serve the ruling classes. Ruling classes bring to the fore people like Panda to gain legitimacy for the foul propaganda they carry on about the revolutionary movement and such phenomena occur frequently in history. The enemy has been hurling such fabricated lies on several of our leaders like comrades Charu Mazumdar and Kanhai Chatterji, on our party and the revolutionary movement ever since the launch of the revolutionary movement by keeping opportunists like Panda in the front.
Before going into the allegations made by Panda and the reasons behind them, we want to clearly state the fact that our party conducts meetings, plenums and conferences in order to correct and improve our practice and to advance with higher tasks. It realizes its mistakes and corrects them through criticism – self-criticism, reviews and rectification campaigns taken up specifically. This is a continuous process. Panda’s evil intentions can be gauged from the fact that in spite of knowing all these things he placed before the people his 16-pages of sham allegations. The actual fact is that he decided to leave the party as he was not ready to rectify himself in such a process.
The list of Mr. Panda’s filthy and foul-smelling allegations is long enough, some of the allegations he hurled prominently are as follows :
1. Violence for no reason and killings of innocent persons has become the norm for the Maoists; cadres are being ordered to kill innocent and unarmed policemen indiscriminately
2. There is domination of Telugu and Koya comrades in the Party.
3. Adivasis are exploited the most by the Maoists, they are made to cook and carry luggage; cadre are not allowed to meet their families even during festivals; Adivasi women are being exploited sexually by the Maoists
4. Ganapathy wants to establish a dictatorship based on terror and fear.
State suppresses people fighting for their rights with all kinds of weapons available with it. And if that fight is for the liberation of the people i.e., for the political power of the toiling masses, the state suppresses it most severely. Its police, paramilitary and military carry on this offensive from the front while all its other components participate most cruelly in the offensive in a planned, coordinated and conspiratorial manner. So it becomes absolutely necessary for people to resort to armed struggle.
Anybody who knows ABC of Marxism would know about this fundamental and primary principle about revolutionary violence. Nobody would think that Panda did not know about this party line when he left the right opportunist CPI (ML)-Liberation party, accepted the line of the revolutionary party and joined the party and when he accepted the line of the Unity Congress. However as Panda wanted to disassociate himself from the party, he is spitting venom that Maoists resort to violence for no reason and that they are killing innocent people. He is trying to show that he is opposing all this so that the Indian state takes a benevolent attitude towards him. Class enemies like Laxmananand and Jagbandhu, government armed forces and officers who carry on the state repression and participate in it, who severely torture the people, destroy their lives in all aspects and resort to killings, are suddenly being perceived as innocents by Panda. He is displaying more faith than the master to kowtow before the ruling classes and is surpassing the enemy foul propaganda in uttering lies.
Panda is resorting to the age-old cheap ‘divide and rule’ tactic of the British colonialists and the Indian ruling classes who are retracing their steps by making the allegation that Telugu and Koya comrades are dominating in Odisha. The revolutionary movement led by CPI (Maoist) follows the path of Protracted People’s War and builds the revolutionary movement to finally seize political power all over the country by spreading from smaller areas to vaster areas, isolated areas to all over the country, and by developing from a small force to a mighty force. From the beginning with a strategic outlook it deploys its forces in various areas accordingly and carries on the work. It develops local mass base, develops party and army and establishes area-wise political power. By following this line, it brings a change in the strength of forces, finally surrounds the cities and captures political power all over the country. Keeping this in view, every member of our party must be prepared to go to any part of the country to work. Moreover, as internationalists communists must be prepared to go any country or area and work shoulder to shoulder with the people there for their liberation.
The entire history of Indian revolution indicates that revolutionary movement spread to various parts of the country due to the determined and revolutionary efforts of comrades who left their areas and states and went to other areas and states to work. Such comrades learnt the languages, respected the cultures of the people there and integrated themselves with them. The movements built in new areas are proof of this collective effort of comrades. Due to his narrow-minded regionalism not just today, but Panda could never accept the fact that comrades from other states are coming and working in Odisha.
Instead of appreciating the selflessness of those comrades he continuously and conspiratorially tried to create a divide between them and the Odiya comrades by resorting to factionist methods. Panda displayed narrow-minded regional chauvinism towards comrades from other states who came to work in Odisha according to the needs of the movement and behaved in a domineering, undemocratic and sectarian manner with them. The fact is Odiya people and the Odiya comrades have happily welcomed and accepted the fact that comrades from Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are coming to work for them and with them. We hope that those handful of cadres who are with Panda would rethink about the People’s War path, see through the lie and expose him by realizing his conspiracies.
