Home >Liberation >Year_2009 >Feb_09 >Womenrecalltumultuoustimes

SPECIALREPORT

Womenrecalltumultuoustimes
(FollowingtheCCMeeting,Comrade Ramji Rai spoke to some of the women of Boddapadu whose loved
oneswerekilled 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,
andComradeRamaRaowhotranslatedfromHinditoTeluguandviceversa.)
ThamadaPolamma(72yearsold,wifeofThamadaGanapatiRaju):IwasmarriedwithmuchfanfarewhenIwas
12yearsold.Ourfirstchild,ason,Trilochanwasborn4yearslaterandanotherson,Madhusudhan,5yearsafter
that.Then3yearslaterourdaughter,Arunawasborn.Ilookedafterthechildrenathome.Ganapatiwascompletely
involvedinthinking,talkingandagitatingoverproblemsfacedbythevillagers.Hewastheonlychildofhisparents,
sohisinvolvementsinpoliticsmeantthatsomeoneelsehadtocareforourhousehold.Iusedtodissuadehimfrom
politicalwork,thatwasntabouttostophim.Iusedtobesadbecauseofthisandalsowasmostlyignorantabout
what was happening, so would quietly accept his ways. It was very difficult to bring up children alone. You can
imaginehowonemanagesafamilywithoutthehusband.Still,Iboreupquietly.Eventually,Ievenstoppedtryingto
dissuadehim.Weweresopoorthattherewasntevenoiltoputinmychildrenshair.Wewerealwaysshortoffood
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
beginningtofeelthatwhateverhewasdoingwasright.
196869, when struggles in the area intensified, was also the time of severe police
repression.Peopleranawayfromthevillageforafewdays.Ganapatiwasvisitinganother
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
Nirmalas hand. A fight ensued in which Subbarao Panigrahi was badly injured. The
protestersretaliatedbyharvestingthezamindarscrops.Theverynextdaythepolicewas
let loose on us. Ganapati, when he came to know of it, felt the escalation of the
confrontationcouldhavebeenavoided.Butwhathadtohappenhadalreadyhappened.
Arunawasveryyoungthen.ItookherintohidingatahillcalledPendkonda,3kmsaway
fromthevillage.Weallhidintheforeststhere.Villagers(whotillthenhadbeenalooffrom
theparty)carriedfoodtoushiddenintheirlotas(pretendingtocarrywaterwhentheywent
outtodefecateintheopen).Ganapaticametomeetusatourhidingplace.Thenhealtogetherlefthomeandwent
underground.IreturnedtothevillagewithSaraswatiandNirmalaPanchadri,after5days.I,thenleftthevillageand
movedtoBuddepalli,nearSrikakulamwhereIlivedatateachershouse.HisnamewasPollaiMaster.Nirmalaand
Saraswatiwerealsowithme.
Thesituationinthevillagewasverybad.Severalpeoplewerearrestedandbeatenup.Evenchildrenandpregnant
womenwerenotspared.Ganapativisitedthevillageacoupleoftimesbutwecouldnotmeet.Thesituationwasso
oppressivethatvillagershadstartedcursingGanapati,blaminghimforit.Butstill,nooneinthevillagegaveaway
hishideoutorourlocationtothepolice,eventhoughtheyknewhisandourlocationfullwell.Weregularlychanged
locationsandneverstayedatoneplacefortoolong.Wemethimonceortwiceafterhewasunderground.Inour
last meeting, our three children were present with me. He just looked at them once did not say anything, just
lookedatthemandwentaway.
WhenIreceivedthenewsofhisdeath,itwasasthoughmyheartwouldburst.ButIkeptmytearstightlywithin
myself, knowing that to cry would be to give away that I am Ganapatis wife. Changti Rao Bhasar was also
martyredwithhim.NirmalaandSaraswatiwereundergroundbythistime.Iwasatmymothersplace.
Igraduallyacceptedthesituationandbegantothinkofthefuture.Increasingly,Iwasconvincedthatthispathwas
therightone.Imyselflivebywalkingonthatsamepath.MyyoungestchildArunaisalsoanactivist,thatisgood
tosee.IbroughtArunaupwithgreatdifficultiesandIamproudthatshehaschosentofollowherfathersfootsteps.
Itellherandeveryoneelsethatherfathersactivismshouldbehermodel.
Afterhisdeath,aministeroftheCongressgovernmentcameanddeclaredcompensationforus.Irefusedoutright.
OnlythenwerethepoliceabletofindoutthatIwasGanapatiswife.Theywereamazedalltheireffortssofarto
digoutinformationaboutusfromthevillagershadfailed!ThatsthekindofplaceourBoddapaduis.
DunnaRajamma(above80years,motherofGopal):
He was 17 years old then and studying in the 10th standard. He along with 6 others including Panchadri
Krishnamurthy (Nirmalas husband), and Papa Rao, were shot dead by the police. He had actually been arrested
with11othersatKanchlarailwaystationonhiswaybackfromKolkata.7ofthemweretakentoanearbyhilland

