|
For the tribals of
Araku valley of Vishakapatnam district life is a hell; death comes as freedom
from suffering. Excruciating poverty coupled with rampant malaria (and other
diseases) is decimating the entire populace. No health care, no cloroquine
tablets; each attack of malaria of a semi-starved human, is a step towards
death. Hunger compels them to carry on working no matter how ill. Added to this
are the witchdoctors, private doctors, traders and officials who fleece them
even of the little they earn. Superstition and backward-ness adds to their woes.
Girls marry on reaching puberty and give children at their homes without any
help at the tender age of 15 and 16. Together with malaria, that too of the
falciparum type, ameobiasis, scabies, jaundice, gastroenteritis and fractures
are rampant. Of the average annual income of a tribal family of Rs.360 per month
20% goes on health care. Haunted by poverty and illness that follow each other
in quick succession the tribal people are pushed to a slow agonizing death. As a
tribal said "it is a wretched life. There is no quality in it. Illness has
become our second nature. Death at least is freedom form repeated ailments".
And it is amongst
such people that the Maoists work and live. Some of the Agency areas of
Vishakapatnam are strongholds of the Naxalites. The pain of the tribals and
their death is not felt by the moneybags and their agents in Hyderabad. The
death of a single Congress or TDP hoodlum is of importance, not the lives of
thousands of tribals. According to the very TDP itself 2,000 tribals died in
these belts in just two months. On an average 312 tribals (official figure) die
in these Agency areas of the State every month. No tears are shed for them. On
the contrary those who seek their upliftment are banned, hounded and killed in
fake encounters after brutal tortures. AP under UPA rule has had the largest
number of suicides in the country in its one year rule — the official figure is
over 700. AP has the largest number of rural families in debt — about 82%
compared to the national average of 49%. But AP is the poster boy of the World
Bank implementing its reforms packages with a fervour that astonishes its very
sponsors. Be it Naidu of the TDP or YSR of the Congress, these are nothing but
mafia bandits acting at the instructions of the imperialist agencies.
On the very next day
after the ban the World Bank President descended on AP and gifted millions of
dollars for the so-called Self Help Groups in the Naxalite-affected areas. As a
statement by the CPI(Maoist) general secretary, issued on Aug.22 says: "It is
no coincidence that the arrival of the World Bank’s chief Paul Wolfowitz to
Andhra Pradesh State and the promulgation of ban on CPI (Maoist) and seven
revolutionary mass organisa-tions happened at the same time. By proclaiming the
ban on our party and on seven mass organisations, YSR wants to show that he is
no less loyal than Chandra Babu Naidu in following the dictates of the World
Bank."
It was first the
Jayalalitha of Tamilnadu that imposed a ban on the Maoists; this was followed by
a strong threat by the Karnataka government to do the same; then the AP
government banned the party and now finally the Chhathisgarh government has
banned the CPI(Maoist). In fact the CPI(Maoists) have de facto been banned in
most State, particularly in AP. The CPI(Maoist) statement adds: From January
the government started genocide. In the last seven months it has killed 110
comrades belonging to various revolutionary Parties and mass organisations. Most
of them are unarmed. And all most all the ‘encounters’ are fake. Also in
Jharkhand leaders of the Revolu-tionary Democratic Front and other
revolu-tionary mass organisation, were picked up from the Dhanbad trade union
office in July itself, for no reason whatsoever.
The ban on the
Maoists and mass organisations is to stifle the attempts of the masses, like the
above mentioned tribals, to come out of this humiliating and agonizing
existence. For, it is the Maoists who alone share their woes and show them a
path to their liberation. It is they who live amongst them, educate them, give
them some self-respect and teach them how to fight for a better existence. The
arrest of Vara Vara Rao, a poet, and Kalyan Rao, a novelist, immediately after
the ban, is nothing but an attempt to stifle the voice of even legal dissent. If
even poetry is treason and stories are terrorism then people have no other
alternative than to raise the gun in the fight not merely for justice but even
to gain the smallest democratic space.
