massline.info

Maoist-Influenced Revolutionary
Organizations in India

[Last revision: Nov. 25, 2008. This information is subject to further correction and updating.
For more information about a specific organization, click on its name in the tables below.]


Table 1: Current Maoist or Mao-influenced Organizations in India

Name aka Publications Political
Line
Notes
Communist League of India (M-L) CLI(ML) Lal Tara
Gargi
Lal Salaam

Founded on Feb. 20, 1978 as a splitoff from CPI(ML) COC.
At least 4 active factions.
Communist Party of India (Maoist) CPI (Maoist)
Engaged in
guerrilla
war in many
states.
Formed on Sept. 21, 2004 as a merger of CPI(ML) People’s
War
and MCC(I). This is by far the largest and most
important revolutionary party currently engaged in guerrilla warfare
in India.
Communist Party of India (M-L)
[A new formation as of 2005]
CPI (ML)
    (?)

Centrist This new party was formed in January 2005 by a merger of
CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] and CPI(ML) Red Flag. Both of
these groups were substantial, so the new party is one of
the more important center-right M-L organizations in India.
CPI (M-L) Bhaijee Group S. R. Bhaijee Group

Formed in 1990. Active in Bihar.
CPI(ML) Central Team
Surkh Rekha
Formed in 1977. In Aug. 1994 the Punjab section of Central Team
merged with 3 other groups to form the CPRCI(ML), but the
Maharashtra and West Bengal sections refused to go along.
CPI (M-L) Janashakti
   — Rajanna group
   — Ranadheer group
   — Chandra Pulla Reddy group
   — Other factions
CPI (M-L)
People’s Power
Janashakti Guerrilla
war.
Formed in July 1992 by merger of 6 CPI(ML) groups. There are now
many independent groups with this same name. Active in at least
8 states. The Rajanna faction is critical of the "mass line" groups
which it says do not really seem to be advancing toward people’s war.
After a period of internal confusion, it seems to have settled on
a strategy of guerrilla warfare.
CPI (M-L) Jan Samvad CPI (M-L)
People’s Dialogue



CPI (M-L) Liberation
Liberation,
ML Update,
www.cpiml.org
Electoral
focus.
Claims to be the main continuation of the original CPI(ML). Backed
away from armed struggle in the 1970s. Probably the largest CPI(ML)
group. Active in many states including Assam, W. Bengal and Bihar.
CPI (M-L) [Mahadev Mukherjee] CPI (M-L) [MM] Bharater Iskra,
WWW

Split from CPI(ML) 2ndCC. They claim to be the "real" CPI(ML).
Small, doctrinaire and idiosyncratic; they continue to support Lin Biao!
CPI (M-L) Maharashtra


[Maharashtra is a state in west India.]
CPI (M-L) Nai Pahal



CPI (M-L) Naxalbari
Naxalbari Advocates
immediate
people’s war.
CPI(ML) MUC merged into this group in April 1999. After 2000,
a splinter group from the CPI(ML) Red Flag, led by someone named
Rauf, merged with CPI(ML) Naxalbari. Rauf is the current Secretary of
this group. It is affiliated with CCOMPOSA and RIM.
CPI (M-L) New Democracy CPI (M-L)
Prajapandha
New Democracy,
Pratirodh ka Swar
Web: http://cpimlnd.org
Possibly
in flux.
Formed in 1988 by Yatendra Kumar. Active in Bihar and elsewhere.
Say they favor the "revolutionary mass line", but also leaning more
toward guerrilla warfare lately.
CPI (M-L) New Proletarian



CPI (M-L) Organizing Committee CPI (M-L) Organization
Committee


Said to be active in Bihar under the leadership of B. N. Sharma.
(Unclear if this is the same group that merged into CCRI
in 1988.)
CPI (M-L) Praja Pratighatana People’s
Retribution

Engaged
in armed
struggle.

CPI (M-L) Prajashakti CPI (M-L)
People’s Power



CPI (M-L) Prathighatana CPI (M-L) Retribution;
CPI (M-L) [Phani
Bagchi]
Pratighatana Engaged
in armed
struggle.
Split from CPI(ML) Praja Pratighatana.
CPI (M-L) Provisional Central
Committee
CPI(ML)PCC For a New Democracy Prob.
centrist
Formed in 1977 with the merger of the CPI(ML) S.N. Singh
Group
and the CPI(ML) Unity Committee. The CPI(ML) Central
Team
split off in 1978. In 1980 the C. P. Reddy Group
split off. Active in Bihar, etc.
CPI (M-L) Shantipal CPI (M-L)
Santi Pal Group


Formed around 1972 in northern West Bengal. Also active
in Bihar, etc.
Communist Party of the United
States of India
CPUSI
Engaged
in armed
struggle.
Split from CPI(ML) Janashakti in 1997. Wanted more attention
to caste issues.
Communist Party Reorganization
Centre of India (M-L)
CPRCI(ML) Surkh Rekha,
The Comrade
Advocates
the "revolu-
tionary mass
line".
Formed in 1994 by merger of 4 groups: the Punjab unit of CPI(ML)
Central Team
; Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India;
Communist Unity Centre of India; and the Marxist-Leninist
Organising Centre
.
Communist Revolutionary Centre Communist Biplabi
Kendra



Communist Revolutionary League
of India
CRLI

Small party in West Bengal. Founded and led by former CPI(ML) student
leader Ashim Chatterjee. May now lean towards social democracy.
Marxist-Leninist Committee ML Committee

Seems to be a small middle of the road group (i.e., not engaging
in guerrilla warfare) in the eastern part of Andhra Pradesh.
Revolutionary Communist Centre,
India (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)
RCCI(MLM)

This may be a separate organization from RCCI(Maoist) which merged
with MCCI in Jan. 2003. It is also affiliated with CCOMPOSA.
Revolutionary Socialist Party
of India (M-L)
RSPI/ML

Formed in 1969.
Unity Centre of Communist
Revolutionaries of India (M-L)
UCCRI(ML) Proletarian Path "Mass
revolutionary
line."
Formed in 1975 and led by T. Nagi Reddy (who died in 1976) and
D.V. Rao. The Punjab Coordination Committee of Communist
Revolutionaries
merged with UCCRI in 1976.



Table 2: Revolutionary Nationalist Organizations in India

(Many influenced to some degree by Maoism.)

Name aka Publications Political
Line
Notes
Jharkhand Liberation Front


This appears to be a bourgeois nationalist organization.
May have split off from MCC(I).
Jharkhand Liberation Tigers


This appears to be a reactionary organization, maybe the
same group as the JLF above.
Kangleipak Communist Party


‘Kanglei’ is a local name for the area officially known
as Manipur state (in NE India). This very small group split
from PREPAK in 1980.
National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (Issak/Muivah)
NSCN(I/M) WWW
Revolutionary nationalist organization possibly
influenced by Maoism. Formed in 1980.
People’s Liberation Army PLA

Formed in 1978. Armed force of the Revolutionary
People’s Front.
People’s Revolutionary Party
of Kangleipak
PREPAK

‘Kanglei’ is a local name for Manipur state.
This seems to be a revolutionary nationalist party, with
Maoist influences. Formed in 1977.
Revolutionary People’s Front Manipur RPF WWW
A left nationalist organization possibly influenced by Mao.
Formed in 1979. The PLA is its armed force.
Tamil Nadu Marxist-Leninist Party Tamil Nadu Marxiya
Leniniya Katchi


Left nationalist splitoff from CPI(ML) PW in 1995.
Tritiya Prastuti Committee TPC

Counter-revolutionary splitoff from PWG in 2002.
United Liberation Front of Assam ULFA WWW
Left nationalist tendency which may be influenced by
Mao, but is not part of any communist tradition. Formed
in 1979.



Table 3: Historical and Defunct Maoist Revolutionary Organizations in India

Name aka Publications Political
Line
Notes
All India Coordination Committee
of Communist Revolutionaries
AICCCR
Advocated
immediate
people’s war.
Existed in 1967-1969: Originally a grouping of real
revolutionaries within the CPI (Marxist). AICCCR was
the predecessor to the original CPI (M-L).
All India Peoples Resistance Forum AIPRF

Founded in 1992. Focused mainly on democratic rights, opposition
to imperialist globalization, etc. Viewed by some people as a
front group for CPI(ML) People’s War.
Andhra Pradesh Revolutionary
Communist Committee [originally:
Andhra Pradesh Coordinating
Committee of Communist
Revolutionaries]
APCCCR
APRCC


Formed circa 1969 and led by T. Nagi Reddy. Expelled
from the AICCCR because of its disagreement on the issue
of loyalty to the CPC, opposition to immediate armed
struggle, and opposition to the AICCCR’s boycott of
elections. In 1975 merged with 3 other groups to form
the UCCRI(ML).
Centre of Communist Revolutionaries
of India
CCRI
"Mass
revolutionary
line."
Formed in 1988 by merger of two UCCRI(ML) factions, together
with CPI(ML) Chandrashekar Group, the Revolutionary
Communist Party, and the OCCPI(ML) group led by Raghubir.
The CCRI merged into the new CPRCI(ML) group
in Aug. 1994.
Centre of Indian Communists CIC

Minor group formed in 1974 in Kerala. Included
people who left the CPI(M). Viewed the CPI(ML)
as "Indian Narodniks". Banned in 1977.
Committee of Communist Revolutionaries CCR New Democracy
A middle of the road Maoist group in the Bengal area
which merged into CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] sometime during
2003-2004.
Communist Organisation of India (M-L) COI-ML
Centrist Formed in 1985 as a merger of 6 CPI(ML) groups. Led
by Kanu Sanyal, one of the leaders of the Naxalbari
revolt. Merged with CPI(ML) Unity Initiative in
June 2003 under the name CPI(ML).
Communist Party of India (M-L) "Naxalites" Deshabrati [Bengali],
Liberation
Attempted
people’s war.
This is the original CPI (ML) which was founded on
April 22, 1969. Led by Charu Mazumdar until his
murder by police in 1972. Splintered into many
separate organizations.
CPI(ML) Central Reorganization
Committee
CPI(ML) CRC Mass Line
Liberation
Comrade
Confused. Formed in 1979. The CPI(ML) Red Flag split off in 1987.
In the fall of 1991 the CPI(ML) CRC was disbanded when the
top leader, K. Venu, turned away from Maoist revolution.
Broke into separate state parties, including the Kerala
Communist Party & the Maharashtra Communist Party which later
merged to become the CPI(ML) Maoist Unity Centre.
CPI (M-L) [Chandrashekar Group]


Merged with 4 other groups in 1988 to form the
Centre of Communist Revolutionaries in India.
CPI(ML) Maoist Unity Centre CPI(ML) MUC Spring Thunder
Formed on April 22, 1997 as the merger of the Kerala
Communist Party and the Maharashtra Communist Party. The
KCP & MCP were state units formerly part of the CPI(ML)
Central Reorganization Committee
. The CPI(ML) MUC merged
into the CPI(ML) Naxalbari in April, 1999.
CPI (M-L) New Initiative


Merged with CPI(ML) Janashakti COC faction in 2000
to form CPI(ML) Unity Initiative, which in turn
merged with CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] in June 2003.
CPI (M-L) Party Unity


