Narmada Akka

Last updated

Narmada
Born
Andhra Pradesh [1]
Died4 December 2012
Aheri, Gadchiroli
NationalityIndian
Organization Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Known forA cadre and Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist)
Criminal chargeleft wing Insurgency
Criminal statuskilled in encounter
SpouseSudhakar

Narmada (died 4 December 2012) was an Indian politician who was one of the "senior-most" female cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), [2] [3] a banned [4] Maoist insurgent [5] communist party in India. She was a Central Committee member of the party, [6] and reportedly used to frame "all policies for the female cadre of Maoists." [2]

Contents

Family

She married Sudhakar alias "Kiran". B. Sudhakar is seen as a Maoist ideologue, and is a member of CPI (Maoist)'s "publication division". He is also a member of the Politburo of the party. [6]

Guerrilla life

Narmada was able to fluently communicate in seven languages, including English. [1] She dropped-out the college [6] and joined the CPI (Maoist) at an early age of 18, and she had spent over 30 years in the jungles as a veteran to the Maoist movement in India. [2] Her father was also a supporter of the communist ideology, and his words so touched her that she made her mind to join the radical leftists. [2]

During an interview with Rahul Pandita and Vanessa (a French journalist), at an unknown time in the jungles of Dandakaranya, Narmada said:

"My father was a Communist, and in those times, a Communist was like a pariah. My father would talk about Naxals and say that they have broken away from the shackles of domesticity." [2]

And, it was after that conversation with her father, that she decided to join the Maoists. [2] She was active as the Divisional Secretary of South Gadchiroli division of CPI (Maoist). [3] She was the second female comrade to have been selected as a member of the Central Committee of the radical leftist organisation, after Anuradha Ghandy [6] (wife of Kobad Ghandy). [7] [8] She was also acting as the chief of the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan's unit of Dandakaranya region, which is among the top-most "women's organizations" in India when it comes to numbers of registered members, and Arundhati Roy says that it has 90,000 members. [9] She had as much as 53 police cases registered against her name in Maharashtra. [3]

"After taking over reins of the Gadchiroli unit a few years ago, she set up five different platoons -- an aggressive military force -- in her territory equipped with modern arms, ammunition and latest communication network to counter the state machinery."

—  Hindustan Times [6]

Death

Narmada was reported to have been gunned-down during a fierce hour-long exchange of fire between the Maoists and State's police forces on 4 December 2012, near Hiker village, bordering Abujmarh of Chhattisgarh, in south Gadchiroli. [6]

The Maoists managed to escape the scene along with her body; and her body is reported to have been buried at Malwada tribal village in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. [6]

After the encounter, the Superintendent of Police (Gadchiroli), Mohd. Suvej Haq, said to media personnels:

"The naxalite managed to carry the body and fled the scene. The intelligence sources identified the woman naxalite killed in the encounter as Narmada. We also hear about it from our sources. Now we are waiting for the confirmation from the naxalite." [6]

She is reported to have been 57 years old when she died, by The Hindu , [3] but Hindustan Times reports that she was 46. [6] And, Rahul Pandita has written that Narmada's age was 48, when he and Vanessa interviewed her. [2]

While the "police sources" also say that "Narmada Akka's funeral was carried out at a village in Chhattisgarh", the Maoists did not reach out to the media following the incident. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of India (Maoist)</span> Maoist political party and militant group in India

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a banned Maoist communist political party and militant organization in India which aims to overthrow the Republic of India through protracted people's war. It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the CPIML People's War and the MCCI. The party has been designated as a terrorist organisation in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act since 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naxalism</span> Communist ideology

Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology.

The Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) was one of the largest two armed Maoist groups in India, and fused with the other, the People's War Group in September 2004, to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Muppala Lakshmana Rao, commonly known by his nom de guerre Ganapathy, is a major figure in 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naxalite–Maoist insurgency</span> Armed conflict in India between the state and Maoists

The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency is part of an ongoing conflict between left-wing extremist groups and the Indian government. The Naxalites are a group of communist supportive groups, who often follow Maoist political sentiment and ideology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kobad Ghandy</span> Indian politician

Kobad Ghandy is an Indian communist activist. He became involved in revolutionary politics whilst a student in England in the 1970s, and worked as an organizer for the civil rights movement in India. He was a founding member of the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights. He was arrested on the accusation of being a politburo member of the underground Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2009. He was acquitted and released after almost a decade in jail in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency</span>

The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency is part of an ongoing conflict between Left-wing extremist groups and the Indian government. The insurgency started after the 1967 Naxalbari uprising and the subsequent split of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leading to the creation of a Marxist–Leninist faction. The faction splintered into various groups supportive of Maoist ideology, claiming to fight a rural rebellion and people's war against the government.

