Naxalbari struggle started; yet, within this period, its sparks have spread to different States of India. And in Srikakulam in Andhra, the fire they have started is fast developing into a forest-fire.
– Charu Mazumdar (March 6, 1969)
The 1960s were an era of worldwide revolutionary upsurge. The ‘Great Debate’ between the revisionist theory of ‘peaceful transition into socialism’ of CPSU (led by Khrushchev) and the theory of revolutionary seizure of power of CPC (led by Mao Tse-tung), and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution inspired many revolts in many countries of the world, including in India. Revolutionary communists rejected the revisionist parties- the Naxalbari revolt and the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) materialised inspired by the Chinese revolution, which showed the path of liberation of semi-feudal, dependent nations based on the workers and peasants. Naxalbari was a turning point in the history of communist movement against feudalism and imperialism. The spark of Naxalbari spread across India, most prominent of them being Srikakulam.
The struggle had its genesis in the murder of two Adivasi (Girijan) activists, Koranna and Manganna, on 31st October, 1967. On 31st October, 400 Adivasi women from Gumma village, dressed in red sarees, carrying red flags and singing revolutionary songs, were going to Mondenkhal to attend a meeting of Girijan Sangham. They were attacked at Levidi village by landlords’ goons. Koranna and Manganna were shot dead. Like wildfire protest rallies started all over the district and sparked the Srikakulam revolt.
Girijan Sangham and the preparation for the peasant revolt
The peasants and Girijans of Srikakulam were the worst among the exploited. The Girijans were exploited as agricultural labourers in the Vetti system (forced unpaid labour). They were paid low rates of crops and forest products. Landlords, police, and forest officers held them in debt traps, occupying their lands.
By 1955, comrades moved to this area and started organising. Two school teachers, Vempatapu Satyanarayana (Sathyam) and Adibhatla Kailasam, started building up a mass base amongst the peasants and tribals and launched struggles. These two teachers were soon joined by the youth leader Panchadi Krishnamurthy. Girijan committees and party units were formed in Srikakulam. They formed the Girijan Sangham in 1959, which led a series of agitations and created the fulcrum for building a peasant movement. The Girijan Sangham presented a 10-point demand: distribution of cultivable banjar lands, returning all illegally seized lands from girijans, abolition of debts, credit facilities, reasonable rates for forest produce, fair prices of consumer goods, abolition of unpaid labour, salaries to Palerla (farm servants) and wage rates for agricultural workers, lifting of the prohibition on the use of forest timber by girijans, and autonomy of girijan areas under local tribal governance.
By 1959, Girijans gradually re-occupied and started cultivating the lands which were illegally seized by sahukars and landlords. 1500 acres of forest land was seized and cultivated by Girijans. A debt of Rs. 2 lakhs was forcibly cancelled. They got free timber for their agricultural use and daily needs, and reasonable rates for forest produce at weekly markets. Free labour had been completely abolished. Daily wage rates increased up to 12 times. These struggles, evening schools, and cultural activities raised the political consciousness of the Girijans. The verse and song of Subbarao Panigrahi became the vehicle of revolutionary politics. Cadres were imparted lessons on Telangana armed struggle of 1940’s. The reading of party journals was started.
Naxalbari: Spring Thunder over India
By 1964, the Great Debate and power struggles led to a split in CPI and the CPI(M) was formed. Sangham supported the CPI(M). While CPI(M) initially positioned itself as the revolutionary alternative, its participation in coalition governments in West Bengal in 1967 over strengthening peasant struggles, exposed itself. Comrade Charu Mazumdar launched a two-line struggle within the party through the historic eight documents. The Naxalbari uprising began on 25th May, 1967 as a militant peasant struggle in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. CPI(M) once again exposed itself by launching a brutal suppression. The revolutionary sections of the CPI(M) and other communists formed the All India Co-ordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) to direct Naxalbari-like struggles erupting across India. Soon the Girijan Sangham leaders joined the AICCCR.
Srikakulam : Echo of Naxalbari
By mid-1967, Girijan movement reached a new stage. Girijans occupied 800 more acres of land of landlords and began cultivation. 2500 acres of forest waste land was also cultivated. As a result of acute food shortage the people prevented the landlords and sahukars from exporting their grain. Merchants were made to sell rice at two sers per rupee. The state reacted heavily. Section 144 was declared. The militancy of the movement brought Vempatapu Sathyanarayana and other leaders in conflict with the CPI(M) state leadership. Forcible harvest of crops, land occupations, and growing clashes with the landlords were developing into armed clashes with the police. The state leadership was unwilling to resist the growing repression, and the people were disarmed and panic-stricken.
(To be continued…)
