Dear Friends and Comrades !
We cordially invite you to the 45th VIRASAM Formation Day Meeting
.......
Writers, whose side are you on?
The question comes back after 45 years
Let us organize the 45th Foundation Day of Virasam with the spirit of Com. Vivek
Let us reflect Class Struggle in literary and cultural fields
Sunday, July 12, 2015. From 9.30 am to 5.30 pm,
Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, Hyderabad.
There was an ‘encounter’ on June 12 on the Warangal-Chhattisgarh
border. Two young adivasi women – Com. Madakam Jogi, Com. Madakam Deve
and Comrade Vivek, who’s pursuing his Law Degree in Hyderabad, were
killed in that encounter. Vivek, who actively participated in the
Telangana movement with revolutionary spirit, joined the Revolutionary
movement later. The 19-year-old Vivek knew well that the reconstruction
of Telangana is not possible without transformation it into a Guerilla
Zone and a liberated area.
Inspired by the historic Srikakulam
movement, students of Visakhapatnam had posed the question – Writers,
whose side you are on? They challenged the writers in 1970 to decide
which side they wanted to be – with the oppressed and exploited or with
the oppressor? Their question had forced the indifferent and the sick
Telugu literary field to wake up from the deep slumber and ponder
seriously. This had led to the formation of Revolutionary Writers’
Association (RWA) in 1970.
After 45 years, the question once
raised by the students of Visakhapatnam has come back – Writers, whose
side are you on? The Telugu literary world, particularly the cultural
and intellectual elements in Telangana, is chasing mirages in the last
few months. With his martyrdom, Com. Vivek had revived the question
that students of Visakhapatnam posed four decades ago.
This year
marks the end of the original fascism 70 years ago. Now, India is ruled
by the successors of Hitler’s ideology. Inspired by the tyrannical Nizam
and the warlord Venkadri Naidu, Telugu chief Ministers were resorting
to blood bath and unprecedented repression in Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh. The two Governments have been keeping the people in a constant
state of insecurity to continue their exploitative rule. The
Chandrababu Government, which is mired neck-deep in corruption, is
trying to divert the attention by politicking around the issue of the
Capital.
The one year rule of K Chandrasekhara Rao proved that
ultimately the interests of the capitalists would be protected at any
cost. He even tried to usurp the lands of Osmania University. He faced
widespread opposition to this move. Both the Chief Ministers would
resort to raise the passions of the people on either side and pit one
against another.
Leaders of Andhra Pradesh, who ‘fought’ for the
rights of Telugus a couple of years ago, are now playing to the tunes of
Delhi rulers. The bourgeoisie leadership in Telangana, who waged a
battle to achieve self rule with the help of people’s movements, is now
quite excited to become a stooge in the hands of Delhi. KCR is
emulating the ‘Gujarat Model’ developed by the brutal Modi. Chandrababu
Naidu is devouring lands in the name of land pooling and implementing
destructive ‘development’ model hand in glove with Modi government. Both
the Chief Ministers are vying with each other to promote the Saffron
policies.
Intellectuals in both the States are enamoured by the
hollow slogans of ‘Golden Telangana’ and ‘Navya Andhra’. They have gone
to the extent of asking for some time for them to realize those
‘dreams’. In fact, there is nothing new in the policies being announced
by the governments. They are just following the policies the erstwhile
regimes started as part of the imperialist globalization. Both are
following the same strategy in indiscriminate killing of Muslim youth,
sandalwood labour and revolutionary activists.
Both the States
are witnessing unprecedented oppression. The poor, landless and small
and marginal farmers are bearing the brunt. Land is being forcibly
acquired from the people to liberally dole out to the industry as part
of the Make in India campaign. Crores of rupees are being spent on
horse-trading of legislators.
Though the time is opportune to
raise their voice against the repression, the poets, writers and
intellectuals are keeping mum. Instead of speaking and writing for the
people, they are desperately trying to attract the attention of the
government. Longing for this or that award, monetary benefits and
government ‘recognition’, they are swallowing all the insults and
humiliation. Once identified themselves with democratic and secular
causes , they don’t mind aligning with the official agenda.
In this backdrop, the four-decade-old question, posed by the
Naxalbari-inspired generation, comes back – Writers, whose side are you
on? Are you with the oppressed? Or, are you with the oppressor?
If Naxalbari was the alternative then, we have got an advanced
alternative in the form of Janatana Sarkar in Dandakaranya. Let us pose
this powerful question again with the revolutionary spirit passed on to
us by martyrs Com. Vivek, Com. Madakam Jogi and Com. Madakam Devela.
Revolutionary Writers’ Association
Programme
Unfurling of the flag: 9.30 a.m.
First Session:
Rivera to Chair
1) Pani to speak on ‘Make in India – Saffronisation – Janatana Sarkar as an alternative
2) Ravikumar (Advocate) to speak on Anti-people Land Acquisition Act
1.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. Lunch break
Second session
3) Ramki to Chair
Kasim to speak on The Agenda of Rulers in Telangana – and People’s Agenda
4) Varalakshmi to speak on The Agenda of Rulers of AP – and People’s Agenda
5) Varavara Rao to speak on: Writers, whose side are you on?
(The programme would also see release of 12 books)