Maoists demand
self-respect not the servile existence of the "mainstream". Maoists demand
justice and not the loot of the moneybags that finance the "mainstream". Maoists
demand humanity for the poverty stricken masses, not the dirty politicking of
the "mainstream". And Maoists demand a decent life for all not just for the
elite and their hangers on that thrive on the "mainstream". These vultures of
the system demand that the Maoists give up, not merely their guns, but primarily
their self-respect, their humanity, their sense of justice, and their struggles
for a decent existence and come and join their gutter "mainstream".
This is what the
Prime Minister also meant when he repeated this at Hyderabad soon after the
imposition of the ban. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Naxalite "brethren"
to use democratic means and the electoral path to achieve their goals and in the
same breath warned that no civilised society would tolerate violence and
extremism. He used his typical carrot and stick method.
But to join the
‘mainstream’, would mean selling ones soul to the devil. Of course then, they
will not be banned, they will not be killed in fake encounters, they will not be
brutally tortured, they will not be hounded day and night by their dogs, the
Greyhounds. It is an easy path taken by so many — Liberation, Red Flag, etc —
but it is a dishonest path, a path of betrayal of the masses and servility
before the establishment. They want the Maoist to give up their principles,
their dreams of a just order and join the devils of the ‘mainstream’ that reeks
of corruption, opportunist power politics, scheming Chanakyas, gangsters, mafia,
et al.
The Ban in AP & the
Reaction
The ban was imposed
in the wake of the killing of the Congress MLA by the Naxalites. But if that was
reason for the ban, the Congress itself should be banned as they were involved
in the killing of the powerful TDP MLA form Rayalseema. In fact these two main
parties have killed numerous of their men in the Rayalseema faction fights and
the chiefs of both parties are in fact faction leaders deeply involved in these
murders. That killing was a mere pretext to impose the ban.
For the first time
ever the literary organisation Revolutionary Writer’s Association (RWA or
Virasam in Telugu) was banned. This did not take place even during the
Emergency. While Varavara Rao was arrested from his residence in a pre-dawn
raid, Kalyan Rao and four other mem-bers of Virasam were arrested in the
after-noon from the Hyderabad Press Club. State Gen. Secy Krishna Bai, vice
president Chen-chaiah and executive members Ratnamala and Chalasani Prasad were
picked up by the police along with Kalyan Rao.
The police found that
Kalyan Rao had disappeared when they went to arrest him. The arrest of Kalyan
Rao, who had reportedly gone underground after imposition of the ban, turned out
to be a media event. He had convened a press meet at short notice at the old
Press Club in Basheerbagh to condemn his colleague’s arrest. On getting wind of
his presence, the police descended on the premises in large numbers and waited
till he came out. They had a tough time in arresting him as slogan-shouting
‘Virasam’ members put up stiff resistance and squatted in front of the waiting
jeep. In between, there was a minor scuffle between the policemen and
photographers. The police physically lifted him into the vehicle and drove him
to Saifabad police station.
Both the Chief
Minister and the police Chief were paranoic that the journalists were addressed
even without their knowledge and began issuing threats even to them. Even before
the imposition of ban on the CPI(Maoist) in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Reddy
had said that it was a major crime and culpable offence if the journalists
interview the Maoist. "Journalists are not above the law," he had
threateningly said. After the imposition of ban, Swaranjit Sen, the DGP, said
that action will be taken against journalists who meet Maoists.
The statements were
followed by the first incident of cops summoning a rural journalist to demand
explanation from where he had got the statement of an underground leader of the
CPI (Maoists). MD Ahmad, a reporter for a Telugu newspaper was summoned by the
Deputy Superintendent of Police at Nagarkurnool in Mahbubnagar district and was
asked about his reports. The cops also wanted to know why he had faxed the
statement to a national TV channel. The reporter reportedly told him that the
statement was dropped in the box of his newspaper at the bus stand and he did
not know who brought it. The incident evoked strong reactions from the
journalist community. The AP Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ), condemning
the threat of the DGP to the media, said that it will fight against this
harassment. "APUWJ wants to make it clear that we are not prepared to take
lessons from the State Police chief on what to report. We are not his informers
and we will perform our duty on informing people through media without fear"
Union president Amarnath and the General Secy. G. Anjaneyulu said.
