Document
Emancipation of Women – Perspective of CPI (ML)
The Women who have been
creating all the wealth, and playing
an important role in reproduction
are devoid of any rights or
freedoms and are being oppre-
ssed by the patriarchy. They are
living as slaves of the slaves.
India, where people of
different nationalities live, was a
British colony for almost 200
years. During this period of British
colonial rule in the 19 th century
many reformist movements had
come up against brutal and
inhuman feudal social evils. The
people of India moved in a large
scale in the struggle for liberation
of the country from the British
colonialism that was plundering
country’s natural resources. The
Indian national movement had
initially drawn the women and
organised them in to struggles in
a large scale. This activity enabled
the Indian women to tear
themselves away from the
traditional family ties and the
backwardness of dark rural lives
with patriotism and awareness to
participate in struggles.
In 1930s itself the then
Communist Party of India had
formulated the demands of the
women to resolve the problems of
the Indian women who were
suffering under the British
imperialism and the feudal
enslavement. It provided leader-
ship to their struggles. The
Communist Party led the famous
Telangana armed struggle for land,
food and liberty of the people
against the brutal oppression
exploitation by the nawabs and
feudal zamindars and against
reducing the people as their
bonded labour in Telangana
region. The struggle against the
rule of Nizam and Indian army
June - 2018
liberated
3000
villages,
established village states (Grama
Rajyas) and distributed one million
acres of land to the poor. The
Communist Party had moulded
the women as fighting forces
against feudal exploitation and for
liberation from all sorts of
oppression. In the course of the
movement women on one hand
were able to face repression and
the other were able to run the
movement and protect the fruits
of the movement. Thus they made
great efforts and played valuable
role.
In this movement both
women and men gained a
progressive awareness that was
different from the then existing
feudal values. The Communist
party made a special effort to train
the women as political organizers,
cultural activists and orators
during this movement. It trained
them in self -defence also. During
this movement several women
were molested and raped by the
army and land lords. The women
and men withstood the sufferings
caused by these atrocities with the
consciousness that they were the
part and parcel of the oppression
and learnt to cohabit in the families
and society without caring the so
called values of chastity imposed
by the feudal society. Women
were able to raise their social
status. The Communist party
launched an extensive campaign
about the right of women to
educate, to refuse the arranged
marriages and to opt for marriages
by consent or love. It also
propagated against caste,
religious
and
gender
discriminations. The propaganda
made by the Communist party
about 1917 Russian revolution and
anti-Fascist war inspired
numerous people.
In the contemporary period so
many struggles such as the revolt
of tribal peasants of Worli of
Thane district of Maharashtra in
1945, the Tebhaga peasants
struggle in West Bengal in 1946.
In 1947 while continuing its
economic exploitation and indirect
control the British imperialism had
transferred the power to the land-
lords and comprador bourgeoisie
who had colluded with it. The
exploitation and oppression had
further intensified on the people
in the semi-colonial and semi-
feudal system. The struggle
against this ruthless exploitation
and brutal oppression continued in
the decades 60s and 70s. The
Naxalbari and Srikakulam
struggles have had their impact on
the people of the country. They
shook the ruling classes. Women
had participated in these struggles
militantly. They led the struggles.
Hundreds of women like Panchadi
Nirmala, Ankamma, Saraswati,
and tribals braving the cruel
oppression had laid down their
lives in these struggles. They
made countless sacrifices and
became martyrs. The memories
of their struggles and sacrifices
remain in the hearts of oppressed
masses forever. The women were
in the forefront of the struggle of
tribals of Kondamodalu in Andhra
Pradesh in 1969, and they played
a significant role in spreading the
movement. Even today the
activities connected to this struggle
constitute a main part of their
lives. In the struggles that are
continuity in the East-Godavari,
West-Godavari, Srikakulam and
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