25th Anniversary day of the founding of The ‘All India federation of Organizations for Democratic Rights.

29th May 2007 was 25th anniversary year of the founding conference of the All India Federation of Organizations for Democratic Rights.

Mr Harsh Thakor a research scholar based in Mumbai has an article to
mark the occasion

25th Anniversary day of the founding of The ‘All India federation of Organizations for Democratic Rights.’

This day is the 25th anniversary year of the founding conference of the All India Federation of Organizations for Democratic Rights which was held on May 29th 1982. This federation marked the historic trend of an All India trend to promote the democratic Rights Movement as a struggle oriented one, which recognized the right to struggle against socio-economic repression as the fundamental right fro which stems up all democratic Rights.

The organizations that merged into the federation were the Association for Democratic Rights of India(Punjab),the Organization for Protection of Democratic Rights(Andhra Pradesh),the Lok Shahi Hakk Sanghatana(Maharashtra),the Gantanatrik Adhikar Suraksha Samit(Orissa) ,Janadhipatya Avakasa Samrakshana Samiti,Kerala and the Janatantrik Adhikar Surkasha Samiit(Rajasthan)Although he civil liberties movement started from the 1950’s the demarcation of civil liberties with democratic Rights was not made.The fundamental right is which form s the base of all democratic Rights. The historic manifesto was as follows

1. Mobilize public opinion against all fascist laws, acts and atrocities by the ruling classes.

2. Propagate and organize among the people about the democratic Rights

3. Give all assistance o the people whose rights were abused.

4. Build unity among all sections possible explaining the connection between their interests.

To build a movement for the right to political dissent and his demand the unconditional release o all political prisoners.

5. To oppose all capital punishment and build public opinion against it.

6. To protect academy and cultural freedoms and oppose state interference

7. To strive to establish the correct practice o the democratic Rights Movement.

The first such democratic Rights organization representing the correct trend was the Organization for Protection of Democratic Rights formed in Andhra Pradesh in 1975. They fought against the trend where the democratic Rights platform was used as a platform for promoting political ideology. This is what differentiated the O.P.D.R with the A.P.C.LC (Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee)

The first major work of O.P. D.R was the report on the Srikakulam Girjian Movement 1977 with regard to police encounters. This was one of the most significant reports in the democratic Rights. Movement in India and the first of it’s kind. Hundreds of Girijan families were interviewed and the agency of Srikakulam area was extensively toured.

The report narrated the historic background f the Srikakulam Girijan Movement which originated in 1967. Earlier O.P.D.R had also propagated against the death sentence of Kista Gowd and Bhumiah I 1975 during e emergency. In the 1980’s O.P.D.R highlighted a huge range of issues on all sections, whether tribal, peasants, workers students or middle class employees. (Like teachers)Male chauvinism was opposed as well as caste Chauvinism. It also took out a campaign against the ‘Rape and murder of Shakeela’ Further reports wee carried out on the East Godavri tribals in 1983 and the issue of

Communalism was also highlighted. Living conditions of quarry workers was researched I Krishna district as well as Guntur district. Mass propaganda was done against Police encounters wit A.P.C.LC, but the struggle-oriented trend was always emphasized. (The author attended 2 conferences of O.P.D.R. in 1986 and 1990)The O.P.D.R also took out several reports on issues of drought where the govt’s anti-people policies were explained .Even relief was carried out. This was predominant in Krishna district. Tremendous efforts were made to defend the rights of the rural poor. East Godavri district was given great attention as well as Karimnagar. A campaign was done to defend the 1917 and 1959 Tribal area land regulation act. Mass campaigns were also organized against police firing. Often the platform of the Andhra Pradesh Civil liberties Committee was used as a platform of Maoist groups to propagate ideology. The Organization brought out an Organ ‘ Janpadam ‘O.P.D.R also opposed the trend of individual terrorism in the People’s Movement as opposed to mass based Movements.

The A.F.D.R.(Punjab)also did significant work in investigating the Naxalite encounters of he early 1970’s .It also played an important role in defending democratic movements .In the early 1980’s the A F D R organized trade Unions opposing the black Laws and formed a joint democratic Front which opposed the curbing of trade Union rights. The way the govt was using black laws in the name of curbing terrorist was explained with great depth..Infact he no existence of such an organization in the time o the emergency was the prime reason of the defeat the Communist evolutionary led movements I Punjab in the 1970’s.

The federation brought out many historic reports through fact-finding teams. During the Khalistan movement a report was brought out which gave a political analysis of the Punjab Problem in the political and socio-economic light. The report explained the genesis of the Khalistani Movement and how the Congress Govt led by Indira Gandhi (It was Indira Gandhi who created Bhindranwale) used it to subvert the democratic movements and to topple the Akali Dal. The ruling class parties connived with the landlords to suppress the democratic movements and used Khalistani gangs against each other t capture power.

