Com P.Sundaraiah was one of the great leaders of the revolutionary
movement of the working class and people in the world in 20th
century. He was born on 01.05.1913 in Alaganipadu village in Nellore District
in Andhra Pradesh. Though born in a landlord family, he opposed all forms of
feudal oppression. Even at the age of 17 years, he organised the agricultural
workers mostly belonging to the scheduled castes in his village against such
feudal oppression and fought against the landlords who were his relatives. He
participated in the struggle for independence and worked in Congress. Later he
became a communist and leader of the working class and peasantry. He was given
the responsibility of building the communist movement in South
India and he was instrumental in converting Com EMS Namboodiripad,
Com Krishna Pillai in Kerala from Congress Socialist Party to Communist Party. He
lead the great armed struggle of the Telangana peasants against the oppressive
rule of the Nizam. He was one of the top leaders who contributed in organising
the Communist Party into a strong force. He was the first General Secretary of
the CPI(M) from 1964 to 1975.
He was called as
“Communist Gandhi” for his simplicity inspite of being a great leader. He
donated his entire property for the Communist Party. He married Com Leela, but
undergone family planning operation so that without children, he and his wife would
completely dedicate their time for the cause of bringing revolutionary change
in the society. When he worked as the Member of the Parliament, he attended the
Parliament by going on a cycle. Throughout his life, he fought against all
forms of feudal oppression including caste oppression and oppression of the
women. He fought for the oppressed people, for social justice and for
socialism.
He was always interested
in reading books. But such reading, according to him, has to be linked with the
cause for changing the society. When he died on 19.05.1985, more than 10 lakh
people attended his last journey in Vijayawada Krishna river at Vijayawada
On the occasion of his
100th birth day on 01.05.2012, we are publishing this article
written by Com B.V.Raghavulu, Secretary, CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh Committee.)
Revolutionary Zeal is His
Greatness
B V
Raghavulu
2012 marks the birth
centenary year of Putchalapalli Sundarayya. With the passage of time, some
people fade from public memory. But Sundarayya’s personality will keep shining
forever without losing sheen.
Comrade Sundarayya is a
great human being. I think his world outlook is even greater. Some people may
not agree with this view. People, who miss the link between his personality and
world outlook, talk only about his personality. It is not possible to
understand his personality, overlooking his earnestness and zeal to change the
society, to establish an egalitarian social system and the movements that he
led to achieve these. Sundarayya’s personality evolved from his efforts to
serve the people and for their development.
Simple living, honesty,
sacrifice, principled life, determination, truthfulness, hardwork,
self-confidence, discipline, courageousness and fearlessness – all these best
qualities are imbibed in his personality. These still remain the ideals to be
emulated by all those who yearn for an egalitarian society. When he believed in
something to be right and good, he never confined himself to just it. Putting
words into deeds was his greatness. Practicing and not just preaching was his
way. That is why, the entire humanity pays him tributes. It is hence not
surprising that the well-wishers and the followers commend him so much. Those
who detest him in their hearts also praise him for his qualities. They portray
Sundarayya’s personality as something super-humanly and sky-high, which cannot
be achieved by ordinary human beings, and as such proclaim that they are beyond
emulation.
Sundarayya is an embodiment
of simplicity. At a younger age, his clothes were khaki shorts and coarse
khaddar shirt and later on, khaddar shirt and loose pyjama. These remained his
clothes life-long. He himself used to wash his clothes. He travelled on foot
and by cycle. No matter how far is the distance, he used to travel on cycle,
with ease. He used to undertake long distance journeys by train and that too, only
by third class. One hold-all for wrapping all the things he needed and carrying
it; no preferences for eating. He ate whatever was available, whatever was
there with the people to feed him. He even ate gruel, rice with just chillies,
or even sankati. Eating whatever was
given to him, without wasting even a morsel, washing the plate himself, was his
habit. These were normal activities and a routine for him. For taking rest, it
didn’t matter if it was a hard floor, or an elevated surface or a cot with woven
strings (charphai). Whatever
facilities the people had for taking rest, he considered them to be his too.
