Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
NAXALBARI
February 20, 2014
Comrade Sheik Abdul Rawoof (Viswam), who was Secretary of the
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) NAXALBARI till he retired in
2006, passed away on the 9th of February, at the age of 89. He was
suffering from age related diseases. Before laying his body to rest on the
11th evening at his home village of Kuttagulla (Kadiri Taluq,
Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh) it was kept for public viewing for two
days.
Thousands of people came from far flung areas to see their dear
comrade one last time.
Comrade Rawoof, popularly known as ‘SAR’, leaves
behind inspiring memories of a life wholly dedicated to the cause of the
people, to revolution. While a student he was attracted to the Communist
Party of
India. Those were the tumultuous years of the anti-colonial
struggle and, most importantly, the great Telengana peasant armed struggle
led by the communist party. Soon enough comrade Rawoof became a party
member and remained a communist throughout. He was dissatisfied by the
CPI’s
deviation to the electoral path. But, under discipline, he had
to contest local elections and unwillingly became the first
communist municipal chairman of Kadiri. True to his revolutionary character
that
post was transformed by him into one of a fighter. He refused to be
cut off from the masses by the pomposity of office and, even more,
firmly resisted all attempts to make him a tool of anti-people acts sought
to be enforced through the local body.
When the rebellion within the CPI
led to the formation of the CPI (Marxist) he immediately joined it. Soon
enough he realised that this was nothing more than a disguised version of
that old revisionism. Then
the great peals of Naxalbari thundered in the
Indian sky. Rawoof immediately rallied with the new revolutionary
polarisation. Yet,confusion was being created by the centrist stand of Nagi
Reddy who was
then the most prominent leader seen as a supporter of the
Naxalbari armed rebellion in Andhra Pradesh. This was quite a problem in
the Rayalseema region, from where Nagi Reddy came, and, which was
then
Rawoof’s center of activity. Yet the comrade’s steadfast
revolutionary convictions soon lead him to unite with those struggling
against Nagi Reddy’s rightism. He linked up with the comrades in Srikakulam
who were
already carrying out armed struggle guided by comrade Charu Majumdar
and became a member of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist).
Following the directive of the party he left his
occupation as a lawyer and became a professional revolutionary. He remained
that till the very last years of his life; until he was forced to live under
continuous
medical supervision.
Rawoof was elected a member of the Andhra
Pradesh State Committee of the CPI (M-L) in its State Conference in 1970.
Though elected as a member of the delegation from AP to the 1970 Party
Congress he couldn’t participate due to some technical glitches. He remained
a member of AP
State Committee till his arrest in 1973. While in jail two
significant developments led to a new chapter in Rawoof’s political life. The
AP State Committee led by Kondapalli Seetharamiya (KS) openly called for
a
‘suspension’ of armed struggle arguing that this was necessary for
a reorganisation and re-launching of the armed struggle by utilising
the new opportunities given by the post-Emergency situation. This was
not
consulted with Rawoof, though that was quite possible in the
relaxed atmosphere existing after withdrawal of Emergency. As accounted
by Rawoof in his summation, even while being in jail he made all efforts
to
contact KS and raise his objections to this proposal. They were
not accepted. This was also a period when the international
Marxist-Leninist movement was also grappling with the capitalist coup in
China by the
Teng-Hua clique and the Albanian Party’s efforts to utilise the
emerging opposition to this as a means of attacking and rejecting Maoism
(then termed as Mao Tsetung Thought). Except a few parties and
organisations, most in the M-L camp either capitulated to one or the other of
these anti-Marxist camps. The AP State Committee supported the Communist
Party of China usurped by the Teng-Hua clique and upheld the Three
Worlds
Theory falsely attributed by them to Mao Tsetung. In view of
these factors, Rawoof decided to rebel, break out and lead the formation of
a new organisation, known as the AP Reorganisation Committee, CPI
(M-L).
The correctness of this step remains a matter of debate within
the Maoist movement in India. Yet his determination to persist on the
path of armed struggle and ideological sharpness in immediately grasping
the
full import of international developments can never be belittled. It
was inspired by a great tradition set by Charu Majumdar. Its
basic correctness is confirmed by history, even if certain aspects
underlying
that decision to rebel and the practical course he subsequently
followed
may be controversial.