The report reported the progressive movements led by left organizations combating the Khalistani terror and upheld all the Communist martyrs I the struggle. The fact finding team interviewed all sections of people from peasants, to workers to students to politicians and to very useful information. The constituent of he Federation, the A.F.D.R (formed in 1977) played a major role investigating false police encounters ad standing by and giving solidarity to al the anti-Khalistani democratic movements by organizations like he Front against Communalism and state repression and the Revolutionary Centre. Several reports per brought about explaining the nexus between the landlords with the Khalistani forces. Great anti-communal propaganda was done which as appreciated by the oppressed sections and many a policeman was brought to the book. The organization brought out a monthly paper alee ‘Jamhoori Hakk’. A protracted and sustained campaign was carried out exposing state and Khalistani terror.

Another famous report was brought out by the Federation based on the peoples Movement against the building of a missile base I Baliapal in Orissa. The report covered all the areas of Baliapal and explained the policies of the government which promoted military expansionism at the cost of the economic welfare. The class angle as also elaborated but unity with the better off sections like rich farmers was supported .The report highlighted the false propaganda of he government which stressed hat too little was spent on defense. In Orissa the G.A S.S.made all efforts to promote the movement opposing the Baliapal Missile base. It also supported the movement of the Adivasi Sangh of the Malkangiri region an gave al support to the anti -people development policies of the govt. promoting high-tech.

In Maharashtra the Lok Shahi Hakk Sanghatana(formed in 1978) did significant work in bringing out reports on repression on slum dwellers where the relationship with the trade Union movement was projected.L.H.S also did a campaign against police torture ,fought against he retrenchment of workers in Mukesh Mils in Mumbai in Colaba area, took up poster and leafleting campaigns against communalism(against the Ram Janmabhoomi and Rath Yatra or Mandir propaganda).With regards to communalism emphasis was placed on the role of the working class.LHS also brought out reports on drought and in 1983 and 1989 brought out a report on repression by the C.P.M on Kashtakari Sanghatana,a struggling organization of Adivasis in Dahanu.(A tribal region of Maharashtra)

The report brilliantly explained the relationship between the socio-economic conditions of the Adivasis and the repression by the C.P.M. L.HS also did propaganda in working calls areas opposing state repression in Bihar and in Andhra Pradesh. Peasent leaders from Bihar were invited to address the gathering. Significant work was done in 1992-93 during the Mumbai riots to build struggle committees promoting communal solidarity .L.HS brought out reports o Contract workers at the Airport in Mumbai and on the closure of the Mills in Mumbai with a historic socio-economic angle.

In Rajasthan also significant solidarity work was done with regards to black laws and communalism

the federation held 2 Sammelans, one in 1990 in Udaipur and he other in 1995 in Faridkot..Here was no great mass mobilization but the methods of work and issues we of historical significance.A.I.F.O.F.D.R also brought out reports on drought and on the massacre of Christian missionaries in Orissa in 1999.

Historic resolutions have been passed by the Federation on repression on Kashmiri People, Punjab Problem, ,state repression in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, retrenchment of workers in West Bengal, Black Laws .Upto the early 1990’sthe Federation progressed at an All India level but sadly by the late 1990’s the trend declined. The A.F.D.R hardly now displayed the same militant orientation and nor did the O.P.D.R.

The author of his article wishes that the readers of this site could get hold of the earlier issues of he A.I.FO.F.D.R organ called “In Defense of Democratic Rights .’and help in reprinting and re-distributing the issues .Brilliant portrayals have been done on communalism, Repression on peasants and Workers Struggles Etc. The genesis of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition s and communal riots in the aftermath is well explained.

Today a struggle oriented democratic Rights Movement is very much needed which relates the cause of democratic Rights as different rom mere civil liberties. Civil liberties are what exists in the Constitution, but democratic Rights have always been won over by the people .E.g. the rights of Black people in America or the Working Class in England. Today in light of the advance of he Special economic Zones and repression on the Nandigram peasant struggle a united democratic Rights movement is the need o the hour.

Let us remember this day when a federation was formed 25 years ago to promote he Democratic Rights Movement.

The author wishes that readers could obtain articles on the history of the Democratic Rights Movement and get the earlier reports of the Federation. All readers could kindly request the author of he article. It is impossible in this article to refer to all of the reports and struggles. Please also read the 1985 December issue of Democratic Rights which historically differentiates civil liberties from Democratic Rights. Also purchase reports of A.I.F.O.F.D.R.

By Harsh Taker

Tags: Harsh Thakor, Research Scholar, Maoist, Democractic Rights, India, State Repression, O.P.D.R, A.F.D.R, 25th Anniversary

Nandigram cousin born in Burdwan

Nandigram cousin born in Burdwan

Trinamul leader Partha Chatterjee comforts Purushottampur resident Gouri Roy, whose two sons were arrested on Sunday. Picture by Gour Sharma

Asansol June 20: The land agitation in Purushottampur came under a formal political umbrella today with the Opposition floating a Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee, like the one in Nandigram.

