Image for representational purposes.
Credit: PTI photo
Hyderabad: Days after the Telangana committee of CPI Maoists issued a statement, the party's Central Committee released its own statement condemning spokesperson and Politburo member Abhay for announcing his willingness to surrender arms and launch peace negotiations with the government.
The Central Committee and Politburo, which together serve as the highest decision-making body within the CPI Maoists, declared their readiness to continue the armed struggle, dismissing the proposal to surrender arms as merely Abhay's personal opinion.
The statement was issued by Kadari Satyanarayana alias Kosa and Katta Ramachandra Reddy alias Vikalp. Incidentally both leaders were killed in an encounter in Abujhmad, Chhattisgarh, on Monday. The statement, it has been learnt, was issued before their deaths.
Both leaders, who hailed from Telangana, were prominent Central Committee members. The statement directed that if Abhay wished to surrender, he should first hand over all arms in his possession to the CPI Maoists' PGLA (People's Guerrilla Liberation Army) before surrendering to police.
The statement emphasised that while top police and government officials have continued pressuring Maoist leaders and cadres to surrender, the party's central committee, disciplinary bodies, and rank-and-file firmly reject surrender as both a tactic and ideology.
Instead, they declared a renewed commitment to mobilizing mass resistance against continued security force operations and social "austerity" drives. The central committee urged all party units, imprisoned members, and allies at every level to oppose surrender and continue fighting for ideological and political goals, asserting that only a strong Maoist movement can resist ongoing repression and economic instability.
The controversy centers around Mallojula Venugopal Rao, brother of slain top Naxal leader Mallojula Koteswar Rao, who operates under the aliases Abhay and Sonu. He is a member of the Central Committee and Politburo, and a letter and audio clip expressing the CPI Maoists' willingness to surrender arms had surfaced a few days ago.
"The issue of surrendering to the government is being spread merely for confusion and diversion. Our party is only interested in resisting the government's surrender policy, as well as its reactionary, repressive line. The party's opposition to surrender and collaboration with the enemy is both political and ideological," stated the letter issued in the name of Kosa and Vikalp on September 20. The party's main line remains strongly committed to the transformative program, the letter added.