At the courts the
police acted in a totally arbitrary fashion. Mediapersons were kept at bay by
the police at the police station and on the court premises. Lensmen and
videographers were not even allowed to take the photographs of the Virasam
leaders. The lensmen were allowed to take snaps after they staged a brief
protest against the police action. The area was sanitised with a dog squad and
explosive detection gadgets. Even the persons entering the court complex were
checked before allowing them in. The two were produced in the court after being
brought here in a case pertaining to the September 2004 attack on a police
constable. The incident occurred at a Maoist commemora-tive meeting held at
Madigubba village in Atmakur mandal on September 22.
In addition to the
ban the government has planned to raise a special tribal battalion with 1,200
members from the Naxalite affected areas. They have also increased the
protection to all politicians. The police have been busy, after the ban,
preparing a list of politicians and traders who have connections with the
Maoists. "We will not hesitate to arrest people who continue to help the
Maoists" said a top police officer.
The government has
also reactivated the killer vigilante squads of the Naidu regime. The brutal
killing of a civil rights activist, Kanakachari, in Mahbubnagar district by the
self-styled "Narsa Cobras" is the latest in a series of revenge killings,
allegedly with tacit support from the police. Kanakachari, a teacher at a local
school, was axed to death after being kidnapped by unidentified persons. "These
outfits are the creation of the police. Why is the govt. silent on the role of
the police in this brutal murder" Human Rights Forum convener K. Balagopal
questioned. The group has put out a list of prominent Maoists and their
supporters it pledges to kill.
Even the centre is
panicky. They have advised the YSR govt to beef up the security of Congress
leaders. On August 24 at a meeting of the STF on ‘left-wing extremism’ at the
MHA’s (Ministry of Home Affairs) headquarters, counter-strategies were devised
for AP. The main decision was "to tighten the security of vulnerable Congress
leaders while also taking up intelligence-driven surgical strikes to net big
CPI(Maoist) leaders". Of the two recently-constituted joint task forces to
undertake cross-border special operations, the one comprising AP has been asked
that the CPI(Maoist) leaders — belonging to the central committee, state
committee and even the district level — being trailed, are not allowed to get
away by merely crossing state borders. Some CMPF rein-forcements were sent to AP
after the ban.
Widespread Opposition
to the Ban
Both the poet and
novelist made speeches from the court and Varavara Rao said the ban was a gift
to the World Bank, whose president reached AP just the day after the ban. There
has been widespread opposition to the ban and particularly of the arrest of the
poet and writer. So strong has the opposition been that the Home Minister said
that they are thinking to review the ban on the RWA. The ban on the Virasam, the
intellectual wing of the Maoists, triggered a wave of protests from rights
activists, poets, writers and the media. "It is a ban on freedom of speech"
said Olga (P. Lalitha Kumari), a prominent poet and writer. The State Human
Rights Commission has also issued notices to the DGP Swaranjit Sen, and the
Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Dinesh Reddy in the case of arrests of
revolutionary poets VV and Kalyan Rao. The Commission, taking a suo motu notice
of the media reports about the manner in which the two former emissaries of the
Maoists were arrested in Hyderabad, has asked the officials to submit a report
whether guidelines of the Supreme Court in the D K Basu case were complied with.
The police have come under attack for raiding VV’s residence at 3.30 am and
creating panic among residents of the building.
The CPI (Moaist)
statement, condemn-ing the arrest said: Not only the mass organisations were
banned but the government has arrested leaders of the Revolutionary Writers
Association, Varara Rao and Kalyan Rao. The DGP is giving daily threatening
statements that they would arrest Gaddar also, leader of the JNM. The
governments’ onslaught on the revolutionary writers is nothing new. From the
days of Vengal Rao to the period of Chandra Babu Naidu, the Revolutionary
Writers Association has been facing uninterrupted repression. Despite this, they
are raising their voice against state terrorism, against the exploitation by
feudal, imperialists and comprador capitalists. It is the climax to the YSR’s
fascism to proscribe the organisation which has a three and half decades history
and which has set new trends in the literature – not only in AP but at the all
India level too. The repression on the writers will give way to the creation of
new art forms. The revolutionary literature will take new leaps like the
literature in Latin America during the military fascist regimes. Neither
the proscriptions, nor the persecutions would deter the detained people’s
writers.
