Volume 4, No. 12, December 2003

The revolutionary movement has been advancing step-by-step in Dandakaranya since 1980. As a result of the revolutionary movement every development here will reflect the proletarian class outlook. To prove that the approach of revolutionary movement is different from the approach outside it, I am writing about the judicial system being implemented in Dandakaranya.

Through the revolutionary movement in Dandakaranya is confined only to the Adivasi regions, its impact has spread all over the country. During the process of the development of the revolutionary movement, the domination of tribal elders began to decline gradually. In the past the hierarchy in the Adivasi administrative machinery was similar to what exists in a bourgeois/feudal state. 12 villages form a Bancha, 40 villages are combined to form a Paragana, sixty villages form a Patti and there used to be a King above them. Village elders, in every village tried to resolve the people’s problems and look after the administrative affairs. The issues which could not be sorted out at the village level were resolved at the higher Paragana or Patti level. Meetings for solving such complicated issues were once called "Bhunkal Vdana’. Everyone had to abide by the judgement meted out here. Depending on the seriousness or complexity of the problem, the Rajdhn would also participate in this if required.

While resolving the issues either at a local level or at a higher level, punishments were in accordance with the intensity of the crime. But the intensity and complexity of the crime was decided by the tribal leaders and they are the ones who gave judgment. They are known as Patels at the village level and as Manjhis, Shandses and Bhumyal at a higher level. They have the power to give punishments on every issue, from murder to every social issue like  "marriage problems, traditional sanctions, etc. Their mode of punishment is decided by self discretion. The judgment and punishment of their village elders were always with the objective of subjugating the weaker sections in the village and safeguarding their own interests. Poor farmers usually abhorred their judgments. Moreover, in their punishment, expulsion from the tribe was equivalent to capital punishment.
In the above mentioned Adivasi regions the exploitative state machinery was weak. Roads and communication system was at a minimum level. We can say that until the last two decades they did not have the experiences of going to the police, dealing with the lawyers, running around the courts, etc. However big the crime may be it was generally resolved within their traditional hierarchy. However we can come across few people who were convicted with murders and spent some time in jail. There are some people who killed their enemies carried the dead bodies to the police station and surrendered to the police. They fearlessly accepted their crime in courts and returned after the completion of the jail term imposed by the "judge". All such people are called as "prisoners" (Kharidors) in the village. Their children too are known as "prisoners children" which gradually has become their family name! But there are only few such people. After the revolutionary movement spread into these areas, after about a decade, "people’s courts" started to emerge here. Their earliest form, however, was in the mass organistion.

After the revolutionary movement extended to Dandakaranya, Mass organis-ations came into existence. In their villages, peasants and agricultural labourers who were orga-nised started fighting against the atrocities of the exploiting tribal elders, whose hold and domination started to weaken before the people’s strength. Wherever their domination weakened, people felt free to keep their problems before the mass organisations. The mass organisation leadership comprised poor farmers and labourers who started to resolve their problems on their own. In place of economic fines and expulsion from the tribes or the traditional punishments, now efforts were made for mutual cooperation among them.   A result of these revolutionary developments is the people courts, — the Grama Rajya Committee (the present form of   proletarian dictatorship) which started in 1995. The Revolutionary People’s Committees (RPCs), formed later, with their further developed understanding have brought an alternate  judicial system into existence.  The Judicial department is part of the Revolutionary People’s Committee. This judicial department is responsible for providing justice to all the people under the Revolutionary People’s Committee. (about 3000 population live under each Revolutionary People’s Committee). In this judicial department there are either three or five members (men and women). The People’s protection squad is at their disposal all the time. This squad consists of seven to eleven members. Presently they are called militia members. Wherever the Revolutionary People’s Committees are not formed the revolutionary mass organisations are resolving the people’s problems as it was done in the past. We can observe the nature of judgements and punishments under the leadership of judicial departments belonging to the Revolutionary People’s Committees from the incidents given below.

