CELEBRATE THE OCCASION ON A GRAND SCALE FURTHER DEVELOPING THE
ANT-IMPERIALIST TRADITIONS OF OUR COUNTRY!!!
---- CALL OF THE CPI (MAOIST)
Press Release: May 5, 2007
Exactly 150 years ago on May 10th the first salvo of this great
rebellion was fired. What started as a mutiny of the Indian soldiers
soon turned into a prairie fire and became a great people's war. This
people's war engulfed large parts of India embracing Oudh, Rohilkhand,
Bundelkhand, Sagar, Narmada, Nagpur, Hyderabad, many districts of
Bihar, Agra, Meerut, Punjab, Delhi, parts of Bengal and other places.
In magnitude, depth, as also in significance, this rebellion was
unparalleled in the long history of both independent and colonial
India. Primarily anti-colonial, it was at the same time directed
against the feudal forces. It was the soldiers of Meerut who set the
ball rolling on the 10th of May. Mutinies followed in several stations
of the north. In Bundelkhand, Jhansi took the lead. In many areas,
British army officials were attacked and killed. At Jhansi, the rebel
soldiers released all prisoners.
But this no longer remained a revolt of the armed forces. It spread to
the entire peasantry and artisans. A few weeks after the Revolt began,
British rule was virtually wiped out in north India. In all cases of
rural uprising, violence was directed against those institutions of
power with which they interacted directly and immediately, namely
tehsils and thanas. Thanas and tahsils were attacked, records
destroyed and government officials driven out. All vestiges of
colonial rule were in the process eliminated. While confiscating the
ill-gotten property was the principal form by which people asserted
their power, arming themselves was the principal means by which they
did so. The weapons chosen were anything that was available from
matchlocks, spears, scythes, and iron-bound lathis, axes, etc to
weapons seized from the British. British political power and that of
their lackeys were practically demolished over entire Northern India.
The revolutionaries set up their own `Court of Administration' for an
independent India free from foreign control. It was set up with
representatives from soldiers and civilians with two representatives
each from the infantry, cavalry and infantry and four from the
civilians. Each of these representatives was elected by majority vote
from their own constituencies. This smaller body elected a president
and a vice-president by a majority vote. This supreme body acted in a
judicial capacity and also established different courts for discharge
of judicial duties. Taking of bribes and other malpractices were
firmly suppressed. The body took upon itself the task of
administration of the land, maintenance of peace and order in the
captured territories, collection of loans from the mahajans and the
conduct of war. The emperor exercised no control over these affairs.
Not only did the militant masses fight the British and their lackeys
they also established a new power in a rudimentary form. Such is the
heroic history of this great uprising, which is as relevant today as
it was over 150 years back. The direct British colonial rule has been
replaced by the neo-colonial rule of the imperialists. The country
continues being robbed through indirect means ever since the so-called
independence of 1947. This robbery has increased phenomenally ever
since the implementation of the policies of imperialist globalization
in the country. The loot of our country today by the imperialists and
their lackeys has reached gigantic proportions. Nothing but another
Great War for Indian Independence can save this country from total
devastation. On this occasion of this 150th Anniversary it is only
such a message that must be sent to the vast masses of our motherland.
It must be shown that if the masses revolt it is possible to seize
power and smash the rule of the robbers, both Indian and foreign.
Today, while all establishment parliamentary parties are celebrating
the event they are primarily doing so to hide their outright betrayal
of the country and its people to the imperialists, particularly the
US. While taking up a mass campaign we must expose their hypocrisy and
false pretenses. We must call on the masses to continue in the
revolutionary traditions of 1857 and also Bhagat Singh whose birth
centenary is being celebrated this year. Both represent the great
anti-imperialist and patriotic traditions of the masses of our country
which is being taken forward by the Maoists and other democratic and
revolutionary forces of the country.
Let us turn this 150th year of the historic 1857 uprising and Bhagat
Singh birth centenary into a great festival of revolt in all parts of
the country. Let us build this anti-imperialist tempo in every nook
and corner of the country; starting from May 10th and culminating in
huge actions/meetings/celebrations on Sept.28, the birth centenary day
of Bhagat Singh.
Azad
Spokesperson,
Central Committee,
CPI(Maoist)
