[From Liberation, Vol. II, No. 7 (May 1969).]
COMRADES,
TODAY we are in the midst of armed struggle. The path we follow is that of people's war. The method we adopt at present is that of guerrilla struggle. We know that the building up of revolutionary rural base areas, and the seizure of towns at the end are the primary tasks to be achieved through people's war. We can raise the consciousness of the peasants only by intensifying armed class struggle in villages and thereby annihilating the class enemies. By this method, we think, we can lay the foundations of the rural bases. This method of people's war is necessarily applicable against the ruling classes in all backward, semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries, especially those of Asia, Africa and Latin America. This method of protracted armed struggle was first victorious in semi-colonial and semi-feudal China. It is Chairman Mao who mapped out this revolutionary path of people's war. By indicating this path of people's war Chairman Mao developed Marxism-Leninism to a completely new stage. People's war has become a great force to destroy the reactionaries and their henchmen, the revisionists, who are now on their death-bed. The imperialists are continuing their exploitation of backward countries by substituting the neo-colonial method for their old direct colonial rule. This plunder has proved in practice to be the most dreadful. In addition to this, the Soviet social-imperialists are joining hands with other imperialists who are led by the U.S. imperialists. These two super-powers have extended their monstrous hands into the backward countries and are continuing their plunder. They have become a big obstacle to the progress of the people in these countries. As a result of that, the progress of the people here is stopped. People have become victims of cruel poverty and misery. If the people in these countries are to advance on the path of development, it is inevitable that they have to fight against the main international exploiters, the U.S. and Soviet imperialists. But what is the path of struggle? There is none other than the path of people's war indicated by Chairman Mao, which has led the Chinese people to victory. Since the victory of people's war in China, people in the backward countries firmly believe that it is only people's war that is to be waged in these countries for their liberation. The material conditions in these countries also make the people here realize this truth. Today, guerrilla struggles on the line of people's war based on Chairman Mao's thought are getting intensified in most of the backward countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The walls built up by the imperialists, revisionists and reactionaries in these countries are cracking. These enemies of the people are panic-stricken. Under the leadership of People's China, the revolutionary storm-centre, inspired by Chairman Mao's thought, the people in these backward countries are dealing powerful blows at the crumbling walls of the enemy forces. The present era is most unfavourable to the imperialists and their henchmen - the reactionary ruling classes of these countries. It is most favourable to the people's revolutions in oppressed countries. This is the time when the conditions are mature for democratic revolutions in the backward countries. In these conditions any single spark anywhere against the reactionary ruling classes will start a prairie fire and all the reactionary ruling classes will be consumed by that fire. So it is the central task of a revolutionary party and individual to make conditions suitable for the kindling of that spark.
Ours is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. People's war is inevitable in this country and it has already started: the armed struggle that raged in Naxalbari in 1967 inaugurated the people's war. Among many contradictions in our country the one between the feudal landlords and the peasantry is most acute, and this is no doubt the principal contradiction today. Only by resolving this contradiction can we advance towards a bright future. This contradiction can be resolved through the revolutionary armed struggle of the peasantry under the leadership of the proletariat. That means, we are in the stage of democratic revolution. We have to complete the stage of democratic revolution through peasant revolution headed by the proletariat. This is the immediate task before us in this country.
This is our clear opinion regarding the national and international situation. Basing on this, we analysed our movement in the district, repression by the ruling class on our movement and our method of struggle We decided that the repression by the ruling class should be resisted and that the resistance should be one of struggle for seizure of political power. Firmly believing in Chairman Mao's dictum "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun", we decided that the struggle for seizure of political power is possible only by taking firm hold of the gun. Only after this we distributed a leaflet in the name of the District Communist Committee in which we appealed to the people "to support the peasant struggle, to build up rural revolutionary base areas and declared that the communist party with the help of other progressive forces will do its best to make the peasant revolution a success and that the district peasantry have taken up Chairman Mao's thought as their guide."