shotdead.
Iraised him to study so that he might have a decent job and
then care for us. But he spent more and more time with
GanapatiandSubbarao.Itriedtostophimfromgettinginvolved
buthewouldsmileandsaythatwemustworkforpoorpeoples
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 1015 days. The police tied his
handsandlegsandthrewhiminjail.Hewasthen released on
bail.Thishappenedtwice.WesenthimawaytoKolkatahoping
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.AndthatImustnotcryevenifheweretodie.Irealisedthatnothingwouldstophimnow.

ThePledgeCampaign

IweptandscreamedwhenIheardthathewaskilled.Ilivedwith
my remaining four sons, but would still cry even after 10 years of
Throughout the monthlong Pledge Gopals death. My heart still cries out for him. Thats just how he
Campaign from December 18 2008 to was.Evenasachildhehelpedmeindailychoresofthehouse.I
January 16 2008, meetings were held at forever feel that he should have been herehe should have lived,
every level of the party all over the butheisnomore. All those who went underground were killed. If
country.Comradestooktoheartthecall theywereliving,ourvillage,ourcountrywouldhavebeenabetter
toreachouttoeverypartymember,with place. Their struggle has infused dignity to our lives. They did
the pledge to Grasp the Situation and nothing wrong and have rather made us proud. Nowadays people
GrabtheOpportunities!Consolidateand areselfish,toobusywiththemselves.Therearefewascheerfully
Expand the Gains on All Fronts! brave, as eager to think about others, as he was. I want more
Strengthen the Party and Unleash the peopletobelikehim.
FullInitiativeoftheEntireOrganisation! Apalamma (85 years old, mother of Madanala Dushyant): We
thought he would support us in our old age, but he is no more. A
At Tamil Nadu, the Pledge Campaign
secondsonwasborn,hetoodied. My mother and I pooled in our
was followed by a State Cadre Meet on
resources to send him to Srikakulam to study for PUC. People
1718 January in Tindivanam, to review
askedwhatwasthepointofeducatinghim,andsaidYouvegot
the Campaign. As part of the Cadre
nomoney,howwillyoueducatehim?ButhewantedtostudyandI
Meet, a class on Crisis of Capital and
decided to help him, no matter what. He was studying in
the Response of the Proletariat was
Srikakulam when the Garudbhadra incident happened. He
held, addressed by Arindam Sen, CCM,
immediately returned to the village and went underground with
and Editor, Liberation. A similar class
GanapatiandPanigrahi.Heneverreturnedhome.Hewasmartyred
was also held on 19 January at
in 1974, after being turned in by an informer. A villager had
Vijaywada,AndhraPradesh.
succumbedtotortureandturnedinformer.
HewasaverygoodstudentandIalwaysencouragedhim.Iused
tosendhimtoSrikakulamwithmoney.ThricehewenttherebutthefourthtimehedidnotreachSrikakulam.When
Icametoknowofthis,IwenttoSrikakulamtoenquireafterhim,buthewasnottobefound.Hewasunderground
with other party members. I was never able to know what he thought and felt. He was very fond of saag and
khichdi.Heusedtoteachyoungkids.Ididnotgettoseehimafterhisdeath.Thepolicedidnotevengiveushis
body.Isoldeverythingsothathecouldstudy,haveafuture.Ifeltthevillagersruinedmysons,ruinedmywhole
life.Iwentcrazy,stillamlikethat.ButIrealizethathestilllivesinpeoplesheartsandminds.Eventoday,they
rememberhimwithrespectandlove.Itoo,gazeathisphotographeverydayandsalutehim.Ihadthoughthewould
saluteme,butitistheotherwayaroundnow.Helivedanddiedinamannerthatthousandsofpeopleremember
him.
SurekhaPanigrahi(about70yearsold,wifeofculturalactivistSubbaraoPanigrahi):WecametoKotapallivillage
in Sompeta within a year of our marriage. He taught tuitions before marriage. At Sompeta, he worked as a
contractorforroadworks.HewasalreadyintouchwiththeCommunistPartybeforecomingtoBoddapadu. Majji
TulsidaswasaCommunistatSompetaandhebeganspendingtimewithhim,andmetGanapatithroughhim.The
temple at Boddapadu required a priest to run it and Ganapati arranged for him to get the job. So we shifted from
SompetatoBoddapaddu.Subbaraobeganholdingharikathasinthevillagehestartedclassesforvillagechildren.
Intheprocesshestartedwritingsongsandpoems.Healsodispensedbasicmedicinesetc.Hisinvolvementinthe
partygrewandhebeganspendinglesstimeathome.HewouldnottellmeanythingandwheneverIenquiredhe
simplykeptonworkingquietly.Hisinvolvementgrewtotheextentthatmybrotherhadtobecalledintoworkas

