`You won’t find even a well in many villages. Why?’

Varavara Rao and Gadar, the two most familiar faces ofAndhra Pradesh's People's War Group, were in the Capital recently to appealagainst a...

Varavara Rao and Gadar, the two most familiar faces ofAndhra Pradesh’s People’s War Group, were in the Capital recently to appealagainst a possible Central ban on the organisation. They say that ever sincePWG was banned in Andhra Pradesh in 1992, the graph of death has gone upeach year as the ban gives legitimacy for killings. SREELATHA MENONspoke to them.

What is your position in the Naxalite movement in Andhra Pradesh?
Rao: You must bear this in mind that we are not the leaders of thismovement. We are just writers and poets who are inspired by Naxalbari andhence support the movement. The party itself is underground with People’sWar Group being its military organ. Its leader is Ganapati. How can aretired college teacher like me be a leader of the party? Even if I want it,the party will not accept it.

How imminent is the Central ban?
Rao: It can happen anytime in Maharshtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Itis being delayed perhaps because of the contradictions of BJP and Congress.Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh has been reported to be readyfor unconditional talks with us though the Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu is not interested in talking to us.

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Why are you opposed to your chief minister though he is being praisedeverywhere?
Rao: He is a lackey of the World bank and to implement its programmes hehas to kill many. He has got Rs 32 crore from the IMF but he has notinvested a rupee in agriculture or irrigation. Andhra Pradesh is reelingunder drought and all his IT investment will not remove it. As for progress,it depends on how you look at it. If you go to Rajasthan with Bill Clintonit is heaven but otherwise it is a place of drought.
Gadar: Last year on April 4, we were here and five chief ministerswere also meeting and discussing the Naxal problem. We told the media thenthat these states should be talking of their basic problems like waterinstead. Today five states are meeting here and talking about drought. Hadthey done that earelier, the drought would not have happened.
Rao: The government is not concerned about the welfare of the people.It wants power to repress. You won’t find even a well in many villages, yetthere is a police station everywhere. Why?

How did you get drawn into the radical movement?
Rao: I was a teacher of Telugu literature in a college in Warangal and apoet. Gadar was a singer and artist. I was always part of the revolutionarymovement whether in my poetry or as member of the writers’s group in the’70s. We decided to fight against the system which was pawning off India toforeign agencies for some money. Is this why we won our freedom?
Gadar: I became a revolutionary artist after I joined the Jana NatyaMandali, a revolutionary art and culture organisation started in the 70s.But what about the violence that your group is identified with?
Rao: Who is perpetrating violence in society? What are encounterkillings? Do you know that 1,000 people have been killed in cold blood infive years of Naidu’s government and they are passed off as encounterdeaths. And if the ban is extended all over the country, the violence willincrease. The Human rights Commission asked for cops to be booked in fivecases for homicide and the Supreme Court asked for the same in one case. Butnot a single cop has even been booked.

At what point do you use violence? What about the killing of the MadhyaPradesh minister?
Rao: We never use violence. We only resist it. As for the minister,there are deaths on both sides in a war.

How do you plan to bring about livable conditions in the society?
Rao: Our experiments in model society are there in hundreds of villagesin Telengana and Dandakaranya. These villages have the grama rajyacommittees which have cooperatives that pool money, conduct developmentprogrammes all done by villages. These committees have earmarked certainlivable conditions like water, seeds, fertilisers, primary education andhealth… They are doing all this without any IMF loan.

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What is your relationship with the LTTE and the ULFA?
Rao: To this, I will ask another question. What was the relationship ofRajiv Gandhi with Prabhakaran when he met him in Bangalore to discussholding the SAARC meet there? The LTTE were trained in Tamil Nadu with theblessings of the Centre then. We support all groups with Marxist- Leninistaffiliation as well as all nationalistic movements including the Kashmirisand the ULFA. We are being linked with the ISI too. But we know the truthand hence we are not concerned about what people say.