We decided to develop the initiative of the people in seizing the property of the landlords in an organized way, to carry forward the people's programme of annihilating the landlords and in this context to resist the police and build up rural revolutionary base areas. We hold that this method of struggle is correct and makes the people conscious. So we began to implement this programme. In accordance with this programme, started on 25th November 1968, hundreds of people participated in seizing the properties of the landlords; in the course of the guerrilla struggle, sixteen police constables including a Circle Inspector were killed. Though it has to face some troubles, this struggle is continuing at present in an unhindered way. Viewed from the understanding of protracted war the victories are minor. Yet for a small Party with no past experience of struggle, taking up only ordinary weapons - that, too, small in number - to achieve such victories in such a short span of time over the government's armed forces is significant. In addition to this, though we started our struggle very recently we gained many experiences regarding the struggle. There is a proverb in Telugu: "Unless we go into the waters, the depth of it is not known." How true is our proverb! After starting the struggle we have gained invaluable experiences. We could not have gained so much experience if we simply sat formulating theories, waiting for auspicious days and fortunate stars. It became necessary for us to move forward boldly and independently.
In this context we will have to explain one more thing. Would it not have been better if we started the struggle earlier? It will not be helpful to our movement to complete this report without answering this question.
Did the leadership or the Party have the same understanding regarding the present struggle from the very beginning of repression on the district Girijan movement? It is a fact that the majority of the party members and most of the leadership did have this understanding. But it must also be said that the leadership did not have clear-cut opinions, and it was vacillating. Among the present leadership, none was against armed struggle. But the leadership could not come to a decisive opinion on the problem of starting the struggle at the time when repression started. Twenty years of parliamentarism and revisionism had sapped the revolutionary vitality of the Communist Party. Due to this, many bad traditions and evil features sneaked into the party. Our district leadership was guided by faith in individuals comprising the provincial leadership. This became an obstacle to realizing in time the treachery of the higher leadership on ideological and political issues, their treachery to struggle. Our movement in the Agency became quite militant on many occasions. But we confined the whole struggle to a fight for economic demands only. We could not place before the people the problem of seizing political power and the problem of armed struggle linked with it.
The task of arming the party for the armed struggle and taking necessary steps for reshaping the organization to suit the needs should have been completed by the time the repression on us started. The then conditions were also favourable to this task, yet we could not complete the task. Renegade Sundarayya and his clique were mainly responsible for our failure. Due to confidence in him we could not see through the treachery of this clique. Only after the Naxalbari peasantry, led by the local Communist Party, started the armed revolutionary liberation struggle, the eyes of the revolutionary comrades were opened. The treachery on ideological questions and the counter-revolutionary policy of Sundarayya and company became exposed. It is a great turning-point in the entire history of Indian politics. Our eyes also were opened. We totally opposed Sundarayya and his clique. Besides us, a large majority of members in the Marxist Party in Andhra Pradesh opposed this clique. Important persons within the Andhra party leadership were among them. The period in which this change was taking place was exactly the period when repression was let loose on us. Landlords used their guns and killed two of our comrades at Levidi on 31st October 1967. After this incident the Girijan peasantry rose in a big way against the enemy classes with great indignation. This was a new turning-point in our movement. The peasantry began to seize the properties of landlords, the Girijan Sangham began to solve all the problems in the villages. Wherever the people moved, they moved heroically with arms in their hands. This movement created a great stir in the entire district. We could read from the people's faces their courageous despising of the enemy and their confidence in themselves, their faith that they are invincible. Naturally the ruling class could not sit idly by at seeing the militant movement. So it sent its armed bands in a big way and began its campaign of suppression on 3rd March 1968.
