Abbreviation | CNM |
---|---|
Formation | 1997 |
Founder | Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War |
Type | Voluntary association, Cultural organisation |
Legal status | Banned in Chhattisgarh by the Andhra Pradesh government |
Purpose | To inspire people to embrace Marxism–Leninism–Maoism |
Location | |
Region served | India |
Parent organization | Communist Party of India (Maoist) |
Volunteers | 10,000 |
Chetna Natya Manch (CNM; English: Awakening and Dramatic Arts Front) [1] is the "Cultural Troupe" of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). [2] [3] [4] Chetna Natya Manch is headed by Leng (who is from Andhra Pradesh), [5] and has more than 10,000 members. [6]
"Gearing the fallows,
Ploughing the fields,
With our sweat as streams,
We harvested the crops.
Whose was the grain?
Whose was the gruel?"
— Cherabandaraju's song, oftentimes performed by the CNM [1]
The CNM is the "propaganda unit" [7] and "cultural wing" of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War (PWG), and "conducted dance, drama, poetry and musical workshops" in the villages, "inspiring young people to join the PWG." [1] According to them, they are a "cultural team", and they "don't fight" but only "sing". [7] They also focus on literature and plastic arts. They have raised their music cassettes by themselves and also have a "mobile editing unit." [6]
The CNM attracts "huge crowds" to their presentations. [8]
The CNM, in August 1994, began publishing a bimonthly magazine named "Jhankar" in Bengali, Gondi, Hindi, Marathi and Telugu. [1] It is still published. [6]
The government of India's ministry of Information and Broadcasting has "activated its own cultural wing" to "counter" the CNM, which they believe is "instigating the tribals against the Indian state through songs and cultural programmes." [9]
The CNM was banned by the government of Chhattisgarh on 16 August 2013 under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act for its alleged participation in the "insurgency activities" in the Red corridor region of Chhattisgarh, and recently, the ban has been extended till 30 August 2015. [10]
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a Marxist–Leninist–Maoist banned communist political party and militant organization in India which aims to overthrow the "semi-colonial and semi-feudal Indian state" through protracted people's war. It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War (People's War Group) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI). The party has been designated as a terrorist organisation in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act since 2009.
Mahendra Karma was an Indian political leader belonging to Indian National Congress from Chhattisgarh. He was the leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha from 2004 to 2008. In 2005, he played a top role in organising the Salwa Judum movement against Naxalites, a Maoist group in Chhattisgarh. He was a Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Ajit Jogi cabinet since the state formation in 2000 to 2004. He was assassinated by Naxalites on 25 May 2013 in the 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley while returning from a Parivartan Rally meeting organised by his party in Sukma.
CNM can refer to:
Salwa Judum was a militia that was mobilised and deployed as part of counterinsurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India, aimed at countering Naxalite activities in the region. The militia, consisting of local tribal youth, received support and training from the Chhattisgarh state government. It was outlawed and banned by a Supreme Court court order but continues to exist in the form of armed auxiliary forces, District Reserve Groups, and other vigilante groups.
The Chitrakote Falls is a natural waterfall on the Indravati River, located approximately 38 kilometres (24 mi) to the west of Jagdalpur, in Bastar district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
Muppala Lakshmana Rao, commonly known by his nom de guerre Ganapathy or Ganapathi, is the leader of the Indian Maoist movement and former General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned Maoist insurgent communist party in India. He resigned from the post in November 2018.
The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency is an ongoing conflict between Maoist groups known as Naxalites or Naxals and the Indian government. The influence zone of the Naxalites is called the red corridor, which has been steadily declining in terms of geographical coverage and number of violent incidents, and in 2021 it was confined to the 25 "most affected" locations, accounting for 85% of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence, and 70 "total affected" districts across 10 states in two coal-rich, remote, forested hilly clusters in and around the Dandakaranya-Chhattisgarh-Odisha region and the tri-junction area of Jharkhand-Bihar and-West Bengal. The Naxalites have frequently targeted police and government workers in what they say is a fight for improved land rights and more jobs for neglected agricultural labourers and the poor.
This is a timeline of the 1967–present Naxalite–Maoist insurgency in eastern India.
