The proscribed Left-wing outfit CPI (Maoist) has expelled its politburo member and former member of the Central Committee, Kobad Ghandy, from the organization. In a statement purportedly issued by CPI (Maoist) spokesperson Abhay on November 27, Ghandy has been accused of espousing the path of spiritualism, denouncing Marxism as having no good values and abandoning the Maoist ideology.
The CPI (Maoist) has further accused him of projecting the entire movement in poor light in the book ‘Fractured Freedom – A Prison Memoir’.
Ghandy who is now 70-years old, wrote this book after his release from jail in 2019. Maoists accused him of deserting the key tenets of Marxism-Leninism-Maoist (MLM) ideology and said that he adopted the bourgeois philosophy of idealism, happiness and spiritualism.
Annoyed over questions raised by Ghandy in his book, CPI (Maoist) said that very shortly it would respond to allegations.
Ghandy had said that the Maoist movement failed to achieve its target, adding the Marxist way of life doesn’t provide happiness and freedom. He also claimed that CPI (Maoist) has close links with the various mafias. While questioning MLM ideology, Ghandy raised questions over the failure of Maoism and the fate of the cultural revolution in China.
Maoist spokesperson Abhay accused him of breaching the trust of the organization and said that he was now siding with the ruling class and he released the book in the service of the ruling class.
“Ghandy has worked for over 50 years by following the principles of politics of Naxalbari, first as CPI(ML) central committee member, later as Maharashtra state committee leader and subsequently as member of the CPI(Maoist) politburo. He was jailed in 2009. Since then, he has been maintaining that he has no connection to the party. He has been doing this at the behest of ruling political forces, showing that he has lost his honesty. What message can such dishonest people give to the society,” the press note reads.
“After he was released from jail, he neither contacted us nor discussed the content of the book with us and the intention behind writing a book. He has violated the principles of the party”, CPI (Maoist) further said.
Speaking to Indian Express, Ghandy said that he was not aware whether the statement issued by the CPI (Maoist) was genuine. He said that the question of his expulsion did not arise since he was never associated with the organization.
He said that he would continue to raise questions over the fall of the Communist movement across the world and why Maoists still stick to the same dogmatic approach.
Born in 1951 in an affluent Parsi family in Mumbai, Ghandy had joined the Naxal movement in 1970s. Before joining Maoism he had worked as a qualified finance professional at a multi-national company for some time.
He was picked as a member of the Central Committee in 1981 in the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Lennist) People’s War. It was founded by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah.
He had played a key role in the merger of the People’s War and MCCI (Maoist Communist Centre of India) that had taken place in September 2004. A new organization CPI (Maoist) was formed out of the merger. He was among the ideologues of CPI (Maoist) and also alleged to have participated in a meeting in 2005 with the Nepalese Maoist leader Prachanda.
Ghandy was arrested in 2009
Ghandy was arrested in September 2009 from Delhi. As a Politburo member, he was charged for carrying terror attacks including an attack on a team of elite anti-Maoist commando unit Greyhounds at Gunurkayi village in Visakhapatnam in 2008.
He spent a decade in jails across the country. In October 2019 he was released on bail from Surat jail. He had spent a major part of his prison term in Visakhapatnam Central Jail.
Security experts cautious over estrange relationship of Ghandy with CPI (Maoist)
But security experts are cautious over the development. A senior intelligence official who had followed Ghandy said that it was too early to reach to any conclusion. “Sometimes in March the book was published and the reaction from his organization has come when the year is closing. It is hard to believe that the top ranking leader has relinquished the ideology. This can be ploy too. But this is purely a case of analysis and corroboration of intelligence inputs,” said the official.