<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title></title> </head> <body> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.allianceML.com/AllianceIssues/All-5b.htm">http://www.allianceML.com/AllianceIssues/All-5b.htm</a> to comment re John Mage: Your correspodnent is certainly astute. However perhaps he/she missed one aspect: The above web-link is to an Alliance issue of some years back & references that even the seismic Telangana struggle had caste overtones. I try to copy one aspect here (assuming that this is not too long for Doug's automatic cut-off reject machine - as my last attempt was): "Within one month of the Second Congress of the CPI, the party was desperately floundering. But the top leadership was deliberately excluded from arrest and left outside. Only now did they go underground. Ranadive from hiding issued declarations for general strikes and peasant rising, for which no work had been prepared, and the appeal fell on dry soil. The party deteriorated at this time into individual terrorism. The Congress party was incorrectly labelled as being Fascist. This adventurist path soon lost the CPI support. After the exposure of the Yugoslavs by the Cominform, the CPI was rebuked. Dyakov wrote: <ul> "That the situation was far from being revolutionary. He did not describe the Indian scene in terms of "revolutionary upsurge", as had Ranadive, but spoke merely of the "peoples' great disappointment" with the new government. He declared that the Government of India and Pakistan "are becoming more and more isolated from the masses", and are " becoming tools of the imperialists." O&W, Ibid, p.281. </ul> Telangana, an open insurrection had taken an avowedly Maoist line by exempting the rich peasantry from CPI attack. This class collaboration was of course inconsistent with the Ultra-Left swing of the CPI and it was condemned by Randive: <ul> "Communist parties in the non-Hindi regions wanted a doctrinal pretext for local alliances with aggrieved regional caste groups whose interest conflicted with the Marwaris.. To ally with any capitalists or landowner was intolerable of course for B.T.Ranadive, then secretary for the CPI.. he screamed heresy at the Andhra Communists.. with their leadership in the wealthy Kamma landowning caste, the Andhra Communists had good reason to espouse the Maoist line in India. The Andhra Communists had established ground rules at the start for the Telengana insurrection in 1948 which assured most of their Kamma brethren went unscathed. So long as the middling rich farmers who make up the bulk of the caste stayed above the battle, they were classified inCommunist strategy as neutralized. This outright deviation from the Ranadive line, which saw all landowners as equally villainous.. Ranadive attacking the Andhra Secretariat, publicly charged that in Andhra Communist ranks: <ul> "It is the rural intellectuals, sons of rich peasants and middle peasants that preponderate in important positions. The party politically based itself on the vacillating politics of the middle peasants and allowed itself to be influenced by rich peasant ideology'". Selig Harrison, Ibid. p.162 </ul> </ul> Of course the Andhra Communists had been Ultra-Rightist, or Maoist on this issue. Nonetheless, an Insurrection had already been mounted. A parallel can be made to Stalin's view that the Kuomintang Generals should not have their lands expropriated, whilst they cooperated with the worker and peasants. The Andhra Communists do not say this but their line appears to be similar: <ul> "The Andhra Communists had made no secret of their "Rich peasant" policy within the party. They explicitly declared themselves on this point in a 1948 program report.. which stressed 2 major tactical rules of thumb: <ul> "1. In delta areas the pressure of population would be heavy and as such slogans should be raised for the distribution of lands belonging to rich ryots among the poor peasants and labourers. 2. Propaganda should be carried out to convince the ryots about the just demands of the workers, and we should also effect compromises with those of the ryots who would follow with us. Assurance should also be given that we should not touch the lands of rich ryots." </ul> Ranadive also singled out for special attack anotherstatement of this position in a 1948 Andhra statement discussing tactics towards Government rice procurement for rationing: <ul> "In the matter of procurement of paddy the Secretariat believes that it is possible to neutralize the rich peasants as the government plan goes against the rich peasantry also. Though the rich peasantry as class is not standing firmly in the fight, it is parting with paddy with dissatisfaction." Harrison, Ibid. p. 163. </ul> </ul> Eventually, following the attack of the Stalin controlled Cominform upon Yugoslav revisionism, the CPI shook off the Yugoslav domination. But it was the CPI pro-Mao faction that would  unseat the Ranadive faction." </body> </html>