With hope and anxiety people looked up to our party for guidance. People wanted to beat the police back. The district leadership was also in favour of giving resistance. We hoped the provincial leadership which criticized the neo-revisionist betrayal would place a correct programme of action before us. At that time the forces of people's resistance were also clearly visible. The people of Pedakarja village took up arms. They resisted the raiding police bands openly. The police resorted to the use of machine guns also. In this fight two of our comrades lost their lives. If we could organize the people's resistance force on guerrilla lines we would have seen the effect. But we were not prepared for resistance. It must be said, however, that the provincial leadership which was criticizing Sundarayya and his clique was mainly responsible for this. Till then we were all continuing in the so-called Marxist Party. Yet in practice we demarcated ourselves from Sundarayya and his clique. So nobody could prevent us from formulating the programme of struggle to suit the changes in our district and according to our views. Yet this leadership also did not find it necessary to think of our movement. These people were mainly engaged in the ideological polemics with neo-revisionists. In addition to this, these people concentrated their efforts upon winning over a majority of members of the Marxist Party to our side. The principle of organizing them through struggles was completely ignored. When they saw a majority of members opposing the neo-revisionist politics, this leadership began to gloat over this fact as if it was a victory for their line. To speak the truth, the main cause of the growth of the revolutionary political consciousness was nothing but Chairman Mao's thought, the flow of invaluable ideological information from China and the Naxalbari peasants' liberation struggle. It must also be said that the Madurai draft, prepared by the anti-China neo-revisionist leadership, was first opposed by the party members and cadres at lower levels. In this respect the leadership lagged behind them in the beginning and came forward later on. In the Madurai session of the Central Committee, the C. C. member Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao supported the draft and Pulla Reddi opposed China. This can be known from Pulla Reddi's letter to P.B. These people have failed to encourage members and cadres at lower levels to go into practice. While simply opposing the neo-revisionist theories these people hesitated to break with them. By holding general body meetings and making protracted speeches, they tried their best to convince the rank and file. That is why they pressurized the cadres to participate in Palakollu and Burdwan Plenums. In our district nearly all of us opposed their policy. We categorically said to them that we should break with the neo-revisionists and, wherever possible, should build up a revolutionary Party through struggles, with the rebellious comrades participating in them, and that we should not attend the Palakollu plenum. The leadership then said like this: some comrades while accepting our policies and theories were not prepared for an organizational break. We should not lose them by our hasty methods. These were the reasons advanced by the leadership. Our opinion was that while advancing these reasons these people had taken up only an organizational programme of building up another opportunist party. We conveyed our opinion to them. After the exposure of the neo-revisionist clique as traitors who tried to drown Naxalbari in blood, it became clear that there was no Communist Party in the country though there were individual communist revolutionaries. The task before us was to prepare for armed struggle and to build the Party on that basis. But it is a fact that these leaders have only accepted this in words but never in practice. They thought that our programme should be such as to win over a majority of party members to our side. Does not this thinking amount to one of recognizing the existence of a Party?
In this way these people confined their efforts to ideological polemics and building up an opportunist party. They did not attempt to carry forward the already surging struggles by giving them an ideological orientation. We, too, only opposed their policies on all occasions, but could not break with them. We waited for their orders. Due to this reason, we lost the opportunity of starting resistance even after repression had started. Because of our non-resistance, we lost many arms which had been in the possession of our people. We could not reap the fruit of our break with neo-revisionists in practice. Repression continued. At the end of March 1968, all the important comrades in our district, except Ramalingachari, said that guerrilla squads should be organized even then and that struggle should be started with those arms still with us. But these leaders rejected this. The reasons they advanced were as follows:
- Till today, we are not at all prepared.
- It is not correct to start without receiving training.
- This is not the season to start the struggle.
We thought that this leadership had much experience. Yet the reasons they advanced were not to our satisfaction. What is the meaning of Mao's teaching: "Learning warfare through warfare"? People were determined to fight the class enemy. We can learn target-shooting only by aiming at the heart of the enemy. The required natural advantages (mountains and forests) for the struggle are also present. So training is possible only through waging war against the enemy. We have to apply Chairman Mao's teaching in this way. But, on the other hand, if we think of starting a war of resistance only after receiving training which is comparable to that of the enemy's force, to what extent should we get trained? When do we start war? Concerning people's war, we think that the understanding about the necessity of prior training is basically wrong. When we referred to Mao Tse-tung's teaching, the P.C. member R... remarked, "Does it mean that Mao said anything against training?" They took up the training programme at a place hundreds of miles away. The training given was very meagre. In view of the later developments, we could not but oppose their farcical method of training. Ultimately, we refused to go to the place of training. Later, it was proved that the training given was useless.
We opposed this method of training, not only because the method was wrong but because of many other reasons too. If we deeply analyse what these leaders say, write and do after our break with neo-revisionists, there could be no justification whatsoever for a break. Their open letter to party members, their circular to Party Committees, Nagi Reddy's press statements, Pulla Reddy's articles, etc., are ample evidence of this. More important than all these are their methods of work which are unrelated to struggles. We thought there was basic difference between the thinking of these leaders and that of ourselves regarding the implementation of Mao's thought. They said in their open letter: "Neo-revisionists are propagating that we are calling for an immediate armed struggle. This is completely false." Is not a struggle inevitable between those who think that the call for immediate armed struggle is necessary and those who are opposed to such a call? In addition to this, these leaders had been hesitating to join the All India Co-ordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries. Among others in Andhra Pradesh, we also got alarmed at their methods. As a result of all this we had to look at these leaders in a new light.
