Re: Troubled Tribal: Sid Harth
chhotemianinshallah
TNN 23 December 2009, 04:22am IST
NEW DELHI: With the Centre gradually moving additional paramilitary
forces to Naxal-affected states post-Jharkhand polls to step up
ongoing offensives against Red ultras, home ministry has convened a
meeting of chief secretaries and police chiefs of five states on
Thursday to finetune coordination among them during joint operations
at junctions and tri-junctions of bordering states.
The day-long meeting is to be attended by officials from Bihar,
Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Sources said that besides discussing strategic plans, home minister P
Chidambaram will also take stock of development programmes to be
carried out by the state governments in Maoist-dominated areas once
they are freed from the clutches of Naxals.
The meeting is being convened at a time when the Centre is moving
additional 17,000 paramilitary personnel to states to step up its anti-
naxal operations in all affected states.
Though the operation is underway in certain pockets in West Bengal,
Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, the idea is to extend it simultaneously
at junctions and tri-junctions of other affected states including
Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa.
The states currently have 58,000 paramilitary personnel -- drawn from
CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CoBRA -- at their command. The additional
deployment will increase the strength of central forces for anti-Naxal
operations to nearly 75,000.
Calling the move to fully dominate Naxal-infested areas across the
country a "long haul", a senior home ministry official said it would
take nearly "two to three years" to wipe out Maoists from affected
states.
According to the plan, central paramilitary forces and state police
will jointly dominate an identified area by eliminating Naxals and
clearing it from landmines by encircling the area without leaving room
for the ultras to escape. Even after the area is cleared, paramilitary
forces will not leave the place. They will be stationed there till the
time civic administration is fully restored.
"This model is being adopted in Lalgarh area of West Bengal. It will
be replicated to other areas one by one," said the official.
...and I am Sid Harth
chhotemianinshallah
Soumittra S Bose, TNN 23 December 2009, 06:58am IST
NAGPUR: The Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee and Maharashtra state
committee of the Naxalites have jointly issued a pamphlet cautioning
the government of widespread tribal uprising marking the centenary of
the tumultuous 'Mahan Bhumkal' movement that had rocked the British in
1910. The pamphlet talks of a mass upheaval in the hinterlands to be
guided by their 'scientific approach', sends a threat that 2010 shall
witness the revival of the preindependence revolution.
Shortly after the state government's announcements of series of
initiatives to counter the rebels during the ongoing winter sessions,
the Maoists have fallen back on familiar tactics of trying to persuade
security forces not to fight. They have said the security personnel
were members of the same deprived class for whom the struggle has been
initiated.
The rebels have alleged that the plan of the top politicians like
Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Union home minister P Chidambaram, Maharashtra chief minister Ashok
Chavan, Chhatisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and others to quell the
tribal movement is nothing but a suppressive step against the deprived
population that is fighting for justice. They called Prime Minister
Singh 'Imperialistic America's faithful loyalist' who is shielding the
'exploiters' and branding Maoists a threat to the country.
They portray themselves as sympathetic towards jawans saying the
forces' gruelling efforts in jungles and camps were
nothing but a struggle for livelihood. The latest actions of Naxalites
is significant considering the Union government's plan to counter them
has started to take shape.
The Naxal pamphlet asserted that they were engaged in a struggle to
the tribals their rightful claims against the deprivation from the
government.
chhotemianinshallah
YEAR-END REVIEW
MHA - 09
SECURITY APPARATUS FURTHER STRENGTHENED
NIA BECOMES OPERATIONAL
COORDINATED ACTION AGAINST NAXAL VIOLENCE
SECURITY SITUATION IN J&K IMPROVES
The year 2009 witnessed several new measures taken by the Government
to strengthen the security apparatus of the country to equip it to
meet the grave challenge posed by global terrorism. These include
operationalization of the National Investigation Agency (NIA),
establishment of four NSG Hubs to ensure quick and effective response
to any possible terror attack, augmentation of the strength of
Intelligence Bureau (IB), strengthening of the Multi-Agency Centre in
the IB to enable it to function on 24X7 basis and strengthening of
coastal security. The measures especially aimed at improving the
overall internal security situation after the ghastly terrorist attack
in Mumbai in November last year.
