Vol . 15 Issue : 01 January , 2023 Rs . 15 / -
Let ’ s Vow to the Martyrs of the Class Struggle ! Class Struggle only will Emancipate Dalits from Oppression and Eradicate Caste System
Already 54 years elapsed since the martyrdom of Kilvenmani Martyrs . On December 25 th , in 1968 , 44 innocents including 23 children , 16 women and 5 men of Kilvenmani village were set on fire in a small hut and murdered by a mob of feudal landlords and their henchmen . The massacre occurred when the labourers were unionizing and demanding a fair hike in wages for the strenuous work they do in the fields . To mark their union they hoisted red flags in their villages which irked the landlords . During that period , there were a large number of agitations for wage hike throughout the then united Tanjore district .
Tripatite talks involving the government , agricultural labourers and landlords took place and an agreement was reached to increase the wages of paddy produce . But the government bureaucrats and the landlords refused to implement the agreement . This led to problems in many places . Moreover , agricultural labourers have called for a meeting to find a solution to the prevailing situation where agricultural labourers and the communists were being attacked and killed in many places , but the government posed deaf ear . The government even attempted to restrain the protestors by mobilising police forces in the villages by arresting and threatening the agricultural workers .
In such a situation , in Kilvenmani village alone , 12 trucks of police personnel were brought down and repression was unleashed on the people and the government provided security to the affluent land holders . A series of repressions , kidnappings and atrocities were unleashed on the people . Not only the DMK and its administration , which ended the longstanding feudal Congress rule in Tamil Nadu and seized power with the support of the Communists , the judiciary also , supported this feudal exploitation . The judiciary proclaimed its loyalty to the ruling class by releasing the murder convicts with no punishment .
The history of the feudal class carrying out such atrocities not only in Venmani , but also in various places across India is reactionary and exploitative . In Andhra Pradesh ’ s Srikakulam , the tribals were subjected to such attacks when they rebelled against the brutal feudal exploitation . The leaders and the tribals of the struggle were attacked by landlords and ruling class in which Koranna and Manganna were killed . From October 30 , 1967 to this day , commemoration day is observed by the Communists and the Tribals .
On May 25 , 1967 , 12 women comrades , including a child of farmers from Naxalbari village in West Bengal ’ s Darjeeling district , were shot dead by the West Bengal Police in support of feudal oppression . Even today , May 25 th is observed as Naxalbari Martyrs ’ Day by Communist Revolutionaries and Communists . India ’ s “ Independence ” and the Constitution will not put an end to feudalism and tyrannical atrocities . The land ceiling laws , benami land abolition laws , wage laws , laws against the caste system and untouchability , reservation and social justice have not eradicated the feudal system . Untouchability Act has not abolished caste oppression but instead took new forms of feudal oppression . That led to the continuation of the semi-feudalism , the new form of caste based oppression , exploitation and feudal tyranny .
Bulletin of the Central Committee of CPI ( ML )