Deceased Maoist Leader Prashant Bose's Letter Suggests Rethinking Armed Struggle

Ranchi: Around a fortnight before he died, Maoist politburo member Prashant Bose alias Kisanda on March 20 wrote a letter to his team member, Sagar alias Misir Besra, to rethink the strategy of armed struggle while stating that taking forward the mode for attaining the party’s aims became nearly impossible.Bose, who was lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail after being caught along with his wife, Sheela Hansda, from Seraikela district in November 2021, died due to age-related ailments on April 4. At present, Misir Besra, along with central committee member Asim Mandal and his squad, are the only major Maoist group in the state. They are currently hiding in the Saranda area of West Singhbhum district. The authenticity of the letter, which has been circulating on social media since Saturday, has been endorsed by security forces.Inspector general (operation) Michael Raj said, “Since the Maoists have been almost eradicated from the country, including Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, it may be possible that Bose, who worked with Besra, thought of writing a letter to him to end the armed fight.”Bose started the letter by saying that Besra might have been spending his days in difficult conditions in the jungles. “The organisation has suffered serious losses at the central regional bureau and the eastern regional bureau levels in the recent past. Under the situation, I am forwarding a ‘suggestion’ that you should mull over if it is now possible to take forward the armed struggle. If you decide to stop it, the matter could be taken up with the govt. Any delay can lead to heavy losses,” he said in the letter.Mentioning a phone number through which the Maoists could convey their plan to him, he stated that if the Maoists decide to discontinue armed struggle, there would be no decisive operation against them by the opposite party.