‘Even carrying wood invited police harassment’:Ex-Naxal commander shares ordeal; says, ‘workers treated worse than animals

When rich people cut down forests, it’s no issue, but if we take even a dry piece of wood, the police would arrest us. Workers were treated worse than animals. Seeing all this, we decided to pick up guns. Rakesh Hodi says this while looking at Surendra and Deepak seated beside him. Both nod in agreement. Continuing the conversation, Deepak says that, like others, they too wanted to study, get good jobs, and support their ageing parents. He then turns to Surendra, who adds that in the conditions they grew up in, there were different rules for the rich and the poor. Rakesh, Surendra and Deepak were once dreaded Naxal commanders in the Madhya Pradesh–Maharashtra–Chhattisgarh (MMC) zone. Rakesh led Maharashtra, Surendra headed Chhattisgarh, and Deepak commanded Madhya Pradesh. After spending more than two decades in the forests—evading police, dodging bullets, and running a parallel authority—they are now in police custody. Though they have surrendered, their words still reflect the pain, anger and anguish that pushed them to leave their homes and families to fight an undeclared war for years. Dainik Bhaskar spoke to the three for nearly two hours in custody. In this exclusive interview, they opened up about their youth, life in the forest, love, marriage, children, technology and the outside world.
Sequential conversation with all three Naxal commanders Away from the ordinary world, where death’s shadow looms every moment, is there any place for love and family? What the three commanders shared on this question reveals an untouched human aspect of Naxalite life. How do marriages happen in the Dalam?
Deepak explains that marriage is permitted in the party. Leaders hold private meetings once a year. During this, each member is asked if they want to get married. They are also asked which girl from the dalam they want to marry. Then the leaders talk to that girl. Marriage only happens if the girl also consents. There is no pressure on anyone. What was the wedding ceremony like? On this, Rakesh Hodi says, it depends on the circumstances. If police movement was less and the atmosphere was peaceful, sometimes there would be a feast in a nearby village. Otherwise, the wedding would be completed among the members of the dalam. Is there discrimination between men and women?
Naxal organizations are often accused of exploiting women, but these commanders completely reject this. Surendra says there is absolutely no gender discrimination in the party. Here men and women are given equal status. Cooking duty is assigned on rotation. If there is a group of 10 people, 3 people will be assigned cooking duty, while the rest will help in fetching water and wood. Here, men also cook and wash dishes. Why don’t Naxals have children?
This is a question that always creates curiosity. Does the party not allow it? Deepak says about this, it’s not like that at all. There are no restrictions. But think about it yourself, when your own life is at stake every moment, you cannot stay in one place, then why would you put a tiny life through such difficulty? Husband-wife had separate meetings
In jungle life, the companionship of husband and wife was not like that of common people. Rakesh says, many times we were posted in different area committees. We could only meet at the camp when there was a meeting once every month or two. Meeting daily was not possible. Even when we met, we couldn’t take any gifts for the wife because there were no markets where we lived, and going to the city meant risking getting caught. Police got clues from gutka pouches
How did they know when police was coming to the forests? On this, Surendra says, village people were our biggest network. They would signal us one way or another. Sometimes a child or elderly person would come to give information. Besides this, we remained alert ourselves. Police boot marks in the forests would give us information about their movement. Many times we could tell from the gutka pouches and spits left by security forces, because those specific brands of gutka were not available in our area. Weren’t you afraid of snakes and scorpions in the jungle? Rakesh says laughingly, we used to set up tents with 120 GSM thick tarpaulin, there was no problem with that. We were never afraid of snakes and scorpions, but mosquitoes were a concern. First got a tablet in hand in 2019
Today when the world is talking about 5G, these commanders had never used a mobile phone before 2019. Deepak says, when I became a commander in the Divisional Committee in 2019, I received a tablet. I was taught how to use it. We used to read party books, literature and some newspapers on it, like Dainik Bhaskar and Haribhoomi. This was necessary to run the organization and know what was happening in the world. Do Naxalites forcefully collect money?
On this allegation, Deepak says, this is wrong. The party would appeal that during the tendu leaf season, every person should donate one day’s wages to the party. This was voluntary. Public support is necessary for people’s war. Regarding the distribution of money, they explain that we also have an annual budget. A group of 10 people (dalam) gets 2 to 3 lakh rupees for the whole year, which is used to buy food and necessary supplies. The 11 lakh rupees that were found in Balaghat were party funds, which were to be distributed after the budget. Was the purpose fulfilled?
At the end of the interview, the most important question was asked – did you achieve the purpose for which you staked your entire life? All three go silent for a moment. Then Surendra says, no, the purpose was not fulfilled. But our fight has done a big thing. Today tribals have awakened for their rights. Governments have started listening to us. We are not enemies of the country. We just talk about tribal rights over water-forest-land. No revolution depends on a single leader. New people join with time and make their own strategy. Learn about all three former commanders in sequence… Mahendra Karma was the prime target in Jhiram attack
The Jhiram Valley attack in Chhattisgarh was one of the biggest Naxal attacks in which several senior Congress leaders including Mahendra Karma were killed. Surendra played a key role among the Naxals involved in this attack. Surendra is originally from Sukma. He says, ‘I was 15 years old when I joined the party’s children’s organization. Police used to come to our village, harass people unnecessarily, and demand chicken and liquor. My parents were also fed up with them. This anger drew me towards the organization. Regarding the Jhiram Valley attack, he says that our main target was Mahendra Karma, because due to Salwa Judum, more than 600 villages in Bastar were destroyed. Wanted to capture Mahendra Karma alive
When the Jhiram Valley attack was being planned, there was a long debate in the party about the fact that innocent people could also be killed in this attack. We decided that we would capture Mahendra Karma alive. We warned them for 3 hours to surrender, but they didn’t come out of the vehicle and kept telling the police to continue firing. By the time they came out, several other leaders had been killed in the crossfire. ‘I had no intention of becoming a Naxalite’
Rakesh’s story is different. He was educated and had no intention of becoming a Naxalite. Rakesh says that in 2003, I had passed 12th grade. In my village in Gadchiroli, I saw a Naxalite poster. A question arose in my mind – who are these people? If they are fighting for tribals, then why are they killing them? To find the answer to this question, I went to the jungle to meet them. There were armed Naxalites there. I asked them – why these weapons? The answer came – for self-defense. Then asked – how long will this fight continue? They said – until a new society is formed. When police started searching, stayed with Naxalites for 1 month
Rakesh says that I came back, but after a month I was introduced to Deepak Teltumde, the zonal commander of Maharashtra State Committee. He told me about the thoughts of Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, Mao and Lenin. He said – who will you serve by doing a job? Fight for the people. He asked me to stay for 3 days. They said if I leave now, we’ll have to change our camp. I stopped. The police in the village started looking for me. Out of fear, I stayed there for 1 month. When they asked me to leave, I said if I go now, the police will catch me. Then, I just remained a part of the party. My younger brother is a government teacher today and many of my friends are police officers and doctors. Couldn’t tolerate when TI beat me
Deepak’s story reveals the truth that forces many tribals to become Naxalites. He says, I studied till fifth grade. In 1996, the party named me Deepak, before that my name was Mangal Singh Uike. In the village, we used to put up posters for prohibition and fair prices for tendu leaves. At that time there was a TI named Prashant Katlam. One day he picked up 30-35 people from our area and beat them so severely that one man died on the way. There was so much fear of police in the village that before sunrise, the women of the house would tell us to go hide in the fields. They were afraid that if the police took away the men, who would plow the fields.