NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency, which is facing flak for the arrest of activist Stan Swamy, is relying on a letter which speaks of secret Maoist communication channels being exposed as crucial evidence against the Jesuit priest charged last week for allegedly helping the outlawed CPI(Maoist).
The communication allegedly with a CPI(Maoist) comrade by the 83-year-old had called leakage of letters meant for senior leaders of the outfit “extremely worrisome”, blaming it on their limited knowledge of methods of forensic data recovery. In the letter, submitted as evidence by the NIA in the Elgar Parishad case, Swamy said such “grave mistakes” come with “heavy costs” of exposing the “secret channels and our open comrades who operate these channels, leading to their prolonged incarceration”.
Navlakha fixed meeting between Maoists and urban cadres: NIA
He underlined the need to enhance knowledge among cadre about forensic data recovery methods “in order to prevent future mistakes”. Meanwhile, another letter from co-accused Rona Wilson to an unidentified fellow comrade, which also forms part of the chargesheet seen by TOI, pitches for formation of an anti-fascist front on the direction of the CPI(Maoist) “by giving traction” to movements of Dalits and Muslims.
The Dalit movements were seen to be taking shape in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat and of Muslims in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra and it was suggested that the activists behind the movements be offered militant training in “revolutionary armed struggle areas”. Such a front should confront “fascist” forces on the ground at the village, small town and cities and neighbourhood levels in urban areas.
The NIA chargesheet also states that lawyer-activist Gautam Navlakha was allegedly fixing appointments and meetings between active urban cadre and underground leaders of CPI (Maoist) under the garb of “fact-finding missions”. In the alleged letter by Swamy, allegedly recovered from an electronic device seized by the NIA even though it was also delivered by a human courier, he rues how the exposure of secret communications hurt operations in Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
He also expressed worry over the absence of Varavara Rao due to his incarceration, saying there was no senior leader of equal experience to guide the Maoists and People’s War cadres in a coordinated fashion. This, he warned, could further split leading comrades working at an all India level, and discourage new comrades from joining CPI(Maoist).