BANGLADESH: Memorial and Protest Meeting Held Condemning the Massacre of Maoists and Adivasis Including the Martyred CPI (Maoist) General Secretary and Great Maoist Leader Basavraj

Press Release

18 July 2025

Memorial and Protest Meeting Held Condemning the Massacre of Maoists and Adivasis Including the Martyred CPI (Maoist) General Secretary and Great Maoist Leader Basavraj

On Friday, 18 July 2025, a memorial and protest meeting was held at the “Shishu Kalyan Parishad Auditorium” condemning the Genocide of Maoists and Adivasis, including the martyrdom of Comrade Basavraj, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and a great Maoist leader. The event began with a one-minute silence in memory of the martyrs of Operation Kagaar and unjust wars across the world, including Palestine. A floral tribute was offered at the portrait of martyred Comrade Basavraj. The memorial and protest meeting commenced with the singing of the International.

Presided over by Maoist poet Hasan Fakri and conducted by the acting president of the Revolutionary Student-Youth Movement, the meeting featured speeches by: Badal Shah Alam, editor of Khanan magazine; Rajat Huda, acting coordinator of the National People’s Front; Harun-ur-Rashid, general secretary of the Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Parishad; Afzalul Bashar, member secretary of the Socialist Intellectuals’ Association; Raghu Abhijit Roy, steering committee member of the Democratic Cultural Unity; Syed Abul Kalam, member of the Martyr Revolutionary and Patriot Memorial Association; Masud Khan, president of the National Democratic People’s Platform; Zafar Hossain, president of the New Democratic People’s Forum; Nayem Uddin, convenor of the Revolutionary Student-Youth Movement, Dhaka Metropolitan; among others.

Speakers stated that a brutal military operation named "Operation Kagaar" is being conducted by the Hindutva-fascist Modi government in India, through which Maoist political leaders, activists, and ordinary Adivasis are being killed. Since January 2024, this military campaign has killed more than 400 Maoist leaders, activists, and common Adivasis. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has declared that India will be Maoist-free by 31 March 2026. In this context, the massacre continues.

Speakers further stated that under Maoist leadership, a people’s movement has emerged to defend the water, land, and forests (Zaal-Jungle-Jameen) of the Adivasis. The government, in order to suppress this legitimate movement and to evict the Adivasis from their lands, is carrying out successive military operations to serve the interests of imperialist-backed multinational corporate entities.

On 21 May, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Comrade Basavraj, along with 28 others, was arrested and killed in cold blood. Since then, more key Maoist leaders have been killed in the same manner, and such killings continue.

We demand an immediate end to this military operation, “Operation Kagaar,” conducted by the fascist Modi government. We call upon workers, peasants, middle-class people, students, and intellectuals in India and across the world to unite and resist this Hindutva fascism.

The protest meeting concluded with a cultural program, followed by a red-flag and festoon-decorated rally, marking the end of the memorial and protest gathering.

In solidarity,

Hasan Fakri

Convenor, Protest Committee Against the Genocide in India on Maoists and Adivasis, Bangladesh