Regarding the struggle in our district, these leaders used to advance before us the following arguments: "There is slackness in government repression. We have the opportunity to go to the masses and work legally. We should utilize this. We have to mobilize the masses on the issues like wage-rates, problems of farm-labourers, food, etc." This was their suggestion. We replied to this in this way: "If the people have to take up any activity it is linked with the question whether we resist the police or not. Whatever the problem we may take up, the police will be present. So our programme of action should be such as to resist the police." We mean by this that resistance war must be started on guerrilla lines. To this they said, "You can beat or kill landlords and their agents. But you should not resist the police because its consequences would be different. If it becomes inevitable, you can resist the police but guns should not be used. Only bows and arrows and country-made guns may be used. Even the resistance should be in such a way as to recover the lost gains. If we do like this, the enemy will not have the opportunity of charging us with creating chaos and thus whipping up false propaganda against us." It is clear from the above that these leaders did not have the idea of resistance on the lines of people's war. They put these things in their circular also in a very naked way.
After the repression, people were in panic regarding Sangham work. But at the same time immense confidence was being expressed by the people in the Party. The ruling class had not been viewing our movement as an economic struggle only. It is not even possible for it to view it in that way. To keep its existence in tact it has to inevitably view our movement only as a struggle. So, if we have to carry on our activity on any people's issue our struggle should be higher in form aimed at seizing political power; it should be an armed struggle. The present national and international conditions are also favourable to it. So our opinion is that we should start armed struggle with an open declaration. Only then, as Chairman Mao taught us, we shall be able to boldly arouse the masses and make them jump into the struggle.
Is not the difference between them and us like that between the east and the west? So, after considering all these things we began to think in a completely independent manner. We ventured to start contacts with the All India Co-ordination Committee. In view of all these things only, we opposed their method of training after this leadership had also joined the All India Co-ordination Committee.
Comrade Charu Majumdar compared our movement before the repression with the Hunan peasant movement. In fact, our movement had similarities with the Hunan peasant movement. This we realized later on. The idea which Comrade Majumdar brought to our notice inspired us tremendously. But this provincial leadership not only did not bring it to our notice but has been covering it up. We suggested that Chairman Mao's report on the Hunan peasant struggle be published and circulated. Pulla Reddy brushed it aside by saying, "What is there in it?" Comrade Majumdar suggested to us that we "build guerrilla squads and start struggle immediately." He also suggested to us that we concentrate our actions on annihilating class enemies and in that context destroy police forces. Comrade Majumdar's views coincided with those of ours. What we learnt here more clearly and concretely was that we should start first with the annihilation of class enemies. Since we accept this, the provincial leadership is advancing the following argument: "We too suggested the annihilation of class enemies. Majumdar also said just the same." Thus they are trying to derive self-satisfaction. But it is not difficult to distinguish between what these leaders on the one hand and Comrade Majumdar on the other said. Comrade Majumdar told us to start people's war immediately and placed before us a concrete line of struggle. The provincial leadership suggested the annihilation of landlords without reference to people's war. Then too they asked us to annihilate one or two landlords as an experiment. Is it not self-deception to think of both as one and the same?
Comrades, we came to an independent decision - whether right or wrong - to learn through our own experience. In the preceding period the leadership committed acts of ideological betrayal on different occasions. Our faith in individual leaders became an obstacle to the advance of our movement. At the same time, we have been continuously overcoming these obstacles. This process we have seen in the preceding pages. In this respect, from the time of the split in the communist party after the Sino-Indian border clashes in 1962 till the exposure of the ideological betrayal of Sundarayya and his clique, our cadres and members were always thinking sharply and used their initiative on all the ideological issues without being misled. After the break with Sundarayya and his clique and the setting up of the Provincial Co-ordination Committee, party members played a more important role in all the developments in our movement than the leaders. Initiative and consciousness which our comrades displayed have played a very significant role in helping the leadership to take an independent decision regarding our struggle. The district committee is very happy to see this. But at the same time one important point has got to be brought to the notice of our comrades. The improvement in the methods of work, initiative and sacrifice are not to be seen in some comrades to the extent to which they have shown ideological awareness. It is necessary to make up this deficiency quickly for the advance of our future movement. Already we are making much sacrifice, undergoing many hardships and working with revolutionary consciousness. As a result of this, peasant revolutionary armed struggle has started, and it is continuing in our district. People, mainly peasants, have risen like a storm and it is now blowing like a whirlwind. We have to take this forward through to the end. We have to continue the class struggle on guerrilla lines in a much bigger way. The district committee firmly believes that our cadres and members will carry out this task with discipline. It also believes that they will lead the fighting people in annihilating the enemies with death-defying spirit.
