“None can Stop us from Organising the Oppressed”

Comrades: At the outset, we did not do anything that deserved our arrest. We came to know of the reasons for our arrest only after we saw the newspapers the next day. They fixed us, on some incidents that had taken place and for which we were in no way responsible. Hence, when we were jailed, we fumed with anger. (These comrades were jailed on the trumped up charge of kidnapping and attempting to rape a member of the Karnataka Raitha Coolie Sangha, Comrade Rizwana Begum)

Comrades: One must experience it to really know how it feels to be in the Raichur jail. The situation is lousy in there. It is a hell-hole. They feed us for two months on provisions they officially procure for one month. The food, the dormitories, the latrines—all are filthy.

The food was bad. It was uppittu gruel for breakfast every day, half-cooked rice for lunch, dal which was really boiled water with chilly powder and salt, and unbaked channa that served as a side dish. And, there were those stones. Buttermilk was as good as cold water and tea had no sugar. They used to manage with just one litre of milk each day for the scores of inmates. And, even this stuff, they used to serve after looking each man in his face. We mean, the goonda types used to get full plates. The innocent made do with little.

We were in Raichur for a month. Then they shifted us to the central jail in Gulbarga. There we could see for ourselves barefaced violence. Jail authorities are a downright reactionary breed. Inmates were anything but human beings for them. If anyone said something they would be thrashed.

In Raichur, each meal filled only half the stomach. They baked rottis from jowar grown for cattle. While the manual states that 290 grams of rice and 80 grams of rotti was to be served for each meal, in fact our measurements revealed that they provided just 150 grams of rice and 40 grams of rotti.

One pot of water was all that was given to four or five prisoners for cleaning themselves each day. In summer this became a major point of contention among the inmates.

About the latrines, the less said the better. For a dormitory with 60-70 inmates there were just two urinals and two latrines. They got clogged frequently and put out a stench. Despite our repeated pressure, they were not repaired. The latrines had no doors. You had to squat even as people moved about before you.

The mat they gave each of us was less than a yard long. Besides, they were tattered. The new mats used to be fetched on special occasions when the big sharks would come on a visit. And as soon as they left they too disappeared.

So far we were not issued soap although it is being procured by the establishment.

Medical treatment is dismal. There is just one compounder for the entire jail. He used to have a few paracetamols, CPMs and just one or two other drugs. These medicines were handed out for each and every ailment. If matters became really bad the prisoner would be taken to the doctor. And even that only after repeatedly pressuring them. In summer, because of the heat prisoners generally develop rashes on their thighs. Because there are only two latrines, infections spread fast. Such festering rashes resembling scabies are common among inmates.

Coming to the library, no body knows to this day as to where it is housed. They procure some books from the district library. And these are mythologies, or novels about the gods. There is not a single good book. And even if there is one they refuse to lend it. Mass circulated bourgeois Kannada magazines are taken away by the officials to their houses.

Initially they were not providing us with newspapers. After we fought for it, they began lending them. If there is anything about prisons, or the revolutionary movement, they clip them before passing the newspapers.

The jail brims with corruption. Vegetables, oil, soap, milk, pulses, jowar, meat, bed-sheets—everything—go to the houses of the Jailer and the Chief Warden. In addition other jail staff carry away their share. They never used to permit family members and well wishers to visit the jail without taking a bribe.

Comrades: Their cells are similar to ours but they are separated. The jail has a huge compound. And the women’s dormitories are enclosed by another compound. There are from 10 to 16 women in each cell. It is these women who clean all the rice that is supplied to the jail. For this they get no wages.

Comrades: Dalits and other poor people constitute the majority. Those with money have a cozy life in the jail. They bribe the authorities. Those convicted as petty thieves are the ones that face the greatest hardship. There are also those who have committed dacoities. Circle Inspector Vijay Dambal (this notorious officer was also involved in the fake encounter killing of Com Bhaskar in August 1999) has pillaged all that has been seized from the thieves. He recurrently demands the prisoners to hand over stolen booty that has been stashed away.

Inmates who have cases in distant Belgaum and Mangalore have been rotting in the jail for the last 4-5 years. Callous police officials have not provided them with escort to attend court. Further, they do not have the money to obtain a release by pursuing court procedures. Without bribes nothing moves in the court. Due to these reasons, even good prisoners get criminalised in time.

We must tell you something. While interrogating us we were tortured. Then they produce us before the court. Even if the torture marks are displayed before the judge, he turns a blind eye. What should one say of this? The fingernails of some had been ripped out during torture. They spread out the palms on the table and pound the fingers with lathis. Some have not been able to stand for weeks because of damage to their soles.

Jana Vimukthi: What do you have to say about the propaganda of the government?

