电讯 ：来自尼泊尔人民战争的报导
第十五篇：新女性，新人民政权
革命工人 1033期 1999年12月5日
我们在这个村庄里只有一天，但我们安排今天下午出发继续穿越鲁孔地区的旅行。孩子们正在学校院里打排球，然而今天晚上，预备在这儿举行一场群众欢送大会。村子里的每一个人都要来参加这个仪式，布满了喜庆的气氛。由12个年青人组成的民兵在院子里列队排开。当我和翻译从群众前面走过时，他们向我们致以敬礼。群众前面摆着一张长桌子。
仪式布满了亲情和温情。大家作了简短的演说，进行了文化演出。当地群众组织的领导走上前来送给我一些礼物。——当地村民织的织物，两只人工做的袋子，一只上面绣着“鲁孔”二字，一个传统的绳结，用来兜住从你的前额垂下的饰物。
当大会结束时，已是夕阳西下了。我们的随行人员都在预备离开。沿路列队站着着村民们向我们道别，当地民兵开路，很认真地护卫着我们。当我们走上小路时，所有人都向我们挥手，并高呼：“lal salaam”（革命敬礼）。
当我们离开时已是黄昏。我们动身后不久，太阳就消失在群山后面了。我们必须摸黑赶路。又走了几个小时，我们前不着村，后不着店，找不到度夜的地方，同志们告诉我说，离到达下一个住处还得走四个多小时的路。我们决定今晚露营，而且，我们很幸运地碰到一些牧羊人，他们很乐意为我们提供一片靠近他们篝火的地方。他们赶着一大群羊，我们就在狗汪汪的叫声和山羊咩咩的叫声中度过了一夜，它们就在离我们几步远的地方走动着。
第二天，我们到达了鲁孔的另一个村庄，一些被警察杀害的烈士们的亲属聚集在那里等着和我谈话。当我听到这些烈士们的故事时，这么多的妇女在革命中战斗献身，她们付出了同等的牺牲。这深深地打动了我。
在人民战争的头三年半时间里，有800多人献出了生命，其中100多人是妇女。许多妇女失去了丈夫和孩子。许多妇女被杀害、被强暴，受到了警察的残酷镇压。我听到无数妇女面对折磨依然进行着强烈而坚定的反抗的事迹。
一位妇女组织者告诉我：“自从人民战争发动后，反动派们付出了许多努力，企图阻止妇女参加人民战争。已有近50名妇女为此而牺牲，她们大多来自西部地区。数千名遭到强暴，许多妇女被关进监狱。我可以向你举个例子。当地进行选举的时候，警察来要求妇女参加选举。但遭到拒绝。警察在一个地方包围了14名妇女，并强暴了她们。其中一个遭他们强暴的妇女才12岁，她受到了很重的伤害，有一个星期都不能走路。
“在有些案件中，有些妇女“失踪”了，有时警察强迫被他们逮捕的妇女和他们结婚。尼泊尔有个传统，当妇女结婚时，要在脸上搽上红粉，警察就对被他们逮捕的妇女们采取这样的行动以欺侮她们。他们还给被逮捕的妇女穿上警服，命令她们像警察一样做事。但妇女们拒绝这样做，她们不向警察泄露任何机密。
“西部地区还有很多妇女遭受折磨的事情。在有个地区，警察残暴地对待妇女组织的一个密书，尽管她已怀孕，警察还是强暴了她。她冲破了敌人的包围圈，拼命逃跑，但她遭受过毒打，身体虚弱，再也跑不动了，警察开枪把她打死了。尽管遭受到如此的折磨和镇压，几乎所有的妇女还是相信只有新民主主义革命才能够解放她们。”
当我在加德满都时，全尼妇女协会（革命）主席Rekha Sharma给我讲了许多警察尤其对革命妇女采取恶毒手段的其它事情。她说：
“警察来到他们怀疑参加人民战争的人们家里，问妇女道：‘你丈夫哪儿去了’或者‘你儿子哪儿去了？’比如，在Pyuautan地区，有一家丈夫是一名教师，他不在家中，妻子Radhad Ghimise怀着孕，警察来到她家问她丈夫的情况，然后就逮捕了她，把她带到了森林里。谁也不知道发生了什么，两三个星期后，人们发现她的头被砍了。
另一个例子是Depa Khadka，她是全尼泊尔妇女协会Dolakha地区的主席（革命）。她被逮捕是因为她有一叠上方印着我们组织名字的信笺。她被关押时遭到了轮奸。另一妇女到监狱里看望她丈夫，遭到了毒打，不久就死去了。”
在封建制度下，遭到强暴的人受到蔑视。革命用阶级仇恨代替了耻辱。 Rekha告诉我说，警察的残暴消灭不了尼泊尔妇女的革命精神。她说：“在战争中失去亲人的妇女，象她们的丈夫或儿子一样，不会是仅仅坐下来哭泣，而是显示了她们的革命精神。当妇女受到盘问的时候，即使她们受到酷刑，她们也不向敌人泄露机密。”