Trinamul Congress leader Partha Chatterjee today visited the village, in Burdwan district’s Asansol sub-division, accompanied by members of the Congress, SUCI, BJP and a Naxalite faction.

Chatterjee, the leader of the Opposition, threatened to “paralyse normal life in Asansol” if the 126 men and women arrested on Sunday were not released within 48 hours.

The Purushottampur residents were handcuffed after they clashed with the police while trying to prevent the takeover of 240 acres for the modernisation of the IISCO Steel Plant.

Chatterjee urged the villagers to join the Pratirodh Committee to campaign for their demands. “We are fighting to give the farmers and land losers justice in Singur and Nandigram. Come with us, we will fight for you.”

Villagers who attended the meeting — most of them were women — shouted slogans and raised hands in support.

The leaders warned the government against “playing” with the lives of the the poor villagers.

“The IISCO Steel Plant authorities will have to provide a permanent job to at least one member from each (land loser) family and higher compensation. The administration will have to withdraw policemen from the village, or else we will go for a more aggressive agitation,” Trinamul leader Moloy Ghatak said.

The residents of Purushottampur are happy that the politicians are lending them a helping hand.

“If the leaders can help us, what’s wrong with it? Mamata Banerjee is fighting for the poor land losers in Singur and Nandigram. We are happy that she has sent her representatives to us. We have requested Partha Chatterjee to get our husbands and sons back from jail,” said 35-year-old Moyna Roy.

Seventy-two-year old Gouri Roy, whose two unemployed sons were arrested on Sunday, fell at Chatterjee’s feet and wept. “Please bring back my sons home. I am poor and aged. I cannot live alone.”

The Trinamul leader also met the managing director of the steel plant, Nilotpal Roy, and demanded permanent jobs for the land losers.

Reacting to the Opposition’s threats, Burdwan district magistrate Manish Jain said the government would take action against anybody trying to disrupt peace.

“We fixed the rate of compensation after discussing everything in detail with the villagers. We don’t know who are instigating them against us,” he said.

CPM leaders reiterated that they would tell villagers to “come out of the Opposition’s trap.”

“We won’t allow the Trinamul or any other Opposition party to turn Purushottampur into another Singur or Nandigram,” said Partha Mukherjee, the Asansol zonal committee secretary.

The Telegraph

Nod for Chhattisgarh intelligence revamp

NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at bolstering operations against Maoists in Chhattisgarh, the Home Ministry has approved an intelligence revamp plan that would cost Rs. 4.6 crore.

The decision comes a month after a landmine explosion that blew up nine policemen in Bastar. Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta wrote to the State last month, stressing the need to tighten the intelligence-gathering machinery.

Implementation

Official sources said the revamp plan would take a few months for implementation.

Jharkhand has also submitted a plan to revamp the intelligence apparatus, but the Home Ministry made some observations and asked the State to incorporate them in the plan.

It is learnt that Jharkhand would soon re-submit the plan.

A high-level Ministry team, led by the Additional Secretary (Anti-Naxal Desk) had visited Raipur and Ranchi and reviewed the security measures.

The Hindu

Objectives of Naxalism and countering their movement

Objectives of Naxalism and countering their movement

Naxalism in India came into existence about 40 years ago with the objec-tive of capturing the power of the state with the might of its armed strength or by the power that grows out of the barrel of the gun. Their strategy is to capture territories as much as possible and to establish their rule over the areas captured by them with the support of their armed guerilla.

As could be seen in the present situation, the Naxalites concentrate their dominance where the state power is weak and so their natural choice of target is the tribal areas were the state administration is poor and the areas neglected by the state. Their target is to capture the tribal belt in the country and convert it into liberated zone and develop their guerilla squads into regular army to defend their rule in the zones liberated by them.

After its birth in India the Naxalites have grown from strength to strength and with their anti-national activities occurring almost every day it seems to be achieving its objective of establishing their rule in the tribal belt of the country. Once the liberated zone comes into existence with their regular army to defend it, the nation may face a civil war situation like the one face by Sri Lanka with the L TTE. If such a situation arises, it could result in the division of the people of our nation with one group supporting the present democratic government and the other portion supporting the liberation of the tribal zones under the banner of Naxalism.

The Naxalites consider the state power as a weapon in the hands of the rich and the ruling classes which are against their movement. So their prime target is to destroy the state power in all its forms and create a new one of their choice and act merrily in the domain they have established for themselves. As the state power is based on the might of its armed forces their sole aim is to paralyze the police and the paramilitary forces.

The second target is the people’s representative of the state assembly and the parliament. They attack and kill democratically elected leaders and also the common people to create fear and panic among the public so that it remain docile to their rule. In order to let the people remain cut off from the police and the administration from fear of being brought to justice, they involve maximum people in committing heinous crimes like murder and rape.

