On 25th anniversary of martyrdom let us resurrect the spirit of martyrs Shyam, Murali and Mahesh who waged Struggle for Liberation till the last drop of their blood whose soul has been reborn today in the forests of Dandakaranya -Harsh Thakor
On December 2nd
the Communist movement commemorates the gruesome assassination of 3
leading central Committee members of the erstwhile CPI(ML) Peoples
War Group, namely Shyam, Murali and Mahesh ,in Koyyur village of
Telengana. Later that month the PW group retaliated against the
Killing of their 3 leading central Committee members, namely Shyam,
Murali and Mahesh, or Nalla Adi Reddy, Y Santosh Reddy, and Seelam
Naresh (real names)
The state and the ruling class forces were completely shaken by the ferocity of the retaliation of the PWG. Particularly at Darakond village in Vishakapatnam.
The murders were the turning point to build the first ever Peoples Liberation army in December,2000.
In spite of gross errors in military and mass line it is notable how the peoples War Group avenged the killing of 250 comrades from 1984-89 and 400 comrades from 1990-1995 by attacking police camps.
Over a span of
decades, the erstwhile CPI(ML) Peoples War Group lit a new dawn,
waging an armed struggle and mass political movement comparable to
the scale of the Chinese Revolution or later in Philippines and
Peru., most intensively and creatively blazing a trail from forests
to plain areas, and establishing link with Urban movement and areas.
Thousands of acres of land were redistributed, with a mortal blow
given to the oppressor classes. New roses bloomed as never before
since the Naxalbari peasant uprising.
Whatever be the
might of the reactionary state it could not quell the spirit of
communist revolutionaries dedicated to fighting revolution. The PWG
undertook retaliatory actions forcing several parliamentary
politicians to flee to their villages.
Today history is being resurrected in the forests of Bastar with the CPI(Maoist) led Peoples Guerilla Liberation army waging a retaliatory or counter war, to the last drop of their blood, with revolutionary courage and resilience shimmering a height rarely surpassed in history of liberation struggles ,reminiscent of burning fire.
Contribution of Leaders assassinated
The loss of
the comrades was a mortal blow to the party and the revolutionary
movement in India. All three were e very senior members with over two
decades of revolutionary life.
They made invaluable
contributions to the development of the movement and enrichment of
the party's political and military line with unflinching resilience
consistently executing decisions.
They spent the major
portion of their revolutionary lives inhabiting the areas of class
struggle, amidst guerrilla squads and oppressed masses. They all were
ever creative in their thinking and practice while relentlessly
adhering to Marxism-Leninism Mao Tse-tung Thought. They were very
simple and straightforward, , and were loved dearly by the rank and
file of the party and the masses.
Comrade Shyam joined the
movement as a full-time revolutionary a little before the Emergency,
sometime around 1974. He went underground with the declaration of the
Emergency in June 1975 and was arrested for the first time in 1986.
He faced cruel torture at the hands of the enemy, but did not let out
a single secret. Though he suffered the consequences of torture for
the rest of his life, he was always in the field, educating and
guiding the cadres after he escaped from jail at the end of
1988.
Comrade Mahesh was a student leader of the Radical
Students Union in 1978-79 in Osmania University. He had been
operating as a full-timer since then. He was a member of the first
city committee of Hyderabad formed in 1981. He showed death defying
spirit when in jail during 1986-91.
He was a gifted
organiser and a voracious reader. He always carried a bundle of books
in his kit when he was travelling with the squads and used every
moment to sharpen his theoretical knowledge with the single goal of
applying it to the problems facing the Indian revolution.
Comrade
Murali, the youngest in the CC team, sprung into the movement as a
student and youth leader in 1980-81. Since then he served the party
in North Telangana and forged a deep exceptional emotional bond with
the cadres and the masses.
Having
spent all his time in building the movement in Nizamabad and
Telangana, he had a sound insight into the problems and gauged the
pulse of the people.
Hatched
conspiracy
There was not a single instance in the
last two decades when the police claimed the murders of 2,000 of PWG
comrades as anything else but encounters. But for the State there was
no other choice. It has to fabricate a lie in order to camouflage its
fascist, unconstitutional and unlawful act.
The story that
Comrades Shyam, Mahesh and Murali died along with one Arun in a
fierce encounter with the police in the Koyyur forest of Karimnagar
was an outright lie. To cover up the cold-blooded murders the ruling
classes were committing almost daily in AP, they bombarded lies and
malicious propaganda against the party.
The traces of
merciless torture seen on the bodies were clear evidence that they
were arrested, brutally tortured and then shot.
The fourth
person whom Dora tried to project as a squad member was actually
arrested on November 30 from village Garjanapalli near the so-called
site of encounter. He was shot along with the other three in the
early hours of Dec 2. His photo was published in the papers and was
recognised by his mother.
This reveals that the conspiracy
was hatched well before the arrest of the comrades. The information
about the meeting in Bangalore was obtained by the AP police a few
days before from the collaborator, Govinda Reddy.
Even the
story of the encounter released by the police was questioned by the
media.
For
instance, it is claimed that the exchange of fire took place for
nearly five hours with the guerrillas who were supposed to be around
30 in number. Even a layman would be startled by how such a fierce
encounter could take place without the involvement people of
surrounding villages or the people moving along the road just a
kilometre away hearing nothing.
