Maoist mouthpiece to corporate voice: Surrendered guerrilla's leap of faith

Time of India

2 days ago

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Gadchiroli: Aseem Rajaram spent years being a
Maoist
megaphone in Gadchiroli, booming out messages that industry dreaded. On Tuesday, he was the face of corporate resurgence in the former rebel redoubt.
After the 36-year-old's surrender last year, the former Maoist spokesperson is now a key member of the public relations team of Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd (LMEL). The irony cannot be missed — the former guerrilla had for a decade opposed LMEL's iron ore mining venture in Gadchiroli. As Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis laid the foundation of a mega integrated LMEL steel plant on Tuesday, Aseem hogged the arc lights.
The road to the new spotlight was tortuous. Aseem landed in the booby-trapped Maoist headquarters of Abujmarh in 2005 at age 16 from Jind (Haryana), where Naxal frontal groups were active since the late 1990s.
Surviving on rat meat and shrubs, Aseem rose through the ranks to pilot the Maoist propaganda machinery for more than a decade. Shifting bases and dalams (rebel squads), he worked as the spokesperson for top guerrillas, including Muppalla Laxman Rao alias Ganapathi, Maoist politburo member Bhupathi alias Sonu and Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraj.
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Undo
Bhupathi had recently given a truce call amid an intensified crackdown, while Basavaraj was shot dead in an encounter this May.
In an exclusive chat with TOI about his turbulent past, Aseem said People's War Group (PWG) of Maoists was active even in northern states and their cadres would brainwash schoolchildren. "A shootout that involved my seniors in Jind changed my life. They advised me to flee to Chhattisgarh, and my journey as a Maoist began," said Aseem, who married a fellow woman Maoist, a Gadchiroli tribal who surrendered along with him.
According to Aseem, the first six months were an endurance test. "Fresh recruits had to survive on rat meat or pickle made of an extremely sour shrub. I passed the test but preferred to remain in the propaganda wing even though I underwent weapons training and held a Kalashnikov. They groomed me and others for a struggle against the so-called landed class which ultimately took me to Red Corridor (Abujmarh)," said Aseem.
The change of heart happened years later when Aseem once helped save the lives of four captured cops. "I reminded them (Maoist seniors) of Geneva Convention (norms). That displeased my seniors, and I was slowly sidelined. Finally, they allowed me to go. It's normal to leave after a cooling period. For six years, I lived under a fake identity in Himachal Pradesh. Realising that I may not be able to live in disguise for long, I surrendered.
It was safer in Maharashtra. Police got me a job in LMEL," he said, thanking IG Sandeep Patil.
Aseem pointed out that even Maoists had an "amicable exit policy". Disgruntled rebels are allowed to leave peacefully, the only condition being they should not become police informers, he said.
In the Maoists' propaganda wing, Aseem recalled having procured an offset printing press that was modified for manual operations --- to print leaflets warning villagers and others.
"There were horses for transporting supplies," Aseem said.
The rebels depended on weapons looted from security forces, but bullets were limited. "Each guerrilla had no more than 30 to 40 rounds. There were orders to fire only as a last resort. Maoists depended more on landmines to ambush and kill. There were chemical engineers in our teams who would train the cadre in making explosives," Aseem said.
Over 40% Maoist cadre are tribal women and the regressive social structure draws them towards Maoism, Aseem said, adding he gradually became disillusioned with violence. "I realised that in a country like India no form of dictatorship either extreme left or right can succeed."