Comrades: Everybody knows that these are the vile deeds of the state. They want nobody to join the KRCS and CPI (ML) (People’s War). They keep repeating a lie several times till it appears as the truth. They cannot face up to the truth because that will shake their very existence. The people know that. Government stories, that the organisation collects funds and its leaders have a binge, that they wrongfully misdirect the people and so on, are nothing but a pack of lies. In fact the police thoroughly exposed itself by organising a procession against the organisation. None of the peasants participated in this procession. They cannot stop the organisation what ever they may try to do. This is because the members of the organisation are prepared to sacrifice their very lives. The people have faith in them.

Comrades: They did a lot of this during interrogation. They say : "When we are here to solve the problems of the people why do you blokes want to get involved in the organisation? If you need anything come to us. These organisation people collect money and enjoy themselves. They give you nothing out of it. It is they who are the cause for problems and it is you who always get caught. It is the poor like you that are used by the leaders who are rich."

This is the kind of brainwashing they attempt. But we all know of the high ethical standards the Party maintains.

Comrades: We had no estimate that they would arrest us. Some of the peasant comrades who were arrested did not know why they were arrested till after a few days in jail. Those that were working in the fields, those that were asleep in their huts were asked to come to the police station to talk to the boss (Sub-inspector Kashi, a notorious officer who was also involved in the murder of Coms Bhaskar and Buddanna). There they stripped us and left us in our underwear.

We felt very bad that the police with the help of the informer and renegade Khaja were harassing our wives and family members. One of the brothers of an arrested comrade was tortured by 3-4 cops by inserting a lathi between his thighs. Khaja and a gang of vigilantes from Andhra Pradesh tried to rape one of his sisters. On another occasion Khaja tried to accost her when she was alone. She escaped on both the occasions. Further Khaja threatened villagers that water should not be supplied to their lands and none in the village should work on the lands of the arrested comrades. Because of this nothing was grown for one entire year. Then they broke the fingers of one of the brothers of an arrested comrade accusing him of carrying food to the armed squad. They tortured a 15 year old family member with cigarette butts demanding him to disclose the whereabouts of the squad.

It is not our arrest but such instances that took place during the time of our arrest that makes us feel bad. We used to draw strength by reposing our confidence in the organisation to resolve these problems. But once after Comrade Suma (member of the Chandrabanda squad) was captured and brought to the jail, our problems paled to insignificance.

Comrades: To tell you the truth, after we went to the jail we learned politics and picked up how to read and write. Because of our integration with the other prisoners, they began to partake in our activities.

We organised Bhagat Singh’s day of martyrdom and May Day. On July 28, we erected a memorial to the martyrs of the Indian revolution. We also collected relief funds from inmates, for the people of Orissa who were ravaged by a cyclone. We mobilised the other prisoners in this campaign. We collected a total of Rs 3,300 for the cyclone victims. In fact all prisoners sacrificed one day’s food and one day’s meat for this fund. We also made collections from individuals. Com Suma collected funds from women prisoners. We forwarded a letter to the President via the Chief Minister of Karnataka demanding the revocation of the death sentence on the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. On August 15, we enacted a play on semi-feudal oppression in the villages.

Apart from all this we used to select one topic from the national political situation for discussion. We used to pour through the newspaper each day and we used to sing revolutionary songs.

Comrades: First we were given the same treatment that is meted out to all other prisoners. But as days rolled by, they took note of our behaviour, our discipline, our unity, our resistance and the growing influence of the revolutionary movement outside. They recognised that we were different from the other prisoners. They came round to treating us with respect. Some of the arrogant ones learned to be polite with us.

Bureaucracy reigns inside. One was not supposed to wear slippers before the former Jailer. If we complained about the latrines or about bad food, they used to threaten us to send us to Gulbarga. One prisoner was stripped clean and made to stand on one leg in a solitary cell for a trivial folly. The authorities mobilised other prisoners by urging them to view this "film". After insulting him, they packed him off to the Gulbarga jail. We undertook a campaign against this and collected signatures demanding the suspension of the oppressive Jailer. Even that prisoner had registered his written protest. Envisaging further problems, the Jailer and Warden were later transferred.

Lodging prisoners in solitary confinement, forcing a rod between our thighs while interrogating prisoners, asking inmates to crawl in the courtyard under the hot sun, these are some of their methods of punishment. Once the authorities learn that an inmate has some money with him, they immediately foist some charge on him and force the money out. After we entered the jail all these methods came to a halt. Further, the pilferage of provisions by the Jailer and Warden came to a stop. The jail authorities were continuously wishing that we got bail and left the prison as early as possible.

The goonda elements among prisoners order peasant prisoners to serve them. They used to threaten and bully the rest. But after our entry this has subsided.

