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The raid on the Girdih Armoury on Nov. 11th was an appropriate celebration of
the 75th anniversary of the Chittagong Armoury raid. Then, it was against the
British despotic rule; the present was against the oppressive rule by the new
rulers. Two days later the historic Jehanabad jailbreak was also a continuation
of the legacy of India’s freedom struggle where numerous revolutionaries broke
the chains that bound them and escaped to freedom to fight the oppressors. Some
called it the "Storming of the Bastille" — the famous jailbreak of the French
revolution. Others called it the freedom of the poor and oppressed while the
real criminals are outside. Yet others called it instant justice against a
system that falsely incarcerates them for years. And as a cloth merchant in
Jehanabad’s main bazaar said (Tehelka 3/12/05) "Acha hua, Acha hua …. The
police never help the people, they are only exploiting them, it is high time
someone taught them a lesson, it is good someone is standing up to them".
The oppressed masses of this country and the progressive people welcomed both
these actions; it is the elite and their hangers on of all types who condemn it
due to fear for loosing their lavish lifestyles. The people of our country have
over the centuries resorted to numerous revolts against their oppressors. But
all failed as they did not have a leadership that could take on the might of the
state and a scientific alternative to the existing system.
A statement issued on Nov.13th by Com. Sadan on behalf of the Bihar-Jharkhand
Military Commission on the Girdih armoury raid stated: "Seizing arms from the
armoury at Girdih is a gift of the legacy of the independence struggle. It is
part of the continuous link of the ongoing people’s war. In order to serve the
interests of imperialism, especially US imperialism, feudalism and the comprador
bourgeoisie, the Indian government, run by corrupt bureaucrats, is unleashing
intense repression and exploitation on the people. Under the Black laws
arresting people without a second thought and firing on people and killing them
in fake encounters, etc have all become an everyday occurrence."
The Statement adds that "The present anti-people government and system is
giving opportunities to the TNCs to loot the natural resources in the name of
globalization. Recently the Jharkhand government has had huge agreements with
big capitalists like Tata, Jindal, Mittal, etc for the building of massive iron
ore mines and steel plants which will lead to the displacement of lakhs of
people. Rivers, land, forests, mines, factories, fuel, finances, labour, etc are
being given to the imperialists. As a result the people are losing their jobs,
food, dignity clothes, land, property and even the houses in which they live.
The people do not have democracy, do not have the right to speak, do not have
the right to hold public meetings, etc. The action of seizing arms from the
Girdih armoury is showing the people the bright path against all this.
"Actually the seizure of the armoury of Girdih is a victory song of the armed
struggle and people’s war exposing the ill intentions of the Gandhi Dandi
Campaign. This action is also a slap in the face of the official Naxalites of
the CPI(ML) Liberation who indefinitely postpone the armed struggle."
Two days later at Jehanabad red detachments of the PLGA had gathered in the town
by late evening. At about 8 pm. they began to take positions at the main points
— the police lines, the armoury, the CRPF camp at the college, the DSP office
and police station and also at the jail. Inside the comrades in jail were
awaiting the signal. It was a Friday when Kheer is cooked so that day the
prisoners are generally locked up late. But the time to be locked up had passed
and there was no movement from outside. Just then a bomb went off. It was 9.00
pm. But this was not a signal to begin the action it was an accidental explosion
killing two dedicated comrades of the PLGA. Some CRPF came out panic stricken
and firing into the darkness. The action then began from all sides of the town.
Mines were exploded and firing took place at the CRPF camp, the police station,
the armoury and at the jail. None knew where the main action was targeted. Some
thought it was a repeat of Girdih, a raid on the armoury. Megaphones also blared
with the Naxalites calling on the people to stay in their homes and adding "you
are safe, our fight is not with you, our fight is with the feudal system and
administration that oppresses you". While the forces all around held the
police and par-military at bay the main force advanced on the jail. One team
scaled the wall with a rope ladder from the back wall another came from the main
gate and shot dead the guard. There were four senior leaders in the jail
including Ajay Kanu and about 100 other cadres, sympathizers, etc. All were
incarcerated on fake charges. They together with another 250 prisoners (total of
389 escaped, of which 269 returned later) walked out of the front gates. But
before doing that one of the main gang leaders of the Ranvir Sena, Bade Sharma,
was shot dead. He was the person primarily responsible for the massacre of over
60 dalits at Lakshmanpur Bathe. Another top leader Bisheshwar Rai was shot two
kilometers away. A third top leader managed to escape. Eight other activists of
the Ranvir Sena were taken away, warned and then released after four hours. To
whip up caste tensions the media widely propagated that the Naxalites took away
and killed 10-20 Ranvir Sena people. This was a big lie knowingly propagated by
the government and media.
In the entire operation only a couple of police were killed and nine weapons
seized from the jail. The main purpose of Operation Jailbreak was to release the
political prisoners and as an added factor to punish the gang leaders of the
Ranvir Sena. Both were successfully accomplished. But, two comrades were
martyred. The Maoists then retreated into the darkness. The police were so
terrified that it was not till 10 the next morning before they arrived.
In any people’s war it is fundamental to maintain both the political and
military initiative. In some articles in the newspapers there have been
complaints that the Maoists are now going for mere militarization and away from
the political agenda and mass mobilization as in the days of the Arwal
mobilization. The problem with such an approach is that they do not see the
character of the Indian state and its ruthlessness. Any sincere struggle, like
the workers in Gurgaon and the peasants in Rajasthan, are brutally crushed. So
also peaceful movements like the Narmada Bachao achieved nothing. General mass
movements must necessarily develop into the mobilization of the entire masses
for the war. Only when the entire masses are mobilised to participate in a
people’s war is a revolution successful. If just a handful are mobilised
militarily then it is doomed to failure. So while mass movements around people’s
demands are also necessary what is fundamental for any revolutionary movement is
to mobilise the people and ready them for the war effort.
It is often said that the people are not for war. Who is? Naxalites too want
peace. But not the peace of the graveyard. Nor do the people want to continue
living ‘peacefully’ in acute poverty and with little self-respect. Dalits, for
example, have never known ‘peace’ there is a daily existence of violence and
humiliation — going on now, and for centuries!!! The feudal mafia of Bihar
particularly as also other states does not allow any to live in peace unless
they fall at their feet. Neither do the police. Besides, it is fully just for
Maoists to release their comrades, hundreds of whom are framed in false cases
and jailed for years and decades; and to seize arms to defend themselves.
The government spends thousands of crores of rupees to purchase arms from the
imperialists. Such money the army of the poor never have; besides it is the
imperialists on whom their guns have to be aimed. So where can the poor get
their arms to defend themselves. It can only be from the enemy. This has always
been the method in any people’s war. So, the action on the armoury at Girdih was
not only just, it was pathbreaking in showing the way to the masses that they
need not cow down before the government’s guns and bullets — and that there is
some alternative. Girdih, and the earlier action at Koraput, continue in the
great tradition of the historic Chittagong Armoury Raid.
Jehanabad and Girdih are milestones in the onward march of the people’s war in
the country.
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