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July 28. Martyr’s Day
in India. The Day, the founder and guide of India’s revolutionary communist
movement, Com. Charu Majumdar, was brutally killed in a Kolkata police lock-up,
31 years ago. On this Day we remember our near and dear ones who selflessly laid
down their lives fighting a brutal oppressor, for the freedom of our country.
Freedom from want, freedom from injustice, freedom from social prejudices,
freedom from imperialist domination, and freedom from ruthless exploitation and
oppression.
On this day, in the
year 2003, we particularly remember the four senior leaders of the CPI(ML)(PW) —
North Telengana SZC members, Com. Ramakrishna (RK) on March 25 and Com Sudhakar
(Komuraiah) on April 25; Hyderabad city Committee Secretary Com. Ramana Reddy on
Apr. 20; and Adilabad DCS, Com. Lalita — who were martyred within just the last
two months. They were the gems of our society — deeply committed to the cause of
justice and socialism, totally selfless in undergoing the rigours of a guerrilla
life in the forests and fields of Andhra Pradesh, always kind and concerned
about their fellow comrades and the masses; and with a burning hatred for the
devils that run our country, the perpetrators of untold suffering on the vast
masses. They were the cream of this society. Their loss is our loss; a great
loss for all democrats and revolutionaries, and to the people of our country.
But they were not
alone in this great sacrifice for a noble cause. Roughly 300 other such
revolutionaries of the MCCI and the CPI(ML)(PW) have laid down their lives in
the course of the last one year. Many were in the prime of their youth. Many
were mahila comrades. Some, like Patelji of Bihar, was more aged, with a vast
revolutionary experience. The four above mentioned comrades also had
revolutionary lives varying from 15 to 20 years. A wealth of experience. A great
depth of knowledge. Good military prowess in the battlefield. A sad loss indeed.
We also condone the
loss of the heroic fighters of the nationality movements, particularly of
Kashmir and the North East, who are being crushed for decades under the
jack-boots of the Indian rulers and their maniacal armed forces. Over the past
year a minimum of a thousand would have lost their lives. Not a day passes
without reports filtering through a heavily censored media, of rapes, tortures,
disappearances, and the worst of brutalities by the occupying forces of the GOI.
Though unclear about their final goals, what they desire is freedom from
domination of the oppressive rule of India. A just demand, given their history
of independence, and the impossibility and illegitimacy to keep nationalities
within a country at the point of a gun.
We also condone the
death of the thousands of Muslims, dalits and other minorities, who have been
sacrificed at the alter of the Hindu fascists. In the aftermath of the holocaust
of Gujarat, while 120 Muslims have been arrested under POTA from Godhra, and the
entire community is being harassed, the perpetrators of the unimaginable
brutalities of gruesome rapes, mass murder, loot and burning of thousands, are
being let off, without a murmur. Not only have the BJP and RSS sponsors of the
carnage been rewarded, the entire opposition, judiciary, and other wings of the
state machinery are silent.
On this Martyr’s Day
is it just sufficient to mourn the loss of these thousands of fighters and even
innocents? Can we remain silent to this type of outrage and carnage in the
country, which is growing with each passing day? To remain unconcerned de facto
means joining the gangsters. To wish away these inhuman atrocities on the
grounds of ‘violence breeding violence’, or equating the violence of the
oppressor and the oppressed, is to give legitimacy to these fascist monsters.
Silence too, means consent. To merely mourn is not sufficient. Anger must burn
inside every genuine democrat, with a vow to destroy the monster that
perpetrates these cruelties. It is not merely a cry for vengeance. Toleration of
these crimes will result only in their escalation with each passing year. For,
as the ‘economic reforms’ (or globalisation) results in greater and greater
impoverisation; as the gap between the rich and the poor become ever wider; as
the nationalities, minorities, dalits, tribals, and other margi-nalized
sections, face increasing alienation; and as the arrogance of the rulers grows,
intoxicated by the strength of their armed might — their ruthlessness will grow
and grow. Tomorrow not even the liberals will be spared. Already the
inhumanities of a Modi, Chandrababu Naidu, Advani/Vajpayee types, a Jayalalitha,
and even a Buddhadev, have surpassed that of many a tin-pot dictator. But the
Indian rulers have the Chanakya ‘charm’, of duping the world at large with
democratic posturing, suppressing facts on atrocities from reaching the media,
and carrying on unconcerned, with their butchery.
But, in the face of
resistance of a vast multitude of people, the cowardice of these bullies will
come out. Their arrogance will be punctured. Their blood-dripping sword will be
blunted. Their pompous posturing will get deflated. They will scurry like rats
on a sinking ship. They will beg deliverance and protection from their foreign
masters.
Today is Martyr’s Day
in the year 2003. In this year it is not sufficient to pay homage only to those
within the country, when the world people are being faced with the monster of
all monsters — US imperialism and their buddies. The extent of the massacres and
butcheries in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere has still to be assessed. The
‘free’ media has probably never been so tightly controlled. The killings will
probably go into lakhs. Today we also mourn their loss. Those murdered by the US
butcher machine are 90% innocent citizens, as these cowards fear a direct fight
against a contending force — so they bomb the existence out of all and sundry on
the ground. We mourn their loss. We also mourn the loss of all the fighters
against this vampire, whether they be Islamic, anarchists, democrats and
patriots, or communists. We may not agree with many of their methods, but for
want of an alternative, desperation drives them to suicide bombings and other
such terrorist methods. No doubt, mobilizing the masses for armed struggle
utilizing guerrilla warfare on selected military and political targets, would be
far more effective, yet we cannot but mourn the loss of these fighters.
Besides, the fight
against US imperialism worldwide is also our fight, because it is particularly
US imperialism that is winding its octopus like poisonous arms around every
aspect of our country’s life. Besides, it is their campaign against ‘terrorism’
that is giving greater arrogance to their dalals in the country to step up their
repression against the oppressed and against revolutionary and nationality
movements in this country.
So, on this occasion,
while remembering the heroic martyrs of the last year, let us not merely emulate
their heroic spirit to stand uncompromisingly on the side of justice, but also
learn from both the positive and negative aspects of their struggles, to be able
to more effectively hit the cruel enemy and win the battle for a new world
order.
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