Maoists call for national strike over Azad slaying
Party says senior politburo member was killed in a fake encounter
Hyderabad: The outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist has called a week-long protest against the gunning down of their senior politburo member Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad.
Azad was cremated in Hyderabad yesterday in the presence of hundreds of mourners, including writers, poets and activists.
CPI-Maoist has called for a protest week from July 8 to 14 and a 48-hour nationwide strike on July 13 and 14. "The party has given a call for protest week and an all-India strike to protest against the fake encounter death of comrade Azad by Andhra Pradesh police," said Gudsa Usendi, the spokesman of Dandakaranya special zone committee spokesperson.
Azad, a member of the central committee and politburo as well as national spokesman of the party, was killed in a forest in Adilabad district on Friday morning.
While police said he along with another Maoist was killed in an exchange of fire, CPI-Maoist said both were killed in a fake encounter after they were taken into custody in Nagpur a day earlier. The other victim was later identified as freelance journalist Hemchandar Pandey.
Rich tributes were paid to Azad at Punjagutta cremation ground in Hyderabad where his brother lit the pyre. Members of the Revolutionary Writers Association, G. Kalyan Rao, Vara Vara Rao, Chalasani Prasad, popular balladeer Gaddar, Dalit leader Manda Krishna Madiga, Telugu film actor and director Narayana Murthy and women's activist G. Sandhya were present at the cremation.