We want to remind our comrades of one more thing here. In view of the great tasks that we have to discharge in future, our present political, ideological and military knowledge is not sufficient. Our knowledge of Marxism-Leninism is very much limited. There is much to be learnt. Marxism is a science which is ever growing. The distance we have to travel yet is more difficult and protracted than the distance we have already travelled. We know that it is strewn with more complications. We cannot say that the bad experiences of the past, which we faced, will not be repeated. We have overcome them with unflinching courage as we have been doing so now. For this, we have to study Marxist-Leninist literature more deeply; specially, we should never forget the study and application of the thought of the great Marxist-Leninist teacher and great leader of the world's people, Chairman Mao. We should acquire experiences. The lessons learnt from every struggle should enable us to move further in our struggle. In any movement there may occur mistakes.
We should not stop working for fear of committing mistakes. Whether we are right or wrong will be proved in practice. We should never hesitate to take the initiative on the pretext of lack of experience. We must always be ready to admit and correct our mistakes. Otherwise, we shall become useless. Chairman Mao taught us that "correcting our mistakes is learning Marxism-Leninism through criticism and self-criticism."
Comrades, we in our district are now waging an armed struggle for the seizure of political power. The Communist Party is leading the struggle. We started this recently. We have noted earlier the many developments that had taken place before we started the struggle. We have to carry this struggle forward. So we have to review the period of struggle however short it may be. We decided on a programme of action for 25th November, 1968. Prior to this, we formed guerrilla squads with militant cadres. We conducted training camps for guerrilla squads for giving them knowledge in the handling of the gun. Police raids were usually continuing in the villages while the training camps were going on. Yet we could fulfil this programme successfully. For this training there was no need to go to a distance of hundreds of miles. We had the idea of giving training in the Agency area itself from the very beginning but the provincial leadership did not encourage our idea. Taking advantage of our attitude of depending on them, they utilized their farce of training to implement their line of delaying the struggles. They arranged training camps for batches at a distance of hundreds of miles. Because of this, we had to waste time, money and energy. If we had not boldly decided to give training in the Agency itself and rejected their method, we would have incurred many more losses. We would not have come out of the rut. After giving training we prepared the guerrilla squads to help the people's initiative in seizing the properties of the landlords, help intensify the people's desire to annihilate the class enemies and help implement the programme of 25th November, 1968. Though we failed to implement a part of this programme, we were on the whole successful. Though some cadres showed some backwardness in the course of implementing this programme, people demonstrated tremendous class hatred against the landlords. People were not prepared to leave even a single piece of thread or needle for the landlords. Seeing the surging tide of the people's movement, some comrades expressed misgivings about the government resorting to repression again. They lagged behind in discharging the tasks entrusted to them. They behaved in an indisciplined manner. This caused some anxiety to us. Yet we know that Chairman Mao has said that the Party can be strengthened only through struggles. So we cherished confidence in the people and in the party organization to be built up through struggles. We brought those points revealed during the course of the struggle to the notice of all the cadres. Later, we again continued our programme. As regards the impact of the programme of 25th November, 1968, it created a great stir and panic in the hearts of the Agency landlords. They were terribly panic-stricken. Exploiting classes in the country began to tremble. More special armed police were sent to the Agency area. They began to intensify the repression already started in quite a big way. We began to resist the police bands on the lines of guerrilla struggle. At that time we used those guerrilla squads organized previously. The squads were not active in the beginning. Only one squad moved actively. This was the situation till one month after 25th November, 1968.
But now the situation is different. Militant peasants from the villages are coming forward with great enthusiasm to join the guerrilla squads. The number of squads which are quite active is increasing day by day. We have made many new changes in the organization of squads. After our taking up the gun there was great enthusiasm among the people. On December 20th, 1968, in the Balleruguda struggle of Aviri area, the victories achieved by the people roused great enthusiasm in all the nooks and corners of the Agency. It also roused the fighting spirit of the cadres.
