THE problem is, in essence, a problem of developing united front work at lower levels. This work is quite weak in rural areas. Some persons would even say, ‘United front? It’s a fine idea, no doubt; but it is applicable only in urban areas. Here in the countryside we have to develop peasant struggles.’ In theory, everybody is for ‘combination of armed activities and mass movements’, and for ‘combination of peasant struggles and united front work’. But in practice, often it amounts to transplantation of one in place of the other. So long as the Kisan Sabha functions, armed squads are sought to be kept idle and vice versa; and similarly, while peasant struggles are on, the perspective of the united front is lost, and when united front work is really taken up, peasant struggles are diluted or abandoned. To combine these two aspects in a single organic whole still remains a problem. To overcome this problem,

(i) Consolidation and expansion of the organisation’s mass base among agrarian labourers, and poor and lower, middle peasants should be taken as the keylink.

(ii) All-out efforts should be made to unleash the initiative of the middle peasants/strata. This includes

    (a) establishing wide contacts and conducting widespread propaganda among them through leaflets, propaganda teams, etc.;

    (b) deputing some cadres to work exclusively among them;

    (c) rectifying certain mistakes of the past and guaranteeing that their interests will not be hurt by any means;

    (d) raising with all seriousness certain burning issues concerning them directly and to pursue these issues till some success is achieved;

    (e) taking care of their caste sentiments and taking them into confidence in all matters concerning village affairs; and

    (f) non-interference of armed forces in disputes among the people.

(iii) Caste problems need to be handled carefully. It is a very complicated task. No doubt, any peasant comes under a definite economic category — a class-in-itself. But that is not all. Particularly in Bihar, he displays a strong allegiance to his caste. Again, every caste has its own characteristics. One cannot undermine these factors. Take the case of the Yadavas for example. They constitute the single largest community in Bihar. The vast majority of them are middle, lower-middle and poor peasants. Now, suppose a person is punished for theft or some other misdeeds, and by chance, he happens to be a Yadava by caste, Some people of his caste will come and say, 'What tamasha? Are Yadavas dead ? How dare harijans undertake the trial of a Yadava ?’ And thus ten­sions would rise high and the whole thing would tend to degenerate into a caste conflict. Now, one may say, ‘What’s wrong in punishing a thief ?’ Generally speaking, there is nothing wrong in it. But in concrete conditions, this process of punishing a Yadava thief may prove unwise. In such cases, it is better to place the matter before the Yadavas themselves, or at least, to take them into confidence before taking any action, Similarly, to expose any opportunist caste leader, instead of conducting any abstract exposure campaign, it is necessary to raise such economic and political issues which concern the majority of the peasants of that caste, and only by so mobilising the majority, can we pro­ceed towards exposing that leader.

Moreover, attempts should be made to develop at least a few leaders who enjoy the confidence and recognition of broad sections of the people belonging to different castes.

(iv) There should be absolutely no going back from, our consistent policy of repulsing armed onslaughts of the enemy by armed means. But a strict vigilance should always be maintained so that the activities of the armed units do not go against the policy of building broad peasant unity.

(v) Armed units and local Kisan Sabha bodies should function as two legs of the same person.

(vi) Armed actions should be taken in direct and immediate relation to mass movements, thereby developing a proper combination of armed actions and mass movements.

(vii) The Kisan Sabha should make it a point not to concentrate too much on questions of social oppression, or for that matter, not to carry struggles against theft and robbery too far.

(viii) Legal scopes should be utilised tactfully. Some people completely undermine legal scopes, while there are certain others who fail to utilise these scopes tactfully. Naturally, legalistic illusions and dependence on this or that official develop in the latter case.

Peasant organisations will have to learn the art of negotiation and develop through practice their own tactics of dealing with officials. But the basic aim of involving and educating the broad masses should never be lost sight of.

Moreover, the administration deliberately adopts the tactics of utilising the contradictions among different parties/organisations working in the same area. Sometimes they allow certain concessions to one organisation and praise it while concentrating repression on other organisations. They even try to involve one organisation in repressing others. We must remember that our struggle against the administration or the enemy, and our political struggle with other political organisations are two altogether different things. It is our consistent policy to firmly oppose any repression on democratic organisations/people by the enemy.