Most political
parties, like the TRS, CPI and CPM, have opposed the ban. Even sections from
within the Congress have opposed the ban. Many tribal leaders opined that it
would be good on the part of the State government to issue pattas to lakhs of
acres of forest land cultivated by tribals over decades instead of setting up a
tribal police battalion. They questioned the government why it did not fill the
40,000 backlog posts lying vacant for years together in the various departments
in the State if it was really sympathetic towards tribals. They strongly opposed
the State government’s move.
Ofcourse, all the
ruling parties, though they may oppose the ban, are for ending the naxalite
movement, only they feel that the ban may not help the process and could infact
be counter-productive. Many are panic stricken with the fear of reprisals from
the Maoists, who have openly declared that now after the ban they can and will
strike in any part of the State. Senior politicians have been told not to move
out of their cities. Meanwhile, the home minister is the most fearful and has
expressed reservations over clamping the ban on Virasam. According to
sources, Jana Reddy is under pressure from his family to relinquish the home
portfolio in the backdrop of the re-imposition of the ban on the Maoists. Also
the Union Minister of State for rural development, Mr. A. Narendra, said that
the Telangana Rashtra Samiti condemned the State government’s decision to
re-impose a ban on Maoists and their frontal organisations.
No ban can stop
Revolution
In Chhathisgarh
massive police forces have been brought in to the affected areas including the
elite Naga battalions. It was quite natural that the people would hit back and
the landmine explosion wiped out 24 CRPF personnel including some officers.
These puppet forces of the moneybags were confident as they were equipped with
anti-landmine vehicles. With deadly accuracy even this could not protect them.
Besides, the Congress
leader of the opposition, Mahendra Karma, has been on a rampage in the area. In
this two-pronged attack Karma has sought to also mobilise the people for
launching physical attacks on naxalite stronghold areas. This campaign has been
going on from June. This too has faced a setback with the masses
counter-attacking and wiping out over 35 of the lumpen leaders who were in the
forefront of the attack. Not only that the Maoists also attacked Karma’s own
village.
As press reports have
said: The Maoists raided Pharaspal village and killed Suku Karma and Sukhdev
on Tuesday, Home Minister Ram Vichar Netam said, adding both died on the spot.
The Maoists asked Suku if he was participating in the anti-naxalite movement and
subsequently killed him. Karma is actively involved in the ongoing Jan Jagran
movement against the Maoist by tribals in the backwaters of the State. However,
"This will not stop the jan jagran movement," the Home Minister asserted. The
Maoist raid on Karma’s village came as a surprise because his house is heavily
guarded by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel deployed for the
security of the family of the opposition leader.
With neither the para-military
offensive nor the Karma offensive striking any success the paralysed Raman Singh
government also clamped a ban on the Maoists.
But, bans cannot and
will not stop the onward march of the people’s democratic revolution in the
country. The acute poverty of the masses is getting further accentuated every
day. The government polices, at both Centre and State level, only furthers their
deprivation and adds lakhs more each day to the numbers of poverty stricken.
Large sections of even the middle classes are being pushed down into the depths
of poverty. There is no other party, except the Maoists, who genuinely stands by
the people in all their woes.
So, neither guns nor
butter can kill this movement. No ban can stifle their voice. Neither duplicity
nor enticements can divert them from the path of revolution. No false propaganda
against them can hide the reality. The New Democratic Revolution marches forward
no matter what steps are taken by the Centre and the States. As the statement
issued by the general secretary of the CPI(Maoist), com. Ganapathy, says The
ban, contrary to the dreams of YSR will help extend our guerrilla war and take
it to a higher stage. How much cruel repression the government might resort to,
our Party and revolutionary masses would resist the onslaught and advance our
movement…... It is certain that those who do not learn lessons
from the past will be swept into the dustbins of history. That will happen to
YSR, Janareddy, Swaranjithsen and his government too. People will overthrow
these fascists with their organised power sooner or later. The one and half year
rule of YSR government clearly proves it is just following the footsteps of the
Chandra Babu Naidu government.
|
