We publish below an unofficial translation of an article first appearing on the website of Brazilian revolutionary newspaper A Nova Democracia.
The Indian state celebrated the massacre. According to 2017 data, CPI (Maoist) has more than 25 thousand cadres and fighters in the country.
The repressive forces of the Indian state have committed yet another massacre in the interior of the country, this time in the forests of Abujhmad, in Chhattisgarh. At least 27 people were killed, including the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) (Maoist), Nambala Keshava Rao, known by other Indian revolutionaries as Basavaraju. The Indian state claims that all those killed were guerrillas, but it is possible that the police executed peasants, as they did in a massacre in October 2024.
The killings took place as part of Operation Kagaar—a move by the Indian state to try to confront the thousands of fighters of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), led by the CPI (Maoist) who have been fighting for the Indian Revolution for over 57 years. The Indian state, which had failed for decades to capture Keshava Rao, had to unite troops from the District Reserve Guard, the Chhatisgarh Police, the Special Task Force and the Central Reserve Police Force in a 50-hour operation to strike down the leader. At least one reactionary soldier was killed during the fighting, but the number may be being reduced by the official forces of the Indian state.
Indian guerrillas honor their martyrs. Photo: Reproduction
The newspaper A Nova Democracia has not yet found a statement from the CPI (Maoist) online, but is continuing to investigate and will update this article if there is any update. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah celebrated the massacre. Shah called it a “milestone in the battle to eliminate Naxalism”. However, information about the CPI (Maoist) available online suggests that the ministers’ statements were exaggerating: according to 2017 data from the monopoly newspaper Al Jazeera, the CPI (Maoist) and the PLGA may have up to 25,000 cadres spread across the country, and there has been no substantial change in the Indian Revolution that could have caused a decrease in this number in the last eight years. In this sense, even if the assassination of Basavaraju is a change of direction and requires reorganization, the CPI (Maoist) is fully capable of keeping the Revolution going and confronting the bloodthirsty operations of the Indian State.
Who was Keshava Rao?
Basavaraju has been the general secretary of the CPI (Maoist) since 2018. Prior to assuming the position, he was the secretary of the Central Military Commission. He was known to be a capable political and military leader, having planned and organized major attacks and ambushes carried out by the PLGA. The Indian state accuses Basavaraju of being behind the ambush of 27 members of the fascist paramilitary group Salwa Judum, including its leader Mahendra Karma, and the ambush that killed 74 policemen of the Central Reserve Police Force in April 2010.
According to the Indian press monopoly, Basavaraju became an activist in 1984 when he joined the ranks of the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War. He left behind his degree from the National Institute of Technology, went underground and devoted himself to the revolutionary struggle. In 1987, he participated in military training and went on to be elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 1992. After the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) to form the CPI(M), Basavaraju was appointed to the Central Military Commission.
Image: Indian revolutionary leader Nambala Keshava Rao
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