On December 20, 1968 the police entered the Aviri area to make raids. The resistance put up by the people shook the whole mountains. People saw the movements of the police in the morning on that day. People climbed up the mountains and called the people from the villages nearby. Nearly five hundred people rallied to Balleruguda. The police and landlords nearing about two hundred went there. The people took up bows and arrows, stones and one country-made gun. They did not allow the police to enter the village. The police turned back. Then the people pursued them and attacked them with bows and arrows and stones. While the police were climbing down, the people shot at them and hurled down stones. They expressed their heroic indignation. The police were scattered and they fled each taking his own way. In their panic they shot wildly in different directions while fleeing away. But the people got no injuries. The people used big rocks and trees as defence. They continued their attack on the police till the latter went to Pedagottili, a village at a distance of 3 miles. Two police constables and one Circle Inspector were killed in the battle. Later, we explained to the people that the method of fighting in which the masses stood face to face with the police and fought was disadvantageous to us. We reminded them of the losses in the fighting at Altiguda. We convinced them of the necessity of fighting by guerrilla methods. The police again entered the Aviri area on 23rd December 1968. The people, hiding themselves, waited for the enemy. One police constable fell on the ground when one of our guerrillas shot with the gun. The police again were scattered; again there was great enthusiasm among the people. With this, self-confidence among the people increased; they were attracted to guerrilla methods of fighting in a much bigger way. Previously, at Dakshini on December 4, 1968, and at Santhoshpuram on 6th December 1968, the people with arms in their hands mobilized in greater numbers and resisted the police. On those occasions also, we explained to the people the need of the guerrilla method of struggle. The culmination of all these struggles was the struggle on 20th and 23rd December at Balleruguda. This marked a new turning-point. With this, our struggle entered the guerrilla stage.
As a result of this, guerrilla squads began to move more actively. Immediately following this they attacked the police and killed some of them. There was an atmosphere of great enthusiasm everywhere. Peasants began to come forward in waves to join the guerrilla squads.
The mood of the people after the struggle started is not at all comparable with that after the last repression in March, 1968. During that period of repression when the police went to villages to make raids, the people used to stay there and got arrested. But now the people are not to be arrested. They are leaving the villages and climbing up the mountains. They are safeguarding their little properties. The police are coming in hundreds and making searches. But during these raids nobody, except the old and the disabled, that too one or two, is being caught. On some occasions the people have made the mountain-tops their dwelling-places. The police are not able to make arrests. Previously, some people even thought of getting rid of the police atrocities by handing over the leaders of the masses to the police, though they never did it. Today, that idea does not even occur to them. On one side, there is the fire of repression on the people; on the other side, tremendous new enthusiasm is being exhibited. Whenever people know about the existence of our cadres and squads, people in large numbers gather there. They never go there without something in their hands, either rice, vegetable or fruit. Our contacts with those villagers, previously cut off because of repression, are now being improved. The people feel joy at the very sight of us. Now the cadres and people feel the atmosphere of the days before the first repression. Those cadres who thought that the attacks on the landlords would intensify repression and that people would be kept away from us have now begun to realize that repression would only rouse their political consciousness and class hatred and make the class struggle more intense. Though some people showed in the beginning some vacillation in confiscating the properties of the landlords, they are now showing tremendous initiative. Some seventy arrested peasants belonging to Aviri area escaped from the Elvinpet Police camp en masse at midnight. Qualitative changes are no doubt taking place among the people and cadres. Only after taking up arms and giving a call for that we are able to observe this heartening situation. After taking up the gun and starting the struggle our guerrillas killed sixteen of the police enemies. It is a feast to the eyes of the people when they see dead bodies of policemen being carried away. They are forgetting the repression when they see this. Another very significant thing is that the people themselves are making arrangements for providing food to our guerrilla squads. Sometimes villagers on the mountain-tops are giving food to even thirty to forty members. Hundreds of people from the nearby villages know where our guerrilla squads and our cadres are. Even though the police camps are very near, no secret information is leaked out to the enemies. This shows the immense confidence of the people in our party.