The biggest threat that poses the nation’s democracy and rule of law today is Naxalism. Their naked dictatorship does not have any concern for the public opinion or their well-being. Coteries of ideological fanatics are dictating the people and it is abject slavery for the people under the Naxalite rule. With the tribal living below poverty line (BPL), the added rule of Naxalites is a cause of more miseries as the people have to go on leaving their home and hearth off and on. So the fight against Naxalism is a fight for defending the democracy of the nation and the freedom of the people already under their rule. It has nothing to do with socio-economic problems as some people believe. Naxalism thrives in areas which are socially and economically backward and where state government fails to enforce its rule of law and defend the people from the clutch of the Naxalities. It is a guarantee for the Naxalities that such areas remain perpetually backward and permanently cut off from the state power.

The Naxalites believe that their war is against dictatorship fighting for democracy which has led to the loss of many precious innocent lives including the police and para military forces. The Nagaland Police has its share of losing the life of gallant jawans in the fight against Naxalism. Unless the states and the centre stage a joint decisive war with Naxalism to defend our democratic rule at the earliest there is going to be more bloodshed and destruction in the country. /n the present situation of our fight, the Naxalites always have the initiative in their hands and so they are always in the offensive thereby causing more harm and damage to the state governments.

The history of Naxalite leaders reveals that they are past masters of manipulating and exploiting the media, legislature, administration and even judiciary. As a result, the government always appeared as a culprit for their stern action against the Naxalites before the public, judiciary and the media, whereas the Naxalites indulging in indiscriminate killing of the people get away under the cover of justice and human rights. In fact, the human rights groups see the state police and paramilitary forces as human rights abusers and keep silent on the killing spree of the Naxalites.

A government which is at the receiving end of its own organs must naturally be in a defensive position. So, before fighting the Naxals in the tribal forests, it is essential to identify, isolate and properly treat those elements, in the metropolitan cities including New Delhi, who are managing or manipulating the legislature, administration, judiciary and the media to create obstacles for the forces fighting against Naxalism. These highly intellectual elements are not mere sympathizers and supporters of the Naxalite movement as the government thinks but they themselves are the dangerously ambitious Naxalite leaders.

To counter Naxalism and wipe it out, the government should shed its defensive postures and resort to an all out offensive war. It is not possible without exposing and isolating the Naxalite intellectual leaders masquerading as media men, and human rights/social activists and without taking the judiciary and the media into confidence. To win war is to fight like war with weapons and for that matter with superior weapons. It is essential to motivate the people to support such a war.

It is ridiculous to leave the mass of unarmed tribals to fight the armed Naxalites without weapons in the name of Salva Judum or any other name. Non-violence could be an effective weapon to fight against a civilized and democratically elected government, but it could prove farcical and suicidal in dealing with the killing Naxalite gangs.

Since the enemy at this stage is invisible to the state but visible to the public in general, this war is to be fought with the public participation. Salva Judum could succeed only if a good number of its selected member are fully armed and if they could take initiative in searching out Naxalities from their hide outs and wiping them out ruthlessly with the support of state police and paramilitary forces. However, this should be a movement of all infested states of the Naxalite at a time so that Naxalites don’t get away from one state to the other as is the case now when they are under attack.

Iherie Ndang, Chhattisgarh.

Nagaland Post

Tags: State Terror, Police Brutality, Salwa Judum, Civil War, Human Rights Violations

Beltangady: Abandoned Gun Found in a Naxal-affected Area

Beltangady, Jun 19: An abandoned gun was found in a Naxal-affected area at Sulkeri near Naravi here on Monday, June 18. It was found in a pump house owned by Achan Kutti of Heraje Farm.

On receiving definite information, policemen led by Beltangady SI, Gangi Reddy, raided the spot and recovered the gun.

The police have taken the matter seriously since this is a Naxal-affected area and it was only a few days ago that a few Naxalites were spotted in the region. The investigation is focused on finding whether the gun belonged to the Naxals or someone had hidden it in order to supply it to the Naxals.

Have-Nots Rebel As India Blossoms

IN THE DHAULI FOREST, India (AP) – After the paved roads have ended and the dirt roads have crumbled into winding footpaths, after the last power line has vanished into the forest behind you, a tall, red monument suddenly appears at the edge of a clearing.

It’s 25 feet high and topped by a hammer and sickle, honoring a fallen warrior. White letters scroll across the base: “From the blood of a martyr, new generations will bloom like flowers.”

The monument is a memorial but also a signpost, a warning that you are entering a “Liberated Zone” _ a place where Mao is alive and Marx is revered, where an army of leftist guerrillas known as the Naxalites control a shadow state amid the dense forests, isolated villages and shattering poverty of central India. Here, the Indian government is just a distant, hated idea.

“The capitalists and other exploiters of the masses feel increasingly vulnerable. And they should,” said a 33-year-old man known only as Ramu, a regional commander of the Naxalites’ People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army. He cradled an assault rifle as he sat on the dirt floor of a small farmhouse, temporary base for two dozen fighters set amid the forests of Chhattisgarh state. “For them, the danger is rising.”

Initially formed in 1967, the Maoist army has taken root over the past decade in places left behind during India’s spectacular financial rise since its economy was opened up in the early 1990s. Outsiders rarely see their strongholds, but a team from The Associated Press was invited last month into a region they control.