Nothing could be more deceiving than Panda shedding crocodile tears like the ruling class butchers and hurling accusations about the ‘exploitation of Adivasis’ by the Maoists even while discarding the aim of liberating the Adivasis as part of people’s revolutionary movement. For Panda who never participated in collective works while he was in the party, the striving of Adivasi comrades for revolution by bringing out their energy to the full voluntarily and with the highest level of revolutionary consciousness is looking like ‘exploitation by Maoists’ after he wore the glasses of the ruling classes. And, who are Maoists? Who are Adivasis? Are not all the Adivasi comrades inside the party Maoists?
We are not at all surprised that the individual labor necessary in the daily life of a revolutionary movement, the collective labor necessary in military, technical, production-development, welfare and other fields and the various kinds of labor that people do in the course of people’s movements looks like ‘exploitation by Maoists’ to this brand new opportunist who left the revolution and became an apologist for the ruling classes. In a proletarian party everybody does one’s own work as part of daily life. Everybody participates in collective works and carries luggage too. Patients, physically weak persons and those with special responsibilities are extended help by other comrades. A people’s army itself means that apart from participating in war it does its works like cooking and carrying luggage that are an integral part of it on its own.
Everybody must inevitably do all these works as part of People’s War with no discrimination based on nationality, gender, region etc. This has happened in all the guerilla zones in our country and is still continuing. In fact, the culture in a Maoist party is a democratic, socialist culture that does not discriminate between man and woman, literate and illiterate and cadres and leaders. This is one of the major factors in attracting a huge number of Adivasis towards our party. It is this kind of culture that our party strives to spread among millions of people.
The allegation that Maoists are raping and sexually harassing women in the party/Adivasi women has been hurled repeatedly by the state. In what other manner can we expect the newly turned renegade to attack the Maoists than in the heinous manner of the ruling classes? The answer given by our party several times in the past is the answer to this allegation now too. But the best answer to this allegation is being given by the hundreds of women comrades who are joining the party, the thousands-lakhs of members in revolutionary women’s organizations along with the women in our movement areas and the hundreds of women martyrs who had laid down their lives for the liberation of the toiling people in the past 45 years since Naxalbari.
Since communist party was formed in India in 1925 till now, in the more than 90 years of Indian communist movement’s history, it is not an exaggeration to say that never before had the communist party integrated itself with the people, their culture and all the aspects relating to people’s lives as in the past 25 years. Not only had our party integrated but it is also holding aloft all the progressive elements in the political and cultural lives of the people, imbibing them, developing them and revolutionizing them. The revolutionary masses would anyway not believe the allegation by Panda who worked as a state secretary that party is not allowing activists to go home even for festivals. This is just another instance of an opportunistic attack by him to make those who are not familiar with the realities of the revolutionary movement to believe that the revolutionary party is so horrible as to not send activists home even for festivals.
The allegation that Ganapathy wants to establish a dictatorship based on terror and fear is so ridiculous that it in fact does not even deserve an explanation. CPI (Maoist) is not at all any bourgeois party. Its immediate aim is to overthrow the present semi-colonial, semi-feudal system in our country and establish new democratic revolutionary rule, i.e., the democratic dictatorship of four classes – workers, peasants, petty-bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie under the leadership of the proletariat and based on worker-peasant unity. Its ultimate goal is the establishment of socialism and communism. Panda is fully aware of this. Panda is making false allegation on comrade Ganapathy and our party with the selfish motive of gaining a place through compromise in the dictatorship of the comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie and the land lords that are in collusion with the imperialists and carrying on an unprecedented despotic rule wearing the mask of parliamentary democracy.
In reality, it was Panda who was trying to establish his dictatorship inside Odisha. After seeing the reviews and decisions made in the Special Plenum he realized that the party cadres are no longer prepared to accept his domination. They criticized his bureaucratic behavior and his undemocratic and sectarian attitude towards comrades from other states. Realizing that he can no longer carry on his bureaucratic methods, this opportunist decided to quit the party and doubled his preparations for the same since then.
In fact, Panda stopped contacting the Odisha state in-charge CC comrade since the completion of the state level Special Plenum. Since then, for nearly half a year he went on spitting venom on the party in interviews and statements. This created political and organizational problems in the party and caused severe damage to the Odisha movement as he was taking stands that were against the decisions of the Special Plenum, party’s political line and policies. He resorted to downright opportunistic methods during the arrest of Italian tourists under his leadership. He declared a one-sided seize-fire for the entire state of Odisha. But in fact, it was not correct on his part to declare so when two different state border party committees are working in considerable parts of Odisha and its borders and he had no right to dictate terms to the other two party committees. He not only openly criticized AOB comrades for arresting a MLA and killing a SI after he had declared his one-sided seize fire but even went to the extent of saying that it had become a fashion for AOB comrades to kill.