The overall internal security and law & order situation in the country
remained largely under control during 2009. No major incident of
terrorist violence was reported from the hinterland. The communal
situation remained under control. The year also witnessed significant
improvement in the security situation in Jammu & Kashmir and some
progress in the North East, but the Naxal violence continued to be a
cause of concern. The Centre took some major initiatives to deal with
the menace of Naxalism and, after wide-ranging consultations with the
Naxal-affected States, approved a joint action plan to kick off
coordinated and combined action, especially at the bi-junctions and
tri-junctions of the affected States.
In 2009, steps were taken to significantly expand Central Para-
military Forces (CPMFs). The report of the Liberhan Commission along
with the Action Taken Report was presented in Parliament.
Some of the key initiatives and achievements of the Ministry of Home
Affairs during 2009 are listed below:
NIA Operationalized
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), set up as per the NIA
Act enacted in the previous year, started functioning in 2009 with
cases assigned to it for investigation and prosecution. Headquartered
in Delhi and notified as a police station, NIA is mandated to
investigate and prosecute offences under the Acts mentioned in the
Schedule, including offences under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, that have inter-state and international linkages and
assigned to it by the Government. The agency would function under the
superintendence of the Central Government.
Four NSG Hubs Established
To ensure quick and effective response to any possible terror
attack, the Government has established four National Security Guards
(NSG) hubs at Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. Each NSG hub is
equipped with the operational strength of around 250 personnel.
Additionally, two regional centres of NSG are also being set up at
Hyderabad and Kolkata to enable instant response to any situation
arising out of possible acts of violence by terrorists.
Designated officers of the Central Government and the Director General
of NSG have been empowered to requisition aircraft from registered
operators in the interest of public safety. Voluntary agreements have
been signed by eight private airlines operators to provide aircraft to
NSG during emergency.
Intelligence Gathering Mechanism Strengthened
In order to strengthen the intelligence gathering and
sharing machinery, strength of IB has been substantially augmented.
The functioning of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) in the Intelligence
Bureau has also been strengthened and revamped. The Multi-Agency
Centre, now functioning on 24X7 basis, has been advised to share
intelligence with all other agencies including those from the States
and similarly, all other agencies have been asked to share
intelligence with the MAC.
During the year, action was initiated to establish an online,
dedicated and fully secure connectivity between all the designated
members of the MAC, between MAC and the Subsidiary Multi-Agency
Centres (SMACs) in 30 important identified locations spread across the
country and between the SMACs and the State Special Branches to make
sure that the flow of vital information is maintained at the optimum
level at every stage. A scheme for providing technical and financial
support by the Intelligence Bureau to the States for strengthening
State Special Branches has been approved to help implement this plan
in an efficient manner.
As a result of coordination between the Central intelligence agencies
and the State Police, a large number of terrorist modules of Pak-based
terrorist outfits were busted in various parts of the country.
Coastal Security Strengthened
Following the 26/11 incidents, coastal security of the country
has been reviewed comprehensively at various levels. Under the
ongoing Coastal Security Scheme, 64 out of the 73 coastal police
stations have been operationalised. 56 interceptor boats have been
supplied to the coastal States and Union Territories during the year
so far.
Coast Guard, in consultation with the maritime States, has
been carrying out vulnerability and gap analysis to assess additional
requirements in respect of police stations, check-posts, outposts,
vehicles, boats etc. Based on this assessment, a comprehensive
proposal, to be named as Phase-II of the Coastal Security Scheme, has
been processed and is in the final stages of consultations.
Various other measures to strengthen coastal security are
under consideration or implementation which include establishment of
vessel tracking and monitoring systems, issue of identity cards to
fishermen and intensified patrolling on the seas.