三一委员会里的妇女们
在尼泊尔，妇女们受到压迫的根源在于封建半封建制度的生产关系。农民依靠土地生存。而根据法律，妇女不能象男子一样平等地拥有或继续土地。在有些地区，又有些大地主，农民又受到债务的束缚。在这种情况下，农民必须为清偿债务而劳作，一些妇女被迫从事性交易，给地主干活。
农业革命是尼泊尔新民主主义革命的中心问题。人民战争直接提出了妇女获得土地的问题。在“耕者有其田”的口号下进行了土地改革，并在此过程中实行“妇女享有平等的财产权”的原则。在实行新人民政权的地区，人民法庭为许多寡妇和未婚妇女夺回了她们的土地：被地主和其它反动派窃取的土地。这只是新的人民政权开始解放妇女的途径之一。
在整个游击区，妇女们都参加了“三一委员会”，这是一个检查治理各种各样农村生活的组织。作为党员、作为人民军队的成员、作为联合阵线群众组织的参加者——妇女在实行新人民政权的过程中发挥了主要作用。
几乎所有和我谈过话的农民都说他们一年收获的粮食不能养活他们的家人。所有每年总得有几个月，他们要到城市里或印度去打工——也这意味着妇女和孩子得留下来种地维持一家人的生活。现在在人民战争强大的地区，集体耕种正在为丈夫参加革命斗争或离家到城里打工的人家提供帮助。
一位妇女组织者还解释道：
“由于压迫很重，形势如此恶劣，大多数男人都不能公开地留在村子里。但妇女群众还得在村子里生活。所有新人民政权的许多工作都是由妇女通过三一委员会的形式进行的。妇女们还要解决许多当地问题，比如人们之间的争吵和纽纷。通过三一委员会里，妇女占了成员总数的30%到50%。”
当我和罗尔帕地区全尼妇女组织（革命）中心委员会的一名成员交谈时，我问她他们怎样处理妇女受到丈夫虐待的问题。她给我举的一个例子是村子里的一个男子骗了他妻子的事情。她说：
“妇女组织领导着妇女群众惩罚了他，给他戴上“花环”（把他的鞋系在一块做成的‘项链’），给他脸上涂上颜色，并把他示众。另一个例子是一个贫穷的农民妇女到加德满都做工：搬砖头，当地的一名男子强暴了她。
妇女组织发现了这件事情，就来到他家逮捕并惩罚了他。她们把他头上的头发剃掉一半，并命令他自己揪着双耳，在所有人面前不停地站起坐下。我们当着所有的群众暴露了他的罪行，人民支持我们在当地所做的这些工作。”
我还得知一夫多妻制（男人可以娶两个妻子）是尼泊尔的一个封建传统。党反对一夫反妻制和包办婚姻。所有人民战争力量强大的地方，都进行了许多消灭这种现象的斗争。在一些地区，三一委员会实行新的政策，以保障受到这些行为压迫的妇女们的权利。鲁孔地区的一名妇女告诉我：
“在我们这一地区，三年来在对待妇女的态度和行为方面都发生了许多变化。例如，我们参加了司法部门（人民政权委员会的一个部门）。我们参与解决了许多问题，比如重婚案，在这里我们保证第一个妻子财产的权利。有些第二个妻子必须离婚，因为这样对第一个妻子太不公平了。
“要求离婚的人上诉到人民法庭，我们来决定这个案子。大多数要求离婚的是妇女，由于不堪受到殴打或谋杀未遂，或者是其它欺侮。假如妇女在离婚时要求分得财产，法院会帮助她。在每一个案件里，法院都会调查谁对谁错。
“有些已婚妇女再次结婚后受到歧视。现在她们在再婚后与原来的丈夫离婚，这样她们就不再受到他的束缚了。根据传统，假如妇女再婚，第一个丈夫将从第二个丈夫那儿得到一笔钱（例如嫁妆）。我们现在废除了这个规矩。对那些离开自己的丈夫而不再结婚的妇女而言，有些人仍然尊循着相同的规矩（丈夫得到一些钱。），但我们的目标是完全废除这一习惯。
“在人民战争发动前，有许多丈夫殴打妻子的案件，甚至包括党的干部。现在群众中这些事情只有很少几件了。在人民战争支持者和干部中部，这种情况几乎没有了。假如党发现任何一起这样的案件，我们都要对他采取行动。
人民会继续与丈夫的不良行为进行斗争。假如妻子受到伤害，妇女组织或人民法院就要强迫丈夫同意妻子离婚的权利。我们不对殴打妻子的人进行任何体罚，但他们要受到羞辱——假如在脸上涂脂抹粉，“鞋花环”、还有在村子里游街。
革命对其它许多压迫妇女的封建传统都提出了挑战——比如重男轻女，妇女在月经期间不能触摸，还有寡妇只能哀悼中度过余生的传统。
