CHERUKURI RAJKUMAR

"AZAD"

Cherukuri Rajkumar (1952 - 2010), better know as Azad, was a member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and a leading member, ideologue, and spokesperson of the Political Bureau of its Central Committee. It is widely believed that he was in line to assume the leadership of the CPI(M).

Rajkumar was born to a wealthy landowning family in Andhra Pradesh in 1952. Early on he took an interest in social justice, and was inspired by the Naxalbari Rebellion and the Chinese Revolution.

In 1978, while at university at the Visakhapatnam campus of the University of Andhra Pradesh, Rajkumar was elected to head the Radical Students Union. In 1980 he went underground, dedicating himself ever since to the CPI(M) and its guerrilla war, although he was not a part of the party's military structure. Azad was instrumental in building the party in Karnataka and Maharashtra, and in time emerged as the leading spokesperson for the party's Central Committee.

Azad was killed in an encounter with police in Andhra Pradesh on 1 July, 2010.

WRITINGS AND STATEMENTS

2006: On Nepal: "There is Need for Caution With Present Tactics"

2006: Joint Press Release of CPN (Maoist) & CPI (Maoist)

2006: A New Nepal can emerge only by smashing the reactionary state! Depositing arms of the PLA under UN supervision would lead to the disarming of the masses!!

2008: Naveen Patnaik's call for talks is sheer hypocrisy! No question of giving up arms as long as exploitation and oppression persist!! We shall continue to arm the masses with arms seized from enemy!!

2008: On Nepal Election: The verdict in Nepal is a verdict against feudal monarchy, Indian expansionism and US imperialism; it reflects the growing aspirations of the Nepalese masses for land, livelihood and democracy! Oppose the moves of the imperialists, particularly US imperialists, and the Indian expansionists to meddle in the affairs of Nepal!!

2008: Interview on developments in Nepal

2010: Red Salutes to Maoist leaders comrades Sakhamuri Appa Rao (Ravi) and Kondal Reddy (Ramana)!

2010: Hail the daring and the biggest ever guerrilla attack on the hired mercenaries of the Indian State carried out by the heroic PLGA guerrillas in Chhattisgarh! Sonia-Manmohan-Chidambaram-Pranab gang is solely responsible for the loss of lives of CRPF jawans used as cannon-fodder in their dirty war on behalf of the tiny parasitic corporate elite!

2010: Condemn the Conspiracy of the Ruling Classes and the Media Hysteria to Implicate Maoists in the Jnaneswari Express Tragedy

2010: Bhopals will never get justice in a system ruled by comprador traitors in league with imperialist multinational sharks! With anti-people criminals in power entire India is a potential Bhopal!

BOOKS

2010: Maoists in India: Writings & Interviews (Print-ready compilation of 17 items by Azad; 1.2 Mb pdf)