Merged with CPI(ML) People’s War in Aug. 1998.
CPI (M-L) People’s War People’s War Group
(PWG)
Vanguard,
People’s War,
Voice of the Vanguard
Engaged in
guerrilla
war in many
states.
Formed on April 22, 1980. Was the largest group engaged in
guerrilla warfare in India. Especially strong in Andhra
Pradesh state. The People’s Guerrilla Army was set up by
them. Affiliated with CCOMPOSA. Merged with
MCC(I) in Sept. 2004 to form the CPI (Maoist).
CPI (M-L) Red Flag
Red Flag,
Red Star
"Mao’s
mass line."
Formed in 1987 as a splitoff from CPI(ML) Central
Reorganization Committee
. The origin and main area
of influence is Kerala. Adopted new constitution and
programme in 1997. Merged with CPI(ML)[Sanyal Group]
in January 2005 to form a new party with the name CPI(ML).
CPI (M-L) [Sanyal Group] CPI(ML) [Sanyal] Class Struggle Right-center
formation.
Formed in the summer of 2003 as a merger of the Communist
Organization of India (M-L) led by Kanu Sanyal, and the
CPI(ML) Unity Initiative group. It attempted to
reclaim the CPI(ML) name for itself. This group in turn
merged with CPI(ML) Red Flag in January 2005 under the
CPI(ML) name.
CPI (M-L) [Satyanarayan Singh] CPI(ML) [SNS]

Was formed in 1971 after S. N. Singh broke with Charu
Mazumdar and set up his own CPI(ML) central committee.
Merged with the CPI(ML) Unity Committee in 1977 to form
the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee.
CPI (M-L) Second Central Committee CPI(ML) 2ndCC

Formed in 1972 by Mahadeo Mukerjee, who was later expelled.
Was active in Bihar, etc. Merged into MCC(I) in 2003.
Communist Party of Indian Union (M-L) CPIU (ML)

Leader was K.P.R. Gopalan. Merged with the CPI(ML)
[Sanyal Group]
in November 2003.
Maoist Communist Centre MCC

Formed in 1969. Never part of CPI(ML). Merged with
RCCI (Maoist) in 2003 to form MCC(I).
Maoist Communist Centre (India) MCC(I) Dakshindesh,
Lal Pataka
Engaged in
armed struggle,
mainly in Bihar
& Jharkhand.
Renamed upon merger of MCC and RCCI (Maoist) in 2003.
Affiliated with CCOMPOSA and RIM. After CPI(ML) PW,
the most powerful group engaged in armed struggle in India.
Formed the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army in mid-2003.
Merged with CPI(ML) People’s War in Sept. 2004 to form the
CPI (Maoist).
Marxist Communist Party of India MCPI People’s Democracy
MCPI was a splinter group from the revisionist CPI(Marxist). Although
its Maoist credentials were weak, it worked with some center-right
MLM groups. Merged with other forces to form the MCPI(United) in 2005.
Punjab Coordination Committee
of Communist Revolutionaries
PCCCR

One of the state units of the AICCCR that did
not join the original CPI(ML) when it was formed
in 1969. Merged with UCCRI(ML) in 1976.
Revolutionary Communist Centre,
India (Maoist)
RCCI(Maoist)

Affiliated with CCOMPOSA and RIM. Centered in Punjab
state. Merged with MCC in Jan. 2003 to form MCC(I).
CPI (M-L) Unity Initiative


Formed in 2000 by CPI(ML) New Initiative and CPI(ML)
Janashakti COC. Active in Bihar, etc. Merged with
COI-ML in summer 2003 to form the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group].


National/International Associations:




General Information About Maoist-influenced Revolutionary Groups in India

There are three main categories of revolutionary organizations in India which are either Maoist, or strongly influenced by Maoism. At one end of the spectrum are groups which are either already engaged in armed struggle, or else which support the idea of participating in armed struggle either immediately, or else after short-term preparations are complete. This category includes:

The CPI (Maoist) is by far the largest of these, incorporating as it does the two largest pre-merger groups engaged in guerrilla warfare. However, the Rajanna group of Janashkti is also apparently quite active. According to an article in the Hindustan Times (May 9, 2002], "Of various radical leftists, People’s War Group and Maoist Communist Centre are most ferociously pursuing the Marx-Lenin and Mao-inspired protracted people’s war in at least seven states of India." The article went on to say that their connections with the developing revolution in Nepal, and "reports of their bid to carve out a corridor from some areas of MP [Madhya Pradesh], AP [Andhra Pradesh], Bihar and UP [Uttar Pradesh] up to Nepal have alarmed [the] Indian government."

An article from "A World to Win News Service" (July 28, 2003) states:

A recent report on the Naxalite movement (as the Maoists are commonly called) by the Indian Home Ministry said that MCCI and PW have "strongholds" in 23 districts in half of India’s 26 states, with a population of hundreds of millions of people. The Maoist movement has been solidly entrenched among peasants and the rural poor since the Naxalbari uprising of 1967, but the report argues that the threat to India’s central government is unprecedented.

At the other end of the spectrum are the groups that seem to have effectively abandoned the whole idea of people’s war and/or armed revolution, and now focus on reformist struggle and the electoral path. The most prominent organization in this group is:

And in between these two extremes there is a whole large middle ground. Many of the organizations here favor what they call the "mass revolutionary line" or "Mao’s mass line". I believe that most of these groups favor people’s war (and/or mass insurrection) at some point, but they think the ground is not yet prepared for it, at least in most places in India. Among the "mass revolutionary line" groups are:

Many of the revolutionary groups in India have diverse currents of political opinion within them, and it has been a frequent occurance for a section of a party in one of these three main groups to split off and join up with a party in one of the other three main groups. It seems that no party or group has yet been able to demonstrate to a majority of the communist revolutionaries of India that it has figured out the best path to revolution.




All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) split off from the revisionist, Soviet-line Party (the CPI) in 1964. But soon it became clear to many revolutionary communists in the CPI-M that it too was going revisionist. Inspired by the historic Naxalbari uprising which began on May 25, 1967, these revolutionaries began establishing their own publications and networks of contacts.

On November 12-13, 1967, many of these revolutionary communists from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal, met and formed an organization they called the All India Coordination Committee of Revolutionaries in the CPI(M), or AICCR.

But events were moving fast. On May 14, 1968, this committee was renamed the "All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries" (AICCCR), with Sushital Roy Chowdhury as its convener. It decided to boycott all elections.

Two important groups of revolutionary communists were not part of the AICCCR: The Maoist Communist Centre chose not to participate because of differences over the party-building line. And a group of revolutionaries from Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of Tarimala Nagi Reddy were excluded because they disagreed that sufficient preparations had been made to launch an immediate people’s war.

In February 1969 the AICCCR unanimously decided to form a new communist party (though some state units later refused to go along). This party, the original Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), was launched on April 22nd, 1969, Lenin’s birthday. Charu Mazumdar was elected the General Secretary of the Central Organizing Committee of the new party. With the founding of the CPI(ML) the AICCCR disolved itself, though the state units in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab continued as independent organizations for several years.



All India Peoples Resistance Forum

This mass organization was founded in 1992. It focused on the defense of democratic rights, opposition to police murders of revolutionaries, building mass struggle against imperialist globalization, and so forth.

Some other revolutionary groups viewed the AIPRF as a front group for the CPI(ML) People’s War. However, judging from the comments of the AIPRF supporters on the Internet, it seems that some of its adherents viewed the organization as promoting a political program very different than that of the People’s War Group. One AIPRF adherent said its approach was that of the "revolutionary mass line".

This organization may be defunct.



Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries

[Renamed in the early 1970s: Andhra Pradesh Committee of Communist Revolutionaries
(also known as the Andhra Pradesh Revolutionary Communist Committee)

Originally the Andhra Pradesh branch of the AICCCR which was initially a dissident group within the CPI (Marxist) party. It was formed circa 1969 under the leadership of Tarimal Nagi Reddy, who was a member of the legislative assembly in AP at the time. Other leaders were D.V. Rao, Chandra Pulla Reddy and Kolla Venkaiah. Both C. P. Reddy and Rao had been active in the Telangana armed struggle, and Rao had prepared the "Andhra Thesis" of the CPI(M).

The APCCCR split from the CPI(M) after the CPI(M) Burdwan plenum in April 1968. Eleven of the 14 district committees of CPI(M) in Andhra Pradesh went with the APCCCR. Around 60% of the CPI(M) membership in AP, about 8,000 people, went over to the APCCCR, and they also took over the CPI(M) publication Janashakti.

The APCCCR joined the AICCCR in September 1968, but was expelled from that group in February 1969 before the AICCCR went on to form the original CPI(ML) in April 1969, because of its opposition to:

The APCCCR advocated "a mass line" whereas the AICCCR denounced all work in trade unions and other mass organizations as "economism". The APCCCR saw the issue of participating or boycotting elections as a tactical issue while the AICCCR viewed it as a strategic one.

After the expulsion of APCCCR from AICCCR, the latter organized its own new Andhra Pradesh branch, mainly from the Srikakulam region. The Srikakulam District Committee of the APCCCR joined the CPI(ML).

The APCCCR launched limited armed struggles in Warangal, Khammam, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, East Dodavari, and other districts. It favored combining mass movements and armed struggle and opposed the "annihilation line" of the CPI(ML). In April 1969 APCCCR issued a resolution entitled "Boycott Panchayat Elections - Establish Village Soviets".

In December 1969 six of the nine State Committee members of APCCCR were arrested at a hotel in Madras, including T. Nagi Reddy and D.V. Rao. This was a heavy blow to the organization. In July 1970 a new state committee headed by Chandra Pulla Reddy was created.

In 1971 there was a major split in the organization, and the faction led by C. P. Reddy left to form its own independent CPI(ML) group. This group later merged (in 1973 or 1975?) with the CPI(ML) [Satayanarayan Singh] group.

In 1975 the APCCCR/APRCC, together with the Northern Zonal Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Unity Centre (ML), the West Bengal Communist Unity Centre, and the WBCCR, merged to form the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L).



Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India

This organization was formed in 1988 with the merger of the following groups:

The two UCCRI(ML) factions both split off from the parent group over the same issues: the adoption by the majority UCCRI(ML) group of the "Three Worlds" theory and their support for Deng Xiaoping in China.

The CCRI’s general political line was that of the "mass revolutionary line". This organization merged with three other groups in August 1994 to form the CPRCI(ML).



Centre of Indian Communists

The CIC was a minor Maoist organization in Kerala. It was founded at a convention in Ernakulam in 1974 and included elements that had broken away from the CPI(M). It viewed the CPI(ML) as "Indian Narodniks".

The CIC was one of ten Maoist groups banned by the central government on July 4, 1977. [No other information available.]



Committee of Communist Revolutionaries

Was a middle of the road Maoist group in the West Bengal. According to an editorial on the CPI(ML) Red Flag web site, sometime during the 2003-2004 time period the CCR merged into the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group].

The "CCR" has also been used as a shorthand name for the AICCCR, which existed in 1968-69, and for a few of the other separate state organizations of the AICCCR which lingered after the original CPI(ML) was formed in 1969 and the AICCCR itself formally disolved. One such state organization, the Punjab Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, continued in existence until 1976 when it merged with the UCCRI.



Communist League of India (M-L)

Founded on Feb. 20, 1978, as a split off from the CPI(ML) Central Organising Committee [Ram Nath faction]. It maintains that India is a less developed, but nevertheless capitalist country, and therefore requires a socialist revolution rather than first having a new democratic revolution. The CLI(ML) is not to be confused with the Communist League of India (without the "M-L"), which is a Trotskyite group.

