Comrade Paka Hanumanthu or Ganesh departs who illuminated the flame of Revolution facing the harshest perils for four decades -Harsh Thakor
Comrade Paka Hanumanthu, known affectionately as Ganesh and later as Roopa Dada, has perished. He was killed in the stage managed bootakapu encounter in Ni Kandhamal, Gumma Forest area on 25th December 2025, Sunday, between 12-00 o'clock in his native village Pullemla, Chandur, Mandal, Nalgonda district, Telangana state.
For over four decades, Comrade Hanumanthu illuminated the light of the revolutionary movement. In the backdrop of the fatal losses the movement has faced over the last two years, his martyrdom attains a marked significance. He carves a permanent niche amongst the martyred Maoist revolutionaries.
.Comrade Ganesh remained steadfast in serving the revolutionary movement from his early youth until the very end age of 67 (1985–2025), epitomising the true hallmark of a revolutionary.
Comrade Ganesh’s revolutionary life focused on political and organizational re-organisation. He converted Adivasis into a cohesive force of militant warriors in waging battles for their rights and, as a CCM, guided the massive tribal protests of 2021–2024.Comrade Ganesh’s writings were published by revolutionary friends in 2023. His martyrdom will resurrect a new revolutionary spark for new lotuses to blossom. Ganesh’s life journey was characterised by resurrecting from the stormiest seas, putting the movement back on track facing the harshest perils. It was a testament to how a revolutionary movement breeds a new kind of man, who when perishing plants seeds for new roses to blossom. With high diligence he transpired the striking capacity of the masses to undertake retaliatory actions against the ruling classes.
Foundations and Early Activism
When we think of Comrade Ganesh, the Gangaloor Area (West Bastar) immediately is synonymous.
Hanumanthu earned his baptism in the movement as a radical student. Born and raised in Nalgonda—a land synonymous with the Telangana Armed Struggle—he played an active role as a radical student leader while studying Intermediate. Responding to the Party's call, he eventually moved to Dandakaranya as a full-time revolutionary. Recognizing his potential, the Party initially assigned him to the urban front. During that period, the Party sent several activists to various towns in Central India to build an organizational base to support the forest movement. As part of this, Comrade Ganesh was commissioned to Jagdalpur, where he forged strong bonds with the local youth and made it a priority on studying the Hindi language.
A Pillar of Organizational Unity
While in Jagdalpur, Comrade Ganesh was involved in various capacities during the unity talks between the MCC and the People’s War Party. Although those discussions were briefly stalled by political reasons, they ultimately succeeded in 2004. Notably, he participated as a delegate in the 2007 Unity Congress. In 2017, he was inducted into the Central Committee (CC), and till his very last breath, he served as a CCM (Central Committee Member), investing the very last drop of blood into the movement.
The Architect of West Bastar
Responding to the needs of the forest movement, Ganesh became a part of the Bastar struggle in 1990. He served the Dandakaranya (DK) movement in various capacities officially until 2018, and unofficially until June 2023. In 2019, he was appointed a member of the Southern Regional Bureau (SRB) (covering the Tri-junction of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala). However, due to severe coordination issues within the movement, he could not reach that region. With the leadership in that area facing arrests and martyrdom, the movement battled to keep afloat. Consequently, during its 8th meeting, the CC was forced to send Ganesh to Odisha. Braving numerous perils with revolutionary zeal, he reached Odisha in July 2023 and joined the CCM team there. It was there that he set the seal on his life work leaving behind indelible lessons for the Party through his ultimate sacrifice.
A Leader of the Masses
Ganesh served for decades in West Bastar, particularly in the Gangaloor region. He was so deeply part and parcel of the community that he knew every village, every house, and every child by name. The people, in return, welcomed him. When Ganesh called upon the Koya community to protect themselves during the Salwa Judum period by sending one member from every house into the PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army), they spontaneously responded by dedicating hundreds of children to the movement. This sacrifice not gave a lethal blow to the Salwa Judum but also laid the platform for the formation of PLGA companies and eventually a battalion.
After becoming a member of the State Zonal Committee (SZCM) in 2000, Ganesh worked unwaveringly and tirelessly to propel the DK movement. During the decade of Operation Green Hunt (starting in mid-2009), while military attacks desecrated DK, Ganesh ensured that the Janatana Sarkars (People's Governments) made a transition from the village level to the division level in West Bastar.