我碰到的许多丈夫在战争牺牲的妇女依然穿着鲜艳的衣服、戴着首饰，而根据封建传统这是不许可的。革命还改变了一些传统的庆祝仪式。例如，根据印度教的庆祝方仪式， "Teej"要求妇女禁食一天，在这一天，已婚妇女要为丈夫的长寿祈祷一天，而未婚妇女要为她们符合条件的丈夫而祈祷。而现在这一天改为发起对人民战争支持活动的一天。
革命妇女组织
全尼泊尔，所有不同的政治势力，包括政府中的反动政党，都有妇女组织。但毛主义者的妇女组织与他们不同，它把反对妇女遭受到的压迫的斗争与通过武装斗争夺取政权建立新民主主义国家的目标结合了起来。
Rekha Sharm给我讲了她领导的组织全尼妇女协会（革命）看到了反对妇女所受压迫的斗争与赢得人民对人民战争的支持两者之间的联系。
“我们强烈地感受到妇女面临的压迫只有通过推翻封建制度和现存的社会制度才能实现。这个改良主义妇女组织的观点不同。我们的行动是要求完全的解决，我们对解决方案十分清楚，妇女受压迫的主要根源在于封建主义和国家政权。我们努力工作以求永久的解决方案——革命和新民主主义社会——帮助人民战争获得发展。随着人民战争的胜利，妇女问题将得到解决，妇女将获得平等的地位。但与此同时，我们并不坐等长久的解决方案，我们一些活动的目标是使政府能够产生一些变化。
城市里的革命妇女组织普及并建立对人民战争的支持。而农村的毛主义妇女小组则直接参加了战争——鼓励妇女参加人民军队和民兵，建立新型人民政权，改革原来人们之是的社会关系。一位西部地区的妇女的组织者告诉我：
“在开始的日子里，我们开始提高妇女们的觉悟，比如谈谈通过斗争获取平等权利之类的话题。我们反对传统的压迫妇女的保守观点，比如在农村假如妇女嫁给了一个男人，男方家庭要付出嫁妆（在城市里，是女方家庭提供嫁妆。），嫁妆也许只是几瓶酒、一些面包和一些羊。我们说这等于是把妇女给卖了。我们反对这种行为。在这些地区，我们还禁止喝酒。结果避免了许多妻子挨打的事情。实际上，许多妇女被革命妇女组织所吸引就是因为这些事情。我们还反对童婚和一夫多妻制。我们还组织群众运动反对一夫多妻制。
“我们为烈士们建立了许多纪念馆，还修了许多路以怀念他们。我们还建立了厕所以提高农村的卫生状况。在农业合作组织我们互相帮助，集体劳动。我们还制定了学习文化的计划，我们告诉妇女由于经济条件落后，要少生孩子。在革命发生政治影响之前，总是男人有权决定什么时候要孩子。而现在是大多数妇女和丈夫一起决定这个问题。我们说妇女有权决定她们什么时候结婚和要孩子。”
革命妇女组织还为妇女办起学习班讨论人民战争和马列毛主义。妇女同志们告诉我，在罗尔帕和鲁孔的许多地区，很少有不参加革命组织的妇女。革命妇女组织的成员下有14岁的年青人，上有70岁的老人，但大多在15岁至30岁之间。
我问一位在罗尔帕全尼妇女组织（革命）中心委员会工作的妇女同志，请她给我描述一下她们组织的工作，她回答说：
“妇女们有着非常强烈的阶级仇恨，她们对党越来越热爱，因为只有毛主义者才能给她们带来解放。我们的组织开始对男同志和女同志进行成人教育。我们为烈士们建立了许多记念碑，为牲畜修了路。
“根据传统，妇女在许多节日的时候都要回娘家，系上红带子。但现在我们打破了这些传统，在这些场合，我们就不再系红带子了。我们要建立新的文化。
我们不实行这种传统的风俗，我们把人民战争发动的日子2月13日作为新的节日。在这个新的革命节日里，我们拜访烈士家属，送给他们礼物，并从他们那儿得到 tikka。
“假如有妇女来到我们的协会要求我们惩办欺负她的人，比如有人喝了酒，打了他妻子，她不愿再与他在一起了，她就会找到我们的组织来解决这一问题，她丈夫不愿意她离开，而她想要离开，妇女组织就决定她可以离开。
“我们还给党送去食物、玉米和通讯，我们做各种各样的后勤工作。我们为步枪制造子弹和黑火药，我们开办商店，把商品按成本价格出售给党。地方和地区委员会的同志们为班里、排里的战士打手套，我们为党写帖在墙上的标语。我们鼓励妇女参加民兵，我们为党生产粮食，我们还为党提供鸡羊。”
许多妇女告诉我，男同志鼓励妇女参与——增强政治观念，成为人民战争参加者。还有许多夫妻，男女双方都成了人民战争的忠诚战士，当他们结婚时，他们实行“共产主义仪式”而不是传统的结婚仪式。一位妇女组织者告诉我，“人民战争发动前，有许多支持妇女的思想，但并不总能给予实行。但人民战争发动后，一切都发生了真正的变化，现在妇女在人民战争中发挥了重大作用。”
