Party Central Committee (CC) met from December 18 to 21 in the historic Boddapadu village in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. The village has been a stronghold of the revolutionary communist movement for decades and has been associated with the lives and struggles and sacrifices of legendary martyrs like Comrades Tamara Ganapati, Panchadri and Nirmala Krishanmurti, Subbarao Panigrahi, Vempatapu Satyanarayana and several others. December 18 this year marked the tenth anniversary of the demise of Comrade Vinod Mishra.

The CC therefore chose this historic occasion and venue to initiate the month-long Pledge Campaign (December 18, 2008 – January 16, 2009) and step up all-round preparation for the important battles ahead, and also to prepare for 2009, the 40th anniversary year of the Party’s foundation. Before the CC began its meeting, Comrade Malleswar Rao hoisted the flag of the Party and Central Committee members (CCMs) paid floral tribute to the portrait of Comrade VM. Members of martyrs’ families were then felicitated by CPI(ML) General Secretary in the presence of CCMs, local comrades and several leading cadres of the Andhra state unit. Throughout the four days of the meeting, Andhra comrades set a new standard of hospitality and people’s participation and involvement in making the meeting a memorable experience for the entire CC.

The entire village – young and old, men, women, children and young college students alike – all had worked tirelessly to prepare for the meeting. The small village was swathed in red everywhere. Fresh flowers decorated the meeting tent every day, which was next to a Martyrs’ Hall dedicated to the martyrs of the entire ML movement. The Hall had a dais that faced, across a wide ground, the small temple where Subbarao Panigrahi had been a priest, and next to it the school which had been set up through a movement by the party in the 60s – and which the Government had closed down in the 70s, finding that it was producing an inconvenient number of Naxalites. All around were cashew groves. The red flag adorned a tall pole atop an enormous banyan tree, and another tall pole right in the centre of the ground.

The entire period of the CC Meeting – from 18-21 December – seemed like a festival in the village, to celebrate the very fact that this Party, braving all the brutal repression and the murder of its entire leadership, had stubbornly refused to die, and instead, was returning more than 40 years later to pay tribute to the village that had borne the brunt of the horrors of that phase. Families of the martyrs from the CPI(ML) as well as the other ML parties were felicitated by Comrade Dipankar, the party General Secretary.

The meals were wholesome and simple, and it was obvious that the entire village was involved in cooking for and serving the guests. One woman comrade who earned her living as a tailor had, for the past many weeks, completely dedicated her sewing machine to the CC Meeting preparations.

Unobtrusively yet surely, one could feel the imprint of communist culture all around. Aruna, a daughter of Thamada Ganapati, introduced us to her mother, Thamada Polamma, and also to Telukala Dandasamma, whom she said was “like my mother.” We learnt that Dandasamma was a sister of Saraswati, who had been killed by the police. After Ganapati’s death, Polamma and the children had had to be underground, to avoid police repression. At that time, Dandasamma had helped to bring up Aruna. There were innumerable such stories in the village: of people forging filial bonds across caste and community.

It wasn’t an easy journey. Aruna herself recalled that when Comrade Malleswar came out of prison and spoke to her of her father, her own family and all in the village were extremely reluctant to reopen the bloody chapter of repression. Comrade Malleswar had an uphill task: but he succeeded in breaking the fear and getting Boddapadu to reclaim its proud legacy. Even those of the youngest generation in the village would tell anyone who asked that even the most basic necessities of life: literacy, education, drinking water, dignity – had been a contribution of the communist movement, not a gift from the benevolent State. Rather, the movements for such basic needs had invited fierce and bloody reprisal from a vengeful State. An entire generation of revolutionaries had been eliminated – but the State had failed to eliminate the enduring respect and love that the village had for those brave men and women.

On the last day of the CC meeting, there was a moving moment when Comrade Dipankar and other comrades met with Surekha Panigrahi, Subbarao Panigrahi’s wife, and visited her home.
On 22 December, there was a revolutionary cultural festival in the village, where the entire village gathered. One young man, asked if there were any singers in the village, was puzzled: “We all sing here,” he said. It was true – there are a remarkable number of cultural activists in the village, a result no doubt, of the tradition of Panigrahi and the Boddapadu Youth League.

The guests bid farewell to Boddapadu with full hearts, taking with them the love and comradeship of a community that had been a great centre of resistance, had been tested by the fire of the worst kind of repression and had remained true to the glorious spirit of the communist movement.

Boddapadu’s Revolutionary Legacy

CC member, Comrade Malleshwar Rao, a native of Boddapadu, penned a history of revolutionary political activity there.

