I have never met Comrade Ajitha, but I have read a lot of his works.
I have always considered him a good writer and important thinker for the
revolution in India. His criticism of Bob Avakian were key to some articles I
wrote several years ago. So I'm saddened at the fact that he is now dead. I
will never be able to know him now. That is misfortune. However, there is still
a chance that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and win and as long as
there is that chance, I will be supporting their efforts. This article was
translated by Google. I'm proud to post it here. -សតិវអតុ
The Communist Blog Network
continues its task of giving a voice in Spanish to the Communist Party of India
(M), translating its communiqués. On
this occasion, the appeal is made on 1 January for the murder of two party
militants, the comrade of the Central Committee Kuppu Devaraj and the militant
Ajitha. His life will
revolutionize, no doubt, will serve for the new generations to continue their
fight to victory.
"As harsh as
repression and loss are, the movement will advance to the end of the exploiting
dominant classes, to implant the popular state power and to establish the State
of New Democracy that advances towards Socialism and, later, towards
Communism."
***
From Communist Party of India (Maoist):
RED
TRIBE TO THE RESPECTED SON OF THE PROLETARY CLASS, TO THE HEROIC LEADER OF THE
OPRIMID MASSES OF OUR COUNTRY, KUPPU DEVARAJ!
The Communist Party of
India (Maoist) pays a respectful tribute to its Central Committee member,
Comrade Kuppu Devaraj (Ramesh / Yogesh / Rayanna), and a veteran activist,
Comrade Ajitha.Comrade Devaraj served the revolutionary movement for almost
forty years and died in a false confrontation with another veteran militant,
Comrade Ajitha, on December 24, 2016. We send our deepest sympathy to the
families of our dear comrades Devaraj and Ajitha. Comrade Devaraj was 62 years old and
Comrade Ajitha 52. We call on the masses, democrats, patriots and citizens of
the whole country to condemn the brutal murder and oppose such atrocities. The responsibility for this false
confrontation rests on the current brahmanic-Hindu-fascist government of Modi
and the social-fascist government of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of
Kerala.
This is the revolutionary
trajectory of our dear comrade Devaraj. Under
the influence of the peasant armed struggle of Naxalbari in the 1960s, the
peasantry and intellectuals of the Karnataka state began to work with the
masses. One such person was
Koganuru Gonappa from the village of Sirahatti, who, with the political example
of the Naxalbari struggle, began to raise the awareness of the poor peasants. The mercenaries of the landowners
murdered him.
There was later a vacuum of
several years, followed by the formation of the PCI (ML) [Popular War]. Revolutionary militants and
sympathizers across the country began to unite. Among them was Comrade Devaraj, who
came into contact with the party in 1980. The result was the appearance of
part-time militants in Karnataka, who were consolidated into party cells. Yogesh was an active militant of one
of these cells. Together with
others, he began to develop political and organizational work among workers,
students and youth. In fact, even
before the party came into contact with him, he already carried out
revolutionary activities with other militants within the working class.
Comrade Devaraj was a
factory worker. It belonged to
the poor urban class and the oppressed Dalits. Their ancestors had emigrated from
Tamil Nadu to Bangalore. He had a
family with a wife, children, brothers and sisters. After becoming a militant, his house
became a center of party activities.
Between 1980 and 1985, the
party cells were activated. Soon
Devaraj became a professional revolutionary ["PR" in the original]
under the direction of Cherukuri Rajkumar (Azad). The party sent Comrade Azad to
organize their structures in the state of Karnataka. By the year 85, there were already
eight professional revolutionary militants led by Devaraj. The professional revolutionaries
worked in the cities of Bangalore, Kolar and Mysore with the workers, the
students and the youth.They also organized and supported student, worker, and
youth struggles. They also formed
a cultural front.
The cultural front, the
party and the militants of the mass organizations spread the Prolonged People's
War and extended the movement to Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and other areas. They carried out numerous tasks of
political propaganda. In that process,
before 85, a leading group, formed by ideological and political coherence, was
formed, headed by Azad. Devaraj
was the key person in this group.