Some Examples of Adjudication

The following are some examples of justice meted out in the course of the last two years:

1.    In Chitral village the exploitative government, without the involvement of the village people nominated a person called "Dauval" as the sarpanch. He is a lumpen in the village. In spite of having one wife (35 years) he was trying to get another wife. But his wife refused and criticised him for bringing another woman after their eight years of marriage.  He not only got another wife but he also decided to eliminate his first wife. When the black deed was done, this issue was immediately brought to the notice of the Revolutionary People’s Committee. The judicial department of the RPC invited people from six surrounding villages (400 men and women). The majority of the people found him guilty of killing his wife. They seriously criticised the Sarpanch. They proposed to the judicial department to put him in jail. Bowing to the people’s demand they decided to put him in jail and imprisoned him in a room in a new building. It was decided that his family would bring food for him two times in a day. Militia members locked his room from outside during the daytime and slept before his room during the night. After one month that village Sarpanch was released from jail. This incident occurred in March 2002.
Note: This Sarpanch also submitted his resignation at the time of mass resignations in this area.

2.    In a village Pette a farmer Maral found a party "funds dump" (where guerilla squads keep money underground for future use). This was also found by four others. And every one started to take some money without letting others know. Though they took precautions to keep this secret from the villagers, the village people started doubting the change in their life-style. In the meantime the party activists also came to know that their dump was missing. They immediately brought this to the notice of the Revolutionary People’s Committee. The RPC assembled all the villagers and started investigating. During their investigation they found that Marel and four others had stolen the party funds. All the five persons immediately accepted their mistake and handed over the remaining money with them to the judicial department. The Judicial department gave judgment asking them to return the balance amount within two months and decided to put them in the prison till they returned the money.

As there is no new house under construction in that village it was decided to use one of the farmer’s house. They were all imprisoned in the extra room in that farmer’s house. Here also food for the imprisoned person was supplied by their families. Militia members while carrying out their regular activities during the daytime slept as guards to them during the night. However they faced a new problem in that village. As that village had the probability of witnessing enemy’s movements it was difficult to confine them in one place for two months. So they were shifted them to another village. Here also food was brought by their family members. They faced another problem in this village.

As it was June-July (2002), it was the peak agricultural season for the village people. Their family members did not have time to bring food daily. Because of this they started giving rice in large quantity. As a result they were forced to prepare their own food. It was quite embarrassing for them to live in another village and another house, confined to a room and living under watch and cooking their own food. They started regretting their mistake. When the people noticed their mental transformation they helped them financially and with that help their family members repaid the party amount. After they were released they started participating in the agricultural work and are leading a normal life.

3.    There was another experience in "Koliyal" village. One young man from Guntur reached Dandakaranya in December 2001. He gave his name as Koteshwara Rao. He said that because of growing unemployment and declining opportunity for better education he decided to join the revolutionary movement and fight for social change. He reached DK with that objective.

Though he reached DK with a strong determination people did not believe him as he did not know the local language (Gondi) and as he did not have any local contacts. Because of this, the Koliya mass organisation leaders took him into custody. One of them collected the details from Koteshwara Rao. Koteshwara Rao said that his father’s name was Mohan Rao, he was from Dondapadu village in Guntur district, had studied up to inter in Raghavaiah college and that his brother-in-law Nikkadi Prabhakar was working as an Enadu reporter at Unnekal. He also explained about his objective. To verify the details given by Koteshwara Rao, the  mass organisation leaders contacted the addresses given by him. (There were incidents of police informers giving more reliable details and managing to escape). His parents from Dandepadu village immediately came crying and thanked the mass organisation leaders for handing over their son safely and took him away. The mass organisation leaders advised him not to come so far to work for the movement but instead to work in the people’s movement in Guntur district. (However, local activists still have some doubts that all this may be part of the police plan).

5.    In Dokke village one farmer Panne brought a girl from his relatives and kept her with him to look after his crops. The name of that girl was Rago and her age was less than 10 years. According to Indian government standards, she is a child labourer. There are many such cases in Adivasis. One day, when Rago was looking after the cattle a bullock entered a neighbouring field and started eating their crops. Seeing this, Panne got angry and hit Rago with a stick. As the lathi hit her on the temple she died on the spot. Panne was shocked by this incident. The judicial department knowing this incident tried Panne and gave him 15 days of ordinary imprisonment. After seeing that Panne was worrying with the guilt of killing Rago on one side and losing the crop on the other, the judicial department, with the approval of the people, reduced his imprisonment after three days and allowed him to guard his crop.