Like most villages in India, Boddapadu immediately post-Independence was extremely backward. It had no roads, no electricity. The poor survived on different kinds of tubers and roots and banana-trunk. Rice was a luxury few could afford. Villagers walked 2-3 kilometers to fetch drinking water from streams and ponds. No one in the village could read and write, so one had to find a literate person in another village to get them to read one’s letters. Medical facilities did not exist. The youth had neither much education nor employment – and were expected to live in an intoxicated haze. Living conditions were inhuman; untouchability was the rule.

The Communist Party made Dharmapuri Krishnamurthy responsible for organizing people in the Uddanam region (where Boddapadu is located). On a visit to a high school in the neighbouring village of Ankupalli in 1952, he had a chance meeting with young Thamada Ganapati, who was from one of the well-off families in Boddapadu. A bond was forged that was to last the next 17 years: a period in which both Ganapati and his village were to undergo a political transformation.

Ganapati became a communist party organiser and mobilized the youth in the village around the issues of education and literacy, and along with Krishnamurthy, involved the youth in sports and cultural activities, under the banner of the Boddapadu Yuvajan Sangham in 1954. This youth organization became the fulcrum for political mobilisation in the village – against authoritarianism, against liquor and drugs, against superstitions and untouchability, in favour of literacy and also, of course, communist ideology. The organization spread to 50 neighbouring villages with its headquarters at Boddapadu. It also organized agitations demanding basic rights like drinking water and a school. They began construction of a school at their own initiative and pressed for the government to recognise it. Once the primary school was set up they pushed the demand for a high school. The party also made arrangements for food and stay for the children in Boddapadu village, to provide an incentive for them to join the school.

Subbarao Panigrahi had come from Kharagpur to live in Sompeta. A small Shiva temple in Boddapadu needed a priest and in 1958, he was encouraged by the party to fill the opening. It was here that Panigrahi started his journey as poet, cultural activist and revolutionary organiser.

Panchadri Krishnamurthy too shifted to Boddapadu in that period. In this way, Boddapadu became the karmabhumi of the revolutionary triad: Panchadri Krishnamurty as the leader of the Party, Thamada Ganapati as leader of the masses and Subbarao Panigrahi as people’s poet and cultural activist. This is the time when Boddapadu popularly came to be called ‘Stalingrad.’

Then came Naxalbari – and the Srikakulam movement began, with Palkonda and Parvathipuram as some of its main centres. Vempatapu Satyam and Adibatla Kailasam were the two key leaders of these struggles.

Boddapadu is witness to all developments within the Communist movement in this country. When the Communist Party split in 1964, the Party’s unit in the village associated itself with the CPI(M). When CPI(M) split again, the party unit here joined the AICCCR. The comrades here supported the Naxalbari struggle and Subbarao Panigrahi welcomed it with the following lines: ‘Where are you going, O brothers? Wait for us! We shall march together’; ‘Your songs have shaken the establishment in Kolkata; Our enemies are afraid, our friends are overjoyed.’ Panigrahi was so popular in the region that once in a public meeting the people were asked whether they want to hear a speech by Comrade Sundaraiyya (then CPI(M) Secretary) or Panigrahi’s songs. ‘Panigrahi’s songs!’ the people cried out in unison and Sundaraiyya left the dais in a huff.

Girijan adivasis from different villages arriving for a Girijan Sangham Conference in 1967 were shot at by the zamindars in the nearby forest. Two members, Com. Koranna and Com. Monganna were killed in this shooting. They were the first martyrs of Srikakulam struggles. The police held the Communist leaders responsible for the shootout and slapped false cases on them. Subbarao Panigrahi wrote Jamukula Katha based on this incident. He and his team toured the Andhra region performing this story before the masses. CPI(M) held a meeting in Boddapadu in 1968, trying to convince the Srikakulam district committee not to join the Naxalbari struggle.

A rally on 24 November 1968 demanding increase in daily wages of agrarian labourers, led by Subbarao Panigrahi, Panchadri Krishnamurthy, Nirmala Krishnamurthy and others entered village Garudbhadra, about 2 kilometers away from Boddapadu. The zamindars assaulted the comrades. In retaliation, the crops of zamindar Maddi Kameshwar Rao were harvested. A severe police crackdown ensued, Boddapadu was declared a ‘disturbed area’ and the party pushed underground. People fled the village. The villagers of Boddapadu also had to report to the police camp before going out of the village.