As India has grown wealthier, the Naxalites _ officially called the Communist Party of India (Maoist) _ have grown larger, feeding off the anger of the country’s poor. There are now 10,000-15,000 fighters in an archipelago of rebel territory scattered across nearly half of the country’s 28 states, security officials say.

For years, the government here paid little attention. That began changing two years ago. Today, Chhattisgarh state backs an anti-Naxal militia called the Salwa Judum. And in 2006, India’s prime minister called the Naxalites the single largest threat to the country

Over the past two years, nearly 2,000 people _ police, militants and civilians caught in the middle _ have been killed in Naxalite violence. In March, 55 policemen and government-backed militiamen were killed when up to 500 Naxalites descended on an isolated Chhattisgarh police station.

The rebel patchwork reaches from deep inside India to the border with Nepal, where the Naxalites are thought to have informal ties to the Maoists who, after a long insurgency, recently joined in the Katmandu government.

The Maoist goal in India is nothing less than complete takeover.

“There is only one solution to India’s problems: Naxalism,” said Ramu.

The movement takes its name from Naxalbari, a village outside Calcutta where the revolt began in 1967. Inspired by Mao Zedong, founding father of the Chinese communist regime, they believe an army of peasants can one day overthrow the government. The Naxals are strongest in states such as Chhattisgarh that have large populations of “tribals,” the indigenous people at the bottom of India’s rigid social order.

More than ever, their once-marginal revolt seems like outright war, particularly in the rebel strongholds of rural Chhattisgarh.

India deals with other insurgencies, from Kashmiri separatists to a spectrum of ethnic militant groups in its remote northeast. But the Naxalites have proven different. They have support not just among the poorest or a single ethnic group, and have survived for forty years.

In places like the Dhauli forest, a tangle of vegetation unmarked on most maps _ 500 miles from Bangalore, 450 miles from Calcutta and 600 miles from New Delhi _ the Naxalites are more than surviving. They are winning.

“I won’t lie to you. We’re on the defensive here,” said a top Chhattisgarh police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. “We have the main roads, but they have the hills and the small roads.”

Here, government officials hold little power. Through much of the countryside, nervous policemen barricade themselves at night inside stations ringed by barbed wire. Politicians dismiss the Naxalites as criminals, but those politicians go nowhere without armies of bodyguards.

Victory, the Naxals insist, is coming.

“We don’t have the weapons. We don’t have the army,” said a young fighter named Soni. “But slowly, slowly, sometime in the future, we will succeed.”

That seems unlikely.

Most of the Naxalites’ guns are old or handmade. Their land mines are often made from pressure cookers, and bullets are doled out carefully. Their support in many villages has more to do with fear than genuine belief.

Their control can be fleeting. If security forces move into a Naxalite-run area, the fighters simply disappear into the forests.

But while there’s little chance they’ll overthrow the government, in this part of India their power is immense. Every day or so, another policeman is killed. Every few months, another politician faces an assassination attempt _ sometimes successful, sometimes not.

Inside their self-proclaimed Liberated Zones, the Naxals are, effectively, the government. They collect taxes, control movement, and trade in valuable hardwoods from the ever-thinning jungles. They refuse entry not only to the government but also aid organizations, arguing they are tools of an unjust state.

There is an informal Naxal bank, Naxal schools and Naxal courts to settle village disputes and try suspected informants. For those found guilty of helping police, the punishment is public beheading.

“If they kill us, we also have to kill,” Ramu said. “Innocent people will get hurt in the process. But what can we do?”

As for the long history of failed communist states, he was unconcerned: “We will learn from their mistakes.”

Outside, a thunderstorm shook the sky, and rain pelted the straw roof. Inside, a half-dozen fighters sat in the darkness of the mud house, listening silently as Ramu spoke. One carried an AK-47 assault rifle, but the rest were armed with ancient British-made Enfield rifles, some dating to the 1940s, or homemade single-shot shotguns and rifles.

Few appeared to know much about the teachings of Marx or Mao, though both men were spoken of reverently. Some fighters believed Mao, who died in 1976, remains China’s leader. Instead, their beliefs are simple: The revolution will bring an idyllic jungle paradise for the
tribals.

“One day we will get it back,” said Soni, the fighter, a tribal who spends much of her time in villages performing songs about their struggle. “The forest is ours.”

For now, until paradise comes, people live in mud homes on tiny farms. They grow rice and tobacco and harvest what they can from the forests. Better-off families have $12 shortwave radios or $45 Atlas bicycles.

In a village on the fringes of Naxalite territory, a teenager named Meetu Ram _ he thinks he’s about 17 _ talked about his life one recent evening. His family, by local standards, does well: They have a well-kept compound with three one-room buildings and a half-dozen cows.

Still, Ram has never been to a doctor, and has not even heard of telephones. Asked to name India’s prime minister, he shrugged.