Over the years more and more factions have developed within the CLI(ML):



Communist Organisation of India (M-L)

Formed in May 1985 as a merger of 6 CPI(ML) groups:

Kanu Sanyal, who was one of the leaders of the Naxalbari revolt, was elected General Secretary of COI(ML). The organization was near the right end of the CPI(ML) spectrum.

In the summer of 2003 the COI-ML merged with the CPI(ML) Unity Initiative to form a new organization which attempted to reclaim the original CPI(ML) name, but which I refer to as CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] to avoid confusion. (In January 2005, this CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] merged with CPI(ML) Red Flag, and uses the CPI(ML) name for the new party.)



Communist Party of India (Maoist)

The CPI (Maoist) is by far the largest and most important political party in India which is now engaged in revolutionary guerrilla warfare. It was formed on Sept. 21, 2004 by the merger of the CPI(ML) People’s War group and MCC(I).

The press statement of Oct. 14, 2004, which announced the formation of the CPI (Maoist), stated that the political ideology of the merged party is Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, and that it will continue its struggle against both right and left deviations, and "particularly against revisionism, by taking this as the main danger for the communist movement as a whole." The new party "will still seek to unite all genuine Maoist groups that remain outside this unified party." The press release continues:

The immediate aim and programme of the Maoist party is to carry on and complete the already ongoing and advancing New Democratic Revolution in India as a part of the world proletarian revolution by overthrowing the semi-colonial, semi-feudal system under the neo-colonial form of indirect rule, exploitation and control. This revolution will remain directed against imperialism, feudalism and comprador bureaucratic capitalism. This revolution will be carried out and completed through armed agrarian revolutionary war, i.e. protracted people’s war with the armed seizure of power remaining as its central and principal task, encircling the cities from the countryside and thereby finally capturing them. Hence the countryside as well as the PPW (Protracted People’s War) will remain as the ‘center of gravity’ of the party’s work, while urban work will be complimentary to it.

Since armed struggle will remain as the highest and main form of struggle and the army as the main form of organization of this revolution, hence it will continue to play a decisive role, whereas the UF [United Front] will be built in the course of armed struggle and for the seizure of power through armed struggle. Mass organizations and mass struggles are necessary and indispensable but their purpose is to serve the war. We also hereby declare that the two guerrilla armies of the CPI(ML)[PW] and MCCI--the PGA and the PLGA--have been merged into the unified PLGA (Peoples’ Liberation Guerrilla Army). Hereafter, the most urgent task i.e. principal task of the party is to develop the unified PLGA into a full-fledged People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and transforming the existing Guerrilla Zones into Base Areas, thereby advancing wave upon wave towards completing the New Democratic Revolution....

Apart from this the unified party will continue to pay added attention to building a new wave of revolutionary mass movements on various political and other issues of the people. It will involve all the vast sections of the masses in these struggles directed against imperialism, feudalism and the comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie.

Com. Ganapathy (or Ganapati) of the People’s War group was elected General Secretary of the merged party.



Communist Party of India (M-L) [Original party]

[Much of the information here has been taken from the historical information pages prepared by various CPI(ML) groups on the Web, and especially from "A Saga of Revolutionary Heroism, Supreme Sacrifice and Absolute Determination".]

This is the original CPI(ML) party, which was formally launched on April 22nd, 1969, Lenin’s birthday. [See AICCCR for some background information on the creation of the party.]

The two most prominent leaders were Charu Mazumdar (or Majumdar) and Kanu Sanyal. Mazumdar was elected General Secretary of the Central Organizing Committee at the time the party was formed. He and Sanyal were the leaders of the famous Naxalbari uprising in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal in 1967. Mazumdar remained the top leader of the new party until his murder (after 12 days of torture) by the Calcutta police on July 28, 1972.

The early party history was anything but smooth. The Naxalbari uprising was suppressed by the CPI(Marxist) party which was already in power in a united front government in West Bengal in 1967. Many revolutionaries bolted from the CPI(M) after this treachery, but the hostility of the CPI(M) leaders toward the revolutionaries increased.

On May 1st, 1969, one week after the CPI(ML) was formed, the CPI(M) tried to disrupt a massive CPI(ML) May Day meeting in Calcutta, and this led to armed clashes. Over the next few years the CPI(M) would be responsible for the death of over a thousand CPI(ML) members.

The revolutionaries who formed the CPI(ML) had already begun setting up guerrilla zones in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and especially at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. But severe repression from the government came down on all these areas, especially Srikakulam. Seven top members of the party were murdered by the government on May 26-27, 1969, and several other top leaders were murdered at the end of that year. This led to an unprecedented uprising of students and youth in Calcutta and throughout West Bengal.

After the Deshabrati publication offices were raided by the government on April 27, 1970, the party was forced to go underground. On July 10-11, two top leaders of the Srikakulam uprising were captured and murdered by the police while in captivity. The Srikakulam guerrilla zone began to suffer reversals.

In 1971 the national government deployed the army to crush the movement in West Bengal, and thousands of people were killed. Over 50,000 people were imprisoned, and more party leaders were murdered.

The crackdown of the government forces and the collapse of the initial attempts at people’s war, led to considerable ideological discord and chaos in the early party. This in turn led to numerous splits beginning in 1971. All of this intensified tremendously after Charu Mazumdar was murdered in 1972. As one party history comments, "With his martyrdom, the last vestige of the Party’s central authority collapses."



Communist Party of India (M-L) [New party formed in 2005.]

This new party, using the old name, CPI(ML), was formed in January 2005 through the merger of the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] (which officially calls itself simply the CPI(ML) already) and the CPI(ML) Red Flag group.

This party seems to be close to the middle-right part of the spectrum of Maoist or Maoist-influenced organizations in India. Neither group which merged was engaged in armed struggle, and it is unlikely that the newly merged group will be any time soon either. On the other hand, those in this trend also seem to disagree with the electoral focus of the CPI(ML) Liberation party, even though they both participate in elections sometimes themselves. Their strategy is more to try to organize the masses in broad political struggle.

This new party is one of the many signs that the still highly fragmented Maoist forces in India are in the process of merging organizationally into three main trends.

Just before the 2006 West Bengal legislative election two regional party leaders, Somnath Chatterjee (not to be confused with the Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee) from Ukhra and Pradip Banerjee from Kolkata, broke away from the new party.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Bhaijee Group

The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1990 by S. R. Bhaijee, that it is active in Bihar, and specifically in West and East Champaran.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Central Organising Committee

Origins and history mostly unknown to me. One source says the group, or part of it, dissolved in 1977, and that the Communist Organisation of India (M-L).



Communist Party of India (M-L) Central Reorganization Committee

The CPI(ML) CRC was formed in 1979. It held its First All India Conference in 1982, and its second Conference in 1987. It was one of the original founders of RIM in 1984. In 1987 it had a major split, and the CPI(ML) Red Flag party was born.

But political discord and confusion continued in the CPI(ML) CRC. Under the direction of its top leader, K. Venu, the organization was dissolved in the fall of 1991, and its national newspaper, Mass Line, ceased publication. The bizarre reasoning that led to this drastic liquidationist action by the Venu group was reprinted in issue 17 of A World to Win (1992). In the same issue there were also reprinted severe criticisms of this dissolution (and other political errors), criticisms by both party members and by Bob Avakian for RIM. A later issue of A World to Win (issue 26 in 2000) carried an article, "The Strategy for People’s War in India", by former members (who were then in the CPI(ML) Maoist Unity Centre) criticizing the CPI(ML) CRC from a leftist perspective.

Although the national party was dissolved, the state organizations continued functioning as separate parties. Two of them, the Kerala Communist Party and the Maharashtra Communist Party, merged together to form the CPI(ML) Maoist Unity Centre in 1997. This organization later merged with the CPI(ML) Naxalbari in April 1999.

K. Venu himself later joined the Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy party. He ran in the 1996 Kerala assembly elections from Kondugallur, and came in second with 37,234 votes.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Central Team

Was founded in December 1977 as a breakaway group from the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee [the Satyanarayan Singh/Chandra Pulla Reddy faction of the CPI(ML)], and originally upheld the line of Charu Mazumdar. In 1978 it had a rectification campaign against the annihilation policy (assassinations of individual class enemies) and came to the conclusion that mass organizations were indispensible as well as mass struggles. It still thought that the time was ripe for armed struggle, and continued to favor attempting to unify the CPI(ML) around the reorganization plan of the 1969 Central Committee [the "Eighth Central Committee"].

The CPI(ML) Central Team was active in Punjab, and remains so in Maharashtra and West Bengal.

In Punjab they published the very influential revolutionary journal, Surkh Rekha. During the Khalistani period (1980s) the Punjab section of this group worked with the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India in building the important Front Against Repression and Communalism. This experience won the Punjab section of the Party over to the strategy of the "mass revolutionary line". In August 1994 the Punjab section, led by Roshan, merged with CCRI and two other groups to form the Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India (M-L). Surkh Rekha, of course, became a publication of CPRCI(ML).

However the Maharashtra and West Bengal sections of the Central Team refused to go along with this and accused the Punjab section of betraying the old CPI(ML) movement. They continue to function as an independent organization under the name CPI(ML) Central Team. Before the 1999 Lok Sabha elections Central Team signed a boycott call together with the CPI(ML) People’s War and the Revolutionary Communist Centre of India (Maoist).



Communist Party of India (M-L) [Chandra Pulla Reddy Group]

Chandra Pulla Reddy was originally associated with T. Nagi Reddy in the Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries. In 1971 he split off to form his own group, and then around 1973 (or 1975?) merged it into the CPI(ML) [S. N. Singh] group. That group in turn merged with another group to become the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee in 1977. In 1980 C. P. Reddy broke with the S. N. Singh group and formed his own CPI(ML) organization again.

That group has apparently evolved into being one of the many CPI(M-L) Janashakti factions.



Communist Party of India (M-L) [Chandrashekar Group]

Merged with 4 other groups in 1988 to form the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries in India

.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Janashakti

"Janashakti" means "people’s power". This group was formed on July 30, 1992 by a merger of 7 groups. The unity document was signed by the following individuals representing 6 of these groups:

(The 7th group was the CPI(ML) Agami Yug.)

The unity was precarious. CPI(ML) Janashakti had a split in 1996, when the "COC" faction broke away and went on to merge with another group to form the CPI(ML) Unity Initiative. Soon further splits occurred until there were seven separate factions operating independently in 2002. (The new factions were not necessarily the same as the original groups.)

It is said that Janashakti was originally based on the "revolutionary mass line" approach of Chandra Pulla Reddy and T. Nagi Reddy, but that it also used a combination of legal and illegal methods of struggle. Things seemed to be going well for a while, and a trade union (All India Federation of Trade Unions) and a peasant movement were developing strongly. But there must have also been some serious problems, because this is when the splits began.

More recently at least some of the factions that still use the Janashakti name have switched to more serious armed struggle, and the party is now illegal and underground.

The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that CPI(ML) Janashakti is active in Bihar, and specifically in Kaimur and East Champaran. But their primary area of activity is in Andhra Pradesh.

In an undated statement prepared for a small international gathering of M-L parties, and posted on the web (at http://www.icmlpo.de/us/6con/country/indienjan.htm), the Central Committee of an unspecified faction of the CPI(ML) Janashakti says (excerpts):

The M-L movement which was supposed to be the revolutionary alternative in India is still now in a divided state with a number of M-L party-groups existing in India. In the decade of ’70s our movement was defeated mainly due to the ‘left’ line we practiced. Then onwards, although the process of correction started, but the line that appeared in the name of ‘mass line’ has so far been unable to solve the main problem concerning developing the class struggle into the level of regular guerrilla warfare.

