32 SOCIAL SCIENTIST Punnapra struggle in the state of Travancore. They were leading the militant Tebhaga struggle of peasants in Bengal. And in Telangana the struggle had just started developing into an armed struggle. This latter struggle was to develop into a mighty force demanding the agrarian revolution. It showed to what great heights the peasant struggle led by the working class party could reach. What did it achieve? To quote P Sundarayya: "During the course of the struggle, the peasantry in about 3000 villages covering roughly a population of three million in an area about 11,000 square miles, mostly in the three districts of Nalagonda, Warangal and Khammam, had succeeded in setting up Gram Raj on the basis of fighting village punchayats. In these villages, the hated landlords—the pillars of Nizam's autocracy in rural areas—were driven out from their fortress like gaddis and their lands were seized by the peasantry. One million acres of land were redistributed among the peasantry, under the guidance of People's Committees. All evictions were stopped and forced labour was abolished. The plunder and exorbitant rates of usury were cut down or altogether forbidden. The daily wages of agricultural workers were increased and minimum wage was enforced. The oppressive forest officials were forced to abandon the entire forest belt, and tribals and peoples in the adjoining areas of these forests were able to enjoy the fruits of their labour. For a period of 13 or 18 months, the entire administration in these areas was conducted by village peasant committees. During the course of this struggle against Nizam autocracy, the people organised a powerful militia comprising 10,000 village squad members and about 2000 regular guerrilla squads in defence of the peasantry, against the armed attacks of the Rezakars and the Nizam police. Lakhs of peasants for the first time in their life could have their regular two meals a day." This was a foretaste of the agrarian revolution and the militant alliance of workers and peasants under the leadership of the Communist Party. This was the direction the mass movement would have taken if it was not checked. No wonder a settlement It will be seen that the Communist Party remained steadfast in adherence to the masses, to the needs of the anti-imperialist struggle and the agrarian revolution so that a new path was opened to the Indian people to abolish age-old poverty, unemployment and backwardness. They could not achieve their aims because their strength was not sufficient to overcome the influence of the Congress leadership. 1 P Sundarayya, Telangana Peopled Struggle and its Lessons, Calcutta, National Book Agency. > 2 Jagjiwan Ram, Caste Challenge in India, New Delhi, pp 42-43. 3 R P Dutt, India Today, New Delhi, p 583.