*****
Rekha Sharma 告诉我，“列宁说过妇女很好地参加了革命，那么革命就会成功。参加革命的妇女在这儿显得非常引人注目，并和世人展示，她们并不是无助的，而是非常强大，和男人一样平等。
“我们也听说过其它国家也有女革命者，但现在我们能够亲眼看到这一眼——通过你对我们的访问。我们对你来到这里访问我们并了解我们的情况和斗争表示衷心的感谢。我们还希望，通过《革命工人》，你能够把我们的工作：人民战争和我们的客观情况传达给美国受压迫妇女和全世界人民。
“我们希望你能够告诉全世界我们妇女正在与敌人战斗，正在付出牺牲，正在竭尽全力。这个消息会产生两种结果，它会向世界被压迫人民暴露真相，鼓舞他们参加革命，它也会争得对尼泊尔人民战争的支持。”
Dispatches: Report from the People's War in Nepal, Part 15
New Women, New People's Power
Revolutionary Worker #1033, December 5, 1999
We have only been in this village one day, but we are scheduled to leave this afternoon to continue our journey through Rukum. The kids have been playing volleyball in the schoolyard but, late in the day, the area is cleared and prepared for a mass farewell meeting. Everyone in the village comes out for the ceremony and the atmosphere is very festive. The local militia, made up of about a dozen young men, lines up in the yard and they give me and my translator a salute as we walk to the front of the crowd where a long wooden table has been set up.
The ceremony is full of heart and warmth. There are brief speeches and the local cultural group performs. Then leaders of the local mass organizations step forward to present me with some gifts--cloth woven in the local villages, two handmade bags, one with the name "Rukum" embroidered on it, and a traditional knotted rope, used to carry heavy loads strapped to your forehead.
The sun is low in the sky when the meeting is finished and our entourage gets ready to leave. All the villagers line up along the way to say goodbye and the local militia leads the way, giving us a serious escort. As we head out on the path, everyone waves and shouts, "lal salaam" (red salute).
