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PART
— 7
1990 — A
BRIEF REPRIEVE
In 1990, due to the contradictions within the ruling classes, and
because of the growing pressure of the peoples’ movement, the new
Congress government in AP eased the repression for a while. So, during
this brief period, which did not extend even to a full year, some open
mass activity and mass meetings were allowed.
Whatever, in this brief period the party acted quickly to consolidate
its mass base and also use the opportunity for a massive mobilisation of
the people. The party concentrated on building the party leadership at
the village level, by imparting training (political and military) to the
village defense squads and village militants.
This time the big sweep in the land occupation movements was for the
occupation of landlords (patta) land. Thousands of acres of land were
occupied in AP and Dandakaranya. Also lakhs of people were mobilised on
peasant issues like power cuts, writing off loans, remunerative prices
for agricultural produce, reduction in rates of water cess, etc. The
struggle against arrack contractors now became a struggle for the
imposition of a total ban on the sale of liquor. The strike activity of
the Singareni coal miners also reached a feverish pitch culminating in
the September 1990 strike on workers’ varied demands. The strike
involved 80, 000 workers and continued for 42 days until the major
demands were won.
On the other hand, mobilisation of the masses in rallies, conferences,
public meetings had reached a crescendo, disproving the lie that the
People’s War Party was a terrorist group, with no mass base. This
propaganda was widely disseminated not only by the government, but also
by some revolutionary groups, and some who had deserted the party. In
times of acute repression the legal mobilisation of masses in meetings
etc., is not always possible. Without a mass base and a mass line no
guerilla war can survive for long. Yet, when the repression was
partially lifted by the new Chenna Reddy government, the masses rallied
as never before in a display of affection for the party and as a symbol
of condemnation against the inhuman attacks of the past five years.
The first meeting held was that of the RWA in January 1990 at Hyderabad
which drew one lakh people; 2 lakh people attended the 18th anniversary
celebration of the JNM on February 20 at Hyderabad; the April 20
Indravelli memorial meeting was attended by over one lakh people; the
22nd April meeting at Bellampalli was also attended by one lakh people;
the meeting at Mandamarri by 50, 000. All these meetings finally
culminated with the 3rd Conference of the Rytu Coolie Sangam on May 5/6
at Warangal with a rally the size of which has never been seen in the
history of AP. The Conference was attended by 700 delegates and the
public meeting and rally by over 10 lakhs (i.e. one million) people.
Seeing the massive upsurge in the revolutionary movement the government
was shaken, besides it had no need to continue with its demagogy as it
had already come to power. By May 1990 itself the repression was stepped
up; and in the May-December period alone ten thousand people had been
arrested and six thousand implicated in false cases. Villages were again
being raided and people being indiscriminately beaten and tortured. To
terrorise the masses, they began shooting down sangam leaders in front
of the people. By December 1990 all open activity throughout the state
was being ruthlessly suppressed and once again, repression on an even
higher scale than 1985, was unleashed. |
