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While traversing the
hills and plains of Dandakaranya and North Telengana, I met many a guerrilla
dedicated to the formation of a new society free from exploitation. Most came
from the poorest classes of society, many of whom had got their education only
after joining the CPI (ML)(PW). They all now belonged to the platoons of the
newly formed PGA. Their dedication to their cause, their tenacity to learn and
pick up knowledge, their commitment to the people’s army was indeed astounding.
All were young, mostly in their teens or early twenties. Nearly 30% of them were
women, lively and very enthusiastic. All were expectantly looking forward to the
celebrations planned for Dec.2, the first anniversary of the founding of the PGA.
I picked a
cross-section of female and male commanders and section commanders to interview
in order to get a proper profile of the guerrillas. All were from tribal
background
First I spoke to the
two women section commanders of their respective platoons. Both were from the DK
region, who had learned to read and write only after joining the Party. They
knew only Gondi language. Though they could understand hindi and did their
education (within the squad) in that language, they could express themselves
only in their mother tongue. So, com. Sujata, a DCM from North Bastar, acted as
interpreter. Though Telugu speaking, she had fully integrated with the tribals
and was fluent in Gondi.
Both Bharati and Rita
joined the movement from the Gadchirolli region (Maharashtra) at a time when
state repression was at its peak. It was 1992, the year when the Mahrashtra
government unleashed the type of repression which was till then only visible in
A.P. Thousands of arrests, disappearance of activists, harassment of relatives
of activists, rape of women and their brutal murder, the burning looting and
destruction of houses — all became a daily occurrence. Mass organizations were
smashed, and a white terror reigned throughout the region. It was many years
later before the organisation began recouping its forces in the region. This was
only possible due to the tenacity of the squads who persisted with mass contact,
giving the people confidence to face the terror, and reorganizing them in a more
effective way.
Both comrades Bharati
and Rita were then new recruits and faced those trying times with courage
organizing and building new units of the women’s organization, KAMS, and
building and sustaining the squads.
Before joining the
squad in 1992, com. Bharati had spent two years in her village and surrounding
areas as an organizer of the KAMS. With a team of four they would move from
village to village organizing the women. The team had a responsibility for 20 to
30 villages. They developed strong women’s organizations in about 10 villages by
taking up women’s issues. This was in the midst of acute police repression. Even
the women organizers had to sleep in the forests to escape the wrath of the
police. Bharati recounted, "there was a lot of work to be done in the house
and the fields, and there was no one else at home to do it. For one full year I
lived in the forest, going to work in the fields during the day. I still
remember Sitakka. She used to leave her little child, Mangesh, and join us in
the forests. Later she joined the squad, but had to leave due to illness. She
died due to kidney problem. Today her husband is a squad commander; and Mangesh
is now a squad member." She then recounted the difference between then and
now. She said that "first when there was a lot of repression, and the people
faced enormous problems, the people were not confident that we would be able to
face it. They stayed passive. But when they saw that we continued to develop,
and from squads built platoons, their confidence once again developed. Now they
feel more confident, and recruitment has begun throughout Gadchirolli".
Since Bharati joined
the squad she has been a part of many actions and encounters. In 1993 she joined
the first military squad when it was formed, and continued in it when it was
upgraded to a platoon in 1995. She has participated in a number of raids and
ambushes in as distant places as Balaghat and Gadchirolli. Bharati is known for
her courage. For example, she was once part of a pilot team of just six, when
the police surrounded them; amidst firing she went forward and retrieved a 12kg
mine. The team successfully retreated after firing back. She attended a central
military camp for DK in 1994 and the special women’s military camp in 1996. She
felt that the joint camp was more difficult. Besides, she felt it was more
difficult for women to express their problems in the joint camp, which was not
the case in the special women’s camp. While in the squad she rose to become a
deputy commander and also a SAC (party committee) member. Besides meeting the
duties of a deputy commander (which entail allocating sentry duties, organizing
the ration and the medical needs of the squad, etc), her main responsibility was
the building of the KAMS units in the village.
When asked if she
faced any problems from male counterparts when she was a deputy commander, she
replied there were problems from some, normally from amongst those who are more
educated. She said, "Some of them think that women are not competent to lead.
They do not say so, but we can tell which male comrades think that way. When we
give orders they obey, out of military discipline, but inside they nurse that
feeling. We can tell who has that feeling and who has not". It is now a year
since Bharati has been a section commander of a platoon. Her younger brother,
Shrikant, who was a member of a squad, was martyred a few years back.