It is dusk as we leave, and the sun disappears behind the mountains soon after we set off. So we have to travel in the dark. After several hours we aren't anywhere near a village where we can get shelter, and the comrades tell me it will take about four more hours to get to another house. We decide to sleep out in the open tonight, and, luckily, we come across some shepherds who gladly offer us a place by their fire. They are traveling with a big herd, and we spend the night sleeping amidst barking dogs and baa-ing sheep, milling about only a few feet from our heads.
The next day we arrive in another village in Rukum where some relatives of people killed by the police have gathered to talk with me. As I hear the stories of these martyrs, it strikes me just how much women are playing an equal role in making sacrifices --fighting and dying--in this revolution.
In the first three and a half years of the People's War more than 800 people have become martyrs--and nearly 100 of them have been women. Many women have lost their husbands and sons. Many women have been murdered, raped, and brutalized by the police. And I hear numerous stories of women who have remained fierce and determined, even in the face of torture.
One woman organizer tells me: "After the initiation the reactionaries put a lot of effort into trying to stop women from participating in the People's War. Nearly 50 women have already become martyrs, mostly in the western region. Thousands of women have been raped and many women are in jail. I'll give you one example. During a local election the police came to ask women to participate in the elections. But the women refused. So the police rounded up more than 14 women and raped them all in one place. There was one 12-year-old girl that they raped who was so badly injured she could not even walk for one week.
"In some cases women have been `disappeared.' And sometimes, the police will try to force women they have arrested to marry them. There is a Nepalese tradition that when a woman gets married, red powder (tikka) is put on her forehead and the police will do this to the women they arrest in order to humiliate them. They also put arrested women in police uniforms and order them to act like police. But the women have refused to do this and they don't tell the police any information or secrets.
"There have been a number of incidents where women have been tortured in the west. In one area, the police tortured the secretary of the women's organization. She was pregnant at the time and the police raped her. She broke through the police encirclement and tried to escape, but after being beaten she was too weak to run away, and the police shot and killed her. But even though this kind of torture and repression is happening, almost all the women believe that only the New Democratic Revolution will liberate them."
When I was in Kathmandu, Rekha Sharma, President of the All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary), told me about a number of other instances in which the police have taken especially vicious measures against revolutionary women. She said:
"The police go to the homes of people they suspect of fighting in the People's War and they ask the women, `Where is your husband?' or `Where is your son?' In the Pyuautan district, for example, a husband who was a teacher was not home, and his wife Radhad Ghimise was pregnant. The police came and asked her about her husband, then arrested her and took her to the forest. No one knew what happened to her, and then two to three weeks later she was found beheaded.
Another example is Depa Khadka, who was the chairperson of All Nepal Women's Organization (Revolutionary) in the Dolakha district. She was arrested because she had a pad of stationery with the letterhead of our organization. She was gang raped in custody. Another woman went to visit her husband in jail and was beaten and later died."
Under feudalism, rape victims are stigmatized. But the revolution has replaced this shame with class hatred. And the cruelty of the police, Rekha tells me, has not diminished the spirit of the revolutionary women in Nepal. Rekha says: "Women who have lost people in the war, like their husband or son, are not just sitting around weeping--but are showing the spirit of revolution. And when the women are interrogated, even when they are brutalized, they do not speak to the enemy. "
Women in the 3-in-1s
In Nepal, women's oppression is rooted in the feudal and semi-feudal system of production. The peasants rely on the land in order to survive. But women cannot legally own or inherit land on equal terms with men. Also, in some regions where there are big landlords, peasants face debt slavery. In this situation, where peasants have to work for free to pay off a debt, some women are forced to provide sex and labor to a landlord.
The agrarian revolution is central to the New Democratic revolution in Nepal. And the question of women owning land is directly addressed （提出）by the People's War. Land reform is carried out under the slogan, "Land to the tiller," and the principle of "women's equal right to property" is applied. In the areas where new people's power is being practiced, many widows and unmarried women have had land restored by the people's courts--land which had been stolen by landlords and other reactionaries. This is only one of the ways new people's power is starting to liberate women.
Throughout the guerrilla zones, women are participating in the "3-in-1 committees" that have been organized to oversee and run various aspects of village life. As party members, as members of the people's army, and as participants from the united front mass organizations--women are playing a major role in exercising new people's power.
Almost every single peasant I talked with said they could not grow enough to feed their family for the whole year. So for several months each year, the men leave to look for work in the cities or in India--which means the women and children are left to work the land and maintain the household. Now in areas where the People's War is strong, collective farming is helping households where husbands are either away fighting in the revolution or have gone away to work in the cities.
One woman organizer also explained:
"Because there is so much repression, the situation is such that most of the men cannot stay in the villages openly. But the masses of women are still living in the villages. So it is the women who are carrying out much of the new people's power through the 3-in-1 form. The women are dealing with many local problems, like quarrels and disputes among the people. In the 3-in-1 forms, the women make up about 30 to 50 percent of the members."
When I talk with a Central Committee member of All Nepal Women's Organization (Revolutionary) in Rolpa, I ask her how they are dealing with cases of women being mistreated by their husbands. One example she gives is a situation where a man in one village had cheated on his wife. She says:
"The women's organization led the masses of women to punish him by putting a shoe garland [his shoes tied together made into a 'necklace'] on him, painting his face, and parading him around. There was another case of a poor peasant woman who went to work in Kathmandu, carrying bricks, and a man from this district raped her.
Our women's organization found out about this and went to his home. They arrested him and punished him--they cut off the hair on half his head and made him hold his ears and repeatedly stand up and sit down in front of everyone. We exposed his crime to all the masses. And the people support this kind of work we are carrying out in the local areas."
I also learn that polygamy（一夫多妻, 一妻多夫）--where men take a second wife--is a feudal tradition practiced in Nepal. The party opposes the customs of polygamy and arranged marriages. Where the People's War is strong there is a lot of struggle to put an end to these practices. And in some areas, the 3-in-1 committees have implemented new policies to ensure the rights of women oppressed by such practices. A woman in Rukum told me:
"In our district there have been many changes in three years in the attitudes and practices regarding women. For example we are involved in the judiciary department (one of the people's power committees). And we take part in solving many problems--like cases of second marriages, where we guarantee the right of property for the first wife. Sometimes the second wife is compelled to leave the marriage because of injustice to the first wife.
"People who want to get divorced appeal to the people's court and we decide the case. Most are women who want to get divorced because of beatings or attempted murder, or other abuses. If a woman demands property from her husband when she gets divorced, the court will help her. The court investigates who is right and wrong in each case.
"Some first wives are neglected after a second marriage. The woman who gets divorced after a second marriage is now free from her husband. According to tradition, if a woman remarries the first husband gets some money from the second husband (like a dowry). But we have now eliminated this practice. In the case of a woman who leaves her husband with no second marriage, there are people who still follow this tradition (of the husband getting some money), but the goal is to eliminate this custom completely.
"Before the initiation there were many cases of husbands beating wives, even among some party cadre. There are now only a few cases of this among the masses. Among our sympathizers and cadre there are hardly any cases. And if the party finds out about any such cases, action is taken against them.
People will go to struggle with the husband. If the wife is injured then the women's organization or people's court may compel the husband to give the wife a divorce. There has been no physical punishment of wife beaters, but they have been subjected to humiliation--like painting their face, `shoe garlands,' and being paraded through the village."
The revolution is challenging many other feudal traditions that oppress women--like the strong preference for sons, the treatment of women as "untouchable" during menstruation, and the tradition where widows are supposed to mourn for the rest of their lives.
Many of the women I met whose husbands had been killed in the war were defiantly wearing bright clothes and jewelry--which a widow is not supposed to do according to feudal traditions. Some of the traditional celebrations are also being transformed by the revolution. For example, the Hindu celebration "Teej" is a day-long fast imposed on women. On this day married women are supposed to pray for longevity of their husbands and unmarried women are supposed to fast and pray for an eligible husband. Now, this day is being transformed into a day to build support for the People's War.
Revolutionary Women's Organization
Throughout Nepal, all the different political forces, including the reactionary parties in the government, have organized groups of women. But the Maoist women's organizations distinguish themselves by linking the fight against women's oppression with the revolutionary goal of seizing power through armed struggle and establishing a new democratic state.
Rekha Sharm talked about how her group, the All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary), sees the relationship between the fight against women's oppression and building support for the People's War:
"We feel very strongly that the problems women are facing can only be solved by overthrowing feudalism and the present system. This is different than the view of reformist women's organizations. Our activities are related to the total solution because we are clear on what is the solution and that the main source of women's oppression is feudalism and the state power. We work to join with the long-term solution--of revolution and a new democratic society--and help to develop the People's War. With the success of the People's War the problems of women will be solved and women will be in a position to get equality. But at the same time we are not just waiting for the long-term solution, and some of our activities are aimed at getting some changes from the government."
Revolutionary women's organizations in the cities popularize and build support for the People's War. But the Maoist women's groups in the countryside are directly involved in the war--encouraging women to join the people's army and the militias, building new forms of people's power and transforming social relations among the people. A woman organizer from the western countryside told me:
"In the beginning days, we started by raising the consciousness of women, like talking about the struggle for equal rights. And we opposed the conservative traditions that oppress women, like the practice where if a woman is married to a man in the countryside, the man's family has to pay a dowry. (In the city, the woman's family has to pay a dowry.) The dowry may be something like some bottles of alcohol, some roti (bread) or goats. So we say that this amounts to the selling of women. So we oppose this kind of practice. Also, in some areas, we have been able to stop alcohol drinking. And as a result, a lot of wife beating has stopped. So in a practical way, many women are attracted to the revolutionary women's organization because of these kinds of things. We have also opposed child marriages and polygamy and we've organized mass actions against polygamy.
"We have built up a number of Chautari (memorials) to martyrs and paths in memory of martyrs. We also help build toilets and promote hygiene in the villages. And we support each other in working on the land--organizing to work collectively. We have literacy programs, and we tell women to have fewer children because of the poor economic conditions. Before the political influence of the revolution, men always had the right to decide when to have children. But nowadays most of the women and men decide this together. And we say that women should have the right to decide if and when they want to get married and have children."
The revolutionary women's organizations also set up classes for women to discuss the People's War and Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. And the women tell me that in many areas in Rolpa and Rukum, there are hardly any women who are not in some revolutionary organization. Members of the revolutionary women's organization are as young as 14 years old and as old as 70 years old. But the majority are 15 to 30 years old.
I asked one woman comrade, a Central Committee member of the All Nepal Women's Organization (Revolutionary) in Rolpa, to describe the work of her organization and she said:
"Women have very strong class hatred and love the party more and more because they see that only the Maoists can bring about liberation. Our organization started adult education for both men and women. We have built many monuments to martyrs and we have also built paths for walking cattle.
"By tradition women go to their parents home and take tikka on different festivals. But we break this feudal tradition and don't go to take tikka on these occasions. We are establishing a new culture.
Instead of practicing these traditional festivals, we celebrate new festivals like February 13, the anniversary of the initiation of the People's War. For this revolutionary festival we go to meet with the families of martyrs, bring them presents, and take tikka from them.
"If a woman comes to our organization and asks us to punish an oppressor, we help. For example there was one man who drank and beat his wife so she didn't want to stay with him. She came to our organization with her problem. Her husband didn't want to leave her but she wanted to leave him. The women's organization decided that she should leave.
"We also carry food, grain and communications for the party and we do different types of logistics work. We make bullets for muzzle rifles and gunpowder and we set up shops to sell goods to the Party at cost. Local and area committee members make gloves for the squads and platoons. We write the slogans of the party on the walls. We inspire women to join the militia. We produce food for the party and also give chickens and goats to the party."
Many women told me that the men encourage the women to get involved--to develop politically and become full-timers. And there are also many couples in which both the man and woman are committed fighters in the People's War, and when they get married they have a "communist ceremony" instead of a traditional wedding. One woman organizer told me, "Before the initiation there was a lot of support for women in theory, but not always in practice. But this really changed after the initiation, and now women are playing a big role in the People's War."
*****
Rekha Sharma tells me, "Lenin said that if there is good participation by women the revolution will succeed. The participation of women here is remarkable and women are showing they are not helpless but are strong and equal with men.
"We have heard about women in other countries who are revolutionaries. But now we can see this directly with our own eyes--with you visiting us. We want to give hearty thanks to you for coming here and understanding our conditions and all of our activities. And we hope, through the Revolutionary Worker, you will spread the news about our work, the People's War and our objective situation--to the oppressed women in the U.S., as well as all over the world.
"We hope you will tell the world about how we women are fighting the enemy, making sacrifices and going all out. Such information will have two objectives. It will expose the situation to the exploited masses in the world and inspire them to make revolution. And it will build support for the People's War in Nepal."
| To be continued. |
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