Government officials “never come here,” he said in Gondi, the area’s main tribal language. “So we don’t know who these government people are, and who they aren’t.”

It is in places like this where the Naxalites’ appeal is most resonant.

India may have one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but it also has vast _ and often growing _ rural poverty. In Chhattisgarh, that has been magnified by conflicts over everything from forest conservation to mining rights, with tribals often expelled from their jungle homes.

“The tribals make a good guerrilla base,” said Meghnad Desai, a scholar at the London School of Economics. They “are really poor, and have a genuine feeling of being taken advantage of … The Naxalites are exploiting that.”

Much of Ramu’s time is spent spreading the rebel message. On a recent afternoon, he summoned hundreds of villagers to a rally to decry the Salwa Judum.

While leaders of the government-supported Salwa Judum insist they are protecting villagers from Naxalite violence _ they have gathered some 50,000 tribals into dingy, guarded camps _ rights groups accuse them of widespread abuses.

“The Salwa Judum is killing people!” Ramu shouted at the villagers. “We are protecting the rights of the people!”

Many, though, don’t see heroes on either side.

Sanjana Bhaskar, 18, has spent more than a year in a Salwa Judum camp.

She hates the camp. “There is nothing here,” she said, gesturing to the one-road expanse. “But where else can we go?”

Federalnews

Tags: Chairman Mao, Rebellion, revolution, naxalite, India, salwa judum, tribals, adivasis, weapons, militias, forests, government, maoists

How was Krishna Sen killed ?

Bhumkal has a post on how
Maoist revolutionary Krishna sen was killed in Nepal in May 2002

After five days of isolation and torture Krishna Sen died, the blows, boots, and lathis of the men in uniform raining down upon him. He was kept captive in the highest building in Mahendra Police Club, next to its Judo Hall. His hands were bound behind his back, and he was repeatedly asked to say “This country belongs to the king.”

Sen had been caught in Naya Baneswor on 20 May 2002 and been in captivity in the Police Club since. Journalist Sangeeta Khadka, who saw Sen at 2 AM on 21 May, said, “After some hours of torture, Sen was vomiting, his arms and legs were broken.” Khadka says two policemen were propping Sen up against a wall as a jackbooted DSP Bikram Thapa kicked him repeatedly.
Bharat Sigdel, then a correspondent for Janadisha was also at the police club at that time.

He says policemen taunted Sen, and assistant inspector general Amarsingh told him, “This country loves only Gyanendra. Do you really want to go against the thakuris who built this country… The army is going to be deployed.

The American Army will also be here. And you’ll be six feet under, that’s where you’ll be. I’m a loyal solider of the king. I’ll bury Prachanda and Baburam too, and pack off Sher Bahadur and Girija to jail.”

Sources say that on 27 May, Sen’s body was bundled into a sack and tossed into a Hilux that had its government number plates roughly coloured over red. The same night, Sen was secretly cremated at Aryaghat. DIG Shah said to his collaborators: “we were just joking, but Sen was already dead.”

Yet, the government put out the news that Sen had been killed in an encounter in the Gokarna forest. The announcement didn’t even include his name, just a description. The government under which Sen was killed made no comment. There has never been an investigation. The people involved in his murder are high-ranking police officers.

Shah denies being involved. “Such work was the domain of the unified command (the army). It was not our concern.” He even denied knowledge of the fact that Krishna Sen had been caught. “Capturing, transporting, taking action was the lookout of the army. How would we know anything about it?” He then deflected the question to the headquarters. “And where is the accounting for all the policemen killed,” he added. “No one is investigating incidents like Nepalganj or Naumule.”

Asked again how the head of the Valley police could not have known, Shah replied: “That’s how things were then. Anyway, this is an old story, and I don’t need to know anything about it.”

DSP Bikram Thapa was sent abroad right after Sen’s murder and won a peacekeeping award. He also denies knowing anything about Sen’s death. In fact, Thapa says, “I’ve never heard of Krishna Sen or of Janadesh weekly.” Thapa who is at the Number 1 Battalion in Naxal is trying for a promotion. Sen was apparently taken into custody by Sub Inspector Vijaya Pratap Shah, who was immediately promoted to inspector. Shah returned from peacekeeping duties in Kosovo six months ago.

A collage of pictures of Maoist Leaders

Click on Image for larger view

Tags: Martyr, Maoist, Krishna Sen, Janadesh, Thapa, State Terror, White Terror, Human Rights Violations, Maoist Leaders

