India-Homage To Renowned Marxist Economist R.S. Rao

From COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST)
CENTRAL COMMITTEE

June 23, 2011
Red Homage To Renowned Marxist Economist And
Great Friend Of Indian Revolution Comrade Prof. R.S. Rao!

On June 17, 2011 Prof RS Rao (74), the renowned Marxist Economist and great friend of Indian Revolution breathed his last in a hospital in New Delhi. With his demise, the Indian people have lost one of their greatest well-wishers and the Indian revolution has lost one of its greatest friends. His death spread a wave of grief throughout the revolutionary camp and the CC, CPI (Maoist) humbly pays red homage to this staunch Marxist who has stood firmly with the oppressed people and the Maoist revolutionary movement raging in this country ever since the Naxalbari days.
RS Rao, was born in Srikakulam of Andhra Pradesh but major part of his life and work were spent in Sambalpur of Odisha. The fact that he has chosen to work here as this area witnessed displacement due to big dams and was an Adivasi area shows his deep concern for the most deprived people of this country. This deep concern and sense of commitment for the oppressed masses, particularly for the Adivasis continued till the end. Naxalbari proved to be a turning point in his life and he deeply and firmly believed that only a movement which can fight back the feudal exploitation and oppression can liberate this country. In all his writings and speeches he kept pointing towards the semi-feudal relations and the need to liberate our country from them. Even as debates raged in the Marxist circles if capitalist relations have entered India he analyzed the production relations in India with a Marxist viewpoint and reiterated the semi-feudal nature of those relations. That is why he consistently believed and wrote about the need for new democratic revolution for this country as it would overthrow these exploitative production relations. His book Towards Understanding Semi Feudal Semi Colonial Society: Studies in Political Economy, and his other works are a must read for all serious political activists working for new democratic revolution. His lucid style of writing and usage of simple words for explaining complex economic terms have been appreciated very much by ordinary activists and public.
RS Rao was one of the first persons who questioned the imperialist-dictated development model implemented by the Indian ruling classes and brought forth the concept that dark shadows lie below the lamp of development even from the days when big dams like Bhakra Nangal and Hirakud displaced people. When Nehru described big dams as `Modern Temples', he said that indeed they were modern temples which did not allow entry to the ones who constructed them. His seminal work on this concept `Abhivrudhi Velugu Needalu' (The bright and dark sides of development) in Telugu continues to influence any serious debate about the development model this country should follow. He had guided many young researchers and encouraged them to take up study of the social and economic changes occurring in the rural areas, particularly the changes in the old Maoist movement areas. As a veteran Marxist he tried to study things in their motion using dialectical method and tried to grasp their essence.
Recently, he played a crucial role of as one of the three mediators between the Odisha government and the CPI (Maoist) when Malkangiri Collector Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Majhi were abducted. He was painfully aware of the fact that they could secure the release of these two government servants but could not even extract information from the government about the whereabouts of Comrade Seethanna leave alone the fulfillment of the promises made by the government in the wake of this abduction.
Since Naxalbari RS Rao has been a great friend and well-wisher of the people and the Maoist movement in the country and stood unwaveringly with the movement and Marxism in the face of all kinds of ideological debates, particularly during the world wide reactionary and post-modernist attacks on Marxism after the collapse of Soviet super power. The Maoist movement feels honored by the fact that a sound Marxist like RS Rao has always looked to the official political organs of CPI (Maoist) for his reference. The CPI (Maoist) hails RS Rao as a model pro-people intellectual who should be emulated by any intellectual of this country who has people's interests at heart. They must use their intellect and writings to preserve the interests of the oppressed people of our country and stand by them in spite of all kinds of odds. This need is felt more than ever at this juncture when the Indian state has launched a multi-pronged country-wide war on the people to facilitate the indiscriminate loot of the natural resources of our country. The oppressed people of India, particularly the Adivasis would never forget the services rendered by Prof RS Rao and would always fondly remember this gentle, soft-spoken intellectual who was always scathing in his critique of the ruling class policies.
CC, CPI (Maoist) on behalf of the whole revolutionary camp sends its deepest condolences to Bharatigaaru, family, friends, colleagues in the various revolutionary and other mass organizations and appeals to them to propagate his writings and the values he upheld in his life so that they can be emulated by the younger generations who seek to liberate our country. The support extended by intellectuals like RS Rao for the revolutionary movement plays a crucial role in its survival and development and our party warmly remembers all support and solidarity extended by such writers and intellectuals. The real homage one could pay to RS Rao would be to follow the ideals and values he had propagated and followed in his life, to continue the study of the production relations of our country with a sound Marxist viewpoint in order to change them and to stand firmly with the movements which aim to liberate our country from the shackles of feudalism, comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie and imperialism. Our party sees the efforts of all such intellectuals as part of the whole effort for a new democratic India. We appeal to all the friends and colleagues of RS Rao to continue his efforts and ideals to fulfill his dream of genuine democracy and development for the people.

(Abhay)
Spokesperson,
Central Committee,
CPI (Maoist)