After our taking up the gun and giving the call for people's war the hearts of the police in the Agency area trembled. When the police began to die in the hands of the guerrillas the morale of the police was shattered. Hearing the roar of the guns the police become nervous. They feel afraid whenever they have to travel along village routes. Unlike on the previous occasion the police are not able to go for searches in groups of twenty-five. They do not feel confident unless they are larger in number. "Why should we go to make raids and die? Let us write reports as if we have gone." Unless accompanied by a big officer, the police are not usually prepared to go for searches. Previously the police used to raid the villages day and night. But now usually night-raids have been stopped. Searches are being started at five in the morning and stopped by three in the afternoon. They return to their camps by that time. Even these raids are not being conducted except in the presence of landlords and some other people. People are being taken forcibly to help their searches. It can be said that at present we have seized nights from the enemies' hands. Even during the daytime there is generally no obstacle created by the enemies to our free movement in a large area. The truth of Chairman Mao's saying that "All the reactionaries in the world are paper tigers" is proved to us within a short span of time. Yet the enemy may concentrate its big forces and try to attack us. Our cadres and people should develop such mental calibre as to face the difficulties with undaunted courage and learn such tactics as to beat back the enemy's offensive on the lines of protracted war from now onwards.
At present, the enemy is adopting new tactics and trying to create conflicts between the two tribes in the Agency, i.e., Savara and Jatapu and also among the Jatapus and the Savaras themselves in a bigger way than in the past. When the police carry out a raid they force some Savara and Jatapu people to accompany them and to burn the houses and loot the properties of the people. This had its effect on our people. Our people said that we should kill those Girijans who burn down and loot our villages and that we should burn down their houses also. The hatred of the people is thus sought to be diverted from the landlords and police to the people themselves. This we realized and took appropriate precautions. We never allowed our people to resort to such methods. We made efforts to see that the people's hatred is not diverted from the class enemy and that they do not forget their task - the annihilation of landlords.
In this context one more experience has got to be narrated. The landless peasants are struggling with death-defying spirit without any compromise or vacillation. It is this class which leads the struggle. By educating them in Mao's thought the Party should help them to discharge their leading role more successfully.
The number of people forced to take part in the searches is getting reduced day by day. Such people begin writing letters to us now. "The police are forcing us to follow them during the searches. If we refuse they are beating us. We are undergoing many sufferings. Please save us." This is what they write to us. The enemy is getting more panicky at seeing this. Recently we concentrated our main efforts on annihilating the class enemies. With the annihilation of a landlord on 6th February, 1969 and serious injury inflicted on a police agent, there is consternation among the enemies. Surging enthusiasm is seen on the people's faces.
People's confidence in the guerrilla methods of struggle is increasing day by day. They have been demanding bombs and arms to defend their villages. The repression let loose on the people will strengthen their determination to fight harder. The people seeing us starting the struggle, annihilating the enemies and sharing the people's difficulties are not able to forget us. The people see doctors and some other comrades from other districts coming over here and working for the people. They express great joy. "Assistance has come to our struggle from a very long distance." There is no doubt that these comrades become very useful to the struggle.
But at the same time, we have suffered some losses. A doctor comrade was arrested while he was suffering from fever. A member of a guerrilla squad and party worker was shot by the police and captured. During our struggle till now these two comrades along with some other comrades have been arrested. The other comrades were arrested for not taking sufficient precautions. These are the losses we have suffered during the course of the struggle.
Comrades, the present conditions are very hopeful for carrying our struggle forward. We have reviewed our movement, the present situation and the conditions we faced before and during the struggle. Basing or this, we formulate our tactics of struggle and advance along the path of struggle. We achieved many victories within a very short period of time Let us be prepared for more arduous struggles in the future. In this context all of us must make efforts to help every party member and cadre to observe discipline, make sacrifice and stand firm. Our great leader Chairman Mao said: "The Indian nation is a great nation. The Indian people are a great people. Indian reactionaries and their masters, U.S. imperialists and Soviet revisionists, are all paper tigers. The Indian people can achieve complete liberation through their own struggle." So we place tremendous confidence in our nation. This nation following the thought of Mao Tse-tung has begun its struggle against the reactionary ruling classes. We must remember that we have become participants in this great struggle. Comrades, whether we live or die, it must be for the people, revolution is our ultimate goal. There is nothing greater in life than this. Let us build up a revolutionary base area. Let us build up the people's army, because "People have nothing without the people's army," as Chairman Mao has said.
With revolutionary greetings,
Srikakulam
February 25, 1969
District Communist Committee.