Bombs & bullets fly, cops blame Maoists

SIMI KAMBOJ

A policeman holds a used bullet of a .315 rifle found on Bhangabera bridge. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha Nandigram, June 17: Guns boomed and bombs flew in Nandigram again today, and police said Maoists were the “brains behind Friday’s attack”. CPM activists continued their retaliatory strikes against the Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee, hurling bombs and firing across the Talpatti canal. The canal is a stone’s throw from Tekhali bridge, where the CPM began its revenge attack yesterday. According to officials, the first shots were heard around 11 this morning. They were fired from an abandoned brick kiln on the Khejuri side. Bombs were also hurled across the canal and the volley continued till 12.30 pm. There were, however, no casualties. A CPM leader had said yesterday that the party wanted to avenge Friday’s “humiliation”. A Pratirodh Committee mob had gone on the rampage in villages in Nandigram, burning down CPM refugee camps and injuring five policemen. Over 600 CPM supporters were left homeless. The police today said Maoists were responsible for the mayhem. Yesterday, they had blamed “outsiders”, while claiming off the record that the Naxalites had led the attack. Around 15 to 20 Calcutta-based Maoists are still holed up in Nandigram, they added. “These men have been there for more than a week. They are the brains behind Friday’s attack aimed at disrupting the peace process. They’re being treated very well by the villagers in Nandigram,” said a senior officer. “We’ve made a list of the people responsible for Friday’s violence. But we cannot take action because we don’t have the orders to go inside the villages,” said Debashish Boral, the Tamluk additional superintendent of police. The police found over 22 spent cartridges — some were 8 mm and the rest 12-bore cartridges — and used bullets of .315 rifles today. Boxes in which the 8-mm cartridges had been packed were also found on Bhangabera bridge. They had been manufactured in Pune. An official said some of the attackers were armed with sophisticated weapons. “Among the 300-odd people in the mob that day, around 50 were carrying firearms. Twenty of them were sophisticated weapons.” Boral said the police have requested CPM supporters in Khejuri to “lie low and not invite further trouble. There should not be any further provocation for more violence”. The Pratirodh Committee said the “battle” would continue till the committee’s demands are met. It wants punishment for those responsible for the March 14 police firing and compensation for the families of the dead. A five-member team of the Pratirodh Committee led by Trinamul Congress MLA Partha Chatterjee will visit Nandigram tomorrow. Chatterjee said he had written to Union home minister Shivraj Patil and spoken to governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, seeking their intervention to stop the “regular attacks” from CPM camps. Resistanceindia

Tags: Urban Guerilla, Violent resistance, Revolution, Calcutta, Lal Salaam

Let darkness prevail: The blackout in Bastar

Anoop Saha has a post about the recent blackout in Bastar caused by the maoists

Whatever a man does, he does it for a reason. Such says the psychological theory behind human motivation. By corollary, if something happens which requires human mind and labour, somebody must get some material, spiritual or emotional benefit out of it. This axiom is not always true as regards to the events of terrorism, or the actions aided by lunacy. The blasting of electricity towers in southern Bastar by the naxalites is an example of this kind of extreme perversion, something that lies in the realm of madness.

Since the first tower was blown away on 21st may, it took more than 21 days for the state government to restore power. In between, nearly 50 lakh residents of those places were forced to spend life in complete darkness. In between, the naxalites killed 3 CSEB “workers“, who had gone there to repair the lines. And they continued the mayhem by destroying more towers on 2nd and 4th june.

Some things become so integral to our life that its subtle importance is realized only when it is taken away for a substantial period. The problems faced by the people of Bastar in those 21 days were manifold. Excessive heat has made life miserable. People who use pumps for water had to look for other sources, or drink highly polluted waters coming from Bailadila hills. Medicines could not be saved in the fridge. No operation could be conducted in hospitals. There was an increase in cases of theft and robbery.

The train, which brings people from nearby Orissa and AP to sell their produce in local hats, could not run, thus hitting the livelihood of many. Mobile phones could not be charged. Petrol pumps could not run. There was no candles, no mosquito mats, no kerosene in the market. And of course, NMDC, the only large profitable PSU in these areas suffered huge losses of the tune of nearly 100 crores or more. And its 1000 strong staff had nothing to do for days on.

The question is what might be the motivation behind this despicable act by the naxalites? The posters that appeared near Bailadila provides some of the answers. According to them, 500 of their cadres were killed by Salwa Judum. The power cut was to protest these illegal killings, and taking revenge from people who support it. Agreed that in the name of Salwa Judum, a regime of unaccountable brutality has been unleashed over the people of Chhattisgarh for last two years. Agreed that the administration has been more than a facilitator in these extrajudicial killings, and there has been no relief in sight for the hapless people.

But have the maoists been above board at all times during this period? Manikonta, Darbhaguda, Errabore, Ranibodli, Kotrapal form ugly blots on them. The thinking that all signs of opposition must be annihilated, ran (runs??) deep among the maoist cadres and leadership. The killing of 8 villagers in Kotrapal (by the maoists) in the initial phase of SJ provided the spark that started the whole fire. Even now, the extremists believe that they will be able to take care of SJ by force alone. Of course, some among them think that the time is ripe for them to take on the might of Indian army, but that subgroup is a lunatic fringe in an almost insane orgaization.