With files tied to the
carriage, arriving to the parliament on a cycle, parking the cycle in the
stand, walking inside the House and taking his seat on time and with
concentrated attention studying the papers and getting down to business –
Sundarayya was unique to the parliament even in those days. When he was a
member of the state legislature, he not only used to go to the Assembly on
cycle, but he used to go to the chief minister’s house too on a cycle and used to get his work done, which
astonished everyone even in those days.
He used to carry his things
all by himself. He never used to agree to any kind of help offered for carrying
his luggage. He detested elaborate receptions at stations. He used to object
asking why such things were organised wasting the work and time of comrades. In
1977, a summer training camp was organised for the Party cadre in Anakapalli.
Many eminent leaders were the speakers in that camp. To welcome Comrade
Sundarayya, many people including the students attending the camp and the
organisers went to the railway station to receive him. Sundarayya severely
objected to this. He argued with the organizers asking them whether the
students were brought to the training camp to teach them politics, or to
welcome the leaders? He did not move from the station till everybody left. Such
incidents are innumerable. Those who are acquainted with him can recall many
such instances.
There were many leaders who
lived a simple lifestyle among the yesteryear leaders. The freedom struggle and
the communist movement had influenced them to be simple. It became necessary to
mingle with the lives of the common people to mobilize people against the
British rule. They believed that only by mingling with the common people, could
they enthuse them. That is the reason why Gandhi had given away his suit and
shoes and wore the attire of a common man – the simple dhoti and a walking
stick. In the same way, Sundarayya, who was born into a rich family and was in
a position to live a luxurious life, gave up all of them and lived a simple
life endearing himself to the common people. Even today, it is important for
the leaders and cadre to mingle with the common people and follow their
lifestyle, if they want to build peoples’ movements. Simplicity means to mould
one’s life according to the lifestyle of common people. This not just a
question of individual morality, but also is an effective means to mobilise people.
In the struggle for
equality and for the protection of environment, simplicity becomes an effective
weapon. This also becomes the basis for an alternative development model.
Lavish lifestyle is a symbol for inequalities and dominance. It is a means
employed by the rich classes to show their ‘greatness’, though it is not really
needed for them.
Ostentatious and pompous spending is a
reflection of unhindered consumerism. The present system draws one into the
whirlpool of the market, promoting spending and hoarding irrespective of one’s
actual needs. As a result, our natural resources too are getting depleted and
wasted, jeopardising the needs of our future generations. The forces that are
fighting against inequalities, those advocating protection of our natural
resources and environmental and ecological balance should train their guns at
such ostentatious spending. Simple living should be made a way of life.
The sacrifices made by
Sundarayya are well known. He used his share of the family property for the
movement. He collected money from friends and relatives and spent it for the
people. He chose not to have children because it might not be possible to pay
enough attention to them, as he had decided to devote his entire life and time
for the people’s movements. Once he decided to devote his entire life to serve
the people, it was natural for him to consider the people themselves as his
successors. In the history of our struggle for independence and the communist
movement, we find several such people who have sacrificed their properties,
those who did not marry because they thought that marriage and family would
create hurdles to their activities. Such sacrificing attitude among the
activists and cadres working in people’s movements is necessary even today.
But the trait of sacrifice
is becoming rare among the politicians and political activists today.
Selfishness is increasingly becoming the norm. Politics and business are
getting intertwined. Business people are joining politics and utilising it to
further enrich themselves. Politicians seek to convert their influence as a
means to enhance their incomes. The more one excels in amassing wealth through
such dubious and exploitative means, the more one is considered to be
successful and flourishing. Honest people, people who do not make use of their
political positions for increasing their wealth, are considered either
incompetent or naive. Today’s dominant ideology treats honest people and people
with a sacrificing attitude as in same, as people belonging to some other
world. It is quite evident that such an ideology only helps to protect the
present exploitative system.