His military contribution was equally significant. In 2006, when the Party formed Unified Commands to resist Salwa Judum, he played a key role in the successful raid on NMDC, where nearly 20 tons of explosives were seized. He mobilized nearly a thousand people for that operation. Under the leadership of the then CMC Chief Comrade Basavaraju, the Koya Bhumkal Militia was established in the presence of these masses. Ganesh maintained such a close bond with the youth that even when they moved to other regions for work, he kept them updated on the movement; if they fell in battle, he would personally chronicle their life stories.
The regions where he worked—Gangaloor, Bhairamgarh, Bijapur, Kutru—were centers of intense class struggle flourishing in Bastar. These were areas where the conflict between the old feudal tribal heads, who lost their land and village dominance due to the spread of the revolutionary movement, and the oppressed Adivasis reached intensity at a boiling point. It was in these regions that the counter-revolutionary suppression campaigns began, first under the name 'Jan Jagaran Abhiyan-1' in the early 90s, followed by 'Jan Jagaran Abhiyan-2' in the late 90s. The second Jan Jagaran Abhiyan was centered mainly in the Gangaloor and Bhairamgarh areas. Furthermore, the extremely barbaric suppression campaign known as 'Salwa Judum' began in 2005 in the Kutru area of Bijapur district. All these areas fell under the West Bastar Division, which Hanumanthu led directly for several decades.
However, all these suppression campaigns were overpowered by the heroic resistance of the people. The people themselves took the initiative and showed the Party the path of resistance to combat such campaigns. One such incident occurred in the village of 'Kotrapal' during the early days of Salwa Judum in 2005. Having already deceptively captured and severely beaten association members in Tadimendri, Judum goons attacked Kotrapal on June 18. Police officials openly threatened the villagers, creating a reign of terror, saying, "Join Salwa Judum or we will burn your villages." Despite this, the villagers and People’s Militia members retaliated with bows, arrows, and handheld tools into weapons to combat hundreds of goons and the armed forces backing them. They took ten people captives, held a 'Panchayat' (village council), and punished two key figures. Comrade Hanumanthu played part of a catalyst in engineering spirit of resistance throughout Bastar., elevating the striking capacity of the Adivasis. Truly remarkable how he resurrected the morale of the Adivasis to rise from dire straits.
Military and Administrative Prowess
After becoming a member of the State Zonal Committee (SZCM) in 2000, Ganesh worked unwaveringly and tirelessly to propel the DK movement. During the decade of Operation Green Hunt (starting in mid-2009), while military attacks desecrated DK, Ganesh ensured that the Janatana Sarkars (People's Governments) made a transition from the village level to the division level in West Bastar.
His military contribution was equally significant. In 2006, when the Party formed Unified Commands to resist Salwa Judum, he played a key role in the successful raid on NMDC, where nearly 20 tons of explosives were seized. He mobilized nearly a thousand people for that operation. Under the leadership of the then CMC Chief Comrade Basavaraju, the Koya Bhumkal Militia was established in the presence of these masses. Ganesh maintained such a close bond with the youth that even when they moved to other regions for work, he kept them updated on the movement; if they fell in battle, he would personally chronicle their life stories.
Literature and Legacy
Ganesh strived to apply the "Mass Line" in resolving people's problems, and took special interest in developing agriculture for the Adivasi people in the Gangaloor region.
Between 2018 and 2023, while planted in DK due to coordination issues, he concentrated study and literature. He adopted the name "Roopa" (the name of a bird in the Gondi language and incisively explored and chronicled the revolutionary history of every martyr from West Bastar up until December 2024. Writing under the pen name Ganesh Lahar, he consistently professed the Party’s stance on various social issues.
Final Struggle in Odisha
Despite his body aging body, high blood pressure, and nerve-related ailments that crippled his walking he moved to Odisha in June 2023. His previous experience in the Malkangiri region (1991–95) and his knowledge of Odia and Bengali proved invaluable. Facing the hazardous conditions in Odisha, from police informers and a lack of medical supplies, he unflinchingly bore every hardship. In December 2024, he moved from the Western Sub-zone to the Eastern Sub-zone to fulfil his duties.
Funeral
A massive funeral was held in his memory on 28th December, in his native village Pullemla, Chandur, Mandal, Nalgonda district, Telangana state. It resonated vibrations of his spirit still living, stirring the souls of thousands.
-Harsh Thakor
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