12 comrades were killed by the police between 1968 and 1972: Panchadri Krishnamurthy, Thamada Ganapati, Subbarao Panigrahi, Pothanapalli Apparao, Panchadri Nirmala, Telukala Sarawati, Madanala Dushyant, Dunna Gopalrao, Gedala Loknadam, Byrapalli Paparao, Thamada Chirubabu and Dhananjay Rao. The remaining leadership had been arrested.

The masses were demoralized, helpless and distanced from the Party. The ruling class rode the repression to re-establish control over the village. All left-wing political activity came to an end. Two comrades from CPI (ML) joined PCC-CPI (ML). One of them was Potannapalli Paramma (Chittamma) who later joined the Maoists and was martyred in an encounter. The second comrade was Potannapalli Appalaswami (Kumar) who became District Secretary of PCC-CPI (ML). He too was martyred in an encounter. Another comrade, Pothanapalli Rukmani (Aruna) joined People’s War and died of accidental firing.

In 1982, some comrades were released from jail among them Malleshwar Rao. About the same time, IPF had been formed and was attracting attention in Andhra Pradesh too. Malleshwar Rao joined IPF and started seeking out party links. He once again formed a youth group in the village, braving threats by Congress goons. In the process, the scattered ML factions came together in solidarity. Once again, agitations were organised on the village-level issues: drinking water, hostel for backward castes and appointment of teachers in the village high school. People were willing to struggle but were still fearful of the red flag of the communists which reminded them of the terrible repression. Overriding the objections of People’s War, PCC and the Lin Piao group, we took the initiative of organising the protest minus the red banner. A demonstration was held in Mandasa, which was the first agitation of any kind in this area after the repression. People’s War and PCC also joined the agitation when they saw the people’s participation; the Lin Piao group was sidelined.

This movement witnessed a series of agitations: demonstrations, relay hunger strike, a highly successful bandh in Palasa and finally an indefinite hunger strike. After 10 days, a Minister of the N T Rama Rao government promised to fulfil our demands. The people returned victorious and organized a public meeting in the village. Once again the red flag of the party was unfurled, and once again communist politics established in Boddapadu.

In 1995, we mobilized the villagers to build a community hall in the memory of martyrs. All ML groups were invited to contribute and share it. More recently, we have won several local elections. However, we lost the last Panchayat elections. This was because Congress, TDP, CPI(M), and CPIML) New Democracy joined forces against us.

In spite of the brutal repression and the attempts by the ruling class to snuff out the very memory of the movement, Boddapadu lived up to its reputation as ‘Stalingrad’ and ‘Naxalite village’: the party regained its dignity and re-established the people’s pride in their revolutionary legacy.

Women recall tumultuous times

(Following the CC Meeting, Comrade Ramji Rai spoke to some of the women of Boddapadu whose loved ones were killed at the hands of the police at the time of the Srikakulam movement. These conversations were facilitated by CPI(ML)’s Andhra Pradesh Committee members Comrades Aruna and Comrade Ravi, and Comrade Rama Rao who translated from Hindi to Telugu and vice versa.)

Thamada Polamma (72 years old, wife of Thamada Ganapati Raju): I was married with much fanfare when I was 12 years old. Our first child, a son, Trilochan was born 4 years later and another son, Madhusudhan, 5 years after that. Then 3 years later our daughter, Aruna was born. I looked after the children at home. Ganapati was completely involved in thinking, talking and agitating over problems faced by the villagers. He was the only child of his parents, so his involvements in politics meant that someone else had to care for our household. I used to dissuade him from political work, that wasn’t about to stop him. I used to be sad because of this and also was mostly ignorant about what was happening, so would quietly accept his ways. It was very difficult to bring up children alone. You can imagine how one manages a family without the husband. Still, I bore up quietly. Eventually, I even stopped trying to dissuade him. We were so poor that there wasn’t even oil to put in my children’s hair. We were always short of food and on top of that, if he brought friends home, I had to somehow manage for them too! In spite of all this, I was beginning to feel that whatever he was doing was right.

1968-69, when struggles in the area intensified, was also the time of severe police repression. People ran away from the village for a few days. Ganapati was visiting another village for a campaign. In these days, Subbarao Panigrahi, Nirmala and others were organizing a rally in our neighbouring village, Garudbhadra. Its zamindar, Maddi Kameshwar, who was a Congressman, was trying to disrupt the rally. He caught hold of Nirmala’s hand. A fight ensued in which Subbarao Panigrahi was badly injured. The protesters retaliated by harvesting the zamindar’s crops. The very next day the police was let loose on us. Ganapati, when he came to know of it, felt the escalation of the confrontation could have been avoided. But what had to happen had already happened.