The present society,
dominated as it is by business interests, promotes and universalises
selfishness. Hence, corruption, frauds, and illegitimate activities – all are
hailed as tools for promoting business. People are totally engrossed in
thinking about their own welfare, about their own well being without any
consideration for their fellow human beings. They compete with and challenge
one another; there is no place for values like mutual cooperation and
assistance. A society based on mutual cooperation can alone be the real
alternative to one based on business interests. Nurturing the sense of
sacrifice is one way to achieve this. The attitudes of cooperation, support and
compassion that generate from the sense of sacrifice also help in strengthening
people’s movements.
Human existence itself
involves change. The struggle of human beings along with their fellow human
beings to change nature for their existence, is the driving force that enables
society to advance. The efforts of leaders help in hastening this advance and
in steering it in the desired direction. Sundarayya’s life is an example of
such an effort. Opposing caste discrimination in his own village, taking
initiative to form the agricultural workers’ union, wearing a khaddar cap in
school, boycotting classes with the slogan ‘Simon Go Back’, his participation
in the Salt Satyagraha, picketing the toddy shops, forming the workers’
protection committees, leading the heroic Telangana peasants’ armed struggle –
Sundarayya did all these in an effort to remove inequalities in the society and
lead it towards equality.
Sundarayya’s work teaches
us that activities that provide relief to the people are as important in the
revolutionary movement as people’s struggles. Ingrained in this is the thought
that constructive activities too can be utilised as forms of struggle. Running
an adult education centre for the poor in his own village, organising common
partaking of food in his village challenging caste discrimination, learning
first aid to provide medical help to the common people, encouraging his brother
to start a ‘people’s hospital’, mobilising volunteers for and directly participating
in the removal of sludge in the Bandar canal, getting rice sold at Re 1 per
kilo to expose the failure of the government in controlling prices, mobilising
the Party cadres and placing them in the forefront in the relief work when
lakhs of people were affected by the severe cyclonic storm in Divi area – all
these are not mere relief activities; these are also activities that raise the
awareness of the people against the policies of the ruling classes; these are
activities that mobilise the people. Sundarayya considered the attitude to
belittle relief activities in as wrong in the revolutionary movement.
Sundarayya had an eternal
thirst for knowledge. Reading books became a part of his life since his
childhood. The habit of reading all the books that he could lay his hands on,
the zeal to learn new things, spending hours at a stretch studying in
libraries, collecting valuable books continued all through his life. There are
several encyclopaedias, atlases, dictionaries and many rare books in the thousands
of books that he had collected. That is why the Party considered starting a
library as a true tribute to Sundarayya and established the Vignana Kendram in
his name in Hyderabad
Sundarayya believed that
study should be for advancing the movement and struggles. Knowledge does not
have much value if it is only for entertainment or just to pass time. Study
should be meant to search the truth. The search for truth is to change society.
It is with this understanding that Sundarayya utilised study and knowledge as
tools for advancing the movement. He collected comprehensive information by
conducting survey in the villages of Anantavaram and Kaja and wrote an
authentic book on the land issue. He collected concrete information about the
wages of agricultural workers and the cost of agricultural production from
several villages in the state, made a concrete analysis of this information and
presented it in the class for the agricultural workers,that was held in
Kollipara In the sixtees. His book ‘Comprehensive Water Plan for Andhra
Pradesh’ outlining concrete suggestions on proper and equitable utilisation of
the water resources in the state, is valid even today. His book ‘People’s rule
in Visalandhra’ incorporating the necessary plans for the all round development
of the Telugu people in a united state had greatly enthused the movement for a
united state in those days. His book on Telangana armed struggle summerised the
experiences and lessons of the great peasant armed struggle against the
notorious Nizam feudal rule in Hyderabad
State
Sundarayya’s personality
was evolved and grew within the people’s movements. It helped in the expansion
and development of those movements. Even today, peoples’ movements need persons
with such qualities. Such people are indeed born continuously from peoples’
movements. The qualities that would be seen in future human beings in a new
society are born and will be visible in their germinal form in the present
struggles against this exploitative society. Sundarayya is a colossal
representative of such great qualities.
*****
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