In 1985, during the crisis
of the Central Committee, this ruling group in Karnataka played an active role
in confronting the opportunist and liquidationist clique within it. Under Comrade Azad's leadership,
comrades Devaraj and Saketh Rajan played a crucial role in this internal
struggle.Although the comrades did not have much experience in the class struggle,
they studied the theory of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the basic documents of the
Party, as well as the revolutionary history of our country and the world, which
allowed them to acquire ideological and political solidity . They fully assumed the party line of
the Prolonged People's War and contributed to the party's adherence to the
policy of armed struggle. The
study and the theoretical struggle that they undertook against the opportunist
and liquidationist clique allowed to lay the theoretical bases for the future
organization of the party in the state. All
this contributed also to that the group later became State Committee. The group also helped the Andhra
Pradesh committee during the repression. Thanks
to this assistance, the Andhra Pradesh committee was able to successfully carry
out important tasks, which helped to develop good relations and cooperation
between the two movements.
In 1987, at the First State
Conference, Comrade Azad was elected Secretary of the State Committee, of which
Saketh Rajan and Kuppu Devaraj were also members. In this conference a program for the
peasant revolution was adopted. Taking
into account the situation of social, economic and political inequality in the
state, the decision was made to undertake the movement in the northern plains
of Karnataka flanking Andhra Pradesh. Devaraj,
who was entrusted with the responsibility of leading the rural movement as a
member of the State Committee, understood that he would only advance with a
steely direction. In this area a
landowner was executed and his lands confiscated. The struggle lasted for about two
years and the students also participated actively.
They worked with peasants
in the districts of Bidar and Raichur. They
mobilized the peasantry, set up peasant organization, and engaged in
anti-feudal and anti-state struggles. It
was then that the fight against the nuclear power plant of Kaiga arose. They broadened their scope of action
to the student body and created student organizations in the districts of
Bidar, Raichur, Chitradurga, Shimoga and Dharwad. The fight in Kaiga and work with the
students made the party known throughout the state.
Due to the crisis in the
Central Committee between 1985-1987, there was a break in activities for some
time. There was no focal point
and direction of the different movements in the states. In that period, Azad and Comrade
Yogesh worked shoulder to shoulder to keep the frame structure intact.In that
task, Comrade Devaraj also played a very important role in Tamil Nadu.
In 1990 the party held the
Second State Conference. In this
Conference the various struggles were analyzed in depth. The conference considered that there
had been some deficiencies in the anti-feudal struggle, especially in relation
to militancy. They drew the
appropriate lessons from this experience and decided to consolidate the party
and strengthen its leadership to push the movement forward. The party also held a State Plenary in
1993 to rectify heterogeneous class trends. In
that plenary, the party assumed the task of developing itself to advance the
movement and thus better face the problems of the people.
The national question was
also raised in Karnataka. The
party realized the need to address the problem of the kannadigas and created an
organization to deal with it.
There was a second crisis
in the party at the national level in 1991. In that crisis, the Karnataka State
Committee produced a document outlining the erroneous tendencies of the
minority group.They appealed to all party cadres to fight the opportunist clique
in 1992. The aim of the appeal was that all cadres could understand the
approaches of the liquidationist clique and combat it ideologically.
Before the Special National
Conference of 1995, a state conference took place in which Devaraj assumed the
position of Secretary of the State Committee. At
the Conference he became an alternate member of the Central Committee and, as
of 1997, a full-time member. From
that moment, the internal struggle in the party in Karnataka slowed the advance
of the movement.
In 2001, the former
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [People's War] held its Ninth
Congress and Comrade Devaraj was once again elected to the Central Committee. The Central Committee also created the
Southwest Regional Office (SWRB), of which it was also a member. At that time, the State Committee
proposed to the Central Committee to modify the areas of action in the short
term. The Central Committee
approved the proposal and developed a comprehensive plan.The Committee studied
socio-economic and political conditions in these areas. Together with Comrade Saketh Rajan,
Comrade Kuppu Devaraj played a key role in launching the movement in those
areas in the early 21st century.
Once the work began in the
zones of action, the opportunists began to sabotage it under the pretext that
it would not work. They also
opposed the merger of the two parties and the creation of the Maoist Party. In that context Comrade Saketh Rajan
heroically martyred in combat with the enemy.After his death Comrade Devaraj
continued the struggle against the right-wing opportunist clique with the help
of the South West Regional Office. Most
of the comrades remained true to the Party line. Finally the crisis was solved in the
State Conference of 2006, in which the Party left the opportunist clique.
A document was published in
which opponents were rebutted under the title "Opportunists never
understand the revolutionary dialectic." Yogesh
was the soul of that document. Meanwhile,
armed guerrilla fighters had been raised in Madurai and some neighboring
districts of Tamil Nadu. Yogesh
was the one who assumed the main responsibility for the planning and
preparation of cadres for armed struggle.