Measures Taken for Police Reforms, Augmentation and Training
In 2009, the Government approved a proposal for the raising of
38 additional Battalions including two Mahila Battalions in the
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Out of these 38 Battalions, three
Bns including one Mahila Bn are to be raised during the current fiscal
year. Similarly, 29 new battalions, to be raised over a period of five
years starting from this fiscal year, were approved in early 2009 for
the Border Security Force (BSF). In addition, the ceiling with regard
to the strength of CISF has been enhanced to 1,45,000 from 93,521.
Eleven IR Battalions including 2 commando companies in each battalion
were sanctioned to the State Governments of Assam, Chhattisgarh,
Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Meghalaya and Orissa and UT of Chandigarh.
Three ALH Dhruv helicopters have been inducted into BSF. These are
based at Ranchi and Raipur.
A revised recruitment scheme for recruitment of Constables in CPMFs
was approved.
CISF security was extended to the private sector after due
amendment in the CISF Act in January this year.
For the first time, risk/hardship allowances were approved
in April’09 for personnel of the CPMFs deployed in high risk and
difficult areas such as high altitude areas, Left Wing Extremism
affected areas, areas with uncongenial climate and other such areas.
A CPMF Housing Project for construction of about 1,00,000
housing units on Public-Private-Partnership basis has been approved.
Consultants have been appointed for preparation of the Project
Feasibility Report.
A large number of companies of the CPMFs were mobilized for the
conduct of general elections to the Lok Sabha, for assembly elections
and for bye-elections.
As per the directives of the Supreme Court (Prakash Singh
& Others vs Union Of India; 22nd September, 2006) on police reforms,
MHA decided to (i) set up a State Security Commission for all UTs
which would lay down broad policies and evaluate performance of the
police in each UT (ii) set up two Police Establishment Boards (PEB) in
each UT, one for the the ranks of Inspectors and above and the other
for Sub-Inspectors and below. The PEBs would decide all transfers,
postings, promotions and other service-related matters (iii) set up a
Police Complaints Authority in each UT (iv) accord two-year tenures in
UTs to key police functionaries, except under exceptional
circumstances/administrative exigencies which would be recorded in
writing and (v) separate police personnel into law & order and
investigative wings in UTs.
A copy of the draft Model Police Act was sent to the States for
consideration and appropriate action. The Model Police Act provides
for well-defined duties of the Police towards the public and
accountability to the rule of law. A number of States have either
framed New Police Acts or amended the existing Acts.
Under the National Police Mission, six Micro-Missions namely Human
Resource Development, Community Policing, Communication and
Technology, Infrastructure, New Processes and Proactive Policing &
Visualizing future Challenges have been set up. The projects on
Community Counselling Centres and Transparent Recruitment Process,
submitted by the Micro-Missions have been approved for
implementation.
Allocation of land and construction activities began during the year
for setting up of 20 Counter-Insurgency and Anti-Terrorist Schools in
the States of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa to
provide training to police personnel in counter-insurgency and anti-
terrorism tactics.
It has been decided to establish a Central Academy for
Police Training at Bhopal as a centre of excellence for training of
State police officers. 400 acres of land has been allotted by the
Madhya Pradesh Government for the purpose.
During 2009, 22 new Police Stations and 9 Sub-Divisions
of Delhi Police were notified and sanction for creation of 6478 posts
for these new Police Stations and Sub-Divisions issued.
Approval was accorded to a Plan Scheme relating to Modernisation of
Traffic and Communications Network of the Delhi Police at a cost of Rs.
200 crore for implementation in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan.
To minimize the shortage of IPS officers at SP level, a
decision has been taken to increase the batch-size of the Indian
Police Service from 130 to 150 from the Civil Services Examination,
2009 onwards.
The Bureau of Police Research & Development has been strengthened and
restructured by the sanctioning of 72 additional posts.
Situation in J&K Improves
The security situation in J&K has vastly improved in the last few
years and this trend continued during the current year also. In the
current year (till November), the number of incidents was down by 27%
and those of killing of civilians by 17% and of security force
personnel by 19% over the corresponding period of previous year.