Comrade Rita joined
the squad in 1993. Earlier she was a member of the range committee of the KAMS,
having responsibility for 10 villages. She said, "Earlier in the village
there was no awakening. We had no right to even talk in the village. We knew the
problems of women, but never knew it could ever change, until we were educated
by the women members of the squad. During the peak of the repression, when the
MLA was kidnapped, the police camped for two days in my village. Though I
continued in the village not a person informed that I was a RC member of the
KAMS. In the initial phase when we roamed around as a team, people would make
comments. So twice DAKMS comrades accompanied us, explaining to the people.
After that there was no problem."
First Rita was a
member of a number of squads. In 1996 she joined the platoon. She too has taken
part in a number of actions. She was part of the scout batch during the Kandi
ambush in 1997, and involved in a flank movement that resulted in the killing of
5 police. In the same year she took part in the Godsur ambush. She was a part of
the seizing party in the Basagudda ambush, in which 16 policemen were killed.
She was a part of the ambush party in the Manpur raid, which gave a big cache of
weapons. In addition, she has been involved in a number of opportunity ambushes.
Rita firmly asserts, "We women can take up any responsibility given, and are
doing so. But sometimes there is hesitancy to give responsibility. This need not
be so, as, if we are unable to do something we will say so".
After these
interviews Com. Sujata gave an example of the involvement of women in the
village. She said that in a village in the Kondagao squad area of North Bastar
the police regularly harassed the women. An informer kept the police well
informed. One day they chased the police for a full kilometer. While the others
escaped the women caught hold of one of them and beat him thoroughly. He begged
for pardon and gave the name of the police informer. This incident had an
enormous impact on the entire area.
I then turned to com.
Renu, platoon commander and secretary of the PPC (platoon party committee). He
too is from Gadchirolli, and joined the movement way back in 1987. Being one of
the earlier recruits he was not only able to give a picture of the growth of the
movement in Gadchirolli, but also able to present the process of the formation
of the PGA and its impact in the villages.
When Renu was
studying in school his father was an active member of the peasant organization,
the DAKMS. He was always in touch with the squads. When he was in the 7th
standard, the squads visited his school twice. Renu recounts: "On the first
visit I did not understand much. The second gave me some understanding. I
realized what they said was good. Besides, in school I was interested in reading
about revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. I was the first from my village to join
the squads; though others had joined from the area. Two others joined with me,
but they soon returned. When I joined, they arrested my father twice. He spent
over six months in jail. After I joined 10 to 12 more youth joined the squads.
But in the repression that followed many returned, some even became informers.
Four continue to this day. After being one year with the squad I was given
training as a doctor, and became the squad doctor in 1989.In 1991 I was made the
deputy commander of the Ettapalli squad. Then began the brutal repression from
1992".
The police went from
village to village, arresting mass organization activists and terrorizing the
villagers. Maharaja V. Rao together with the police organized the Shanti Sena
involving lumpen elements and the rich. They were given arms. They roamed the
fields at night finding out the DAKMS leaders, brutally beating them and even
killing many. But, when the squad eliminated a few of their top leaders, this
gang collapsed. Most of the mass organizations collapsed in this period of
repression, and many of their leaders surrendered. Renu reflects: "In those
days it was very difficult to even get food. People used to ask us to leave the
village, as the police would harass them. We first approached relatives of squad
members and slowly spread to the others. Within two years the people once again
began to receive us and give us food".
After being two years
with the Ettapalli squad, Renu was shifted to the military squad in end 1992, at
the time of its formation. He attended two military training camps (he came
first in the 1993 one) and was involved in the first ambush at Kistapur. Since
then, he was involved in a number of ambushes and raids. When this grew into the
platoon in 1995 Renu became a section commander and a member of its platoon
party committee. Since then he has been a member of the platoon. In these years
the platoon has been involved in 10 ambushes (3 successful) and a number of
raids. Between actions, time is kept for study. Also, while moving from one
division to another, if they have time to spare they join the propaganda work of
the squad. He then went on to give an example of some novel methods of
propaganda adopted by the platoon, particularly to counter the terror (Jan
Jagran) campaigns of the govt./police.
