In the campaign for civil liberties in India, Varavara Rao has for long been familiar presence The 51-yr-old Telugu writer is ‘now on “a mission to awaken the entire nation to the oppression by the state in Andhra Pradesh.” Rao is general secretary of the Revolutionary Writers Association and its 22nd annual conference authorized him to tour the “length and breadth of India to apprise people and the media about the alarming abuse of human rights and civil liberties in the Telangana region.”

Excerpts from an interview to R.Briagwan Singh at a friend’s house in Madras during Rao’s “Bharat yatra,’

“What is peculiar to Andhra for growth of naxalism? The basic issue in Andhra Pradesh has been land reforms. There are several landlords holding thousands of acres, while the poor laborer toll without adequate compensation. Apart from hunger, these Dalit’s and other farm workers have had to suffer humiliation at the hands of land lords, who freely indulged in rape and murder.

For instance, there was Jenareddy Pratap Reddy in Warangal district who owned 1.50-lakh acres of land. His son is a Congress MLA now. Though records say the later surrendered a good portion of his land holdings, we know he continues to have ‘much more than the ceiling quality of 54 acres. According to statistics not quite outdated, some 30 farmers own 20,000 acres each.

In 1951, B Ramakrishna Rao, the first chief minister of the established Hyderabad state Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao Practiced law under him introduced land reforms, and abolished Zamindari and Jagirdari systems, However, till now, land reforms ‘have not been implemented in the state.

Whatever the reason, should Naxalites take up arms against the state? Has t not let to a lot of senseless violence on both sides? ‘The revolutionaries only take to encounter violence as he put it. “Force is the midwife of revolution,” and people have to use it against the violence of the state and the ruling classes. Take the case of lock-up deaths and raping of Dalit women. They used to suffer it all in silence earlier, but have begun resisting now. Hence the talk of revolutionaries using force against state repression. In a philosophical way, this is only Counter-violence.

‘What will happen if people form extremist groups and take up arms against the state in the name of fighting oppression? ‘Take a look at the track record of successive governments in Andhra Pradesh from J.Vengala Rao to NJanardhan Reddy. Over 350 people were killed during, the Srikakulam uprising in 1971 most of them in fake encounters. Vengata Rao then took pride in crushing the struggle. Now, about 10,000 cases have been registered against civil liberties activists under the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities Act.

‘Apart from fake encounters, the government is now busy staging fake surrenders. Village youth are being lined up and made to sign Printed declarations about their quitting the People’s War Group, ‘on the realization that violence does ‘not pay. They are made to declare their involvement in burning buses and killing innocents then they are put in jails. Statistics are spruced “up to show that the present regime has managed to convert many youth from naxalism into the mainstream.

Does it mean the state has succeeded and the Naxalities are on the run? Has this revolution failed? And what about reports of differences within the PWG?

The state government has deployed Central forces to supplement its own repressive machinery. ‘And yet, the revolution has survived, and is still growing. This itself means we are succeeding. As for the PWG, state secretary Nalla ‘Aadi Reddy has recently issued a statement clarifying that all differences have been sorted out.

‘Which means there were differences?

Differences of opinion are good for the organization. The danger arises only if these differences remain unsolved.

‘What about reports of PWG killing other group members and commoners labeling them as police informers?

‘That is usually false propaganda. In any case, it is not as bad when ‘compared to the recent killing of a Journalist by a deputy superintendent of police. The officer was worried about possible exposure of his land deal, but subsequently claimed that the journalist was a Naxalite Everyone knows that was a lie.

What do you say to the alleged PWG-LTTE links aimed at subverting the state?

The Andhra Pradesh issued a statement on these lines recently. ‘The revolutionaries support the struggle for self-determination in ‘Sri Lanka, and since the LTTE is the only force spearheading that campaign, the PWG might have extended moral support. However, I must clarify that supporting cause of the Tamils is one thing and cooperation another thing.

‘What about allegations that the PWG acquired sophisticated weapons from the LTTE?

Let me quote from a government statement In one of the raids on Naxalite dens, they said some grenades made in the Indira Gandhi Ordinance factory in Medak district were seized. There is a famous folk song about the revolutionaries living in the forests and hills, ‘who gives, food to them? It is the people. ‘And who gives them the arms? I, is the enemy I think, every revolutionary group gets is arms from the police of the army or makes them himself,

‘Against a determined government bid to contain extremism, ‘what do you think is the future for naxalism in your state?

‘The people of Telangana used to be treated as slaves earlier, but they are now living with dignity, though state terrorism is still there, ‘Most of the landlords have fled to the cities, thanks to the PWG. A villager in north Telangana now feels he is no longer a lave. Five lakh acres of land out of total seven-lakh acres is now occupied by the landless poor. Ultimately the gun for resistance must defeat the gun giving power to the ruling class.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 14, 1992