People's War Group

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People's War Group

LEADER: Muppala Laxman Rao

USUAL AREA OF OPERATION: India

OVERVIEW

In 1980, the People's War Group (PWG) was founded in Andhra Pradesh, a southern state in India. The group considers themselves to be champions of the peasants and landless and adheres to the ideology of Mao Tse Tung's organized peasant rebellion. Since its founding, the group has participated in an armed struggle against the Indian government, landowners, and those the group believes to conspire with the government. The group has been known under the names the People's Guerilla Army, the Naxalites, and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist. The group spent much of the last twenty-five years combating other communist groups as well as the government and landowners. However, in 2004, the PWG announced a merger with a former competitor for power of the Naxalite movement, the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC). The group declared a joining of forces to become the Communist Party of India-Maoist.

HISTORY

On April 22, 1980, Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, one of the most influential Naxalite leaders in the Andhra Pradesh state founded the People's War Group. (The name, Naxalite, refers to the 1967 Marxist uprising in Naxalbari, West Bengal, which targeted only the feudal landlords.) Seetharamaiah and the other Naxalites within the PWG based their goals on the theories of Chinese leader, Mao Tse Tung, which promote an organized peasant insurgency. The group rejected the ideas of democracy and parliamentary process in India and professed that an armed struggle is the only way to capture power and redistribute land and wealth. As a result, the PWG has spent the last twenty years sponsoring a series of assassinations, bombings, and attacks on upper-caste members.

The caste system in India is explained in the centuries-old Laws of Manu, in which a system for the distribution of wealth, land, and education is created. However, the 1950's constitution, passed shortly after India gained its independence, pledged a democratic government, universal adult suffrage, and the abolishment of the caste system. Yet, the remnants of the caste system can be seen in many aspects of Indian culture. A person's caste can still determine the level of education one will receive. As a result, India possesses a low 64% literacy rate, which has created further disparity between the castes and fueled political movements such as the PWG. Since its inception in 1980, the PWG has professed its goal as "uplifting the downtrodden tribal people who are considered the lowest rungs of Indian society." In addition to providing the lower castes the promise of land reform, the PWG provides services such as medical care to the rural areas it controls, thereby attracting membership and support.

At its formation, the PWG was not the only Naxalite group seeking a peasant revolution in India. The Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC) shared some of the ideology of the PWG, and the leadership of the groups sought to merge. However, the effort to merge the groups in the 1980s failed, resulting in decades of strife and conflict between the ideological allies.

The PWG, however, led the armed struggle against the Indian government and the expansion of capitalism in India. The group targeted the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and Bihar. By 1987, the PWG began to aim its violence at the police, believed to be an oppressive force and corrupt agency. The groups spent much of the 1980s striking police officers, border security forces, and their offices. In 1987, six police personnel were killed by members of the PWG. Later that year, members of the PWG abducted six state government officials. This started a pattern of killings and kidnappings that characterized the PWG's activities.

By 1998, the PWG again sought to expand its power by merging with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). This absorption created conflict between the MCC and the PWG. The two groups began to engage in territorial and leadership clashes. The two groups struggled for power and, as a result, hundreds of the groups' respective supporters and members were killed. Nevertheless, the PWG continued its campaign of violence against its stated enemies—landowners, police, and other symbols of authority.

LEADERSHIP

KONDAPALLI SEETHARAMAIAH

Kondapalli Seetharamaiah was the founder of the People's War Group. In 1981, he presided over the first meeting geared at unifying the various Naxalite groups such as the MCC and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). In 1982, Seetharamaiah was arrested in a conspiracy case and later expelled from the PWG. He died in April 2002.

MUPPALA LAXMAN RAO

Muppala Laxman Rao is also known as Ganapathi. He served as the state secretary of the PWG. Upon presiding over the merger between the MCC and the PWG, Ganapathi assumed the role of general secretary of the CPI-M.

In spite of a ban of the PWG by the government in 2001, the group continued its activities and expanded the violence to include development projects and businesses. An example of the escalation in violence occurred in June 2003 when the PWG launched a series of assassinations and attacks. Beginning June 5, 2003, members of the PWG tied up an inspector and constable at a police station and detonated a landmine at the station. In subsequent assassinations that month, PWG members raided the homes of village and political leaders and then shot them to death. In addition to assassinations that month, the PWG also blew up several motor boats at the tourism division office to protest the promotion of tourism in the region. The government extended the ban in 2002, while at the same time seeking to create peace talks with the group. These peace talks would not occur until 2004, when the two entities declared a ceasefire. However, by this time, the PWG had entered into a dialogue with the MCC, resulting in a merger of the once-contentious groups. In October 2004, the PWG announced that as a result of its merger with the MCC, the PWG would begin to operate under the name of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M).

PHILOSOPHY AND TACTICS

The driving philosophy of the PWG is the Maoist theory of peasant insurrection. This theory asserts that those with power whose interests run counter to the masses must be overtaken. As such, the PWG sees itself as a champion of the weak and oppressed. Its goal is to gain control of the land and wealth so that it may be redistributed to better serve the masses. Its eventual objective is a "new democratic revolution," resulting from a true people's government, and thereby creating a communist state. The PWG believes that an armed struggle is the only way to capture the power needed to create this government.

