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Media persons
attending press conferences of the People’s War normally ask a question- "Why
do you take children into your squads?"
Yes. Children of 16
years do constitute the armed squads. But, before answering this question, let
us try to define who actually "children" are? Normally those below 15 years are
considered to be children. And sixteen years is not much above this.
When the media
persons ask this question, the leaders reply saying, it is due to the keen
interest of the members that they are joining the squads. But there is something
more than this. When questioned, the members themselves told why they joined the
revolutionary movement and that is interesting to know.
Starting with Jilal,
a squad member, "Our life is not well at home. We encounter famine every
year. So I thought it is better to face the difficulties to change our lives."
I continued the
discussion with him. I asked him, "But you could sell something and live?"
"But how? We are
being exploited", he said.
"Who is exploiting
you?"
"The Capitalists,
the imperialists", he said.
It might be
surprising to hear a tribal youth talking about capitalists and imperialists. It
is true that Jilal did not know anything about politics. He only knew the
heaviness of life. His family of five, his parents and three children were
striving to have two meals a day. They had a little land and they grew paddy.
However it was totally rain-dependent. Since there were no rains for three
consecutive years, the family had a tough time to eke out a living.
It was the "sangham"
that educated him about why things were like this.
Many squad members
had similar things to say. Coming to women members it is something more than the
economic factor.
Patriarchy manifests
itself in various forms. Right from their childhood the girls are not allowed to
have a normal, free life. They are made to do the household work even from the
age of seven or eight. They bring water, cook, do the fieldwork and look after
their younger brothers and sisters when the mother is out at fieldwork.
Soume comes from a
village in the heart of the revolutionary movement. She joined the squad three
years back. She spoke about her life at home. She lost her parents when she was
quite young. Her paternal uncle brought her up. He only extracted work out of
her. She was not treated well. She was always thinking of an alternative to come
out of all this.
It was the squad that
showed her the alternative. She was not allowed to go to the meetings and was
locked up in the house. She managed to "hear" the meeting from the window of the
locked house.
On one occasion, the
uncle beat her on some pretext. She thought this was the end of it. She fled to
her village where she was born. She had already decided to join the squad. She
thought her difficulties would end only by becoming a part of the stream.
Rama is another woman
comrade who was forcibly married. Her brothers were active in the peasant
organisation. But she was never allowed to attend the meetings of either the
squad or the sangh. One fine day the sangh leaders met and discussed with her.
She agreed to work in the newly formed women’s organization. That was the time
when she was having a tussle with her parents for leaving the husband. The
drunkard husband beat her almost daily and never cared for her.
She finally returned
to her parent’s home. Her parents did not welcome her and were constantly
pestering her to go to her husband’s home.
Anyway, she became
active in the women’s organization. She came across the plight of many women,
which she now says gave her an understanding of this unequal society. On the
other hand, she received education from the party about why such a situation
exists for women and was told how it could be solved. She was given the
responsibility of the higher committee of the organization and started to move
about in the surrounding villages. Later, the squad decided that she join as a
member. She now addresses meetings in the villages. It is inspiring to see a
note of anger with the intimate experience she had when she talks about women’s
problem.
The experience of
Sandhya is painful to know. She is the only child but her father never had any
love and affection towards her. The only thing he would do was to drink and beat
his wife. Once he threw the child in the mud. When his brother questioned him
about the ill treatment of the child, he would say it was his wish whether he
beat or killed his child. No one could bring change in him. She thus grew with
the pain of being an unwanted and uncared creature.
She got in touch with
the social activities of the revolutionary party and its organizations. Her
parents knew she wanted to join the squad and objected. They tried to marry her
off. One day, after a tussle, she left the home and met the squad. The squad
later held a meeting in the village and settled the matter. She boldly said, in
front of all the villagers, that she was interested to join the party and would
not stay at home. She now has a responsibility in the squad. It is two years
since she is with the squad.
In the struggle areas
there is another kind of recruitment. The present generation is born in the
family of revolution. It is more than twenty years since the armed squads
started to work in the tribal area. The children start to know about revolution
right from their early childhood. All aspects of their life are involved with
the activities of the movement.
When compared with
the earlier generations, we see a change in the pattern of thinking in this
generation. Right from the beginning they grow with self-confidence and a
certain worldly awareness. Their deep intimacy with the revolutionary process
cannot but make them think about joining the stream.
Pandu is a good
example of such children, rather "individuals" of this kind. He is absolutely
dissatisfied with the squad because they keep asking him to wait, to join the
squad. He was constantly with the squad whenever they came to his village. He
started to know politics from them.
One fine day he told
the commander he would join them. The commander said, "OK. You are already
with us". But that was not enough. Pandu wanted to leave his house and join
the squad as a member. The commander was surprised. He tried to explain to him
that there is a lot of work to do in the baala sangham (children’s organisation),
of which Pandu was the president of the village committee. But he would not
listen.
The squad and the
concerned divisional committee member had a tough time for the coming two years
to keep him at work in the village after which he finally joined the squad. He
is now the deputy commander of a military squad.
Pandu’s voice is
breaking now. He is an adolescent. And so are many such members. But these
adolescents do not face problems like that of the middle class, out in the
"civilized" world. There is no frustration, no psychological problem of any
kind. It is because they are not afraid of life. They are clear what they have
to do in their life.
Perhaps, for the same
reason Bomara seized a rifle from a policeman. He has a similar life at home. He
was active in the Sangh. He decided to join the party in the squad. The
concerned committee resolved so. He attended a military camp for his initial
military training. He took seriously ill during the training and so was sent
home to take rest.