‘Left’ hangovers are still very much there in different forms like making the tactics of participation in the elections or boycotting the same as a matter of standard or dividing line between revolutionaries and revisionists. But the main problem in our movement is not the continuation of the ‘left’ mistakes; rather the right-deviation in different forms is [the] main danger.

The big and massive peasant struggle which was developed in the vast region of Andhra Pradesh in the decade[s] of the 70’s and 80’s and which was finally defined as ‘resistance struggle’ by the main leader of this movement, Com. C. P. Reddy, and was adopted by us, CPI (M-L) Janashakti, as a step towards guerrilla struggle, is under review now.

We could have been in a much better situation now to answer some of the major problems, including the main one. But for the internal problems of groupism, splittism and rightist orientation of a section of us we lost some valuable time. CPI (M-L) Janashakti is on its way to come out with a solution not only in theory but also in practice as well. We are confident that we will be able to do so.

As mentioned, CPI(ML) Janashakti has gone through a long period of internal confusion, factionalism and splits. And one of the top leaders and spokesman for one important faction apparently turned out to be in cahoots with the police.

According to The Hindu [11/04/2004], in October/November 2004 one of the Janashakti groups, the "South Regional Provincial Committee" in Andhra Pradesh, merged into the CPI(M-L) Chandra Pulla Reddy group. One of the central committee members of this combined group is identified as "Radhakka". Apparently this combined group is now known as the CPI(M-L) Janashakti (Chandra Pulla Reddy Group). At least this is how it is identified in another article in The Hindu on Oct. 27, 2004. Sometimes, however, the "Janashakti" part of the name seems to be omitted.

The official spokesman for this group is identified by The Hindu as M. V. Prasad, and one of the Andhra Pradesh state party leaders for the group is N. V. Khrishnaiah. On Oct. 26, 2004 M. V. Prasad told The Hindu that the peace talks between this group and the state government would likely not be successful, since the revolutionaries refused to give up their arms, and the government insisted that they do so.

One of the strongest Janashakti groups is that led by K. Rajanna, which is centered in Andhra Pradesh but operates in other states as well. Under his leadership this faction of Janashakti has announced that it is switching from the strategic defensive to the tactical offensive in the the armed struggle. An article in the national Indian newspaper, The Hindu (Feb. 8, 2003) reports a portion of an interview with Rajanna as follows (excerpts):

Rajanna said [that] though there were some setbacks for the party in the recent times, the conditions prevailing in the country due to liberalisation and globalisation could easily be exploited in favour of revolution....

Rajanna admitted that the armed struggle of the ML groups was still in [its] primary stage (since it began in 1968) due to limitations of the ‘step approach.’ The approach was to build mass movements first and then hold on to passive resistance and believe in the grand finale of armed resistance. It was wrong, he said.

Armed resistance was inevitable in guerrilla warfare and a regular army must be built, he said. Opportunities like [the] movement for a separate Telengana [state] should lead to [the] creation of youth groups in every village to spread the message of the revolution. The party would fight the degenerative tendencies with greater commitment and would concentrate on disarming [the] enemy and arming the people, he said.

The situation was conducive for building armed resistance in the country as reforms would not come with a human face. The forces of new economic revolution were bestowing extreme identities on people and the result was visible in India in the form of ‘Hindu fascism,’ he said.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Jan Samvad

[No specific information available.]



Communist Party of India (M-L) Liberation

This is the largest CPI(ML) group, and the one furthest to the right. Apparently it has firmly settled on a strategy of seeking power through elections. Nevertheless, even in this group there may still be many individuals strongly sympathetic to the idea of armed revolution at some point in the future.

After the original CPI(ML) split, with Satyanarayan Singh breaking with Charu Mazumdar and forming a competing central committee, the pro-Mazumdar party split again between pro- and anti-Lin Biao factions. The current CPI(ML) Liberation evolved out of that anti-Lin Biao faction. That, of course is to its credit, but its eventual evolution towards economism and the electoral strategy for "revolution" is another matter.

Vinod Mishra was elected general secretary of the party in 1975, and starting around 1977 he began pushing a reform movement. Some of the early steps sound pretty good, such as his 1979 declaration that mass organizations should be created on every front. (Mazumdar and his followers had viewed this as economism.)

But gradually Mishra pushed things to greater and greater extremes. In 1982 he got the Party to form what was called the "Indian People’s Front" and began contesting elections. At first this was just a small part of the work of the Liberation group, but it gradually became more and more central. Instead of a perspective of building the mass struggle toward an armed overthrow of the ruling class (and sometimes using elections to help do this), the strategic perspective shifted to social change through the ballot box. (But the Party only won 1/3 of 1% of the national vote in the 2004 parliamentary election.)

There were plenty of other signs of creeping revisionism in the group. It maintained a cozy relationship with the CP of China during the Deng years, for example.

Vinod Mishra died in 1998, but the current general secretary (Dipankar Bhattacharya) and the other leadership continue on the revisionist course.

The Party is strongest in Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand, though it has units in many other states.

CPI(ML) Liberation’s mass organizations include:

Publications: Liberation, ML Update
Web site: http://www.cpiml.org

Excerpt from a recent Hindustan Times article (May 9, 2002):

Formerly known as CPI(ML) which was founded by Comrade Charu Majumdar in 1969, it is seen "close" to "revolutionaries" although it has joined [the] mainstream electoral system and claims to have distanced itself from ultra-leftist violence over the years. The name CPI (ML) Liberation was given by Subrato Dutta, alias Jauhar, after he reorganised CPI (ML) in early 70s following [a] severe crackdown on ultra-leftists by the government.

Area of Operation: It is active in a number of states including Assam, West Bengal and Bihar.

Cadres: It has more than 5000 full time members and claims a total of over 2.5 lakh members. [A ‘lakh’ is 100,000. —S.H.]

Frontal Organisations: It runs five organisations - All India Students Association, Bihar Pradesh Kisan Sabha, All India Coordination Committee of Trade Unions, All India Progressive Women’s Association and Jan Sanskritik Manch.



Communist Party of India (M-L) [Mahadev Mukherjee]

The early Maoist movement in India was prone to much disunity and many splits, both before and after the formation of the original CPI(ML). When the prime leader of the CPI(ML), Charu Mazumdar, was killed by the Calcutta police in 1972 the leaders who replaced him were Sharma and Mahadev Mukherjee. But by that time only a small part of the original CPI(ML) organization remained under their authority. They continued the dogmatic approach that led to so many splits, and the central authority of the CPI(ML) further collapsed.

At that point Mukherjee and Sharma themselves had a falling out, and the Mukherjee faction expelled Sharma. After that, the remaining CPI(ML) group that Mukherjee was associated with itself split over the question of Lin Biao [Lin Piao, old style]. In this split (in 1972 I think), Mukherjee led the pro-Lin Biao faction, which I believe became the CPI(ML) Second Central Committee. However, after a while his own faction expelled him! At this point Mukherjee formed a small new group which he continues to call the CPI(ML), but which I refer to as the CPI(ML) [Mahadev Mukherjee] faction to avoid confusion.

This is a small, very idiosyncratic group. It’s web site still includes a picture of Lin Biao [Lin Piao, old style] and one of his speeches! It claims to be the only "real" CPI(ML). It is an underground party and is said to have some organizational presence in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman Nicobar Islands, West Bengal and New Delhi. It holds rallies and mass meetings only in the Naxalbari and Siliguri regions of West Bengal.

Web site: http://www.cpiml.s4u.org



Communist Party of India (M-L) Maharashtra

[No specific information available.]



Communist Party of India (M-L) Maoist Unity Centre

Formed on April 22, 1997, by a merger of the Kerala Communist Party and the Maharashtra Communist Party. The KCP and MCP were themselves formed from state units of the CPI(ML) Central Reorganization Committee after it was disbanded by the liquidationist leader K. Venu.

In April 1999 this group merged into the CPI(ML) Naxalbari.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Nai Pahal

[No specific information available.]



Communist Party of India (M-L) Naxalbari

The founding date and earliest history are as yet unknown to me.

In April 1999 the CPI(ML) Maoist Unity Centre merged into CPI(ML) Naxalbari. And following the All India Conference of the CPI(ML) Red Flag in 2000, a group under the leadership of someone named "Rauf" split off from Red Flag and then merged with CPI(ML) Naxalbari. Rauf is now the Secretary of CPI(ML) Naxalbari.

Rauf had been the leader of the small CPI(ML) Red Flag unit in Andhra Pradesh. A large part of the leadership of that unit was killed by police in raids during the 1980s, and the unit never recovered. This is probably a large part of the reason that Rauf and his new group favor immediate armed struggle.

CPI(ML) Naxalbari is affiliated with CCOMPOSA and RIM.

Excerpt from the RCPUSA’s RW (#1200, May 25, 2003):

One of the parties descended from the original CPI (ML) which continues to uphold the banners of Mazumdar and Maoism is the CPI (ML) (Naxalbari), like the MCC a participating party of RIM, which is continuing to work for the unity of the Maoist revolutionaries in a single center in India. The CPI (ML) (Naxalbari) has been advancing especially in the states of Kerala, Maharastra [sic] and Karnataka.



Communist Party of India (M-L) New Democracy

The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1988 by Yatendra Kumar, and that it is active in Bihar, and specifically in Rohtas, Kaumru, East Champaran, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Mazaffarpur, Dhanbad and Ranchi. However, it is also active in numerous other states. It is said to have been formed from a faction which split off from the CPI(ML) [Chandra Pulla Reddy].

The party is strongest in Andhra Pradesh, but also has branches in West Bengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Orissa, Haryana, and elsewhere. In Andhra Pradesh it is usually known as the CPI(ML) Prajapantha. It has one member in the Legislative Assembly in Andhra Pradesh, Narsaiah Gummadi from the consituency Yellandu and another elected member in Bihar, Umadhar Prasad Singh. The party works both with legal and illegal methods.

In an undated statement prepared for a small international gathering of M-L parties, and posted on the web (at http://www.icmlpo.de/us/6con/country/indiennd.htm ), the CPI(ML) New Democracy group says in a statement (excerpts):

Among the organizations rejecting Deng revisionism, two trends are more or less clearly defined—those upholding the revolutionary mass line and those undertaking anarchist-terrorist activities. The latter organizations propagate that they are conducting civil war against the Indian Government. They also claim to have established the liberated areas and guerilla zones. However, their concept of the liberated areas and guerilla zones differs sharply from the teachings of Comrade Mao about the liberated areas and guerilla zones. Activities conducted by them do not correspond to the level of the mass movement nor are they trying to develop the mass movement systematically.

Our party—CPI (ML) New Democracy—follows revolutionary mass line. Some other organizations too are practicing broadly similar line. We consider that there are no liberated areas in India. It is also not correct that there is ongoing civil war in India being conducted by any one or more of the communist revolutionary organizations.

Ours is a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country at the stage of New Democratic Revolution with agrarian revolution as its axis. The agrarian revolution is the primary task before the communist revolutionary forces. [The] agrarian revolutionary movement faces armed attacks from the feudal forces, their henchmen and security forces. In the state of Bihar feudal-criminal gangs have been organized as private armies to attack and massacre the poor peasants and agricultural laborers to crush the revolutionary forces and the movement. Hence the revolutionary forces have to face the task of countering these attacks from the beginning of the agrarian struggle. Revolutionary forces resist these attacks by organizing all forms of struggle including open democratic movement[s] and self-defense squads and militant groups.

