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Of late, even as the police stepped up their operations to exterminate the
peasant youth activists in rural Telengana, the people began to pour out into
the streets in massive protests against the killings and arrests. Thousands of
oppressed masses have taken part in the funeral processions of their beloved
leaders, who have been killed either in cold blood after being arrested or in
heroic battles with the state's armed mercenaries. The massive out- pouring in
the funerals is an expression of the love and affection the people have for
their selfless and dedicated leaders, who dared to sacrifice their lives for the
liberation of the masses from the oppressive and exploitative social system.
They also point to the resolve of the masses to fulfill the cause of the
martyrs. These, and the other massive protests against police terror, bury once
for all the lies and myths spread by the ruling classes and their spokesmen -
Chandrababu Naidus' and Advanis, H G Doras and Aravind Raos and the new
intellectual apologists of Indian "Democracy" like Balagopal - that the CPJ
(M-L) [People's War] has no support among the masses, that it is getting
isolated form the masses due to its indiscriminate and excessive use of the gun,
and so on. The following are a few examples of this growing involvement of the
masses in claiming the corpses of the martyrs and holding processions.
On 17th March' 1998, in Chityala area of Warangal Distt., Comrade Kandikonda
Sudhakar was arrested and shot dead by the police based on a tip-off from an
agent. Within no time the news spread like wild-fire in the entire area and
5,000 people from the neighbouring villages of Challagarige, Repakapalle, Jookal,
Chityal, Kakdaplli etc., held a 'Rasta Roko' on the Chityala-Parkal Road. Two
Slate Road Transport Corpn. buses were reduced to ashes. The demonstrators then
went to Chityala Mandal centre 10 have a glimpse of the dead body of their
beloved leader. When the police stopped them from proceeding towards the corpse,
the people were enraged and thrashed the police. Particularly the women beat the
S.I. and the police men with stones and chappals. Infuriated by the
indiscriminate lathi-charge by the police, the people seized the lathis, beat
back the police and took away the dead body of Comrade Sudhakar. They also beat
up the MRO and the police who were conducting 'Panchnama' at the site of the
murder.
After seizing the martyr's dead body from the police, over 5,000 people went on
a torch-light procession from Challagarige bus stand to his native. village of
Muchnipati. Red flags and banner fluttred as slogans like "Comrade Sudhakar Amar
Rahe!", "All encounters are police murders" rent the air as the funeral
procession went on from 9 in the night to 4 in the morning.
In Nizamabad, the very day after the martyrdom of Comrade Raji Reddy (Vinod), a
member of the district Committee, and Comrade Janardhan, the commander of,
Banswara central guerilla squad, in an armed confrontation with the police near
Sangojipet village on 10th Oct. 1998, over three hundred people held a
torchlight rally condemning the encounters in Muppenapalli village in Warangal
distt. A public meeting was also held in the village. Torch-light rallies were
taken out in Royyuru with 600 people, in Mullakatta and Rampur in Khammam distt.
with 300 people led by the local guerilla squad; In Gurrivula, Laxmipuram,
Devardula, Tupakulagudem, hundreds of people held rallies with torches blazing
in their hands.
In Feb 1998 when the news of the martyrdom of Comrade Kumar Swami (Sudarshan)
and Comrade Sammakica (Sri Latha) in Nerellavagu in Warangal distt. reached
their native village Vodithala in Chityal, 2000 people from the surrounding
villages of Jadallped, Kothapet, Bausingpalli, Gandhinagar, Pasigadda,
Kothapalli, Nainpaka etc. took the corpses of their beloved leader, draped them
in red cloth, and went on a procession carrying red flags and banners and doing
wall writing all the way.
Police Terror Begets Mass Resistance.
After the annihilation of Maheswar Rao, a notorious class enemy of Melpally
town in Karimnager district by the armed guerillas of People's War, the police
unleashed a reign of terror in the town and the neighbouring villages. The
people, of course, did not take it lying down but put up resistance through
various forms. For instance, when 13 youths from Jaggasagar village were
arrested, about 1000 people, including a large number of women, surrounded the
Police Station and held a sit-in finally securing the release of their Comrades
from the hands of the police.
In Adilabad between April to July 1998, there has been mass people's resistance
to the reign of terror unleashed by the AP police and the para-military forces.
