This news piece came on Tehelka on 12th August 2012
Is expelled Maoist leader planning to go mainstream?
While Sabyasachi Panda formed a faction last month, CPI (Maoist) expelled him last week for being a 'revisionist'
Pradeep Baisakh
Bhubaneswar
Two days after the central committee of the banned CPI (Maoist) expelled one of its top leaders Odisha Sabyasachi Panda from the party for his ‘betrayal’ and for being ‘revisionist’, Panda issued an audio tape on 12 August night rebutting the charges leveled against him. Panda said, “The expulsion is meaningless as we have severed our ties with them and formed a new party a month ago.”
On 14 July, a 16 page letter written by Panda and addressed to CPI (Maoist) general secretary Ganapathy, was released to media. In his letter, Panda had leveled various charges against the party leaders, saying, “Killing innocent people, apart from unarmed and innocent police personnel, has become the norm of the party.” He had alleged that “Ganapathy wants to establish dictatorship based on terror and fear.” He said that “Adivasi women were being sexual exploited” and also raised questions on “domination of Telugu and Koya cadres in the party.”
Reacting to Panda's letter, the central committee of CPI (Maoist) issued a press release on 10 August, branding Panda a ‘renegade’ and declaring his expulsion from the party. The release said that Panda is ‘fulfilling his selfish political motives that serve the ruling classes.’ The statement also termed the allegations of ‘exploitation of Adivasis’ and ‘sexual exploitation of women’ as baseless, claiming that there are several Adivasis, including women, in the Maoist fold.
In response to the expulsion, Panda criticised the party for its diversion from its main ideology since 2003. “They have killed the workers of SUCI, CITU, CPI (ML) and many common people without any solid reasons. They killed Nava (the leader of a group protesting against the bauxite-mining project in Niyamgiri) branding him as a police informer. During that time, I was kept under strict vigil for seven months and the Andhra cadres were employed to spy on me,” Panda said in the audio tape. “They have not clarified how I became a ‘revisionist’ or an ‘opportunist. We will not continue with a party that is working against people’s interest,” added Panda. He alleged discrimination against Odisha cadres by the Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh cadres.
The differences between Panda and the party have existed for quite some time now. The party did not approve of Panda's kidnapping of the Italian tourists Paolo Bosusco and Claudio Colangelo in March this year. Apart from that, a Maoist organisation Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee kidnapped the Laxmipur MLA Jhina Hikaka even when the negotiations for release of the Italian hostages were on between Panda and the police. Last month, Panda declared the formation of Odisha Maovadi Party, though he did not openly declare disassociation from CPI (Maoist).
Meanwhile, Subhashree Dash alias Mili Panda, wife of Sabyasachi Panda, hinted at his possible surrender. “He hasn't committed any crime in the two years. The government should provide a democratic space for him and withdraw cases against him,” she told a local TV channel.
However, Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra said, “Sabyasachi Panda has not offered to surrender. Let that situation come, then we will think about it. All Maoists are free to surrender, of course.” On whether the cases against Panda will be dropped if he offers to surrender, Mishra said, “I am not the government, it is premature to discuss on this. Let the offer come.”
Gopala Nanda, former DGP of Odisha said that a clash between the two factions can not be ruled out. “In fact the life of Sabyasachi is now under threat as this is a small group. The language he has used in his audio tape – that he does not believe in violence, in dictatorship or authoritarianism – indicates that he is eager to come to mainstream. However, he may demand some degree of respectability from the government to clear the legal hurdles.” He has cases pending against him in Nayagarh armory raid in 2008 and in Swami Laxmananda’s killing, among others. “I think the government should grab this opportunity and facilitate his entry into mainstream. With his surrender, the Maoist activities will suffer a jolt in areas like Kandhamal, parts of Ganjam and Rayagada districts,” said Nanda.
Nihar Nayak, an Associate Fellow at Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis, said, “It is extremely difficult for Panda to go underground for a long period. In order to carry his activities, he needs cadres and arms. He may somehow manage to get cadres but getting arms from outside would be difficult as it may be thwarted by the Maoists. Given the nature of expose he has made of the internal matters of Maoists, the chance of his reinstatement into the fold also seems bleak. He may go ahead with his newly formed Odisha Maovadi Party for a few days and use pressure tactics with the government to come to mainstream.”
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Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar.
