‘Women have always fought in guerilla movements’

I was born in Bombay, but grew up in Kerala. My father Kunikkal Narayanan started the Naxal movement in Kerala. My mother Mandakini was a Gujarati from Bombay. Though she was a Communist, she did not engage in political work. But she suffered repercussions of the work my father and I did.

After I started college, my father asked me to join him. I found his ideology convincing. He would explain how, despite getting our so-called freedom from the British, we were still under semi-colonial and feudal rule. Soon, I quit college and plunged fully into my father’s movement. In those days, I would participate in discussions that took place in our house. The environment was stimulating and these talks would go on till midnight. Also, my father conducted classes on revolutionary theories, from which I learnt a lot.

I then went to Wyanad village, near Kozikode, a forest area in the Western Ghats, where there was an ongoing tussle between adivasis, peasants and landlords. There were many instances of landlords forcibly acquiring land from adivasis. Legal papers and deeds were forged, and in other cases, the government had acquired lands from the poor adivasis for public projects. They were promised compensation and rehabilitation which never came. We planned to set up a guerilla warfare training camp in this area.

The first uprising happened in Thalassery, which was in support of the beedi workers of Kannur district. The Ganesh-Bharat Beedi crisis began during the Communist chief minister EMS Namboodiripad’s time. His government implemented the Beedi-Cigar Rules as per the Minimum Wages Act. But the Ganesh and Bharat Beedi companies, in which over 20,000 labourers worked, were owned by proprietors in Mangalore (Karnataka state). The owners closed down their operations in Kannur and shifted out soon after the Act was implemented. As a result, the beedi workers lost their hobs. The workers were organised by the CPM ranks.

We were personally given arms by our bosses. I participated in the attack on Thalassery Police Station. We attacked the police station because we were told arms were stored there and we wanted to seize them for our battle. This attack failed. I was arrested and was in jail as a political prisoner for seven-and-a-half years. I knew the consequences of participating in such movements. They never deterred me. I was not disappointed by the failed attack, as I never lost sight of the ultimate goal of a changed world. 

My years in prison had a deep impact on my life. I was only 19 when I was jailed, and was shocked by the way the police behaved. They molested me and tried to rape me. I was put in the same cell as prostitutes who had been arrested. They shared with me their experiences: how they were forced into prostitution, who sold them, who bought them. As I was young, they were good to me.

At that time, I was made a victim of a rumour in Kerala. When I was in the forest area during my training, we had to deal with leaches. They would stick to our bodies and suck blood. I had lost a lot of blood. As a result, I would miss my periods. I had no blood in my body.

During my stint in jail too, I missed my periods, and the police spread a rumour outside that I was pregnant. They said that since I was the only girl in the jungle, I had had sexual relations with my male colleagues. However, I got my periods after two months and the rumour was put to rest. I was very innocent when I began working in the jungle. I did have feelings for some colleagues but never had physical relations with anyone. 

 In jail, I got time to do a lot of thinking. Sometimes, I felt I should marry, have children and settle down to domestic life. But my father would tell me that my first commitment was to the revolution and I should not lose it. It was not easy. I was the only woman revolutionary at that time and had no company. My sole advisor was my father.

 The government that was elected after the Emergency released all political prisoners. I too was released.

 I feel the Maoist movement can be justified but not the killing of civilians. Why should anyone be surprised by women taking up arms? During the Vietnam War, and in all guerilla warfare movements the world over, women have been very active.

As told to Neeta Kolhatkar