In some areas of [the] agrarian revolutionary the communist revolutionary organizations, including our party, are conducting resistance struggle, i.e. building, developing and extending [the] agrarian revolutionary movement facing the repression and attacks of the feudal-criminal-police forces. CPI (ML) New Democracy is implementing the line of developing the agrarian movement under its leadership in the direction of building areas of sustained resistance….

Our Party is taking building [the] agrarian revolutionary movement as its primary task. On the other hand we are developing joint struggles particularly on the impact of the new economic policies and subservience of the ruling classes to the imperialists. We are trying to build joint movement[s] along with other revolutionary and struggling forces against the increasing loot and plunder of our country by the imperialists as well as against the attacks of feudal criminal gangs against poor peasants. We are also undertaking joint movement[s] with other forces on the issues of the people.

Despite the statements above, the New Democracy Group seems to be leaning more towards supporting guerrilla warfare recently. It says it "totally rejects the path of parliamentarism". Whereas it was once a staunch opponent of the PWG, it later joined hands with them to form the joint mass organization, Forum Against Imperialist Globalisation (FAIG).

Other mass organizations that New Democracy participates in (as of the fall of 2007) include:

Publications of New Democracy includ New Democracy in English, and other publications in Marathi, Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Bengali and Oriya.

New Democracy web site: http://cpimlnd.org



Communist Party of India (M-L) New Initiative

Formation and history unknown to me. It was led by Arvind Sinha. It merged with CPI(ML) Janashakti COC faction in 2000 to form the CPI(ML) Unity Initiative, which in turn merged with the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] in June 2003.



Communist Party of India (M-L) New Proletarian

[No specific information available.]



Communist Party of India (M-L) Organising Committee

This group was also known as the Bihar-Bengal Committee, CPI(ML), and was led by B. N. Sharma. At one time it worked in close cooperation with the UCCRI(ML) in trade union and other work. In 1988 the CPI(ML)OC merged with four other groups to form the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India.

However, confusingly, there are some suggestions that the group (or a part of it) may still exist as an independent organization. The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group is active in Bihar, and specifically in Kaimur, under the leadership of B. N. Sharma. But perhaps the newspaper was just not up to date on the latest organizational adjustments.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Party Unity

Based in Jehenabad, Bihar. Merged with CPI(ML) People’s War on August 11, 1998.

Excerpt from a recent Hindustan Times article (May 9, 2002):

Active in Bihar, it was formerly known as CPI (ML) Party Unity. Formed in 1978 in Bihar under N Prasad’s leadership, it merged with People’s War on Aug 11, 1999 [actually 1998 —S.H.].

Area of Operation: It is active in 25 districts of Bihar.

Frontal Organisations: Six organisations - Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Parishad, Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti, Shramik Sangharsh Manch, Democratic Students Union, Bharat Naujawan Sabha and Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Parishad.



Communist Party of India (M-L) People’s War

The CPI(ML) People’s War group (also known as the PWG) was formed in 1980, and merged with the MCC(I) group on Sept. 21, 2004 to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist). While it existed, the People’s War Group was the largest revolutionary organization in India actively engaged in armed struggle. It was centered in Andhra Pradesh state, but also had smaller operations in many other states. It was a member of CCOMPOSA [the Coordinating Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia].

The PWG went through a long history of ups and downs, and was clearly on the upswing again in the several years before its merger with MCC(I).

The party was founded on April 22, 1980 [Lenin’s birthday] in Andhra Pradesh by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, apparently out of a portion of the CPI(ML) Central Organising Committee. Seetharamaiah had been the leader of the Andhra Pradesh branch of the COC. But he was expelled from the PWG in 1991.

The PWG always advocated armed struggle and refused to participate in elections. In 1998, the CPI(ML) Party Unity based in Bihar merged into the PWG.

On Decemer 2, 1999, three politburo members were abducted, tortured and extrajudicially executed by the Indian police.

The PWG established its People’s Guerrilla Army in 2000 which integrated many previously autonomous military units ("dalams"). There were thousands of members of these dalams. The PWG and PGA were mainly active in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and the Midnapore district of West Bengal.

The PWG held its first congress in 2001. (It was called the "Second Congress", however, because the original CPI(ML) held its first congress in 1970.)

At most times the Andhra Pradesh state government proclaimed the PWG as illegal, but there were other periods of modus vivendi and peace talks.

The magazine People’s March was close to the PWG, and later the CPI (Maoist), and reported on their activities until it suppressed by the government in December 2007, and its editor arrested.

*       *       *

Excerpt about the CPI(ML) PW from the RW (#1200, May 25, 2003):

The CPI (ML) (PW) has strongholds in broad rural areas in the states of Andhra [Pradesh], Maharashtra and Orissa, as well as Bengal, Bihar and elsewhere.

Excerpts from a recent Hindustan Times article (May 9, 2002):

Formed by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah (KS) on April 22, 1980, it is the most dominant Naxalite force in India with about 54 Dallas (forest squads) in Andhra Pradesh alone. 12 others are active in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Kerala. It has claimed thousands of lives besides destroying property worth crores. It has "links" with Pakistan’s ISI, Nepal Maoists and CCOMPOSA. [A ‘crore’ is 10 million. The claim about links to ISI, the Pakistan government’s spy organization, was almost certainly a government lie, and was vociferously denied by PW itself. —S.H.]

Area of operation: Andhra Pradesh remains its main area of operation where they hold sway in 12 of the 23 districts. These include Warangal, Khammam, Nizamabad, Midak, Nalgonda, MahaBubhagar, Adilabad, East Godawari and Karimnagar.

Cadres: According to police it has 1,100 full time "underground cadres" besides "over 5000 over-ground militants". Women constitute 30 per cent of PWG. Each of the 54 dalams in AP comprises 9-12 members. AP police say it had 74 dalams at its height in 1997. It has raised at least four military platoons comprising 25-30 cadres each.

Skill and Firepower: Like any military organisation it conducts periodic military training that includes jungle warfare skills. Over the years its cadres have gained expertise in techniques of insurgency like mine laying and ambush. It has an awesome arsenal that include AK-47 rifles, revolvers, DBBL (double barrel) and SBBL guns, which count in thousands.

Hit List: Its hit list includes almost all the key political leaders of the state. Over 700 people of Telengana region, including MLAs, MPs, Zilla Parishad chairmen and Mandal Presidents and landlords, are provided round the clock security in view of Naxal threat. More than 225 political leaders, including those of the ruling Telugu Desam Party, Congress, BJP, CPI and CPM besides rich traders have been killed by PWG in the last 10 years. During the last one year, Naxalites have attacked 19 government buildings (including police stations) and 4,000 RTC buses besides causing extensive damage to railways.

Sources of Income: As per the state sources, extortion remains the main source of PWG funds. An amount of more than Rs 10 crores is collected from contractors, traders, businessmen, professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants and even government officials, informed sources say. From HT Archives) [A ‘crore’ is 10,000,000. —S.H.]

People’s Guerrilla Army: It was launched by PWG on Dec 2, 2000, reportedly on the pattern of [the] New People’s [Army] of [the] Philippines and [the] People’s Liberation Army of Peru with an objective of countering security forces offensive against Naxalites. PGA has started its separate branches in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, North Telangana (AP) and in [the] tribal belt of Dandkaranya which includes parts of AP, Maharashtra, MP and Orissa. It aims to establish a strong network across India.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Praja Pratighatana

Also known as the CPI(ML) People’s Retribution. This group is apparently engaged in some form of armed struggle. [No other information available.]



Communist Party of India (M-L) Prajashakti

Also known as the CPI(ML) People’s Power. [No other information available.]



Communist Party of India (M-L) Prathighatana

Also known as the CPI(ML) Retribution or the CPI(ML) [Phani Bagchi]. This group is a split-off from CPI(ML) Praja Pratighatana and is apparently also engaged in some form of armed struggle. It has a publication named Pratighatana.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Provisional Central Committee

The General Secretary of this party is Santosh Rana, and the party is sometimes referred to as the CPI(ML) [Santosh Rana Group].

Excerpt from the Wikipedia:

The PCC, CPI(ML) evolved out of the group loyal to Satyanarayan Singh from the original Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). Singh rebelled against the party leader Charu Majumdar in 1971, provoking a split. In April 1973 Singh’s party was reorganised.

Santosh Rana had broken with Charu Majumdar in 1971, and later joined Singh’s group. During the period 1975-80 the Chandrapulla Reddy group (which in 1971 had broken away from the Andhra Pradesh Committee of Communist Revolutionaries) based in Andhra Pradesh formed a part of Singh’s CPI(ML).

Singh’s CPI(ML) was amongst the first of the ML-factions that started participating in elections. The party gave some sort of support to the attempt of the Janata Party-movement to bring down the regime of Indira Gandhi, something that the more orthodox ML-factions saw as treachery. In 1977 Santosh Rana was elected to the West Bengal state assembly from the Gopiballavpur constituency (one of the areas where the CPI(ML) had started armed struggle following the model of the Naxalbari uprising). Rana got 13,401 votes (25.67%), which was enough to defeat the CPI(M), Indian National Congress and Janata Party candidates. Singh’s CPI(ML) were also able to register the party name Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) with the Election Commission of India, but the registration was later lost.

Around 1980 Singh’s group appeared as the strongest ML-faction, but with the exit of Chandrapulla Reddy and other splits the party shrunk. In 1984 a severe split occurred, with the loyalists of Singh opposed to the group of Santosh Rana and Vaskar Nandy. The Singh faction levelled the following accusation: "In our organisation also, Nandy’s close associates established contacts with a foreign voluntary agency and a native voluntary agency financed by Wester monopoly capital, keeping it secret from the POC and the general secretary of the party, S N Singh. They established contact with Rural Aid Consortium of Tagore Society which is financed by West European countries and the USA and with one Danish Organisation on the Plea of providing relief to the people of Gobiballabpur in West Bengal and some areas in Bihar. Lakhs of rupees were received for digging tanks, constructing school building opening a sewing training center and distributing chickens and cattle to the needy. It also came to our notice that money was being received by some of our leaders from the Lutheran Church. When it came to light to the PCC members, an intense ideological struggle burst forth in the party on this issue." (Our differences with Nandy-Rana group, PCC-CPI(ML), p. 29.)

The group of Rana came to win a majority in the leadership (the provisional central committee) and Singh’s followers formed a new committee (and de facto a new party). Singh died shortly afterwards.

Rana’s group differeniates themselves from other ML-factions through their emphasis on antifascism. Rana considers the Hindu nationalist BJP as a fascist danger for India. PCC, CPI(ML) gives the advice to their followers to vote for parties like CPI(M) or even the Indian National Congress in constituencies where no revolutionary communist candidate is available.

Ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the party participated in the united front of revolutionary communists initiated by [the] Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Flag and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).

In the Bodo-dominated areas in Assam, the party works through a mass organization called United Reservation Movement Council of Assam. PCC, CPI(ML) and URMCA are opponents of the Bodo nationalist movements. In the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 the URMCA candidate in Kokrajhar got 205,491 votes (21.25%). In the 1999 election the URMCA condidate had gotten 246,942 votes (27.75%) in the same constituency.

PCC, CPI(ML) publishes For a New Democracy as its central organ. The editor-in-chief is Vaskar Nandy.

