Volume 4, No. 7, July 2003

 

Avenge the Martyrdom of Comrade Lalitha, Swarna and Kamala!

Let us pledge to fulfill the dreams of these martyrs!!

 

May 14, 2003 had witnessed the martyrdom of another great leader of the masses in AP— Com. Yellanki Aruna, the secretary of the district committee of Adilabad. Popularly known as Lalitha in the CPI(ML) [People’s War] and among the vast masses of Adilabad, com. Aruna, along with two other woman comrades com. Swarna and Kamala, died in a fierce encounter with the special police forces of AP on the edges of the Agarugudem forest in Bejjur mandal. These heroic comrades defended the squad and facilitated their safe retreat by putting up valiant resistance to the police offensive.

Com. Lalitha was born in a poor peasant family in Rangarao Pet village in Mettupalli mandal in Karimnagar district, She came into touch with revolutionary politics through the Radical Students Union while studying for her Intermediate course in a college in Korutla town. She participated actively in RSU activities both in Korutla and in Nirmal town in Adilabad district where she did her teacher’s training.

Com. Lalita

Though she was married off at an early age, she left her husband in order to pursue her revolutionary life. In 1983, she came to an understanding with party organiser Com. Anand (presently a CC member of PW) and became his life partner. She worked as a teacher for over three years in various schools in Adilabad district and became popular among the teachers, students and parents wherever she worked. While working as a teacher she developed confidence that she can work as a full-time revolutionary and became a PR in 1988. At a time when women PRs were still few in number, she offered to work anywhere the Party wanted her to go. She was sent to Gadchiroli division in Maharashtra (Dandakaranya) to organise the adivasi women. She became popular in the Korchi, Tipragadh and Beergaon areas as com. Sadhana and played a major role in mobilizing women widely in the division. When the women’s teams could not function due to severe police repression, she worked in the regular squads in Gadchiroli until 1993.. She taught the illiterate comrades in the squads with utmost patience and pursuance. She gained the confidence and respect of the cadres through her deep commitment to the people.

She went to Adilabad, by the end of 1993 as per the direction of the Party. She joined the Khanapur squad and soon became its commander. Under her leadership the peasantry was mobilized in a big way in the area. Later, she led the movement in Chennur area as a DC member and became quite popular there too. As she became a terror to the landlords, notorious exploiters and the police forces, they had hatched several schemes to eliminate her, particularly since 1998. But, the popularity the Party enjoyed among the masses in the area under her leadership, her leadership talents and the ability to instill confidence in the squad members and the masses in face of the severe repression, and the courageous resistance put up when directly confronted by the police had foiled the attempts of the enemy to eliminate her. She had survived several encounters with the police. She became the DCS (District Committee Secretary) at the end of 2001.

Com. Lalitha was elected as a delegate for the 9th Congress in the state conference of NT. She participated actively in the Congress despite her ill-health. Until her last breath she remained an indefatigable fighter. She was an inspiration and a exemplary model for the Party members and the masses. Notwithstanding the serious losses faced by the movement in Adilabad, she continued to rouse the people into struggles till her last breath and guided the squad members confidently during the most difficult times. She gave leadership to the guerrillas in the resistance to the enemy offensives and successfully repulsed the enemy attacks several times. Her concern for the oppressed women is worth mentioning. She had studied deeply the hurdles that came in the way of participation of women in the armed struggle and gave special emphasis on mobilizing them. She used to go from house to house in the villages to mobilize women and succeeded in bringing the women folk into the revolutionary movement in Adilabad and earlier in Gadchiroli. She fought relentlessly against all forms of patriarchy in the Party and had contributed greatly to the movement against patriarchal values in the Party and in the society.

Com. Lalitha is a bright red star that fell while fighting heroically along with Swarna and Kamala in the flaming forests of Adilabad. She will remain an inspiration forever to the revolutionary fighters and masses of AP, particularly to the vast masses of women who are groaning under the dead-weight of feudal and imperialist oppression.

 

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