During the current year, 473 infiltration bids were attempted out of
which 367 were foiled.
Out of the 67 projects/ schemes under the Prime Minister’s
Reconstruction Plan for J&K, action in respect of 30 projects/schemes
has been completed and the remaining 37 projects/schemes are at
various stages of implementation.
Steps Taken to Fight Naxal Menace
Naxal violence poses one of the gravest internal security
threats before the country. In the current year (till 30th November),
the number of incidents of Naxal violence have been 2016 compared to
1452 incidents in the corresponding period of 2008. 514 civilians and
304 personnel of security forces have been killed compared to 444
civilians and 217 security forces killed in the corresponding period
last year.
To deal with the menace in an effective and decisive manner, the
Union Home Ministry has devised and approved a plan to take joint and
co-ordinated action against Naxalites. The action plan was prepared
after wide-ranging consultations with the States including two
conferences attended by the Chief Ministers of the Naxal-affected
States.
58 Battalions of CRPF have been provided to the States for
anti-Naxal duties.
In June this year, CPI (Maoist) was included in the
Schedule of terrorist organisations under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1967.
Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh; Deogarh, Jaipur,
Kondhamal, Dhenkanal and Nayagarh districts of Orissa and Kunti and
Ramgarh districts of Jharkhand brought under the ambit of Security
Related Expenditure Scheme.
In August this year, revised guidelines and package for surrender and
rehabilitation of Naxalites were issued. The Central Scheme for
Assistance to Victims/Family of Victims of Terrorist and Communal
Violence was extended to victims of Naxal violence.
Assistance of CPMFs was provided to West Bengal to help
restore the State writ in Lalgarh.
Situation in North-East Improves
There has been significant improvement in the security
situation in the North Eastern States. The number of causalities of
civilians and security forces personnel has decreased. The number of
militants killed/surrendered/arrested in the current year (up to 30th
November, 2009) is 3580. However, the security situation in Manipur
and Assam continues to cause concern.
Owing to counter-insurgency operations, ULFA in Assam has
come under tremendous pressure. Key ULFA leaders are in prison. Due to
sustained pressure by security forces and also due to the Union Home
Minister’s call to the extremist groups in the North East to lay down
arms, abjure violence and come forward for talks, 416 cadres of DHD(J)
have laid down their arms.
Measures Taken for Disaster Management
The National Policy on Disaster Management has been prepared in tune
with the Disaster Management Act, 2005 with a vision to build a safe
and disaster-resilient India by developing a holistic, proactive and
technology-driven strategy through a culture of prevention,
mitigation, preparedness and response.
A Scheme for strengthening fire and emergency services to be
implemented at an estimated cost of Rs.200 crore during the Eleventh
Plan Period has been approved.
A Scheme to revamp civil defence has been approved with an outlay of
Rs.100 crore to be implemented during XI Five Year Plan.
Steps Initiated in Other Areas
A programme of modernization, computerization and
networking of 33 Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) which regulate more
than 98.5% of the passenger traffic, has been completed.
Construction of 11 strategic roads along the Indo-China
border has started.
During the year, 270 kms of fencing and 253 kms of border
roads have been constructed along the Indo-Bangladesh border.
The work of direct data collection of all usual residents for
creation of the National Population Register in the coastal villages
of 9 maritime States and 4 UTs ,viz., Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala,
Orissa, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Goa, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands is under
progress. The biographical details of around 50 lakh persons and
biometric details of about 10 lakh have been collected so far. The
Government has approved a proposal to issue identity (smart) cards to
all ‘usual residents’ of age 18 years and above in these areas.
A proposal for establishing a Crime and Criminal Tracking
Network System(CCTNS) was approved for networking of all crime-related
data amongst all police stations, States and the Centre. Rs.89 crore
has been allocated to the States and UTs for the purpose. The Centre-
State MoU for the CCTNS project has been signed by all the 35 States/
UTs.
