Volume 1, No. 1, March 2000

On January 10, 2000 comrades Ravindran and Shiva were arrested at Perungadu village in Pennagaram taluk of Dharmapuri district. Both were brutally tortured by the STF (Special Task Force) and ‘Q’ Branch. Ravindran was then blindfolded and shot dead from point-blank range, in front of Shiva. Though the police put across the standard story of ‘encounter’, the barbarous torture marks on his body prove the lie.

The TN police have a criminal legacy of fake encounters. In the late 1940s they killed Com. Iraniyan (CPI) in a fake encounter at Tanjavoor. In the 1970s Com. Appu, TN Secretary and a member of the CC of the CPI (ML) ‘disappeared". During the Emergency they inhumanly tortured and killed Com. Seeralan of the CPI (ML). Again in the 1980s when the mass movement was gaining momentum under the leadership of the CPI (ML)(PW) they butchered 26 comrades. Devaram (police chief) personally tortured Balan, Kannamani and killed them in cold blood. All these killings were said to be "encounters."

But the revolutionary movement always regained its strength and grew stronger after each round of repression. In the 1980s the movement spread wider and deeper not only in Dharmapuri, but in many parts of Tamil Nadu. Unfortunately, the movement suffered a big set-back not because of police terror, but due to betrayal of the leadership. The liquidationist Kodandaraman clique did more damage to the movement than all the police actions.

From 1992, efforts were made to revive the movement. In the last few years the mass organisations have been rebuilt and struggles are growing. Nearly 100 units of the mass organisation have developed in Dharmapuri and Pennagaram taluks alone. Struggles against money-lenders, forest officials, landlords and bad gentry have been taken up. Caste oppression and women’s oppression have been fought against. In the 1993-94 period the police unleashed a wave of repression arresting over 150 people. This continues unabated till today. The rulers fear the spread of the movement in the Pennagaram forest area, and the STF, which was till now used against Veerappan, has been turned against the revolutionaries. They also armed local rowdies and on one occasion Com. Ravindran narrowly escaped.

On December 26th two buses were burnt (after the passengers were asked to alight) in Dharmapuri, in protest against the dastardly killing of the three CC members of CPI (ML)[PW]. The police used this as a pretext to unleash large-scale repression. And to prepare the ground for this, highly exaggerated reports on the ‘PW’ were planted in the media. A 3000 strong force was mobilised in addition to the STF. Six special teams were formed to comb the villages, police stations were fortified and police teams were deployed at all bus stands and main centres. Finally, they were able to arrest and kill Com. Ravindran.

Com. Ravindran was from an upper middle-class background. After finishing his diploma in civil engineering he joined the telecom department. There, he not only fought against the rampant corruption, but became popular as a trade union activist. He took up the day to day struggles and tried to unite the SC/ST employees into the general union by taking up their specific issues.

He led a simple life and before he became a whole-timer in 1989, he used to give a large part of his salary to bring out "Munnodi", a revolutionary student and youth magazine. He was firm in resisting the repression of the state. He took a leading role in the struggles on the pro-mandal issue, against the US imperialist attack on Iraq, against the Kodankulam nuclear plant, etc.

In 1993, when he was arrested he fought against the ill-treatment of prisoners. He exposed the custodial death of a boy which led to the suspension and arrest of the inspector. Thus Com. Ravindran always stood up against injustices — whether amongst the people or in prison.

Though he came from an upper-middle class family, he remoulded himself as an excellent proletarian fighter. He was an outstanding example in simplicity and hardwork. He possessed excellent communist qualities like : taking responsibilities and initiative in work and maintaining strict organisational discipline. He always mingled with the people and was never aloof. Though many from a petti-bourgeois background lost interest half-way through, Ravindran stood like a rock without any vacillation. Even in his last moments, he boldly faced the enemy bullets, upholding the prestigious legacy of the communists, particularly the CPI (ML)[PW].

Though the enemy thought by killing Ravindran, he could crush the movement and break the morale of the revolutionary people, there was an immediate reaction from the people from every walk of life. While Com. Ravindran’s wife, Nirmala (lecturer in Vizag law college) exposed the cold blooded murder and false propaganda of the police through a press conference and legal procedures, a fact-finding team of civil rights organisation visited the villages and exposed Karunanidhi’s barbarity. Com. Ravindran’s funeral procession at Chennai, with 300 people attending, raised slogans to "avenge the murder" and "fulfill the dreams of martyrs". In Nayakkankottai, Dharmapuri, within ten days of the incident, a memorial meeting was held, inspite of police repression. In Chennai, a demonstration was held by a Joint Action Committee of many revolutionary and progressive organisations. Condolence meetings were also held at Salem and Madurai. Protest programmes were organised at other places by civil liberties organisation.

The DMK government has unleashed this terror in an attempt to nip the revolutionary movement in the bud in Tamil Nadu. Its hands, already stained with the blood of minorities (muslims), Dalits and workers (Mancholai), is attempting a blood-bath of the revolutionaries in Dharmapuri. The Karunanidhi family, having made Tamil Nadu a hunting ground for TNCs, like Hyundai, Ford, Dupont, Sterllite, IT industries, etc., has become one of the major comprador families of Tamil Nadu with huge assets. These compradors have been launching increasing attacks on the living conditions of the people through price rise, cuts in subsidies, retrenchments etc.

But repression begets revolt. These monsters will, no doubt, be swept away in the mighty storm of the people’s upsurge, inspired by the great martyrs.

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