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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anuradha Ghandy</span> Indian communist and revolutionary

Anuradha Ghandy was an Indian communist, writer, and revolutionary leader. She was a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). She was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), in Maharashtra.

Kartam Joga, an adivasi leader, serves as a state committee member, technical department and military wing in-charge for the South Bastar division of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), CPI (Maoist). He was imprisoned in Chhattisgarh on suspicion of participating in the Tarmetla ambush in which 75 members of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed by CPI (Maoist) forces. Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience and described the charges against him as "fabricated". He was acquitted at his trial for lack of evidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soni Sori</span> Indian activist and prisoner

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.

On 25 May 2013, Naxalite insurgents of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) attacked a convoy of Indian National Congress leaders in the Jhiram Ghati, Darbha Valley in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, India. The attack caused at least 27 deaths, including that of former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel. Vidya Charan Shukla, a senior Congress leader, succumbed to his injuries on 11 June 2013.

Katakam Sudarshan, commonly known by his nom de guerre Anand, was an Indian politician who was a Politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned Maoist insurgent communist party in India.

Kadari Satyanarayan Reddy, commonly known by his nom de guerre, Kosa, was an Indian politician who was a Central Committee member of the Community Party of India, a banned Maoist insurgent communist party in India.

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.

Chetna Natya Manch is the "Cultural Troupe" of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Chetna Natya Manch is headed by Leng, and has more than 10,000 members.

B. Sudhakar is a Maoist leader and members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)

The 2021 Sukma-Bijapur attack was an ambush carried out by the Naxalite-Maoist militants from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) against Indian security forces on 3 April 2021 at Sukma-Bijapur border near Jonaguda village which falls under Jagargunda police station area in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, the ensuing gunfight lead to the killing of 22 security personnel as well as 20 Naxalites. The death toll was the worst for Indian security forces fighting the Naxalites since 2017.

Milind Baburao Teltumbde was an Indian Maoist insurgent leader and Central Committee member of CPI (Maoist). He is the younger brother of Dalit activist and scholar Anand Teltumbde. He was killed in the Gadchiroli clash.

On 13 November 2021, Indian state forces engaged with Maoist insurgents, resulting in the Gadchiroli clash. The firefight lasted for 10 hours, and the Indian forces successfully managed to clear the area, killing 26 insurgents while only sustaining 3 injuries. One of the insurgents killed was Milind Teltumbde, one of the senior commanders of the Naxalite insurgency.

References

  1. 1 2 Deshpande, Vivek (12 October 2009). "Woman known for beauty, terror led Gadchiroli Naxal attack". The Indian Express . Nagpur. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pandita, Rahul (18 September 2010), 100lb Guerillas, OPEN , retrieved 19 January 2013
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Staff Reporter (10 January 2013). "Dreaded Naxal leader active in Gadchiroli". The Hindu . Nagpur. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  4. ↑ LIST OF ORGANISATIONS DECLARED AS TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS UNDER THE UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1967 – Ministry of Home Affairs Archived 10 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 19 January 2013
  5. ↑ Deepak Kapoor (2009). South Asia Defence And Strategic Year Book. Pentagon Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN   978-81-8274-399-1.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Maitra, Pradip Kumar (27 December 2012). "Woman naxal leader killed in Gadchiroli". Hindustan Times . Nagpur. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Bharucha, Nauzer (24 September 2009). "Kobad's father backed cause: brother-in-law". Times of India . Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  8. ↑ Bhatt, Sheila (23 September 2009). "Kobad Ghandy: The gentle revolutionary". Rediff . Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Roy, Arundhati (2011). Walking with the Comrades. Penguin Books. pp. 72, 76. ISBN   978-0-670-08553-8. Page 72: "Comrade Narmada talks about the many years she worked in Gadchiroli before becoming the DK head of the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan." Page 76: "In 1986 it [CPI (Maoist)] set up the Adivasi Mahila Sangathan (AMS), which then evolved into the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan and now has 90,000 enrolled members. It could well be the largest women's organization in the country."
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.