In Sirikonda village in Indravelli Mandal, when a peasant named Keshav Rao was
arrested, tortured to death and the corpse was being taken away by the police in
a bullock cart to be thrown out side the village, the people of the entire
village surrounded the police station and resisted the police by resorting to
stone-pelting. The demonstration and blockade of the police station went on for
four hours upon which the DySP arrived with a big posse of police. Undeterred,
the people surrounded the police car and demanded the suspension of the SI who
was responsible for the murder of Keshav Rao and to pay compensation to the
family of the deceased. When repeated threats by the police were of no avail,
the DySP, seeing the mood of the people, had to bow to their demands and
announced suspension of the SI.
In Boath area, the police had to release the arrested mass organisation activist
in Kante village when the entire village people revolted. In Nigni village, the
people prevented the police when they began arresting the youths
indiscriminately.
In Kothapalli village, the police tried to take away an adivasi youth in the
early hours but this attempt was foiled by the men and women of the village who
surrounded the police with their traditional weapons like axes, knives, sticks,
etc. Seeing the stubborn attitude of the people, the police were forced to free
the arrested youth.
In Patnapur village also the people stopped the police from arresting a local
youth, through their collective resistance. In Sirpelli village in Sarangapur
Mandal, when the Banjara tribals stopped the police from taking away the local
youth, two of the three were let off and one youth was taken away. He was held
in police custody for three days and tortured but had to be finally released
after the people once again put up collective resistance. In Ravindranagar
village, the police who came in the guise of guerilla squad to gather
information about the guerillas from the masses, had to beat a hasty retreat
when the people began to attack them after seeing through their game.
In the wake of the annihilation of the president of the district Central
Co-operative Bank in Nirmal by the People's War guerillas - the police raided
several villagcs in Sarangpur Mandal, indiscriminatly beating and torturing the
people. The police had to give up their attempts to arrest few local youth when
the people put up collective resistance.
In Valsapur village in Huzurabad area of Karimnagar, when the poor and landless
peasants seized the lands of the landlords and began to till them, the police
attacked them and arrested six persons. About two hundred people from the
village went to the P.S. and organised a Dharna upon which another 15 were taken
into custody.
On June 16,1998, when people of Rangapur village in Jagtyal area of Karimnagar
were proceeding to a public meeting concerning "Separate Democratic Telengana",
40 members were arrested by the police. When the news reached Rangapur, 120
people from the village demonstrated near the MPP President’s house and the PS.
Some of them were released immediately while cases were filed on others.
Peasants March Ahead in the midst of White Terror
In
the past two years the reactionary ruling classes have stepped up their white
terror on the struggling peasantry in the vast rural tracts of Telengana and
North East AP killing over 600, arresting thousands, molesting women,
indiscreminately beating up people destroying houses and other property of the
people. Agents are planted in the villages to collect informations regarding the
movements of the guerilla squads and of those who are actively involved in the
revolutionary activities. Armed mercenary squads are formed to attack and kill
the activists and their kith and kin. But this reign of terror, which has
further intensified after the khaki shorts came to power at the centre with the
help of the World Bank's lap(top) dog, Chandrababu Naidu of AP, failed to
produce the results anticipated by them. Their attempts to decimate the People's
war and its underground mass organisation activists in the villages and thereby
suppress the growing people's movement by rendering the people leaderless, ended
up in total fiasco.
In the midst of combing operations, covert operations, and a spate of
encounters, the peasants came out into hundreds of struggles relating to land
and livelihood apart from establishing their revolutionary organs of power in
more and more villages all over the areas of armed struggle. Apart form land
occupation struggle, struggles also broke out on other issues such as wages,
remunerative prices for agricultural produce, against reduction in subsidies
etc.
In Nizamabad district, between January and March 1998, 916 acres of the land of
the landlords in 18 villages were seized and distributed to 540 families.
Another 40 acres of fruit orchards, 20 acres of forest land were also
distributed and three tractors and two sugarecane crushers were retained as the
collective property of the concerned village.