thepriest.WeknewthathewasworkingwiththeCommunistPartybuthewouldassureusthatthereisnothingto
worryabout.Itriedtostophim.Icried,arguedandevenfoughtwithhim.Henevergotangrywithmebutneither
didheturnfromhispath.Hewouldonlysaythatnothingwouldhappen,hewouldsoonbeback,andIwasworrying
unnecessarily.Wheneverhecouldnotcome,hewouldrequestavillagegirltospendthenightatourhomesothatI
shouldnotbealone.Wemanagedtorunthehousefromtempledonationsbut(hereyesfilledwithtears).
Yes,wheneverhewouldsingatmeetings 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
understandeverythinginthesongsbuthearingthemstillmademefeelgood.Istillremember2ofhissongs:
Whoonearthwouldbelieveifanyoneclaimedthatthedrumstickisastrongtree?ButiftheBabussayso,weare
forcedtoagree.
We work hard, face hardships yet have no food, no dignity. Friend, where do you go alone? Nothing can be
achievedalone.Ourstruggleswillbearfruitifwearealltogether.Wait,mybrother!Wearealsocomingwithyou.
HedidnotcomehomewhenhewasinjuredatGarudbhadra,butstayedataneighbouring
house.Likeothers,Itoowenttoseehim,butwedidnottalk.Hewentoutagainassoon
as he recovered. He never came back. Like other villagers, I too left the village for my
parentshousewhenpolicerepressionbegan.Thepolicereachedmyparentshouse,took
meawayforquestioningandlaterreleasedme.WhenSubbaraocametoknowofthishe
came to meet me in disguise at 1 in the morning and left before dawn. He was
accompaniedbyanotherman.Iinsistedoncomingwithhimbutherefusedsayingthatit
would be better if I stayed where I was. He went away without me and I never saw him
afterthat.Ihadnonewsofhim.Thefirstnewsthatreachedmewasofhisdeath.Itstruck
melikeathunderbolt.Myfamily 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
wouldhavebeencontentjustbeingabletolookathisface.
ThevillagersbroughtmefrommyparentshomebacktoBoddapadu.Iwasgivenchargeof
the temple and settled here by the villagers and I have remained here. Seeing these
villagerswhowerehispeople,Iamalive.Theonewhoisgoneisgone,butIfindhiminthevillagerswholovehim.
Nowthatheisnomore,Icouldrealizefullwellwhathewas!Itis40yearsnowandwouldInotknownow,whenI
seesomanypeoplecomeheretopayrespectstohim?Seeingallofyou,wouldntIknowevennowwhathestood
for?NowIknow,nowIunderstand!
(Hereyesarequitewet,andtheresaslightquaverinhervoice.)WhenIaskedhimhenevertoldmeanything,and
nowthathehasdonehisworkandgone,hehastoldmeeverythingwithoututteringaword:throughthousandsof
voices.Helivesinthousandsofpeople.Peopledienaturaldeathsintheirhomeswhatifhehaddiedthatway.But
hisdeathseemssweetandgreat.