Whenever an attack was
launched on the PWG, the leaders were even given protection by the
guerrilla squads. It was impossible to visualise that three important
leaders were left to defend themselves while squad members escaped to
safety.
On top of it not a single policeman was injured in
the long "exchange of fire".
The fact that
reporters were prohibited from entering the so-called encounter site
immediately after the announcement by the police denotes s that they
harboured fear that the truth would be exposed.
Narrative of execution of Leaders
The
meeting of December 1 in the house of Govinda Reddy alias Kameswar
Rao in Bangalore was planned the previous July. The PWG Stated that
Reddy was a Naxal who turned informer, and that it was from his house
that the leaders were picked up The CC secretariat [central committee
secretariat] was to receive the decisions taken at this meeting by
the end of December.
Comrade
Shyam had returned from North Telangana at the end of October. He was
in contact with other CC members until November 30, the day before
the incident. He spoke on the mobile phone on the 30th night.
Comrade
Mahesh left the house of another comrade on the 30th night after
finishing -- a review of the recent election in AP --and handing it
over to the comrade. The Organisation had the article written by the
comrade and dated November 30.
Comrade Murali had called
up a comrade on 30th night while on his way to Bangalore from Guntur.
He had a lorry transport receipt with him booked on 30th to Pune,
which the police had taken and tried to trace the address. We warned
the comrade in whose name the parcel was booked not to collect it as
the enemy would be keeping a watch on the transport office.
Traitor
Govinda Reddy was not to be seen in his house in Bangalore from the
day the comrades were arrested. He was escorted by the police to a
safe place that very evening. We rang up the owner of the house in
which Govinda Reddy was residing the very next day after hearing the
news of the murders. We found that Reddy had locked the house and
left on the 1st evening itself.
Some journalists belonging
to The Hindustan Times, Indian Express and Vaarta visited the house
in Bangalore on the 9th or so and spoke to the owner, his son and the
neighbours. Though terrified at first,they spoke of what happened
after some persuasion.
The owner's son had clearly seen
two Maruti vans with armed men at the gate. Some went inside Reddy's
house and took away the comrades after taping their mouths with
plaster. The neighbours were threatened with dire consequences if
they talked. Part of this report was published in The Hindustan Times
on December 10/11.
The police threatened the tenants and
the owner with dire consequences after the report appeared in the
press. So, when a fact-finding team went to the house on December 11,
they were hesitant to give details. However after much persuasion
they revealed the true facts.
When these were publicised
the police went to the house again and issued threats. It worked this
time; as they did not repeat what they said when an all-India
fact-finding team approached them on 23/24. This defines the
"democratic" way of silencing witnesses.
Protests and Targets
A sporadic wave of protests intensively galvanised masses in the areas of our struggle. Protests and retaliatory actions also took place in several parts of the country, particularly in Andhra Pradesh. The profound grief was transformed into a burning class hatred for class enemies. Retaliatory violence was only one of the means to combat the reign of terror and brutalities inflicted by the fascist regime in the movement
The immediate targets were those who were involved either directly or indirectly in the cold-blooded murder of the leaders . Around 150 major protest actions took place. There was still only one incident in which some civilians died as the PWG comrades did not know that there were more people residing in the house, which they blasted after asking the inmates to come out. Thew party had publicly expressed its regret at the loss of innocent lives,and never to repeat such mistakes.
To avenge murder the PWG assassinated Home minster A Madahava Reddy, in landmine blast.in March 2000. Alarmed, the state made an offer to revive the peace process.
The then Central Committee comprised of leaders who had more than two decades of experience in leading the class struggle. Though the loss of the three comrades was a mortal blow, there were still many experienced comrades both in the CC and the state committees who were moulded to take over. This was the great asset of the party.
Collective
functioning had developed so deeply that loss of some comrades could
never lead to a void. In a statement the secretary of the Peoples War
Group declared “The revolutionary movement constantly replenishes
itself, finds able successors to the fallen heroes. “We may face
some difficulties whenever we lose some important leaders. There can
even be setbacks if we lose most of the leadership. But I can
confidently say that it is not possible for the State to completely
wipe us out as our practice is based on mass line. Leaders are being
born continuously from the class struggle.
Our movement
develops through many ups and downs, many defeats, until we achieve
final victory. Such is the nature of our protracted war. “
A revolutionary journal ‘the Comrade’ (C.P.R.C.I.-M.L.) upheld the revolutionary resistance “As expected of a serious communist revolutionary Organization, the Peoples War group undertook a retaliatory, military campaign which reflected a particular revolutionary political purpose and were selectively and specifically targeted to attack the properties of the ruling classes political and administrative reactionaries.
Defects
in practice of Erstwhile Peoples War Group
Peoples
War Group hardly imbibed lessons that such armed actions of party
guerilla squads themselves cannot overpower the reactionary state and
it is imperative to win the admiration of the people who need to
voluntarily participate directly or indirectly in such armed actions.
In several protests the PWG was unable to integrate or mobilise the
broad masses and only mobilized their members or supporters.
A
PWG circular too was self-critical explaining their military actions
were incorrect as they only organized their own cadre and failed to
deploy adequate opportunities to educate and involve the
people.”
The Peoples War leadership did not make an
objective account of the level and nature of the movement with
reference to the state of class Struggle and agrarian revolutionary
Movement in their areas of Struggle. Their types of activities and
actions that their formations executed failed to properly take into
account the people´s Consciousness and preparedness
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