In 2004 the Maoist Party
was formed. Yogesh, as a member
of the Central Committee, helped to create the new party. He subsequently became a member of the
Southwest Regional Office. He
participated in the Unity Congress, to which he contributed ideologically and
politically.
In 2007 the Party held the
Congress of Unity-Ninth Congress. Congress
elected Comrade Devaraj to the Central Committee and reconfirmed him as a
member of the Southwest Regional Office. By
the end of that year and the following year, other comrades of the Regional
Office had either been martyred or detained. Comrade
Devaraj took over the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.In this
difficult situation, he remained firm and contributed to the cadres to
consolidate the revolutionary movement.
In 2011, the Southwest
Party decided to concentrate most of our subjective forces in the wooded area
bordering the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.Comrade Devaraj always
wanted to open a war front in this part of the country. He constantly studied the conditions
of the different parts of these three states, which allowed him to play a
crucial role in the beginning of the movement in that area and in the direction
and implantation of the pictures in it. In
a short time, the Party gained the appreciation of the traditional tribal
populations of the region and directed to the Guerilla Army of Popular
Liberation in the successful development of its politico-military campaign. The masses began to integrate widely
into the guerrilla squads. All
this put on alert the governments of the three states. The current movement in that area is a
major blow to revisionism, especially in Kerala. The Party showed the masses the right
course, to which Devaraj contributed actively.
When the Southwest Regional
Office launched the Command Training Program [LTP], Comrade Devaraj assumed
responsibility and ran the training camps. In
the program participated state and superior cadres who received a complete
education that allowed them to equip themselves with a clear vision on the
diverse questions of the revolutionary movement. Devaraj thus contributed to forming
political party cadres.
Comrade Devaraj also had an
active role in the processes of unity with other revolutionary communists. It was he who led on behalf of the
Central Committee the negotiations with the Naxalbari group that later led to
the merger of that formation. Previously,
Devaraj had initiated conversations with the group Janasakthi, managing to
attract some comrades to the correct way.Comrade Devaraj was keenly interested
in the Party press and mass organizations. He
also paid great attention to the information of all the news and events that
the corresponding committees might need in their tasks.
There is another important
thing about Devaraj: he played a prominent role in supplying weapons and
ammunition for the ongoing popular war, as well as in the manufacture of
grenades.
The Western Ghats could
become a new bastion of the revolutionary movement in the country, so the
central and state governments plotted the kidnapping of Devaraj and another
veteran Party militant, Comrade Ajitha, and assassinated them in an alleged
confrontation.
Comrade Devaraj's loss is a
blow to the Party, which had begun to consolidate among the masses in the
Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border areas. The people of Kerala will never forget
[Arikkad] Verghese, who reached martyrdom almost fifty years ago, as well as
his sacrifice for the people. The
people want to promote the movement according to the ideals of Verghese, so, as
soon as the Party approached them, they became actively involved. Now they will never forget Devaraj.
Comrade Devaraj belonged to
an oppressed class, the Dalit community. He
spoke fluently English, Malayali, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and the local language
adivasi. The Indian Revolution
has lost a great leader, tempered in the hard internal struggle on ideological
and theoretical level. He led the
movement with few subjective forces and relatively less experience, and this
with great courage and iron will. He
talked to everyone and was able to create a democratic atmosphere between the cadres
and the masses, gaining their trust. Thus
it will always remain in its memory.
He was a disinterested
personality. He would undertake
any task entrusted to him by the Committee. Devaraj
will be remembered in the Indian Revolution, mainly in the Western Ghats,
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Dandakaranya. Their
ideals will live forever. Their
commitment, their seriousness in the work and their sacrifice will undoubtedly
advance the Party. Comrade
Devaraj's unwavering commitment to the objective will help the future cadres to
overcome the current losses. One
must learn from Devaraj how to swim against the current. Comrade Devaraj's style of work, will,
dedication and courage are an example for all Party cadres. The Central Committee urges the cadres
of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to imbue themselves with the ideals of the
martyr. The Committee also urges
the cadres of these three states to undertake their work and continue to work
with their own energy. Following
his example, he can become a good communist worker. This will be the true tribute to the
great martyr. Once again we
express our regret and our condolences to his paintings and his family.
With the help of other
comrades, he hoisted the red flag in the Western Ghats. No matter how harsh repression and
losses may be, the movement will advance to the point of eliminating the
exploiting dominant classes, implanting popular state power, and establishing
the New Democracy State to advance towards Socialism and, later, toward
Communism.
Abhay
Spokesperson, Central Committee
PCI (Maoist)
January 1, 2017
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