He said that, though
the squad was propagating that they were building up a people’s army, in actual
fact the villagers only saw those same 8 to 10 squad members year after year. So
what the platoon did, it chose some large villages, and in broad daylight
marched into the village in military formation, with red flags flying. They
would then march through every street in the village with the LMG and AK-47
rifle bearers in the lead. They would then settle in the center of the village,
with the LMG and red flag in the front and address the entire village, telling
them of the existence and role of the Red Army. This had an enormous impact on
the villagers who gained confidence of the PW’s ability to face the enemy in the
wake of increasing police attacks and combing operations. Being big villages the
word of the people’s army would soon spread to the entire area.
Finally, speaking of
the impact of the formation of the platoon Renu commented: "I have noticed in
Gadchirolli that when the platoon enters an area, and the police get to know of
it, they stop their random movements. They get afraid. Now, with the formation
of the PGA the effect will be even more. The people too will gain confidence.
After all, in Gadchirolli, only commandos are used, all of whom are equipped
with AK-47s".
I then spoke to
deputy commander, com. Ravi, who had basically come along the same period as
Renu. But, unlike Renu, Ravi got his entire education/literacy only in the
party. Having traversed much the same areas as Renu, with much the same
experience, his particularity is a number of close encounters with the police.
In the earlier period itself he was injured at the time of the Tipragad ambush.
After recovering he joined the Chamorshi squad. One day he and the commander,
Santosh, were going for an appointment. Some children were accompanying them.
Suddenly the police ambushed them. Santosh and a child were killed. He managed
to escape. In 1995, after joining the platoon, three of them were going to a
well for water. This time the police ambushed them from two sides. There was
heavy firing, yet all three managed to escape while retaliating. Ravi still has
pain while walking, due to the first injury, though it is never visible due to
his liveliness and sense of humour.
After spending some
days in DK I crossed over to North Telangana to meet up with a Platoon from that
region. The commander of the Platoon, com. Raviraj, gave me a picture, not only
of the platoon’s activities in NT, but also the growth of the movement in the
Eturnagaram region on the border of the Khammam and Warangal districts. Raviraj
is also from a tribal background.
He had just passed
his 10th standard and moved to a hostel in the town for his college studies. It
was 1990 and there was no PW in that region, only the Prajapantha (New
Democracy) party. Raviraj recounted that initial experience: "As I had no
contact initially I formed an adivasi organization to fight for the rights of
tribals. I came in touch first with the Prajapantha people who were working
amongst tribals. But they were not popular with the people as they always kept
good relations with the rich, and appeared more as agents of these elite
elements just as any other political party. I first met up with the PW some time
in 1990, during the brief legal period in that year; I became a full time
organizer of the youth organization, RYL. As we began to grow in the area the
Prajapantha felt threatened and decided to finish us off. One day while we were
conducting a meeting in a village two squads of the Prajapantha sat in ambush,
waiting for us. But, the people informed us and told us not to leave the
village. In the morning we shifted to another village. But, as one comrade fell
ill, he rested at the bus stand. There the Prajapantha people saw him and asked
him to come for talks. When he went with them, they killed him. First they
issued a statement that they did not kill him. When we issued a statement, they
said he was killed while retaliating in self-defense. Till 1991 they launched
many attacks on us to prevent our growth. After we gained strength it was the
police that took over and came on a massive offensive. While still in the
hostel, they often raided, arrested and brutally tortured many activists, but
not one revealed a thing. We were four leading activists, and at this time the
party told us to go underground. While I went underground, the other three said
they would do so a few days later. In end 1991 all three were picked up and
killed in a fake encounter. Our initial RYL batch was 10 of us. Besides the
three, four more were killed by the police — two in 1994, one in 1995 and one in
1997. Two of these comrades had become SAC secretaries when they were martyred.
One was killed by the prajapantha".
Raviraj then became
an underground organizer in the plain areas, and later joined a squad to be part
of the planned expansion in the forest regions of Khammam. In 1993, when the SAC
was formed he was elected as its secretary, together with being the commander of
the squad. In mid 1996 he was co-opted into the DC and in mid 1997 became the
commander of the platoon (which had been formed a year earlier). Simultaneously
he was secretary of the Platoon Party Committee (PPC). In end 1999 someone else
took over as commander, while he continued as secretary of the PPC. In this
period he has been in a number of ambushes and raids and has enormous experience
on military matters.
This then is a
profile of some leading comrades of the PGA, which will be celebrating the first
year of its formation on Dec.2, 2001. Com. Raviraj said that this day would be
widely celebrated throughout the ranks of the people’s forces with a big
campaign of recruitment. On this, the second anniversary of the martyrdom of the
three Central Committee members of the CPI (ML)(PW), the birth and growth of a
people’s army in India is no doubt a fitting tribute.
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