KEY EVENTS

1980:: Kondapalli Seetharamaiah creates the People's War Group.
1981:: Initial talks for unifying the PWG and the MCC fail, leading to clashes between the groups.
1987:: The PWG claims responsibility for the deaths of six police officers and abducts six government officials.
1989:: Seven police officers are killed by PWG activities.
1991:: A landmine blast detonated by PWG members kills 10 police officers and injures thirteen additional officers.
1992:: The PWG targets and kills thirteen personnel from the Border Security Force.
1993:: In activities throughout the year, twenty police officers and government officials are killed. Nine are killed by a landmine blast.
1997:: Members of the PWG storm a police station and kill sixteen officers and personnel.
1998:: A merger between the PWG and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) intensifies the clashes with the MCC.
1999:: Attacks by the PWG target and kill the state transportation minister, the Assistant Inspector General.
2001:: An unprecedented wave of violence striking police, government officials, development projects, and businesses, precursors a governmental ban on the PWG.
2002:: Continued violence occurs, including landmine blasts, assassinations, and the destruction of development projects. The government extends the ban on the PWG, while seeking to establish peace talks with the group.
2003:: Widespread violence by the PWG continues, including a series of assassinations in the month of June.
2004:: Government declares a three-month ceasefire with the PWG as peace talks begin. However, in October, the PWG announces its merger with the MCC to form the CPI-M.

The armed struggle consists of initially creating guerilla zones in rural areas. Once the PWG establishes control of these zones, the area is deemed a "liberated zone" where the land and wealth can be distributed. As a result, the PWG targets and kills those it determines as class enemies. These include landowners, police, symbols of authority, and informants.

The group capitalizes on the disparity of wealth and education—a system deeply rooted in India's centuries-old caste system. The PWG provides medical services to many who would otherwise go without. In addition, the group operates "people's courts," where police and other perceived oppressors are tried and sentenced for their alleged crimes. The group encourages government neglect of the regions controlled by them by attacking development projects, such as power dams, and threatening any intruders in their territories, such as teachers, missionaries, and tourists.

According to a government report, the PWG funds its activities through extortion. The group seeks payments from various individuals, including government officials, contractors, traders, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals.

In December 2000, the PWG divided its military and political branches into separate entities. The military group was called the People's Guerilla Army. It consisted of platoons of twenty-five-thirty trained guerillas, sixty mobile squads, 1,000 underground cadres and 5,000 overt activists. The political structure was directed by a central committee consisting of twenty-one permanent members and six alternating members. The People's Guerilla Army began to operate under the leadership of the CPI-M when the MCC and the PWG merged in 2004.

OTHER PERSPECTIVES

India's economy has experienced unprecedented growth in the last years. However, this growth has not changed the lives of the majority of the county's citizens. The economic upturn has provided the emergence of an urban middle class, but the poorly educated and historically lower-caste regions remain the same. In a Time magazine Asia Edition article, one village tailor is quoted as saying, "Once the elections are over, the politicians forget us. Only the Naxalites are solving our problems." The government's perceived ignoring of their problems is only compounded by a belief that the officials in the government are corrupt. The Economist writes, "The main reason the government does not stop the carnage is that the state's politicians and administrators are creatures of the conflict that give rise to it. As a result, the PWG's people's courts that pass judgment on allegedly corrupt officials are widely supported among the populace. One PWG supporter stated, '[If] the government does not' take care of the police, the PWG will."

The disparity in economic growth between the regions, the belief that the government ignores the rural regions, and the rampant corruption has provided the PWG with a wide base of potential membership and supporters. As a result, the New Delhi-based Institute of Conflict Management stated that the PWG, and subsequent CPI-M, are "the largest single internal security challenge in the country after terrorism in Kashmir."

SUMMARY

In India in 1980, the educational and economic disparity between the castes remained a contentious element in Indian culture in spite of the promise of the 1950 constitution to abolish the caste system. This disparity as well as the perception of corruption within the government led to a rise in the communist movement. Those adhering to the ideology of communism and the redistribution of wealth called themselves Naxalites, paying homage to the 1967 Marxist uprising in Naxalbari, West Bengal, which targeted only the feudal landlords. The Naxalites, however, were not in agreement as to their leadership and tactics. As a result, several groups emerged and struggled among themselves for leadership of the movement.

The People's War Group, established in 1980, was at the forefront of the armed struggle laid out by the Naxalites. This armed struggle invokes the Maoist theory of peasant insurrection. Therefore, the group spent the last twenty years targeting those it considered class enemies. The PWG stated its goal as "uplifting the downtrodden tribal people who are considered the lowest rungs of Indian society." As the champion of the weak and the masses, the PWG called for the destruction of the government which should be replaced with a new democratic revolution and the installment of a "people's government." As such, the group has claimed responsibility for much of the violence, which is a tactical movement. According to the tactics, the violence initially creates a guerilla zone. Once the PWG gained complete control over the area, it would be deemed a liberated zone and the wealth and land would then be redistributed.

In 2004, the PWG entered into a ceasefire with the government. However, at the same time, the group engaged in negotiations with its strongest competition, the MCC. By October 2004, the two groups had merged to create the Communist Party of India-Maoist and the assets of both organizations were absorbed into the new group.