Our discipline, our unity and our fierce nature of combating oppression won the hearts of the prisoners. After the annihilation of a hated landlord and after the martyrdom of Comrade Bhaskar, the prisoners further changed their view of us. They knew that we not only stood by the oppressed people but that we were also prepared to die for their cause. Many prisoners cried when they heard the news that Comrade Bhaskar had been murdered. The situation in the jail was different when we came out, from that when we went in.

Jana Vimukthi: Can you tell us of an inspiring instance during your two year stay in the jail?

Comrades: When we were in the cell, all of a sudden these slogans rang out: "CPI (ML) [People’s War] Zindabad!", "Eternal glory to Comrade Bhaskar!", "Accomplish the dreams of martyrs!". We were dumb-founded to see that it was Comrade Suma (She was Comrade Bhaskar’s wife. Her husband had just been shot, point blank in her very presence) entering the jail shouting these slogans with her fist clenched. We shouted the very same slogans in chorus. Then, to our surprise, all the other prisoners thundered these slogans. The prison house of the oppressed paid red salutes to the fallen martyr, the first comrade to be killed in a fake encounter in Karnataka. Every one wanted to have a glimpse of this comrade. They scaled the walls and they pressed through the bars. And they continued to shout slogans in unison as they strained themselves to see her. Even now when Comrade Suma is taken to court, prisoners line the passage-way on either side; just as people throng the streets when the chariot is pulled on a festive day in the village.

Comrades: We were deeply pained when we heard that Com Bhaskar’s life had been snatched. We immediately held a meeting paying homage to the martyr. That day none of us could eat food. One other comrade did not eat for two days. Other prisoners wept. And once Sumakka came into the jail, we spoke to her. Then we felt even worse. We cannot describe how bad it was.

If the state is resorting to such cruel means, it only proves that the party and the organisation is deeply rooted among the people.

Jana Vimukthi: What was your response when Comrade Kumar and other comrades were arrested with him?

Comrades: These arrests only confirmed to us that the enemy was preventing all our activity outside. Comrades Kumar, Jindappa, Satyanna and the rest were sent to the jail after severely torturing them. Their faces and limbs were swollen. They could neither sit nor stand. We heated water and gave them fermentation. They could walk normally after a month’s care and nursing.

Jana Vimukthi: What do the prisoners feel about the party and its mass organisations?

Comrades: They came to know about the party and its organisations only after we began to work among them, and after we took up their problems. Till then they had only heard of us. Prisoners who hail from villages where the movement has spread already knew of us. Now they increasingly recognise the need for the organisation and the revolution.

March 8 in Jail: Unshackling the Chains

Women prisoners celebrated March 8 in Raichur jail this time.

These women held a discussion a week ahead of Women’s Day. Comrade Suma gave an introductory talk about what March 8 was and its significance for women’s liberation. Then they voted to hold the programme. Some women prisoners were elated that oppressed women had a day for themselves.

Several posters were written and pasted in the women’s barracks. These posters had press clippings, had details, facts and figures, about instances of oppression on women. Other posters targeted patriarchy and the role of religion in binding women, yet others described the road to women’s emancipation and the significance of the New Democratic Revolution for women.

The posters also caught the attention of some frowning male prisoners. They grumbled: "If our wives come to know of these ideas, then half the burden of house work will fall upon us."

On March 8, the programme went on for nearly four hours. The women’s movement and revolutionary women’s struggles were discussed. Among the various questions that were touched upon, were man-woman relations, the targets of the women’s movement and the relationship between feudalism, imperialism and women’s oppression. The women prisoners took an active part in these discussions. They brought forth bitter experiences of patriarchal oppression. Some women prisoners were inspired and decided to fight for emancipation inside and outside the jail.

At 5-30 pm, guests handpicked by the Jailer came to the prison. The chief guest was a woman lawyer. She spoke of the role of law in protecting women. She went on to state that the woman was woman’s foe. But the long hours of discussion beforehand by women prisoners had made it clear to them that this was not the truth. Soon a volley of questions were showered at the chief guest. Then the Warden intervened with his speech and did his best to defend the lawyer. But the women prisoners were not convinced.

Then, on behalf of the prisoners, it was Comrade Suma’s turn to speak. She said that without the role of women social change was impossible. She said: "In the early days, when society knew no class divisions, men and women lived with equality. But in today’s semi-feudal society, women have been relegated as second class citizens. Women have no independence. Women must fight for social and economic equality to emancipate herself. Since patriarchy rests on feudal and imperialist oppression, it is not possible to liberate women without the elimination of these two enemies. Hence it is inevitable that women participate actively in the class struggle." Revolutionary songs and slogans rent the air.

That was how prison women saw emancipation and celebrated the International Women’s Day.