On May 10,1998, 600 people occupied a 12 acre mango plantation belonging to
landlord of Kotancha village in Warangal and distributed the mango crop among
themselves. In the see-saw battle that has been going on between the people and
the landlords, these lands had changed hands several times since 1990 when red
flags were first planted by the people led by the RYL and RCS. The landlords
tried to cultivate the land with the help of police protection amidst a spate of
"encounters". The entire people of the village again occupied the land after
destroying the crops but could not till the land due to incessant police threats
since 1995.
In Vallabhpur in Karimnagar district, 16 acres belonging to the village landlord
were occupied by two hundred poor and landless peasants who collectively till
the land with 20 ploughs. Among them were 60 women. A five-member 'land struggle
committee' was also formed.
54 acres of land belonging to three landlords were distributed to poor and
landless peasants in Rampur village in Warangal district. 2 acres were divided
into residential plots arid were distributed to the homeless.
All these lands were actually occupied in 1990-91 but remained fallow in the
past few years due to police threats. The landlords who fled the villages again
surrendered to the people and agreed to part with their surplus lands.
On March 10, 1998, about 400 peasants belonging to seven villages around
Metpally in Karimnagar marched to the town market and held a rally demanding
remunerative prices for the turmeric crop. The traders in Korutla and Metpally
market yards have been exploiting the peasantry by paying far less than the
market price for the turmeric produce. All the traders having formed into a
syndicate, have been carring out ruthless exploitation.
Several strikes of bonded labourers were organised demanding Rs. 13000/- as
annual wages free medical assitance, two pairs of dress per year Rs 60000/- as
compensation for the labourer who dies due to snake bite or any other reason a
torch light three pairs of' chappals and a blanket every year three days leave
every month, stopping night time work, etc.
In Enugumantle village in Karimnagar, about 200 bonded labourers struck work for
two days and organised a meeting. The landlord and the rich peasants who employ
bonded labourers agreed to pay Rs. 12,000/- as annual wages, Rs. 30,000/- as
compensation in case of accidental death. All other demands were also accepted.
In several villages, after labourers went on strikes lasting from two to five
days, the daily wages were increased form Rs.25/- to 35/- for men and Rs. 20/ to
30, for women. The struggles were led by the viplava Rytu Cooli Sangam (YRCS)
and Mahila vimukti Sangam
(MVS) in Venkatraopet, Ranapur, Nagaram, Lingala, Rompikunta, Tenugupalli in
Karimnagar district.
Famine raids were also organised due to the growing starvation and misery of the
peasants due to drought. In the months of January-February, 1998, there were
famine raids in eleven villages in Nizamabad districts in which 2,100 people
participated and confiscated 1511 quintals of paddy and maize and other essented
goods.
Collective Feasts among different Castes
Caste and religion have always been barriers to the unity of the oppressed
masses in India. The ruling classes as well as imperialism have been using caste
to divide the people and thereby perpetuate their rule smoothly. The caste
question is not just an aspect of the superstructure but also forms part of the
very production relations, i.e., the economic base of the society. Hence caste
has deep roots and cannot be rooted out without waging a conscious and
consistent struggle even in the areas of intense class struggle. Although
significant changes are occuring in the rural areas where revolutionary movement
is advancing such as disappearance of untouchability, open discrimination etc.,
caste prejudices still exist in the villages to a considerable extent. Even
though the oppressed of all castes have been waging united struggle against the
landlords on their common demands for years, even today inter-caste marriages
and eating in each others houses among the dalits and the other castes is not a
common feature. Specific programmes related to the caste question should be
taken up in order to achieve further integration and slowly bring' them out of
the feudal and outdated caste ideology and prejudices.
As part of this collective feasts were organised in some villages in Warangal
the months of Sept.-Oct. 1998. One such collective feast was organised in
Peddapuram village in Parkal area of Warangal in Sept.1998. Three quintals of
rice were cooked and 1300 people belonging to all castes dined collectively. In
Akkanapet village, 800 people took part in the collective feast. The two bags or
rice used for this purpose were collected from the rich peasants and the
landlords. The dalits served the meals in both villages. Such programmes were
taken up at a more modest level in scores of villages in Telengana in the past
few months. The landlords and the vested interests are shaken by the unity that
is being forged even culturally between the oppressed castes. They even tried to
disrupt the collective feasts by provoking the police. In one of the villages
the police arrived in two vans, threatened the people who were coming back from
the collective feast, and arrested a few of them.
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