Aruna was very young then. I took her into hiding at a hill called Pendkonda, 3 kms away from the village. We all hid in the forests there. Villagers (who till then had been aloof from the party) carried food to us hidden in their lotas (pretending to carry water when they went out to defecate in the open). Ganapati came to meet us at our hiding place. Then he altogether left home and went underground. I returned to the village with Saraswati and Nirmala Panchadri, after 5 days. I, then left the village and moved to Buddepalli, near Srikakulam where I lived at a teacher’s house. His name was Pollai Master. Nirmala and Saraswati were also with me.

The situation in the village was very bad. Several people were arrested and beaten up. Even children and pregnant women were not spared. Ganapati visited the village a couple of times but we could not meet. The situation was so oppressive that villagers had started cursing Ganapati, blaming him for it. But still, no one in the village gave away his hideout or our location to the police, even though they knew his and our location full well. We regularly changed locations and never stayed at one place for too long. We met him once or twice after he was underground. In our last meeting, our three children were present with me. He just looked at them once; did not say anything, just looked at them and went away.

When I received the news of his death, it was as though my heart would burst. But I kept my tears tightly within myself, knowing that to cry would be to give away that I am Ganapati’s wife. Changti Rao Bhasar was also martyred with him. Nirmala and Saraswati were underground by this time. I was at my mother’s place.

I gradually accepted the situation and began to think of the future. Increasingly, I was convinced that this path was the right one. I myself live by walking on that same path. My youngest child Aruna is also an activist, that is good to see. I brought Aruna up with great difficulties and I am proud that she has chosen to follow her father’s footsteps. I tell her and everyone else that her father’s activism should be her model.

After his death, a minister of the Congress government came and declared compensation for us. I refused outright. Only then were the police able to find out that I was Ganapati’s wife. They were amazed - all their efforts so far to dig out information about us from the villagers had failed! That’s the kind of place our Boddapadu is.

Dunna Rajamma (above 80 years, mother of Gopal):

He was 17 years old then and studying in the 10th standard. He along with 6 others including Panchadri Krishnamurthy (Nirmala’s husband), and Papa Rao, were shot dead by the police. He had actually been arrested with 11 others at Kanchla railway station on his way back from Kolkata. 7 of them were taken to a nearby hill and shot dead.

I raised him to study so that he might have a decent job and then care for us. But he spent more and more time with Ganapati and Subbarao. I tried to stop him from getting involved but he would smile and say that we must work for poor people’s rights and that it was our duty to do so. The police came to know about him and he was soon arrested. He managed to escape but was rearrested in 10-15 days. The police tied his hands and legs and threw him in jail. He was then released on bail. This happened twice. We sent him away to Kolkata hoping to keep him away from the party. But he came back. We sent him off to Bhilai but he again returned and this time joined the party in earnest. I was scared for him that if he remained in contact with Ganapati, Subbarao and Krishnamurthy, he would be killed by the police. No matter what I said, he would try to explain to me that I must not be angry nor blame anyone. And that I must not cry even if he were to die. I realised that nothing would stop him now.

I wept and screamed when I heard that he was killed. I lived with my remaining four sons, but would still cry even after 10 years of Gopal’s death. My heart still cries out for him. That’s just how he was. Even as a child he helped me in daily chores of the house. I forever feel that he should have been here…he should have lived, but he is no more. All those who went underground were killed. If they were living, our village, our country would have been a better place. Their struggle has infused dignity to our lives. They did nothing wrong and have rather made us proud. Nowadays people are selfish, too busy with themselves. There are few as cheerfully brave, as eager to think about others, as he was. I want more people to be like him.

Apalamma (85 years old, mother of Madanala Dushyant): We thought he would support us in our old age, but he is no more. A second son was born, he too died. My mother and I pooled in our resources to send him to Srikakulam to study for PUC. People asked what was the point of educating him, and said – You’ve got no money, how will you educate him? But he wanted to study and I decided to help him, no matter what. He was studying in Srikakulam when the Garudbhadra incident happened. He immediately returned to the village and went underground with Ganapati and Panigrahi. He never returned home. He was martyred in 1974, after being turned in by an informer. A villager had succumbed to torture and turned informer.