The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1977, is active in Bihar, and specifically in Bokaro and Dhanbad.

I don’t think that this group is engaged in any form of armed struggle.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Red Flag

CPI(ML) Red Flag was apparently formed from a group that split off from the CPI(ML) Central Reorganization Committee in 1987 (or 1988?). Its origin and main area of influence was in Kerala state, where it became the dominant ML organization. But it also expanded to Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The party’s head office was in Delhi. The All India Secretary of the party was K. N. Ramachandran.

In 1994 the CPI(ML) Red Flag group said it advocated rebuilding the CPI(ML) "in a true Bolshevik style and based on Mao’s mass line." ["Expose the Politics of Deception", Red Flag, Aug. 1994]. This reaffirmed the basic line choice made earlier in the CPI(ML) CRC between the "military line" and the "mass line".

In 1997 the Party adopted a new constitution, programme, and international line. Their basic revolutionary strategy, however, remained the same.

After the All-India Party conference in 2000, a group led by Rauf in Andhra Pradesh split off from Red Flag and then merged into the CPI(ML) Naxalbari.

During the All-India conferences of the Party in 1997 and 2000, many additional issues were settled, and the central tasks were clearly stated: Establish the political line of the party among the communist revolutionaries of India; work to acquire political leadership of the people’s movement against globalization and imperialism; build up a true Bolshevik style party; and build up a united front.

This, however led to some new issues coming to the fore in the Party. As a Party supporter explained to me at the time:

The spontaneous people’s movements against globalisation have given a new life to revolutionary movements and a process of regrouping among various ML groups has already been initiated. Keeping aloof from this process is not wise, some comrades argue. But trying to join with oblivious, futureless, astray groups will result in liquidating our line, others say....

Another question is this: The National Platform of Mass Organisation (NPMO) is the biggest, broad based, national level anti-globalisation united front in India. Many of the major trade unions and peasant organizations are members in it. It is mainly under the social democratic, revisionist leadership. From 1992 onwards when the new economic policies were started to be implemented, NPMO called for All India Strikes several times. On the one hand, keeping away from these struggles means keeping away from the workers and peasants, but on the other hand joining with NPMO is compromising with class collaborationist, revisionist, and reformist demands.

Those questions facing the Red Flag group were apparently resolved by shifting a bit to the right.

In 2003 a large section of Red Flag in Kerala, including the majority of the Kerala State Committee, broke away, and began running a separate group under the same name. This split was led by the Kerala state secretary, P. C. Unnichekan. This party is referred to as "CPI(ML) Red Flag (Unnichekan Group)".

The main mass organization of the party was the Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI). Regional mass organizations included Yuvajanavedi, Kerala Vidyarthi Sanghatana [Keral Students Organization], and Janakeeya Kala Sahitya Vedi [a cultural front] in Kerala, and Adivasi Democratic Front in Madhya Pradesh.

The CPI(ML) Red Flag published Red Star in English, Iykya Horatta in Kannada, Saghavu in Malayalam, and had an active web site.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the CPI(ML) Red Flag and the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] formed an electoral front together with the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries (West Bengal), Lal Nishan Party (Leninvadi), Marxist Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist Committee, New Socialist Movement, Gujarat, the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee, and Bhagat Singh Vichar Manch. In Kerala a Left Front was formed for the elections together with BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Samskarika Vedi of V. B. Cheriyan.

In January 2005 a unity conference was held in Vijayawada which merged together the CPI(ML) Red Flag with the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] to form a new party using the old name CPI(ML).



Communist Party of India (M-L) [Sanyal Group]

This group was formed in June 2003 by a merger of the Communist Organization of India (M-L) and the CPI(ML) Unity Initiative.

Officially this group called itself simply the CPI(ML), but I am appending an unofficial "[Sanyal Group]" tag to differentiate it from other groups using that name. Kanu Sanyal was the leader of the COI-ML, and was one of the leaders of the original Naxalbari revolt in 1967. Despite that, the COI-ML was more toward the middle part of the spectrum of Maoist organizations in India. This merged group was similarly in the middle part of the spectrum.

In November 2003 the Communist Party of Indian Union (M-L) also merged into this party.

The CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] has its main strength in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Among the mass organizations it works with in Andhra Pradesh state are the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Trade Unions, Raitu Coolie Sangham [State Farmers Union], Progressive Democratic Students Organization, Nava Yuva Samithi [New Youth Association], Sthree Vimukti Sanghatana [Women’s Liberation Organization]. In northern West Bengal, it works with the important mass organization, the All West Bengal Tea Garden Labourers Union.

The party central organ is Class Struggle. It has a web site at: www.cpiml.in.

The CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] has also participated in some elections in Andhra Pradesh recently. The results from the 2004 Lok Sabha elections were:

In January 2005 this group merged with the CPI(ML) Red Flag organization to form a new party under the old name CPI(ML).



Communist Party of India (M-L) [Satyanarayan Singh Group]

This group was sometimes referred to as "CPI(ML) SNS" after Singh’s initials. S. N. Singh, Gurubux Singh, and Rajkishor led a splitoff in Bihar from the original CPI(ML) in Sept. 1970. They opposed Charu Mazumdar’s sectarianism and policy of individual annihilations (assassinations of individual class enemies).

In 1971 Asim Chatterjee and other CPI(ML) members in West Bengal broke with the Mazumdar central committee and joined the S. N. Singh group, though Chatterjee soon left. In 1975 the Chandra Pulla Reddy group in Andhra Pradesh merged with the SNS group, with Singh the top leader.

In 1977 the SNS Group merged with the CPI(ML) Unity Committee to form the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee, with Singh still the top leader.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Second Central Committee

According to the Wikipedia, this was an illegal, underground faction of the CPI(ML) which was founded in the late 1970s by Azijul Hague and Nishit Bhattacharya, two prominent communist leaders and intellectuals. It seems that Mahadev Mukerjee was also a part of this group for a while. This was the pro-Lin Biao faction of the CPI(ML).

The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1972 by Mahadeo Mukerjee [sic], was active in Bihar, and specifically in Vaishali, Bhagalpur and Banka.

I believe this is the group that then expelled Mukherjee, who proceeded to form his own faction. For more of the gory details, see CPI(ML) [Mahadev Mukherjee] faction.

The 2nd CC Group was active in Bihar, West Bengal, etc., and its mass fronts included Gansangram Komiti [People’s Struggle Committee], Biplobi Krishak Front [Revolutionary Peasants Front], Chetna Sanskritik Manch and Kisan Mazdoor Mukti Morcha [Peasants Workers Liberation Front].

It published Jandisha in Hindi, and Janedisha in Bengali through its fronts. On May 19, 2003 the CPI(ML) Second Central Committee merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India. It had to withdraw its pro-Lin Biao stand for the merger to go through.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Shantipal

Also known as the CPI(ML) Santi Pal Group.

Formed around 1972 in northern West Bengal. The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group is active in Bihar, and specifically in Sahebganj, Godda, Saharsa and Purnea.



Communist Party of India (M-L) Unity Initiative

The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1990, is active in Bihar, and specifically in Ranchi, Gumla and Dhanbad. However, other sources say that it was formed in 2000 by a merger of CPI(ML) New Initiative and the CPI(ML) Janashakti COC group.

In the summer of 2003 this group merged with the COI-ML to form a new group attempting to reclaim the CPI(ML) name. (See: CPI(ML)[Sanyal Group].)



Communist Party of Indian Union (M-L)

This party arose from a small group that broke away from the Communist Organization of India (M-L) of Kanu Sanyal and first joined up with the Marxist Communist Party of India at a conference in Chandigarh on September 11, 1998. At the time of this merger the general secretary of the CPIU(ML) was U. Krishanuppa from Karnataka. Later the CPIU group broke away from the MCPI and resumed existence as a separate organization.

According to The Hindu (Sept. 21, 2004) The CPIU(ML) was led by the late communist revolutionary, K. P. R. Gopalan.

However, in August 2003 discussions took place between Kanu Sanyal and Arvind Sinha from the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] and Subodh Mitra and S. D. Bose about a possible merger between the CPIU(ML) and the Sanyal Group. A conference of the CPIU(ML) in Samastipur on November 18, 2003 confirmed the merger and the groups were united.



Communist Party of the United States of India

A splitoff from CPI(ML) Janashakti in 1997, during a period in which Janshakti was having much internal turmoil. The CPUSI faction wanted to put more emphasis on caste issues rather than class issues. The CPUSI was officially formed on May 17, 1997. Its founder was M. Veeranna and it is sometimes referred to as the "Janashakti Veeranna" faction. Veeranna was later killed by the police.

The CPUSI is an illegal (underground) party based in Andhra Pradesh, which is engaged in some form of armed struggle involving armed "dalam" squads. Sadhu Malyadri Jambhav is the Andhra Pradesh state secretary of the CPUSI. In June 2001 a high-ranking leader of the CPUSI, Yerra Narasa Reddy, surrendered to the police.



Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India (M-L)

The CPRCI(ML) was formed in August 1994 by the merger of four groups:

The CPRCI(ML) advocates the "mass revolutionary line".

[More info to be added.]



Communist Revolutionary Centre

[No specific information available.]



Communist Revolutionary League of India

The CRLI is a small party in West Bengal, and is led by Asim (or Ashim) Chatterjee, a former student leader of the original CPI(ML). Chatterjee broke with Charu Majumdar [or Mazumdar] in 1971 after the failure of the armed struggle in the Debra-Gopiballavbur area in West Bengal, and due to the opposition of the CPI(ML) leadership to the independence struggle of Bangladesh from Pakistan. (The CP of China, which took the side of Pakistan during that war urged its followers in India to oppose independence for Bangladesh. But such a stance was close to political suicide in India at the time.) Chatterjee initially created the Bengal-Bihar-Orissa Border Regional Committee of the CPI(ML), and then later merged it into the CPI(ML) [Satayanarayan Singh group]. Later Chatterjee formed the CRLI.

During 1995-2000 the CRLI was a member of the "Left Front" with the major revisionist party, the CPI (Marxist). After breaking with CPI(M) the CRLI "has been in contact with" the Party for Democratic Socialism, a split-off from the CPI(M) in 2001 led by Saifuddin Chaudhury. Chatterjee ran in the 2005 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections on the election symbol of the Trinamool Congress.



Communist Revolutionary Party

This was a party in Kerala led by K. P. R. Gopalan. It contested the 1970 elections without success. It was however significant since this was the first group coming from the AICCCR tradition which tried to use elections for revolutionary purposes.



Communist Unity Centre of India

Merged with three other groups in August 1994 to form the Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India (M-L). [No other information available.]



Indian Communist Party

Was a small communist group led by U. Krishnappa from Karnataka. In May 1985 the ICP merged into the Communist Organisation of India (M-L).



Jharkhand Liberation Front

This is apparently a bourgeois nationalist organization. According to the Hindustan Times (May 9, 2002), it is "a recent offshoot of [the] Maoist Communist Centre" which is "gradually gaining notoriety in Jharkhand."



Jharkhand Liberation Tigers

This may or may not be the same group as above. The bourgeois press claims the JLT is a split-off from the CPI (Maoist) in Jharkhand, but appears to be fighting mostly against the that Party as well as against another reactionary organization in the area, the Tritiya Prastuti Committee, in a sort of three-way turf war.

According to Internet reports, the JLT killed 3 members of the TPC in the Bano jungle of Simdega district, Jharkhand, in Sept. 2007.