6. This incident took place in the Kistaram Range. In this range a youth called Andalu used to roam about like a lumpen. He had contacts with policemen. Villagers, after seeing his name in the list of people to be investigated by the local RPC, caught him one day. After tying him, they reported to the RPC. But before they came from the distant place Andalu managed to escape and took shelter with the police. After this incident Andalu became further anti- people and started looking for squads as an informer to the police. While he was searching for the squad in the forest he was again spotted by people and this time he was put before the guerrillas.

The local party committee analysed this case and handed him over to the RPC for trial. They put him under confinement for one month and called his father and other relatives. The judicial department explained to them that by joining the enemy, Andalu is working against the people, party and people’s guerrilla army and it is not a correct thing. They asked his father to give a guarantee that he would stop these activities of Andalu and keep him in the village. But Andalu’s father refused, saying that his son would never listen to him. He also said that he was ashamed to call Andalu his son and that he would not have any objection even if he is given capital punishment. Relatives and other village people expressed the same opinion and no one came forward to give a guarantee for his conduct. Some of them narrated their bitter experiences with him. On the whole, people explained his secret relations with policemen to the extent they understood. Though everything was happening openly before him, Andelu did not show any regret for his behaviour or any signs of change or regret. In such circumstances according to the people’s opinion, the judgment of the judicial department was implemented by the militia.

Though there are many such incidents, only a few selected incidents have been mentioned. New experiences like keeping the people in locked rooms, confining them for months, collecting information about the accused etc. have come before the movement only in these past two years.

1. In place of mass organisation resolving the people’s problems, the judicial department of the RPCs have started to resolve them.

2. The Panchayat system under the tribal elders in the villages was destroyed and came into the control of farmers and labourers.

3. Judicial forms by tribal elders, which have continued for ages are destroyed, and in their place have developed the judicial forms conducted by the judicial departments, elected after every two years by the people.

4.Judgements are given with a class outlook. Capital punishment is implemented according to the people’s opinion. Comprehensive investigation were carried out in each case.

5. There is no place for selfish interests, and individual benefits. And there is no scope for favoritism and partiality.

6.    Farmers are breathing freely as the traditional punishments are gone. With the removal of sanctions imposed by the tribal elders— like not starting the work without celebrating the festivals— village elders lost the opportunity to make a feast from the fines collected from the people in the name of traditional sanctions. However, whenever great difficulty occurs in the village (tigers eating the goats or any epidemic occurred in the village) tribal elders blame the people for ignoring the traditions.

7.    In fact due to their ignorance, farmers generally do not dare ignore the traditional sanctions. But under some unavoidable circumstance if there is any failure, village elders used to make a big hue and cry about it in the past. As it is not there now, it helped in developing rational thinking and scientific knowledge of the people.

8.    With the loosening grip of the traditional hierarchy and emergence of the new judicial system people no longer depend on the bourgeois judicial system.

9.    The earlier rules of untouchability within the tribes and inter-tribal marriages are gradually removed. Joint feasts and allowing the marriages as per choice have been started.

10.    Earlier the families of those who spent a jail term in this exploitative society were branded as prisoner families and put to severe torture by the people. With the beginning of locker-room punishments started in the village itself, people are not treating them as prisoners (Khadis)
In spite of the above favourable aspects the people’s judicial system is facing many problems:

1.    No comprehensive judicial code has developed.

2.    As there is no opportunity for appealing at a higher court after the people’s court (as higher level judicial committees are not developed) people who are not happy with its judgment are now appealing to the party committees.

3.    There is a need to make the persons undergoing locked room punishments participate in the common work in the village and uitilise their labour power.

4.    When a large number of persons are put under arrest there is difficulty in building separate rooms for them.

5.    The RPC needs to provide separate funds for feeding the prisoners.

6.    Because of the probability of an enemy attack, there must be a policy for guarding the prisoners.

7.    There is a need to improve resistance to avoid regular attacks on the village by the enemy.

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