He was a very good student and I always encouraged him. I used to send him to Srikakulam with money. Thrice he went there but the fourth time he did not reach Srikakulam. When I came to know of this, I went to Srikakulam to enquire after him, but he was not to be found. He was underground with other party members. I was never able to know what he thought and felt. He was very fond of saag and khichdi. He used to teach young kids. I did not get to see him after his death. The police did not even give us his body. I sold everything so that he could study, have a future. I felt the villagers ruined my son’s, ruined my whole life. I went crazy, still am like that. But I realize that he still lives in people’s hearts and minds. Even today, they remember him with respect and love. I too, gaze at his photograph everyday and salute him. I had thought he would salute me, but it is the other way around now. He lived and died in a manner that thousands of people remember him.

Surekha Panigrahi (about 70 years old, wife of cultural activist Subbarao Panigrahi): We came to Kotapalli village in Sompeta within a year of our marriage. He taught tuitions before marriage. At Sompeta, he worked as a contractor for road works. He was already in touch with the Communist Party before coming to Boddapadu. Majji Tulsidas was a Communist at Sompeta and he began spending time with him, and met Ganapati through him. The temple at Boddapadu required a priest to run it and Ganapati arranged for him to get the job. So we shifted from Sompeta to Boddapaddu. Subbarao began holding harikathas in the village; he started classes for village children. In the process he started writing songs and poems. He also dispensed basic medicines etc. His involvement in the party grew and he began spending less time at home. He would not tell me anything and when ever I enquired he simply kept on working quietly. His involvement grew to the extent that my brother had to be called in to work as the priest. We knew that he was working with the Communist Party but he would assure us that there is nothing to worry about. I tried to stop him. I cried, argued and even fought with him. He never got angry with me but neither did he turn from his path. He would only say that nothing would happen, he would soon be back, and I was worrying unnecessarily. Whenever he could not come, he would request a village girl to spend the night at our home so that I should not be alone. We managed to run the house from temple donations but… (her eyes filled with tears).

Yes, whenever he would sing at meetings or on stage, I always went with everyone else to hear him. The songs made me feel good. His voice would become heavy and break a little whenever he sang spiritedly. I could not understand everything in the songs but hearing them still made me feel good. I still remember 2 of his songs:

‘Who on earth would believe if anyone claimed that the drumstick is a strong tree? But if the Babus say so, we are forced to agree.’

‘We work hard, face hardships yet have no food, no dignity. Friend, where do you go alone? Nothing can be achieved alone. Our struggles will bear fruit if we are all together. Wait, my brother! We are also coming with you.’

He did not come home when he was injured at Garudbhadra, but stayed at a neighbouring house. Like others, I too went to see him, but we did not talk. He went out again as soon as he recovered. He never came back. Like other villagers, I too left the village for my parents’ house when police repression began. The police reached my parents’ house, took me away for questioning and later released me. When Subbarao came to know of this he came to meet me in disguise at 1 in the morning and left before dawn. He was accompanied by another man. I insisted on coming with him but he refused saying that it would be better if I stayed where I was. He went away without me and I never saw him after that. I had no news of him. The first news that reached me was of his death. It struck me like a thunderbolt. My family stayed with me all the time, fearing that I would commit suicide. Really, I did not wish to live anymore. Who was there to live for? We had no children. Two years passed. He earned a great name, but I feel that if he was around, I would have been content just being able to look at his face.

The villagers brought me from my parent’s home back to Boddapadu. I was given charge of the temple and settled here by the villagers and I have remained here. Seeing these villagers who were his people, I am alive. The one who is gone is gone, but I find him in the villagers who love him. Now that he is no more, I could realize full well what he was! It is 40 years now and would I not know now, when I see so many people come here to pay respects to him? Seeing all of you, wouldn’t I know even now what he stood for? Now I know, now I understand!

(Her eyes are quite wet, and there’s a slight quaver in her voice.) When I asked him he never told me anything, and now that he has done his work and gone, he has told me everything without uttering a word: through thousands of voices. He lives in thousands of people. People die natural deaths in their homes; what if he had died that way. But his death seems sweet – and great.

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The Pledge Campaign

Throughout the month-long Pledge Campaign from December 18 2008 to January 16 2008, meetings were held at every level of the party all over the country. Comrades took to heart the call to reach out to every party member, with the pledge to “Grasp the Situation and Grab the Opportunities! Consolidate and Expand the Gains on All Fronts! Strengthen the Party and Unleash the Full Initiative of the Entire Organisation!”

At Tamil Nadu, the Pledge Campaign was followed by a State Cadre Meet on 17–18 January in Tindivanam, to review the Campaign. As part of the Cadre Meet, a class on ‘Crisis of Capital and the Response of the Proletariat’ was held, addressed by Arindam Sen, CCM, and Editor, Liberation. A similar class was also held on 19 January at Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh.