Farewell to the Tigers of Gundekot
To Dada
I.
poor India’s
rich mineral
noble mountain
an Adivasi
in Gundekot forests
a plane-tree rooted
resisted every kind of enslavement
enslavement could not resist
his great dream
his unalloyed fight
The Ganges overflowed
the people awoke
the countryside was cleansed
the dam was broken
the city was besieged
cannon, rifle
ball and hammer
envied death
the Ganges envied
as it dripped into the ocean
mountains envied their eagle
defeat envied victory
betrayal envied wrath
II.
Betrayal is an empty shell
shame comes upon its corpse
Honor is in Nambala Keshava Rao
the people wear him
are cleansed, become sacred with him
carry him in their heart
like a fire
like a secret
Were he to bow to bigotry
it would not be only his own enslavement
when he became a torch
if he illuminated not only himself
or when he lit a fire
if only the vile turned to ashBasavaraj knows
that surrender is worse than death
he knows
what he defends is not his own life
not his own position
he knows
alone, no life is free
nor whole
he knows
traitors die alone
III.
a brave one who
how formidable
knows no mercy
grants no mercy
broken plough
poor pitchfork
arid soil
lost vein
they say a brave one was born
she who nursed knows
he who sows, reaps knows
mountains, seas
fields, cities
wolf, bird knows
they say a brave one died
neither he who says
nor he who hears believes it
nor does a country believe it
a hope
a liberation
Basavaraj
IV.
This is the people’s war
and he its commander
seventy years old
living as if born yesterday
tomorrow
fighting as if to win it today
true revolutionaries
never fear
undaunted, unceasing, never resting
water, earth, fire
Basavaraj
V.
New revisionismdefeat after defeat
breeds new betrayal
invites peoples
to bow
to imperialism and its executioners
to save
feather-light
worthless
his own life
more skilled than executioners
at pledging allegiance to imperialism
at making the people an instrument of his disgrace
like a poisonous root
Sonu swore
to infect the people
with the poison of surrender
while Basavaraj swore
to fight at the very front
VI.
Some
who is Basavaraj
only
kneels before the people
some
who is Sonu
always before the executioners.
some
throws his heart into the fire
some has no heart to throw
some
claims the swamp as homeland
some
the people.
some live by crawling
some drags life forward
some dead from eternity to eternity
some the apple of the eye
the darkness of some is bottomless
some
illuminate the most bottomless darkness
some are like a rotten tree
some
a plane-tree sprout
one ash is enough
like the Phoenix.
VII.
When one revolutionary fallsthousands are born
born again
reborn
neither first
nor last
is such a great loss
nor the end
of revolutionary ideas.
whether long or short
inevitable
from the countryside to the city
from the city to the homeland
from the homeland to the world
a spring wildfire
people’s powers.
To the Rebel Children of the Adivasis
VIII.
of a dark-skinned child
as if about to vomit his destiny
as if derailed
the ears of grain are humming
soil helpless
its thin and thick veins
bursting one by one
soil
a road, a vein
a fire smoldering within
whatever falls
the end is apocalypse, a climate
seven continents one world
a new world.
IX.
Hidma
as rebellious as the soil of Bastar
the people created him
he illuminated the people’s path
there he was born
there he grew
there he wrote history
jal, jangal, jameen
heart and honor
freedom plundered in the cradle
a hundred-year flag of rebellion
an eagle’s nest
in the first detachment
in the last watcha powder keg
in those small eyes
like a glimmer
imagined into the future
his lofty legacy
Hidma offers not only his name
but his life
to his homeland Bastar.
X.
exiled from the land
a Midko
carried the fire in the heart
in the underground forest
and
in a forest his hands were cut off
by those who thought they could take the world from his hands
yet Renuka
shines like a river
in the arms of the people.
XI.
He thought
of the war before him
and the one after
his war will be thought of
and the next
“Do not worry for me
martyrdoms do not weaken the struggle
martyrdoms have strengthened the revolutionary movement
I believe that
with the inspiration of these martyrdoms
the revolutionary movement
will be born again stronger
final victory will belong to the people.”
XII.
bombardment intense
weapons modern
twenty thousand modern slaves
thirty-five Spartacus
twenty-first of May
sixty hours hungry, thirsty
for a thousand years enamored with freedom
for a thousand years arid
in Gundekot forests
like a flood
the blood of twenty-eight martyrs
flows into the heart of the peopleresistance grew
despite multiplying traitors
the blood of traitors dried up
while in torrents
sprinkled onto Gundekot forests
was revolutionary blood.
roaringly
how it grows
the Gundekot rebellion
against imperialism
the flag of people’s war
the torch of peoples’ resistance
XIII.
like lightning
a sea of rage
within the fire of freedom
red hearts live forever
to the blind-eyed, deaf-eared
plain, patient and continuous
showy, powerful and inevitable
a slap strikes
our pole stars
Let the world salute
the hearts of the Himalayas
and again
let the wheel turn
impatient caravan
soul still bare
roads blood-soaked
to be fire
to burn and to set ablaze
is inherent in us
chirping in the barrel
in dreams, rebellion in flames
in battle, liberation trench by trench
is our legacy.
XIV.
A spark will fall
upon violet trails
upon ember hopes
a harvest
thirsty, impatient –
Maoists will strike their blow
upon the three great mountains
on the people’s back
for Maoists
live, liveonly for the people
die, die
only for the people.
Prisoner Partizan Hüseyin Uzundağ
30 June 2026