Keeping aside the reviews made by the entire party under Odisha SOC, he declared that the annihilations of class enemies Laxmananda and Jagbandhu were not correct. He began a malicious campaign by giving statements in the name of comrade Nikhil, trying to create divide between comrades hailing from various communities and states. It is not a coincidence that when stories were being published continuously in the media about Panda leaving the party and forming a new group, Panda who always stays in touch with the media did not release any explanation. It is clear as the day that since the completion of the Special Plenum, Panda had been planning to desert the party and resorted to all these opportunistic methods and liquidationist activities. Finally he quit the party as a culmination of his degeneration.
Panda took a right opportunist stand regarding some political issues that came to the fore in the course of the Odisha movement and finally degraded into a revisionist who rejects the line of Protracted People’s War. His sectarian, bureaucratic, ultra-democratic, factionist attitudes, careerism, craving for name and fame and organizational indiscipline caused severe damage to the Odisha party and the movement. He sought an easy life and was not hard-working. This opportunist utilized the situation where Odisha party and the State Organizing Committee that were in the course of consolidating faced severe losses and the enemy offensive was seriously concentrated on the CC, to carry on his disruptionist activities.
The root for all this lies in his spilling over individualism which keeps the individual at the centre. Apart from this, there has been a considerable change in the counter-revolutionary war carried on by the Indian ruling classes with the full support of the imperialists, particularly US imperialists since mid-2009 in the name of Operation Green Hunt. Panda’s degeneration and betrayal must be seen in the context of the country-wide, multi-pronged massive military offensive that is being carried out on our movement since then. Party suffered serious losses all over the country in this offensive. Even Odisha state where class struggle is still weak had to bear the brunt and it suffered serious losses from end-2010.
The offensive is bound to intensify in this state too. The reason for the intensification of this massive offensive is the MNC and our country’s comprador corporate interests that want to crush every organization and the people that prove a hurdle to their plunder of natural resources and raw materials in backward countries like India. As the financial crisis that is engulfing the world economy intensifies, the offensive on the revolutionary party, its leadership, movement and the oppressed and toiling masses would also be intensified in proportion by them in order to come out of it. In such a backdrop, to lead the revolutionary movement is like walking a sword’s edge for any leader of the revolutionary party.
Any true party leader would strive to utilize the excellent revolutionary material conditions in the country and the world to politically prepare the people, to develop the People’s War and turn the tide in favor of the revolution. It requires commitment towards revolutionary ideology, tremendous grit, courageous decision-making, mobilizing the party, people’s army and the people in a unified way, and sacrificing nature to fulfill this task. It requires a steely will to transform oneself and the party according to the needs and tasks of the revolution. Those who do not display these qualities either fail to give leadership to the revolution or lose their capacity to lead. Some among them run away like cowards from the battlefield or join the enemy ranks.
These opportunists and renegades take the side of the ruling classes and resort to all kinds of allegations to cover up the fact. There have been such renegades not only in our party history but also in the revolutions of various countries in the past and Panda would not be the last one.
Keeping all these things in view, our Central Committee began putting special efforts to rectify him by placing all allegations on Panda in front of him in a political manner and giving him a chance to rectify. But since the completion of the state level Special Plenum, he cut his contacts with the CC in-charge comrade and went on attacking our party, movement and the leadership openly and in a series. As a culmination of all this, he released this letter to the media and proved himself to be a renegade. So our CC is expelling Sabyasachi Panda from the party and declaring the fact to our party comrades in Odisha, the entire revolutionary masses and the revolutionary camp in our country.
We are appealing to the Odisha comrades, mass organizations of Odisha and the revolutionary- democratic masses to condemn Panda’s enemy-like opportunistic stand towards our party, movement and leadership and the pro-ruling class, anti-people stands taken by him and to completely reject him and his rotten modern revisionist politics and his allegations.
History has proven several times that renegades such as Panda who boast about themselves as the heroes of revolution and who are focused as such by the ruling classes would be relegated to the dustbin and that the true revolutionary party, its leaders and the revolutionary masses led by it would advance en-route for victory in the midst of great storms and whirlwinds with undaunted courage and bravery. It is people who are makers of history and not sham revolutionaries like Panda. Our party is fully confident that the revolutionary masses of Odisha would certainly reject traitors like Panda who try to be in the limelight in the name of Odisha and immerse themselves in the service of the ruling classes to their heart’s content and that the Odisha comrades and the vast toiling masses would follow the revolutionary path under the leadership of the CPI (Maoist).
Anand
PBM, Central Regional Bureau Secretary
For Central Committee, CPI (Maoist)
Source : http://www.bannedthought.net/
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