Kangleipak Communist Party

‘Kanglei’ is a local name for the area officially known as the state of Manipur, in northeast India. The Kangleipak Communist Party is a small group which split off from the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) on April 14, 1980. Its leader is someone named Ibohanbi.

According to the "South Asian Terrorism Portal", a bourgeois web site:

Although it owes its ideological allegiances to communism, it does not emphasize ideology. Like People’s Revolutionary Party of Kanglepak (PREPAK), its major demand has been the ouster of outsiders. It is not very active and has a strength of only 40 members.



Lal Jhanda Dal [Red Flag Party]

This was a minor Maoist group which was led by Swadesh Mitra around the time of the original CPI(ML).



Lal Nishan Party (Leninvadi) [Red Flag Party (Leninist)]

The LNP(L) was formed as a splinter group from the Lal Nishan Party in 1988. It criticized the LNP for having gotten closer to the Indian National Congress and perestroika.

LNP(L) mainly concentrates on trade union activism. Its trade union organization is called Sarva Shramik Sanghathan. The strongest base of SSS is in Pune. In general the LNP(L) does not contest elections. But it did support the candidates of the CPI(ML) Red Flag in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

The party was led by Ashok Manohar until his death in 2003. It publishes the monthly Leninwadi Lalnishan from Pune.



Maoist Communist Centre (India)

Formed from a merger of the Maoist Communist Centre and the Revolutionary Communist Centre, India (Maoist) which was announced in a communiqué on January 15, 2003 [see RW, #1200, May 25, 2003]. MCC(I) was a member of the Coordinating Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia [CCOMPOSA], and was affiliated with RIM. On Sept. 21, 2004, MCC(I) merged with CPI(ML) People’s War to form the CPI (Maoist).

In 2003 the MCC(I) formed the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, which has now been merged with the People’s Guerrilla Army of the People’s War group, under the PLGA name.

Information about the MCC/MCC(I) from the Wikipedia:

Dakshin Desh

When the Communist Party of India (M-L) was founded in 1969, rallying various Maoist tendencies into a unified organization, one group retained a separate identity and remained outside of CPI(ML). This group was nicknamed Dakshin Desh, after the name of its publication. The group had begun publishing Dakshin Desh in August 1966. The group was highly critical of the "revisionism" of the CPI(Marxist). Dakshin Desh promoted armed agrarian revolution along Maoist lines. The group was joined by a sector of trade union activists.

Dakshin Desh is Hindi for "Southern Land" (implied in this naming was that India was the "Southern land" whreas China was the corresponding "Northern land"). Amulaya Sen and Kanai Chatterjee were the leading figures of the Dakshin Desh group. In difference to CPI(ML), whose policies of armed struggle bordered on individual terrorism, the Dakshin Desh group upheld that mass mobilisations were requisites for engaging in armed struggle. The group began armed activities in the Jangal Mahal area, Burdwan district, West Bengal, where Dalits ["Untouchables"] and Adivasis [tribal peoples] constituted large sections of the local population. The territory was covered with deep forests, considered ideal for guerrilla warfare. The group formed political militia squads, which moved around in the villages and conducted political activities to mobilise local peasants. The squads were often made up [of] recruits from Calcutta. The squads looted grain storages, captured firearms and assassinated landlords and perceived police informers. By 1973 it was estimated that the group had 37 squads in the area, with a combined membership of 106.

MCC

In 1975 the group took the name Maoist Communist Centre.

However, in spite of several years of political and armed activities, the group failed to make a breakthrough in the Jangal Mahal area. In 1976 it decided to expand its activities to other parts of the country. Soon it began activities in eastern Bihar, and for this purpose an apex Bengal-Bihar Special Area Committee was set up by the MCC.

Chatterjee died in 1982. Following his death, MCC was riddled by internal divisions. Chatterjee’s successor, Siveji, and his deputy, Ramadhar Singh, disagreed over the policy of individual annihilations. Singh broke away and joined Kanu Sanyal’s group instead. In the mid- and late 1980s, leadership of MCC was taken over by Sanjay Dusadh and Pramod Mishra. At this point, the influence of the group had spread to the central parts of Bihar. The group now counted with 500 wholetime cadres and 10,000 members. Mass organizations of MCC included Krantikari Kisan Committee [Revolutionary Peasants Committee], Jana Suraksha Sangarsh Manch [People’s Defence Struggle Bloc], Krantikarai Buddhijevi Sangh and Krantikari Chhatra League [Revolutionary Students League]. The armed wing of the party was called Lal Raskha Dal [Red Defence Force].

In rural Bihar the party had become a major force to reckon with in some areas. In the pockets of its influence the party ran a parallel juridicial system, with a system of people’s courts. The expansion of the party occurred as it became one of several caste-based armed groups in the area. The party mobilized lower-cast Biharis, and frequently clashes with various militia groups defending upper-caste interests. At times it also clashed with other Naxalite groups, such as when MCC militia killed 5 Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation members in Jehanabad district on April 4, 1994. Militia activities of MCC reached its peak by 1990.

In September 1993, MCC, Communist Party of India (M-L) People’s War and Communist Party of India (M-L) Party Unity decided to coordinate their struggles. As a result, the All India People’s Resistance Forum was formed, with the participation of cadres from the three parties. AIPRF held a mass rally, with around 100,000 participants, on March 21, 1994.

*       *       *

Excerpts about MCC before it merged with RCCI(M) from the RW (#1200, May 25, 2003):

The MCC had strongholds in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal in the northeast part of the country… [I]t became a participating organization of RIM in 2002.

The MCC has united vast sections of the poor peasants of Bihar and Jharkhand. Bihar is a state in India where classical feudalism still exists. The feudal landlords have their own armies under the protection of the Indian government, which they used to suppress the peasants in their own interests. Under the reactionary Hindu Branashram system, people are divided into several castes. The brutality of the upper-caste feudals reduces the masses to the level of slavery. Destroying the strongholds of these landlords bit by bit, the MCC has been confiscating land from the feudals and distributing this land to the poor people in the areas where it has sufficient power. On December 19, 2002, in the Singhabhumi district of western Jharkhand, the MCC led a military action against reactionary armed police who had been carrying out brutal repression of the masses. Eighteen armed police were killed and 38 others wounded. All their weapons and ammunition were seized.

Similarly, the reactionary state of India has left the people of Jharkhand in very backward conditions. The MCC has turned Jharkhand, the hilly area formerly part of Bihar and now a separate state, to Lalkhand (Lal means red) by uniting these tribal (indigenous) people against feudals and Indian occupiers. The revolutionary armed struggle has been transforming the life of the oppressed people, for example, by doing away with child marriage and other backward practices. A large percentage of the indigenous people of Jharkhand are no longer mere downtrodden but are become free men and women."

[The RCCI (Maoist) had strongholds] in Punjab in the northwest.

Punjab, too, has been a hotbed of revolutionary struggle, from the time of General Diaras’s Jaliawala Bagh massacre of Punjabi peasants fighting against British imperialism before India’s so-called independence up to today. Although it has a different character to the most backward areas of India, these have been heroic struggles by the people against the reactionary system. When a misguided movement broke out for an independent Sikh state (Khalistan), the RCCI stood firm on the orientation of New Democratic Revolution in India to overthrow foreign imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism linked to both of the former.

Excerpt about the pre-merger MCC from a Hindustan Times article (May 9, 2002):

Formed on October 20, 1969 with Kanhai Chatterjee and Amulya Sen as its founding members, it is one of the most dreaded Naxalite outfits, mainly active in Bihar and Jharkhand. Having entered Bihar in 1971, it has carried out a string of massacres, particularly targeting upper castes, in the state and is constantly at war with landlords’ private army Ranvir Sena besides another ultra-leftist outfit PWG, contractors and traders.

Area of Operation: It is active in six Naxalism-hit districts of Bihar and 14 districts in Jharkhand. These districts include Patna, Jehanabad, Gaya, Aurangabad, Nalanda, Nawadah, Bhojpur and Rohtas in Bihar and Chhatra, Palamu, Garhwa, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Palamu, Dhumka, Sahebganj, Gumla, Lohardagga, and Ranchi in Jharkhand.

Cadres: It has 300 professional revolutionaries, 60 armed squads and 30,000 members, informed sources in Bihar say.

Frontal Organisations: Jan Pratirodh Sangharsh Manch, Krantikari Budhijivi Sangh, Krantikari Sanskritik Sangh, Krantikari Chhatra League, Communist Yuva League, Naari Mukti Sangh and Mazdoor Mukti Sangh are affiliated to MCC.

Its Central Committee is the main decision making body. MCC leadership in Bihar lies mainly with backward castes, particularly Yadavs and Dalits. It has declared a liberated zone in Bihar, which includes Aurangabad district. Its Bihar-Bengal Special Area Committee, Preparatory Committee for Revolutionary Peasant Struggles and Revolutionary Peasant Councils constantly monitor, review and enhance the MCC activities in the region.

Hit List: The MCC hit list includes Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi.

On September 21, 2004 the MCC(I) merged with the CPI(ML) People’s War group to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist). The CPI(Maoist) is now by far the most important organization engaged in guerrilla warfare in India.



Marxist Communist Party of India

MCPI was a splinter group from the huge revisionist CPI (Marxist) party. As such, its Maoist credentials are weak, but it explored (and then rejected) a possible merger with the centrist (or middle-right) Maoist groups who formed the new CPI(ML) in January 2005. It did, however, participate in an electoral front with those forces in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

The General Secretary was Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, who was the former general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha.

MCPI was active in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and elsewhere. Its principal mass organizations were the All India Centre for Trade Unions (AICTU), the All India Federation of Democratic Youth (AIFDY), and the All India Federation of Democratic Women (AIFDW). MCPI seems to have put a lot of emphasis into waging electoral campaigns.

MCPI had a publication called People’s Democracy.



Marxist Communist Party of India (United)

Formed from a merger of the Maxist Communist Party of India (see above) with other groups.



Marxist-Leninist Committee

Usually referred to as the ML Committee. A small organization led by K. Venkateswar Rao. Activities are limited to a few districts (including Guntur) in the eastern part of Andhra Pradesh. Takes a centrist or middle-right stance in the Indian MLM spectrum. Participated in a round of unity talks with CPI(ML) Red Flag and CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] in 2004, but the outcome is unclear to me so far. It did, however, participate in an electoral front with these groups in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.



Marxist-Leninist Organising Centre

Merged with three other groups in August 1994 to form the Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India (M-L).



National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issak/Muivah)

Nagaland is a state in northeast India, in the Naga Hills area north of Manipur. The NSCN(I/M) is a revolutionary nationalist organization formed in 1980. I am told that the revolutionary nationalist movement in this region originally received help and support from Mao’s China, but that now the NSCN(I/M) is accused of receiving support from the World Christian Council!

Web site: http://www.nscnonline.org



People’s Liberation Army

This is apparently the armed force of the Revolutionary People’s Front, an alliance of several revolutionary nationalist organizations. See RPF Manipur and its web page at: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/4568



People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak

‘Kanglei’ is a local name for the area encompassed by the northeastern state of Manipur. PREPAK was formed on Oct. 9, 1977 under the leadership of R. K. Tulachandra (who was later killed by government forces). It claims to be the "most genuine revolutionary group" in Manipur. According to right-wing sources, its primary demand seems to be the ouster of all outsiders from the region.

