This journal condemns the attempted murder of the revolutionary writer and singer Gaddar by plain clothes policemen on 6th April. This event is linked with the fact that Gaddar is the convenor of the committee for the surrender of the bodies of those revolutionaries murdered in cold blood by the local police. We reproduce below a translation of an interview given by Gaddar to the press shortly before the assassination attempt.
An interview with Gaddar, popularly known as 'Praja Gayak', (Peoples' Singer) indicates that he would enter electoral politics. In a press conference organised here, talks suggested that he is turning towards ballot politics. Gaddar, who had been talking of getting the State power only through the barrel of the gun, has changed his concept today.
He talked of the election system as a way to state power. During the discussion with journalists, though clear answers were not given to queries, it was clear that he is having a leaning towards ballot polities. He said that 'Till date I have not polled my vote. Uptil now I had been considering the election process to be bogus, but I would not say anything about the future at this stage.' He further said that a 'lot of changes are taking place in the world. Therefore anything may happen or change.'
In response to our question that 'Till now you had been talking of getting state power through the bullet, but today you are reversing the concept, for what reason', he said that 'many changes are taking place and would take place in politics.' Would you organise some party?' When this question was put to him, his answer was: 'I would not organise any party for myself. My party is the Party of Songs. But I would go further in accordance with intent of masses.' He said that 'Have patience and see what happens', Gaddar, who is associated with the Peoples' War Group further said that 'Till today bourgeois people used to have the upper hand and occupy the centre stage in ballot politics'.
It appears that first of all Gaddar would lead the slowly developing movement in the Telengana region and then would organize a political party. There is the possibility of his participation in the election fray. Today he has given clear direction to conjectures. He did not talk about 'Telengana state' in clear terms but he said that 'Telengana had been a victim of injustice. Therefore we are arranging public meetings for the rights of Telengana. Water is needed for the fields of Telengana, children are in need of schools for education, and peasants need the land. I would go from village to village to fight for these rights. Village committees would be organised to struggles for these rights and after rural awakening, only the masses would decide the fate of a separate Telengana.' In answer to - 'Would you take the help of 'Peoples' War' in this task', he replied that, 'This would be decided by the Peoples' War Group itself.' Gaddar says that 'I belong to people and would live among the people. Struggle is going on between me and the party (i.e. Peoples' War). elf-criticism is necessary for both the individual and the party. Without it things would not go further."
Courtesy: Mazdur Morcha, April 10, 1997
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