The formation of the APROC under Rawoof’s
leadership soon enough led to establishing ties with the Kerala State
Committee which was holding similar positions. This led to the formation of
the Reorganisation
Committee, CPI (M-L) in 1979 (later renamed as Central
Reorganisation Committee, CPI (M-L) in its 1st All-India Conference held in
1981). This party played an instrumental role in the struggle to
defend
Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought (as Maoism was then termed) at
the 1st International conference of 1980 and later in the 1984
conference that led to the formation of the Revolutionary
Internationalist
Movement. In all of this Rawoof played an important role as
a member of that party’s leading body. He was a staunch
internationalist.
During this period Rawoof gave leadership to the
development of armed struggle in AP, facing up to savage state repression
which took the lives of many comrades. Rawoof himself was arrested in 1983
and jailed
for 3 years and later for 4. (He was imprisoned for a total of 12
years during his plus five decades long revolutionary life.) Meanwhile he
took up the struggle against the rightist positions being advanced by the
CRC leadership. In 1985, while still in jail, he led a split against it
whenit formally launched itself on a disastrous course of liquidation.
Later in 1989 he joined the CPI (M-L) Red Flag since it was accepting the
1970 program of the CPI (M-L). When it started deviating from these
positions he struggled against this, finally leading to comrades of two
States, AP and Karnataka, breaking off and forming the CPI (M-L) Naxalbari.
They and the Maoist Unity Center, CPI (M-L) then merged in 1999, as CPI
(M-L) Naxalbari. Rawoof was its Secretary till 2006.
Rawoof was a staunch
follower of Charu Majumdar. His firm adherence to Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and
loyalty to Charu Majumdar’s positions were his ideological mainstays,
tempered with an intense hatred towards the oppressors. While firm in his
ideological orientation, he was also critically aware of the shortcomings in
his grasp and application. He frankly admitted in his summation report, “We
failed to correctly implement the line of area wise seizure of
political power…annihilations, which were not linked to the seizure of
political power turned out to be only militant economism and the whole
activity
was roving guerrilla activity…”. He accepted his own role in
the setbacks and admitted that he “was given to spontaneity to extend
the movement without preparing the cadres ideologically and
organisationally
and on questions of military line.” For various reasons,
some beyond his control, this awareness could not be translated into a timely
and deep going rectification.
If Rawoof had a track record of rebelling
against what he saw as wrong line and leadership, this was never given to a
narrow group mentality.
That much is well proven by his efforts for unity,
for building a unified all-India party. It was also proven by his keenness to
value and learn from the revolutionary experiences of other Maoist parties,
even
when disagreeing with them. In a letter written to the CPI (M-L)
Red Flag leadership he wrote, “CRC never discussed about the
revolutionary movement led by different ML organisations, particularly PW,
MCC and
Party Unity, which are in armed struggle. It is very unfortunate
that CRC is taking a very negative attitude towards PW…
Is it not
necessary that we should learn from both the positive and negatives aspects
of the revolutionary movement led by that party, which has become the
main target of state repression?” This broad heartedness, this
steadfast Maoist attitude of learning even from those with whom one
disagrees, will always shine as an example for generations of communists.
His communist qualities, capacity to integrate with the people,
simple living, willingness for hardship and absolute faith in the party and
the people have forever endeared him. Rawoof was amazing in his capacity
to
effortlessly bridge the age-gap and win over the young to the cause
of revolution. For all the signs of aging so visible on him, his was
not the ‘wrinkled gaze of the elderly’. There was never a distance,
the aloofness of ‘seniority’, with them. If he was affectionately
called ‘Thatha’ (grandfather) by young comrades, this was one who was quite
the opposite in his relations with them.
Comrade S.A. Rawoof is no more
with us, now physically. Already for the past few years, debilitated by
growing dementia, he was in disconnect unable to recognise his close
associates, unable to meaningfully
communicate with them. In the initial
stages, the intense struggle he was waging to resist the advance of that
condition could be seen in flashes of political terms in his broken
conversations. But that too
would soon end. It was cruel to stand witness to
this communist fighter’s plight, his gaze now made vacant by disease. It was
painful to recollect that sharp look and decisive voice, so stark in contrast
to
the dullness now seen. It was difficult to relate this
indifferent person to that bundle of energy, that empathy and concern for the
people and his comrades.
We honour this great communist revolutionary
by dipping the Red Flag!
We honour him by dedicating ourselves even more to
the realisation of the revolutionary aims he lived for, for his long
cherished desire to achieve the unity of Maoists in India into a single
party!
--
krantipriya
thenaxalbari@fastmail.in
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