Condemnation by People's Democratic Students Unity of the
Killing of CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Nambala Keshava
Rao 'Basavaraj' and 27 Other Revolutionaries by the
Expansionist Indian State
Raise Stronger Voices Demanding an Immediate End to 'Operation Kagar'
On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in a fifty-hour-long operation in the Gundekot forest of the
Mad area in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, the Indian state killed 27 revolutionaries,
including the General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist), Comrade Nambala Keshava Rao alias
'Basavaraj,' in the name of a so-called 'encounter.' The martyrdom of Comrade Basavaraj is a
profound loss for the people of India and the oppressed nations and peoples of the world.
These killings are a part of 'Operation Kagar,' a counter-Maoist-revolutionary campaign
carried out against the Adivasis and oppressed people of Bastar, which is now being referred
to as 'Operation Black-Forest.' Under this 'Operation Kagar,' the Indian state has massacred
over 400 Adivasis and revolutionaries in the past year alone. In line with the imperialist
development model based on ‘death-destruction-displacement,’ the Indian state is
conducting this massacre to pave the way for multinational corporations to loot mineral
resources in Bastar. They are using drones, helicopters, and advanced technologies to carry
out this slaughter.
Even though the CPI (Maoist) had already proposed a ceasefire and peace talks on behalf of
the people of Bastar, these fascists completely ignored the proposal and instead deployed
BSF and CRPF forces in Chhattisgarh, continuing their indiscriminate killings. Such
disregard is nothing new—it is part of the cowardly legacy of the Indian state. This is how
they assassinated revolutionaries between 2002 and 2004, killed Comrade Azad in 2010, and
Comrade Kishenji in 2011.
proposals from the people stem from its semi-colonial, semi-feudal character. A state of
such nature can never resolve the socio-economic issues of the people; it cannot eradicate
poverty, deprivation, or exploitation. On the contrary, it intensifies them over time. Only by
uprooting imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic-comprador capitalism, and establishing
a people’s democratic state and government under the leadership of the working class
through a people’s democratic revolution, can these contradictions be resolved. This is the
path to liberation for the people of all oppressed countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal,
the Philippines, Peru, Afghanistan, and Turkey. This was the unwavering path of Comrade
Charu Mazumdar, Comrade Saroj Dutta, Comrade Jahar, Comrade Azad, Comrade Kishenji,
and thousands of other martyred revolutionaries. Comrade Basavaraj also walked this path.
Under the leadership and guidance of the CPI (Maoist), the people of India, especially the
Adivasi peasants of central India, have been fighting along this path. It is this struggle that
has become the "greatest internal threat" in the eyes of the Indian state. From this fear, the
state unleashes wave after wave of massacres under different names—Green Hunt,
Samadhan-Prahar, Surajkund Scheme, Kagar, and others.
Having assassinated Comrade Basavaraj, the Brahmanical Hindutva-fascist Indian state now
revels in celebration. But this exploitative state forgets time and again that the communist
movement did not begin with any one individual. Rather, it emerged from the hopes and
aspirations of the people, built upon their collective efforts. Therefore, killing individuals
cannot bring an end to this movement, because ideology never dies. From the historic
peasant uprising of Naxalbari to the present day, the anti-people Indian state has constantly
sought to suppress the communist movement. But the tide of people’s movements always
resides within the people themselves. It may pause, it may dim, but it inevitably reawakens.
Thus, Naxalbari never dies—it always leads the way.
As comrades in the struggle to establish a state and government of the oppressed nations
and peoples under the leadership of the working class, we are also comrades in the world
revolution of the proletariat. As comrades in the global proletarian revolution, it is our
revolutionary internationalist duty to express solidarity with the revolutionary movements
of other countries, alongside our own. Today, as the Indian people are shaken by the attacks
of the Indian state and the Maoists leading their revolutionary struggle face losses, our
hearts, too, ache. We, the People’s Democratic Students Unity, express revolutionary respect
to the martyred General Secretary of CPI (Maoist), Comrade Nambala Keshava Rao
'Basavaraj,' and strongly condemn the Indian state and the fascist Narendra Modi
government for this assassination.
We call upon all revolutionary, democratic, and progressive organizations and individuals
across the world— Increase your support for the people’s war and democratic revolution in
India. Raise a stronger voice demanding an immediate end to ‘Operation Kagar’.
People’s Democratic Students Unity (PDSU)
জনগণতা