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‘Children are the
future citizens’ is the most frequented phrase coming out of the mouths of
politicians and philanthropists. Children’s day is observed with artificial
spirit publicizing the long kurtha and a red rose as the symbol of children’s
prosperity. But in fact, most of the children in our country do not have a
little bread to eat and a small cloth to wear. This has to change. This change
has already started. Here are some children in the actual path for children’s
liberation. They are born poor. They are born into revolution. This is the
ongoing history in the state of Jharkhand.
Few feel that keeping
children out of phy-sical work alone is taking care of them. Deve-lopment does
not take place without physical labor. But what is the actual process of
deve-lopment of children? How should it be? The revolutionary struggle areas of
Jharkhand have successfully experimented on this.
A generation has
grown in this process. The young child of 7 – 8 years of age starts with just
watching the armed squad that visits the village, with a running nose from a
considerable distance out of fear. Later they have developed as organizers,
singers and leaders of higher committees.
These are the quotes
of a few child revo-lutionaries in the forests of Jharkhand. They are all from
poor adivasi peasant families.
‘I looked after the
cattle. I had no mother. My elder brother used to beat me that I did not work
properly. I had nothing at home. So I thought I could learn to read and write
well in the party. So I joined the party. I ran with a friend in the village,
walked for one full day and reached the squad’.
‘I was going to
school when I first knew of the armed squad. I used to think about them. Once
they came to our village. I went and met them. The same day I decided to join
them’.
‘I had to go to
school in the neighboring village on a cycle. After a while the cycle was
damaged. My father did not have enough money to get it repaired. I stopped going
to school. At this time, the armed squad came to our village. My mother objected
me joining the squad. But I opposed her. Now I am learning to read and write in
the Party’.
All these children
are not above twelve years of age. They are moving along with the squad, in
uniform, carrying their belonging with themselves. Here are some more….
‘I used to rear
cattle. Before I actually saw the party people, I heard about them. It was said
that the party people would dip children into hot water. It was ‘R’ who told me
that the party would give us a good life. I understood what it was. So I
joined’.
There are instances
where parents them-selves sent their children to join the party.
‘I was going to
school when I heard of the party. My father was in touch with them. I was
assisting him in catching fish when I first saw the uniformed comrades.
Initially I was afraid. My uncle was working in the Kranthikari Kisan Committee.
My father wanted me to join the squad. I was already interested in them. Thus I
am in the party’.
Here is the story of
a much younger boy whose voice is yet more childish –
‘My father died. My
mother left me to start a family with another man. My uncle brought me up. I was
interested in school but they did not send me. When I saw the squad, I requested
them I would join them’.
This is the story of
a girl who has joined the party due to nothing but patriarchy.
‘My father had two
wives. My mother is the second wife. The first wife illtreated my mother. My
mother left to her father’s house where I was born. I was sent to school. Anyway
life was not that easy. My mother remarried.
When comrades came to
our village I used to take water and food to them. Once I took that chance and
left from the back of the house and went to them. Neighbors told my mother and
she came along. But I did not listen to her. I stayed with the party’.
See another example:
‘My father worked as
a full time activist in the Kranthikari Kisan Committee. He sent me and my
brother to school. I used to return from school at 3 in the afternoon and go to
get back the cattle. Whenever the squad visited the village they used to
encourage me to join the revolution. When I told my father of my interest he
said I should wait until I am a little old. But I was eager. So I ran away from
home with a friend and joined the squad after walking for one full day’.
There are as many
girls as boys in this process. While for boys it is the liberation from a
backward society, for the girls it is additionally liberation from the
patriarchal oppression.
What can children of
such a small age do for revolution? When children could do laborious work in
hotels and dangerous works in industries like explosives (in Siva-kasi),
garments and other such things, they can definitely do work of opposing the
same.
Childhood is normally
understood in a romantic, emotional and sentimental manner. But in reality it is
not. It is not so, anywhere in the world. The naked, stark reality in their
lives makes them mature at a very early age. It is not the so called precocious
ness of children who perform the ability to write PG examinations at the age of
ten, or do this and that extraordinary things that are recorded in the books
with much publicity.
These children are
not educated through books. They are educated through life. So they easily
imbibe the revolutionary politics. They are not pure mental beings. They are
physical laborers. Once armed mentally, their energies develop in a diversified
manner. They start to learn singing. The cultural organization ‘Jharkhand Abhen’
provides them a good opportunity. In fact more than 90 per cent of the members
of the cultural organization are children below 15 – 16 years.
After becoming full
timers in the party, they move with the women organizers or with the squad.
During meetings in the villages, they sing, perform play-lets and other such
things. They carry out certain important tasks too. At times they even help the
higher committees. Thus they are part and parcel of the Party. They are part and
parcel of revolution.
This happened in
Vietnam. This happened in China. Now it is happening in India, in the state of
Jharkhand. And undoubtedly the Revolutionary Children in India are going to
achieve more and more strides in their Revolutionary practice.
Yes. Children are the
future citizens of a Socialist society.
Lastly –
Journalists coming to
meet the leaders of the revolution normally criticize that children are robbed
of their childhood and are forced to join the party. The above instances are
enough to understand what is being robbed off, and what is being given to the
children by the revolutionary party. Taking children into the Party does not
mean that they do all what a grown ups do. There is the age limit of 16 years to
become eligible for Party membership. Meanwhile the children are not only looked
after. They are developed in a creative manner, perhaps in a manner not possible
elsewhere.
Anyway this is the
simple answer they gave when questioned why they preferred the party life
despite difficulties :
‘In the village we
cannot know anything. But in the party everything is taught. We can get a better
understanding of things. We can develop ourselves and also develop the society’.
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