Azad was the only person who could convince Reds to join peace talks

HYDERABAD/KOLKATA: It’s seldom that Maoists feel the need to communicate with the outside world. When they do, it invites flashbulbs, bytes and media hype. It was left to Cherukuri Rajkumar aka Azad, to handle propaganda.

Since Azad was CPI(Maoist)’s spokesman, he acted as an aide to Maoist chief Ganapathi. ‘‘He believed it’s neither the gun nor the pen which is powerful. He always felt man is more powerful to bring change in society,’’ recalls Nellutla Venugopal, who last met Azad at Regional Engineering College, Warangal, in 1978.

Azad was much in news during the non-stop media coverage of his whereabouts on March 20 after the encounter of Maoist leader Sakhamuri Apparao in Nallamala forests. He was articulate and his English language skills were good. ‘‘I saw the spark in him back in 1978. He was an effective speaker,’’ says K G Kannabiran, president of People’s Union for Civil Liberties. Azad was always a man with a wild streak of adventurism, but one who could turn pragmatic if the situation demanded.

In fact, Azad was working on a peace proposal floated by Swami Agnivesh when he was gunned down in Adilabad, said a Maoist source. This despite the fact that he firmly believed that overthrowing the government was the only way to change the lot of the tribals and working class. He held the keys to the political activities of CPI(Maoists) and cultivated links with urban supporters and sympathizers.

After the arrest of fellow politburo member Kobad Gandhi, Azad was the Indian pointsperson for international Maoist organizations and worked with activists in North Africa, Turkey and the Philippines.

There are some political experts who contend that Azad was the only person in the rebel ranks who could convince the Maoist central committee and politburo members to join a dialogue with the government.

From the beginning of Operation Green Hunt, which was hurting the Maoists, he spoke against the ‘‘oppressive’’ policy of the government, but never ruled out a ceasefire.

Azad belonged to a rich landlord family in the mango belt of Nuzvid mandal in Krishna district, and his father owned a hotel. He showed his rebellious streak early. Though a non-military member, being a top-rung Maoist, Azad always carried an AK-47 when in forests. He was instrumental in building up Maoism in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

HC allows mother to see Azad’s body

Justice B Seshasayana Reddy of Andhra Pradesh HC on Friday directed the state police to allow Cherukuri Karuna to see the body of her son and slain Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad before the postmortem. The judge, however, rejected her plea to order the body to be shifted to the Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad. Hence, the postmortem will be conducted at Manchiryal in Adilabad district.

The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Karuna and P Varavara Rao, a revolutionary writer. Karuna alleged the police picked up her son Azad and another Maoist leader Sahadev from Seetabadi locality of Nagpur on July 1 at 11 am, tortured and killed them before dumping the bodies in Jogpur forest near Adilabad. ‘‘It has become a routine practice in the state to kill tribals and Maoists in fake encounters,’’ she said in her petition.