Avenge Gruesome Murder of Student Leaders !

May-June 1999

On March 6, 1999 Comrade Ramesh (alias Veeraswamy), state president of the Andhra Pradesh Radical Students Union (APRSU) and Comrade Bhujanga Reddy (alias Praveen), state general secretary of the APRSU were arrested at Mantralayam, A.P., by officers of the special anti-Naxalite ‘Greyhounds’. They were brutally tortured and on the next day they were taken to a nearby forest and shot dead at point-blank range. Their bodies were dumped in neighbouring Mahaboobnagar district. The police gave out the standard story ‘killed in encounter’ and quietly disposed of the bodies in order to quash all evidence of torture.

Also arrested with them was Com. Jairamachandran, President of the All India Revolutionary Students Federation (AIRSF), to which the APRSU is affiliated. The three, were to attend a meeting to make preparations for the forthcoming APRSU state conference. As he hails from Tamil Nadu and was not an immediate part of the AP movement he was not killed. Yet, he was intensely interrogated for two days, and only after the murder of the other two comrades was over, he was dispatched to Tamil Nadu. Comrade Jayaramachandran is an eye-witness to the fact that Comrades Veeraswamy and Praveen were arrested and so could not have been killed in an ‘encounter’. After arrest the two AP comrades were separated from Jairamchandran. That was the last time they were seen alive. The newspapers on 8th announced that their bodies had been found near Chennampalli area of Mahaboobnagar district.

Comrade Veeraswamy was an M.A., M.Phil student of Central University Hyderabad. He was the only son of a poor dalit family, hailing from Kothulanaduma village of Karimnagar district. He had played an important role in building the movement in Hyderabad city. Comrade Praveen had studied B.Ed. and hailed from a poor family of Vargal village of Medak district. Upto now he is working in Anantapur district. Both were active in the movement since 1990 and have been professional revolutionaries since the last five years. Both had played a key role in building APRSU after the martyrdom of APRSU general secretary, Comrade Janardhan, in December ’98.

Such gruesome tortures and killings have become a daily occurance under the TDP regime of Chandrababu Naidu. In the last two decades never has the ruthlessness of the government reached such proportions. All human rights and civil liberties is conspicuous by its absence in AP. Emboldened by the encouragement and support of the fascistic BJP government at the centre, the TDP has increased its offensive in the last year.

With an active civil liberties movement, the APCLC has brought to light a large number of such incidents. There is no lack of evidence to convict the perpetrators of these crimes. But, no rule of law is followed, even their own constitution if flagrantly violated. No action is taken. On the contrary, this same Naidu, whose hands drips with the blood of hundreds of dedicated martyrs, is praised day-in and day-out by the media. Official human rights organisations ignore his crimes, and the imperialists shower him with money.

Such dedicated comrades as Veeraswamy and Praveen are a glaring contrast to the greedy, self-seeking, unscrupulous parliamentary politicians. However the martyrdom of such comrades will never go in vain. Loved and respected by the masses amongst whom they work; for their simplicity, honesty and dedication to the oppressed people and the revolutionary cause; five ...... ten.... twenty close associate vow to take their place. The class hatred of the new recruits will be more intense, their dedication to carry forward the cause of their beloved martyrs, more firm. The movement grows .... not only in extent but also in depth. The Naidus, Advanis and the system they represent will be avenged by the growing tide of the revolutionary movement. ‘People’s March’ appeals to all democrats to build a vast movement against the fake encounter killings of hundreds of comrades... and bring to trial the perpetrators of these crimes.