At present Achamba is the top leader of PREPAK. According to a bourgeois web site, the "South Asian Terrorism Portal", it has about 200 fighters, and has been trained by NSCN(IM). The Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF) is composed of PREPAK, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

In 1980 a small group split off to form the Kangleipak Communist Party.



Punjab Communist Revolutionary Center

This is probably just an alternative name for the PCCCR below.



Punjab Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries

[Later called the Punjab Communist Revolutionary Committee]

Originally the Bhatinda District Committee of the AICCCR.

Led by Harbhajan Sohi. When the AICCCR decided to create the original CPI(ML) in 1969 several state units of the AICCCR refused to go along. One of these was the PCCCR which existed as an independent, centrist MLM organization until it merged with the UCCRI(ML) in June 1976.



Revolutionary Communist Centre, India (Marxist-Leninist)

In 1979 the Punjab State Committee of the UCCRI(ML) formed a parallel organization by that same name. During the early 1980s Shamsher Singh Sheri (alias Karam Singh) became the leader of the minority within that parallel organization. In 1982 he and his followers broke away from that UCCRI(ML) group, and in November 1983 they formed the Revolutionary Communist Centre of India (Marxist-Leninist), with Sheri as the Secretary.

The RCCI(ML) had an organizational conference in 1992. In 1995 it split in two, with Sheri’s faction renaming their group as the RCCI(Maoist), and the other faction becoming the RCCI(Marxist-Leninist-Maoist).



Revolutionary Communist Centre, India (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)

Formed in 1995 when the RCCI(ML) split in two. As of 2002, both were listed as members of CCOMPOSA.



Revolutionary Communist Centre, India (Maoist)

Centered in Punjab, and led by Shamsher Singh Sheri (alias Karam Singh). This was a 1995 split off from the RCCI(ML).

Sheri was the original Secretary of the group, and was reelected at RCCI(M) conferences in 1996 and 2002. Sheri also took part in setting up the CCOMPOSA organization of south Asian revolutionary parties.

In January 2003 the RCCI(M) merged with the Maoist Communist Centre, which then became the Maoist Communist Centre (India). (See that entry for more information on the merger.)

Sheri became a Central Committee member of the MCC(I), and after the merger of MCC(I) with the CPI(ML) People’s War to form the CPI (Maoist) in 2004, Sheri became a member of its provisional Central Committee. Sheri died on October 30, [2003?] after suffering from cerebral malaria and jaundice.



Revolutionary Communist Council of India

This was a group in Calcutta which existed sometime around the early 1970s. [Source: Prakash Singh, The Naxalite Movement in India, (New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 1999), p. 53.]



Revolutionary Communist Party (India)

Based in Punjab, and led by Takra. This is one of the 5 groups which merged together in 1988 to form the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India, which itself later merged with 3 other groups to form the CPRCI(ML) in August 1994.

This organization should not be confused with the Revolutionary Communist Party of India.



Revolutionary Communist Unity Centre (Marxist-Leninist)

Was formed by Asit Sen in 1970, after he left the AICCCR in 1969. Sen criticized the CPI(ML) for not organizing mass movements.

The "Northern Zonal Committee" of this organization was one of the four groups that merged in 1975 to form the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L).



Revolutionary People’s Front Manipur

Manipur is a state in northeast India between Assam and Myanmar [Burma]. The RPFM is a left nationalist organization possibly influenced by Maoist ideas but which is not part of the communist tradition. It was formed in 1979. The People’s Liberation Army is its armed force.

On Oct. 21-22, 2008, representatives of the RPFM and the CPI (Maoist) held a meeting in which they agreed to mutually support each other’s struggles. The Secretary General of the RPFM, S. Gunen, signed this agreement, as did Alok, a Political Bureau member of the CPI (Maoist).

Web site: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/4568



Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (M-L)

According to the Wikipedia, this group has a Maoist orientation, and is most probably a breakaway group from the Revolutionary Socialist Party. It was formed in 1969, and apparently is based mainly in Uttar Pradesh.

This group seems to have an electoral approach. It ran two condidates in the 1971 general election in Uttar Pradesh, and one in Bihar. In the 2005 Jharkhand state legislative election it ran 3 candidates.



Tamil Nadu Marxist-Leninist Party

[No specific information available.]



Tritiya Prastuti Committee ["Third Peparatory Committee"]

The bourgeois press says this is a breakaway sect from the CPI (Maoist), formed in 2002, and operating in Jharkhand, Bihar and possibly elsewhere. However, it appears to actually be a reactionary organization, now probably sponsored by the government. In 2007 the TPC declared that its "main enemy is not the police machinery, but the CPI-Maoist".

Internet reports on the Maoist Resistance site said that on Sept. 14, 2007 the TPC operating in the Barwadih village of Latehar district in Jharkhand, abducted 4 supporters of the CPI (Maoist) and killed them with sharp-edged weapons. In a second incident, 3 members of the TPC were killed by the Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT), a similar reactionary group, engaged in a three-way turf war with the TPC and the Maoists.

The Indian newspaper, The Hindu reported in its June 19, 2008 issue that one member of the TPC was shot dead by CPI (Maoist) members in Bihar’s Gaya district.



United Liberation Front of Assam

Assam is a state in northeast India on the edge of the Himalayas. ULFA is a left nationalist organization which may be influenced by Mao, but is not part of any communist tradition. It was formed by Paresh Barua and his associates on April 7, 1979, with a stated aim of establishing a "sovereign socialist Assam" through armed struggle.

Baruah is the commander-in-chief of the military wing (known as the Sanjukta Mukti Fouj, or SMF), and the ULFA chairman is Arabinda Rajkhowa. The ULFA appears to be a quite active organization which is said to have three full-fledged battalions. According to the bourgeois web site, the "South Asian Terrorist Portal", ULFA operates out of safe havens in Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Web site: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/7434



Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L)

Developed primarily from an earlier group, the Andhra Pradesh Revolutionary Communist Committee, which was formed circa 1969 and led by T. Nagi Reddy. (This group was not allowed to participate in the AICCCR because of its disagreement on the issue of loyalty to the Communist Party of China, and because of its opposition to immediate armed struggle and to the boycott of all elections.) [Some of the information below is taken from the Wikipedia.]

The UCCRI(ML) itself was formed in April 1975 through the merger of the following organizations:

The unity conference adopted resolutions on martyrs, programme, path, methods of work, constitution and a statement on unification. Its ambition was to eventually unite all the communist revolutionary forces in India. It elected a Central Committee with Devullapali Venkatewra Rao ("DV") as its Secretary, and established the Spark as its central organ.

Shortly after the formation of the UCCRI(ML) Indira Gandhi proclaimed an Emergency. As part of this the UCCRI(ML) and proscribed and forced underground.

The Kerala Communist Unity Centre decided to merge with the UCCRI(ML) in June 1975, but that group suffered internal splits before the merger could take place and so it was called off.

The UCCRI(ML) was originally based in Andhra Pradesh, and led by T. Nagi Reddy (until his death) and D. V. Rao. Nagi Reddy was actually the most important leader of the party, and his death in July 1976 was a severe setback for the UCCRI(ML). In August 1976 the organization had a split. A conflict emerged in the CC and DV was removed from the post of Secretary. DV accused three other CC members (led by a CC member from the NZC) of having formed a "rival centre", and suspended them unilaterally. In the split the Northern Zone Committee (Rajasthan) and Bengal Committee broke away, along with the "rival centre". The break-away group later developed a pro-Albanian line.

DV returned to Andhra Pradesh and rallied the Andhra organization around him. He pushed through a merger of the Punjab Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries into UCCRI(ML) in June 1976. He resurrected a provisional Central Committee including himself, the PCRC secretary (Harbhajan Sohi) and two leaders from Andhra Pradesh (Madhu and Anand) until a regular party conference could be held.

The UCCRI(ML) advocated the "mass revolutionary line".

Branches were started in Orissa and Kerala. In 1978 a group from the Debra area of Midnapore, West Bengal, joined UCCRI(ML). The convenor of the erstwhile Maharashtra State Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (which had left the AICCCR after the expulsion of APCCCR) joined the UCCRI(ML) which led to the formation of a unit in Maharashtra.

When the UCCRI(ML) under D. V. Rao accepted the "Three Worlds" theory and supported the Deng regime in China, a second split occurred. One section of the organization under the leadership of Harbhajan Sohi split off in 1979. (See next entry below.) Yet another section of the group, led by Anand, split off for much the same reasons later on (1988). (Those two factions, together with 3 other groups, went on to form the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India in 1988, and the CCRI itself was one of the groups that merged to form the CPRCI(ML) in August 1994.)

In the period before the 1980 elections, the UCCRI(ML) reviewed their stand towards participation. The UCCRI(ML) always saw elections as a tactical issue. Initially the party had adopted the policy of non-participation. But in 1980 they came out with an appeal to "defeat pro-superpower reactionary forces in elections". (See the Wikipedia entry for more on this.) In the actual electoral campaign the new policy was not consistent. In Andhra Pradesh the party promoted non-participation, in reality a boycott, whereas the party supported certain condidates in West Bengal and Orissa.

In the aftermath of the elections, a split occurred with DV leaving the party with a group of followers in Andhra Pradesh. DV set up his own separate UCCRI(ML). After DV’s departure, Anand became the new CC Secretary of hte remaining UCCRI(ML).

In 1988 Anand broke away from the UCCRI(ML) after a long period of dissent within the organization. The rift between Anand and others surged during the preparations for holding a party conference. Anand was able to win over the Maharashtra unit. He also opened relations with Sohi’s UCCRI(ML). After the split, the Anand faction and the Sohi faction, along with three other groups, created the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India that same year.

The remaining UCCRI(ML) faction, led by Viswam and Madhu, merged into the CPI(ML) Janashakti in 1992. Madhu signed the merger agreement on behalf of UCCRI(ML).



Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L) [D.V. Rao]

This split off from the UCCRI(ML) was formed by D. V. Rao after the 1980 general elections. Rao had been the Central Committee Secretary of the UCCRI(ML). However, differences emerged on issues such as how to relate to developments in China after the death of Mao Zedong. Rao maintained that China under Deng Xiaoping remained a socialist state.

Apparently this party still exists, under the leadership of Arika Gumpaswamy.



Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L) [Harbhajan Sohi]

A splinter group of the UCCRI(ML) from 1979 to 1988. According to the Wikipedia (2006):

Since July 1977 the UCCRI(ML) Central Committee Member from Punjab, Harbhajan Sohi, had started to express criticism towards the Three Worlds Theory of the Communist Party of China. Gradually he got closer to the positions of the Albanian Party of Labour. In January 1979 the Punjab State Committee of the UCCRI(ML) submitted a document to the Central Committee on the issue. The majority of the CC responded by producing a document titled "In Support of Differentiation of Three Worlds Theory" in April the same year. On September 20 the split was a fact, and the Punjab State Committee formed a parallel UCCRI(ML).

In November 1986 the group took the initiative to form the Front Against Repression and Communalism together with the Communist Party of India (ML) Central Team, to combat Khalistani terrorism and state repression.

The UCCRI(ML) of Harbhajan Sohi was integral in the formation of the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India in 1988.



West Bengal Communist Unity Centre

This is one of the 4 groups that merged in 1975 to form the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L). [No other information available.]



Workers Revolutionary Party (India)

This was a group in Kerala around 1970, and had branches in Trivandrum, Ernakulam and Alappuzha. It was led by A. Achuthan. [Source: Prakash Singh, The Naxalite Movement in India, (New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 1999), p. 64.]





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