Coming back to the forced blackout. The 3 CSEB workers were a constituency for socialism. By killing them while they were on their duty the naxalites have shown there rudderless leadership. Ostensibly the attack on vital power infrastructure was to give a punishment to the people, to force opinion against Salwa Judum, to stop NMDC from exporting iron ore and to protest the private operators in the mining sector exploiting the people and resources of Bastar. The powercut certainly led a dent in NMDC’s profits. However the private parties, most notably essar steel which uses iron fines from Bailadila mines for its pelletisation unit in Vishakhapatnam, were running smoothly. That’s because essar uses a pipeline to transport the ore and the its pumps were well outside the affected zone. Also most other units have backup ore, just to fight these kind of exigencies. These players were the least hit and the naxalites know that.

Similarly, if anything, their move will only strengthen Salwa Judum and its supporters. The power distress has been widely reported. Chief minister of Chhattisgarh and the home ministry mandarins have additional arsenal now in justifying the armed militia. Majority of residents of Dantewada district don’t support Judum. Now that they have seen the naxal designs, they will have second thoughts. Supreme court is entertaining a petition against Salwa Judum. The government will have a powerful argument now, one that is difficult to counter. Above all, further hate propaganda will be unleashed among the SPO’s and what further damage is done by them can only be seen in the future.

This attack has been a net loss for everybody. In Charla town, in CG-AP border, a huge rally was organised by CPI on 2nd june. According to an email by indefatigable JP Rao, “Advawsis from far off villages of Chintalnar, Usoor, Botetong, Benchchend and other villages walked around 200kms over three day to reach the meeting venue. Adivasis of bordering 30 villages in CG such as Maraiguda, Aavulapalli and Kishtaram etc also participated in the ralley. The local press estimated the gathering at more then 20,000. Manish Kunjam the president of the Mahasabha and the state Secretary of CPI addressed the rally. Kunjam in his address stated that more then 4000 advasis were killed by the Salwa Judum activist and 2500 houses were set on fire. Manish Kunjam’s convoy was attacked by the Salva Judum activsts at Dornapal while they were returning to Sukma.” (Actually Kunjam had already crossed the place, but the other CPI leaders were beaten by Judum) CPI is leading the local protests against the entry of big corporate houses like Essar in Dantewada and Tata in Bastar districts. This rally was reported sparsely in local and national media. An attack on his convoy did not find a mention or condemnation anywhere in press, except in an article in Daily Chhattisgarh. The blackout by the maoists dwarfed all such events of significance. Incidents like the Santoshpur encounter, that was gradually getting wider coverage, was lost in the din.

Lest it finds no mention, it is a shame for to all of us that a large proportion of people in Bastar were unaffected by the power problems. That’s because electricity never reached those villages. More than 75% households in south bastar have not been electrified. This when, CG is supposedly a power surplus state. Health services also never reached those villages. These are the people who form the core of naxal support base. Needless to say, they couldn’t see how continuous power cuts for a couple of weeks can raise such a hue and cry.

Still, uncontrolled violence is never an answer to any problem. In my articles, I have repeatedly asked the maoists to come to the negotiating table, and/or fight elections and change the system from within. It is better for them to give up arms from a position of strength than being forced to do so after all its major leaders are killed. I have no doubt that the group has a good number of well-intentioned, bright, responsible and diverse people. To have these people kill village sarpanch’s and get killed by a non-comissioned SPO is a “deadweight loss”. Just like the recent power cuts in Bastar.

Tags: bastar, blackout, maoist, blast

Bihar’s forests under Naxal shadow

Posters on tree trunks inside Gaya’s forest reserve, allegedly put up by Naxals, warn of dire consequences for ‘trespassers’ including forest rangers
Naxal activity in Bihar has found a new breeding ground – the state’s only forest reserve, has fallen to the Naxals.

TIMES NOW has exclusive information that Naxals in Bihar are expanding base and encroaching on government land to make bunkers and training camps.

Naxals have targetted the forest reserve in Bihar’s Gaya district – the state’s only wildlife sanctuary the Gautam Buddha Sanctuary – as their training camp and have also made bunkers there. Out of the total area of the forest reserve, as much as 70% is under their influence. The area under question falls on the border between Bihar and Jharkhand, and is part of the infamous ‘Red Corridor’.

What is worse, the Government is aware of such illegal encroachments, but is just not equipped to doing anything about them. The sanctuary spans around 135 sq km, and has been in existence since 1979.

Forest rangers warned

The Naxals have such immense hold on the land here that they have stuck posters inside the sanctuary, warning commoners against trespassing. For the Forest Rangers, the warning is more severe. The rangers have been warned that if they tread inside the Naxal territory, they will be beheaded.

Chief Conservator of Forests (Magadh Range) U S Jha says, “We have limited resources and there is this Naxal menace which is affecting the mobility of officers.”

What makes matters worse for the forest rangers is that they cannot defend themselves as they do not have any sophisticated armoury.

Meanwhile Lal Bahadur, leader of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) a Naxal group, has made the following statement : “We want to drive home the point that they (Naxals) can takeover anything, their high command decides on whether to use the forest land as training camp or for making bunkers.

Timesnow

Tags: Training camp, maoist, rangers, poster