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War, usually called People's War Group (PWG), was an underground communist party in India. It merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2004. Muppala Lakshmana Rao ('Ganapathi') was the general secretary of the party. The ideology of the party was Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Operation Green Hunt is the name used by the Indian media to describe the "all-out offensive by paramilitary forces and the states forces" against the Naxalites. The operation is believed to have begun in November 2009 along five states in the "Red Corridor."
Soni Sori is an Adivasi school teacher turned political leader of Aam Aadmi Party in Sameli village of Dantewada in south Bastar, Chhattisgarh, India. She was arrested by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch for Chhattisgarh Police in 2011 on charges of acting as a conduit for Maoists. During her imprisonment, she was tortured and sexually assaulted by Chhattisgarh state police. By April 2013, the Indian Courts had acquitted her in six of the eight cases filed against her due to lack of evidence. After release from prison, Sori began campaigning for the rights of those caught up in the conflict between Maoist insurgents and the government, in particular criticising police violence against tribespeople in the region.
Narmada was one of the "senior-most" female cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned Maoist insurgent communist party in India. She was a Central Committee member of the party, and reportedly used to frame "all policies for the female cadre of Maoists."
Abujmarh is a hilly forest area, spread over 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi) in Chhattisgarh, covering Narayanpur district, Bijapur district and Dantewada district. It is home to indigenous tribes of India, including Gond, Muria, Abuj Maria, and Halbaas. It was only in 2009 that the Government of Chhattisgarh lifted the restriction on the entry of common people in the area imposed in the early 1980s. Geographically isolated and largely inaccessible, the area continues to show no physical presence of the civil administration, and is also known as "liberated-zone" as it is an alleged hub of Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its military wing, People's Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), who run a parallel government in the area.
The People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned political organisation in India which aims to overthrow the Indian Government through protracted people's war.
Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan is a banned women's organisation based in India. The Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan (KAMS) is a successor of the Adivasi Mahila Sanghathana (AMS). The foundation of the AMS was laid by the Maoists in 1986.
Sai Reddy was an Indian journalist for the Hindi-language newspaper Deshandhu. He was murdered by the Maoists near a market in Basaguda, Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh. Both the Maoists and police were suspicious of Reddy's allegiance to the other side. Maoists believed he was assisting police to dislodge the Communist Party of India. The police arrested him for having close ties with the communists. Some journalists believed that Reddy was killed by other farmers. He was known for playing an active role in the people's movement in Basaguda over the last few decades.
Malini Subramaniam is an Indian independent journalist, former head of the Chhattisgarh chapter of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a regular contributor for India-based internet based Scroll.in reporting on human rights abuses from where she lived in the city of Jagdalpur in the Bastar district of the Chhattisgarh state. She was viewed as a supporter of the Maoists and driven from Jagdapur by anti-Maoists and authorities.
Vivekanand Sinha, is the Inspector General of Police of the Durg range of Chhattisgarh. He has previously served as the Inspector General of Police of Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. He has been an IPS since 1996. He was appointed as the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for the investigation of Jhiram Valley Attack by government of Chhattisgarh on 2 January 2019. The Jhiram Valley Attack was a naxal attack which killed top Congress leaders of Chhattisgarh in 2013 during a political rally in Darbha. The new SIT has been formed by the newly elected Congress government of Chhattisgarh to probe into it He has also served as the DIG of Special Protection Group which looks after the security of the Prime Minister of India. During his tenure as IG in Bilaspur, Sinha walked on coal barefoot to convince the locals that there is no magic in walking on coal. This was done to strengthen the human rights of women who were being harassed or boycotted after being labelled as witches.
Nambala Keshava Rao, commonly known by his nom de guerre Basavraj or Gaganna, is a Maoist Politician and General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), currently on NIA's list of most wanted absconders.
Walking with the Comrades (2011) is an eyewitness account of the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency by Indian author Arundhati Roy. The book covers her time in 2010 spent living with Naxalite communist guerillas deep within the forests of rural Chhattisgarh. She argues that India's counter-insurgency, known as Operation Green Hunt, is a front for mining corporations to clear away tribal people, and to make profits exploit India's natural resources.