Anyway Bomara felt
restless since he could not do what he wanted to. When the squad went to his
village, he told them he would join now since he had recovered. They asked him
to wait. They thought it would be better to give him time since he was still not
keeping well. As a matter of fact, the commander once told him that he should
seize a rifle from the police and then would be taken into the squad. Perhaps he
meant that Bomara should gain that much strength.
But Bomara took it
literally. Since then he was constantly on the look out. He went to the shandy
(market) near his village regularly and observed the police. He noted the number
and the timings. He gathered some of his colleagues in the sangh and chalked out
a plan.
Five of them went to
the shandy and followed the police. One of the five policemen there fell behind
to buy something. The militia youth surrounded him and fixed him in between
them. They were only around fifty yards away from the other policemen. They only
had axes with them. They threw the single policeman on the ground. The rifle
slipped from the hands of the policeman. Bomara took charge of him with his bare
hands. It was like a boxing scene.
Finally the policeman
lost in the tussle and Bomara ran away with the rifle before the other policemen
tried to reach their colleague. Few days later when the squad sent word to him
he met them along with the rifle and a broad smile. The squad members greeted
him especially. He brought the necessary daily things with him. He is now moving
with the squad waiting for the concerned committee to resolve the question of
his joining the squad.
Though they initially
begin to think politically from their personal problem, in no time they are able
to socialize their understanding and in a process politicize themselves. The
important aspect is the political education that transforms them.
The economic factor
does not allow them to have any leisure and to have psychological problems, and
the political factor does make them persons of good individuality and true
citizens of the country.
After all this, one
might ask, "But then what about their childhood and the fun of it? The
children of the cities have lots of games and enjoy life. Are they not deprived
of all these?"
The answer would be,
"What fun do the majority children of this society have to enjoy except
poverty and hard work?"
In fact the fun and
the games of the city dwelling children are only apparent. They have increasing
psychological problems. The children in the squads have a lot of enjoyment with
the realization of the alternate prosperous life in the forthcoming liberated
areas.
Perhaps they would
love to show the children of the "concrete" world the mainstream process of
changing society in their natural surroundings.
Migration is a well
known and a general phenomenon not only throughout the country but also over the
world. But are the reasons inevitable? Certainly not.
There are a lot of
migration stories. The story of the migrants from down the hill of the
prestigious Bailadilla iron ore mining project in the state of Chattisgarh is
yet another. The more than thirty-year old project is highly prestigious to the
country. But the living and working conditions of the people down the hill are
nothing but shameful to the "democratic republic". The policy makers talk a lot
about industrialization in the country. Leaving aside the tall talk, the actual
point of discussion is its effect on the majority people.
Some scholars say
industries are providing employment to the people suffering from drought
conditions. But the actual fact is that the funds to be used for the welfare of
the people are spent on these industries. There is no employment but only the
exploitation of the poor peasants as casual labor in these industries. People
come to Bailadilla like to any other industrial center only to do some menial,
unskilled jobs for much more menial wages.
Let us go down the
hill and take a look into the lives of the people. The people in these villages
starting from Paralnar and spreading towards Gangulur on one side, and Merthul
on the other, mainly grow paddy. The other crops include kohla, one type of rice
and some vegetables.
Since there have been
no rains for nearly three consecutive years now, there is increasing
helplessness among the people. The fundamental necessity of irrigation is not
seen in the villages. There is neither an alternative means of income.
So they go up the
hill to Bailadilla in search of livelihood. They do construction works and
little contract works for Rs.35 to Rs.40 per day. They stay for a week, receive
the wages and return home. Some of them go to the bordering Khammam district of
Andhra Pradesh to work in the chilli plantations during the season.
The much talked about
welfare programs of Ajit Jogi, the Chief Minister of Chathisgarh are neither in
the macro level nor the micro level. The situation in these villages shows
crystal clear that the programs are on paper but not in practice. People’s
representatives do not visit the villages. People do not have easy access to
education and medical facilities, except in those near to the administrative
centers.
The government
ensured power supply to Bailadilla from Jagadalpur. There are electric lines
from Bijapur to some villages in the interior. But it is not surprising to know
that they are not working.
The NMDC, the
National Mineral Development Corporation had a net profit of Rs.90 crores in
2001-2002 and Rs.100 crores the next fiscal year. It adopted some villages on
one side of the mining project and takes up some development activities. The
major income flow is towards the development of a limited rich section of the
society and not the poor.
Migration relatively
came down in the past few years. That is due to the alternative means of income
the People’s War brought forth. The party is taking up collective farming of
paddy and other such crops. Apart from this, it is taking up aquaculture. Fish
are grown and sold. The money is maintained by the cooperative committee of the
village and is spent on seeds and other agricultural necessities. The party is
now encouraging check dams for the purpose of irrigation.
People are
increasingly interested in the developmental activities of the Party. The
government is offering loans to the people. Anyhow only "big" people of the
village can manage to secure the loans. Moreover, people are increasingly
conscious about the effect of government funding for their livelihood. It would
only create some landlord section and would not actually help them.
In one such village
where one person was given the loan. The sangh questioned why he took the money.
The sangh and the people together resolved they would not take money from the
government. According to the president of the sangh of this particular village,
"the government funds would only come by bribing. It will create individual
property and develop some individuals". They are confident about developing
total self-reliance that is in the making.
This is for the
information of the outside world that is made to believe about the developmental
programs of the governments. People and the party working for them would only be
pleased to invite the concerned citizens to come to these tribal areas and give
some suggestions for bettering the lives of the people.
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