Volume 6, No. 6, June 2005

 

Commemorate Martyr’s Week from July 28th

 

It is reported that the newly formed CPI(Maoist) has decided to commemorate martyrs week every year from July 28th. The coming July 28 will be the first Martyrs’ Day after the historic September 21 merger of the two Maoist revolutionary parties leading the people’s war in the country. Hence the Martyrs’ Day this year will have specific significance and will also have great impact on the Party, PLGA, revolutionary Mass Organizations and the revolutionary masses throughout the country.

In the past six months, since 21 September 2004, when the CPI (Maoist) was formed, there have been a total of 60 martyrs from all over the country. 44 of these comrades were killed in the three zones of AP, 12 are from B-J, and two each from Karnataka and DK.

In Karnataka the Party suffered the biggest loss with the martyrdom of comrade Saket Rajan, the secretary of the State Committee and an elected alternate Central Committee Member of the erstwhile CPI(ML)[PW]. He was the main spirit behind the initiation of armed struggle in the Western Ghats and is one of the best-known intellectuals in Karnataka and his book ‘Making History’ has become a popular history textbook in Karnataka that gives a Marxist interpretation of the state’s history. Comrade Saket’s martyrdom is a great loss not only to Karnataka but to the entire Party and the Indian revolution.

The reactionary ruling classes had become so shaky after the formation of the CPI(Maoist) that they unleashed their fascist onslaught and began a killing spree in AP from the first week of January by breaking off from the peace talks. The killings of ten comrades in Manala in Nizamabad district in North Telangana on March 11th has hardly any parallel in the history of the revolutionary movement. They were poisoned through a covert agent, caught after they became unconscious, tortured throughout the night and killed. In this incident the Party lost the DCS (district committee secretary) comrade Ramesh, another DCM comrade Babanna and three LGS commanders along with five squad members of the PLGA.

The Party also lost comrade Yadanna, Warangal DCS and a member of the Special Zonal Committee of North Telengana and three others in another incident. Another three DC members—comrade Ranjit of Adilabad, Seenu of Karimnagar and Santosh of Mahboobnagar were caught and killed. Laxmi, an organizer and Executive Committee member of AP CMS (women’s organization) was caught and killed. Ten of the total martyrs have been women comrades. All these comrades faced brutal tortures with great courage without divulging anything to the enemy and hence were killed in fake encounters. In Jharkhand, the newly formed Party lost Platoon commander Chandan of the PLGA while fighting bravely against the CRPF in Tamar PS limits in Ranchi district in December ’04. And in March ’05, another platoon commander along with three platoon members became martyrs in Barachetty PS limits in Gaya district of Bihar.

During this week the revolutionary masses of the country hail the sacrifices of these and over several thousand great Martyrs of the Maoist movement in India since the historic Naxalbari armed agrarian uprising, starting with the first martyrdom of comrade Babulal Biswakarmakar. They specifically recollect their exemplary valour, steadfastness, determination and the firm ideological-political commitment and loyalty to the Party, revolution and the oppressed masses. During this Martyrs’ Week they would particularly focus on the two great founder leaders and teachers of the new Party—comrade Charu Majumdar and comrade Kanai Chatterjee.

Comrade CM, who led the Naxalbari armed uprising and founded the CPI(ML), was arrested by the police in Kolkata on 16 July 1972, and was tortured and killed on 28 July. Comrade KC, the founder-leader of erstwhile MCCI, died due to severe ill health on 18 July, 1982. Both these great Maoist leaders played a historic role in breaking away from age-old revisionism, establishing the correct revolutionary line in the Indian Communist Movement and thus initiating the armed agrarian revolution that had been growing from strength to strength over the years.

On the occasion of this first Martyrs’Day of the newly-unified Party, cannot but recollect all those great martyrs of the India revolution like Com Amulya Sen, Com Saroj Dutta, Com Sushital Roy Chowdhuy, Com Chandra Shekhar Das, Com Vempatapu Sathyam, Com Adibhatla Kailasam, Com Panchadi Krishnamurthy, Com Bhuja Singh, Com Subbarao Panigrahi, Com Sudipto Banerjee, Com Appu and others.

The history of the Maoist movement in India is filled with numerous examples of brave martyrs with exceptional communist qualities and revolutionary traditions such as: total dedication to the cause of revolution, selflessness and adherence to communist values and ethics, indomitable will and steadfastness, exemplary courage, proletarian discipline, simplicity in habits and lifestyle, deep affection, love, respect and an attitude of serving the basic classes and the oppressed masses, determination to bear hardship, hard work, and ‘swimming against the tide’.

Comrades Shyam, Mahesh, Murali, Puli Anjanna Bhagya, Koumudi, Suguna of Andhra Pradesh and many comrades at various levels in the Party, PLGA, and the activists of the revolutionary mass organizations, had undergone the most brutal tortures, but had not uttered a single Party secret. There are several comrades from among the non-Party masses who had steadfastly guarded Party’s secrets, protected the cadres and leadership of the Party, PLGA and the revolutionary mass organizations, in spite of continuous tortures and harassment, destruction of property and finally death itself.

Comrades Bhaktida, Dara, Bachan, Sunil, Gopal, Dadichi Roy, Sagar, Jaishia, Ramchandar, Zacharia and several other comrades will remain outstanding examples in the history of the ongoing people’s war in Bihar-Jharkhand.

Besides the martyrs of India, on this somber occasion, the people cannot but recollect those who fell in the course of advancing the people’s wars in Nepal, Philippines, Peru, Turkey and other countries, and for the cause of the world revolution. All these martyrs in India and other countries represent the best communist traditions and will remain shining stars forever. No doubt their examples will be propagated far and wide so that the new generations of communists may learn from their example, emulate their heroic spirit of self-sacrifice and thereby march forward on the revolutionary path to free the country and its people from acute suffering and humiliation into a bright new world free from exploitation, oppression and all forms of discrimination.

 

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