Approval of the Cabinet was obtained for extension of the
rehabilitation package to the victims of the anti-Sikh riots in 1984
to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh.
Notifications for delegation of powers to the Govt. of NCT of
Delhi under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 was
issued.
Two rounds of tripartite talks on Gorkhaland were held during
the year.
A Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security was held
on January 6, 2009 and on 17th August, 2009
A high level Indian delegation led by the Union Home Minister
visited USA in September 2009 and held discussions on issues of mutual
interest including the challenge of combating terrorism.
With a view to improving punctuality among officers and staff,
a biometric-based attendance monitoring system has been introduced in
the Ministry of Home Affairs.
OK/KS
NB: Monthly report cards of MHA are available on “pib.nic.in”.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=56457
chhotemianinshallah
STAFF WRITER 16:37 HRS IST
Imphal, Dec 24 (PTI) At least 11 militants were killed and three
civilians injured in separate incidents in Manipur, officials said
here today.
Six militants, suspected to be members of People's Revolutionary Party
of Kangleipak (PREPAK), were killed in an encounter with Assam Rifles
at Leikonpung area in Chandel district late last night, they said.
One AK-47 rifle, one M-16 rifle, one grenade and several rounds of
ammunition used in different weapons were recovered from the spot,
they said.
In another gun battle between militants and Assam Rifles yesterday,
three suspected militants of Kangleipak Communist Party (Nongthon
group) were killed at Waithou area in Thoubal district, the officials
said.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/438961_11-militants-killed-in-separate-incidents-in-Manipur
Sid Harth
fear of Naxalite
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Report by Dillip Mallik,
Boneigarh: Thousands of panic-stricken tribals from five border
villages in Naxal infested Bonai sub-division in Sundargarh district
had deserted their homes since Tuesday and moved to a safer zone in K
Balang after the security provided to them earlier was withdrawn
returned their houses on Thursday.
The villagers of Relhatur, San-Baljore, Langalakata, Jharberda and
Mahupada under K Balang police station had vacated their homes for the
second time in a week following Maoist threat to their lives.
Long Range Patrolling (LRP), which was continuing in the villages of
Relhatur Panchayat, was withdrawn on Tuesday due to inadequate force
with Rourkela district. After getting assurance from the district
administration, the villagers again returned to their houses on
Thursday.
http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=15937
Sid Harth
'Armed Forces Special Powers Act responsible for many killings'
21 December 2009, 12:00am IST
An independent citizens' fact-finding mission to Manipur to assess and
report on the extrajudicial killings by security forces presented its
report in New Delhi recently. One of the team members, K S
Subramanian , a retired IPS officer and the author of Political
Violence and the Police in India, spoke to Amrith Lal :
What is wrong with the law and order situation in Manipur?
Since July this year when a pregnant young woman and a young man were
killed in an unjustified police shoot-out in the heart of Imphal in
public view, the situation in Manipur has deteriorated. The
enforcement of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the
state since 1980 has led to a large number of such killings (260 in
2009 alone). The public unrest in the state over the last 10 years and
more is symbolised in the heroic and unprecedented indefinite fast by
Irom Sharmila Chanu. The state has a deployment of 26 battalions of
Assam Rifles, 10 battalions of the army, 12 battalions of central
paramilitary forces and 12 battalions of Manipur Rifles and India
Reserve battalions. The need for such a large deployment in a tiny
state with a population of only 2.6 million was not obvious to us. It
was causing public dissatisfaction and militancy rather than imparting
a sense of increased public safety.
The state government and the civil society groups have completely
different versions of almost every violent incident. Why is this so?
The main source of official information is the police force, which
feel obliged to present such incidents as arising from a threat to
national security. The civil society gets information directly from
reliable public sources. Security personnel operating under the AFSPA
are tempted to indulge in fake encounters for rewards and medals.
Manipur heads the list of police gallantry medal awardees during the
current year.
As elsewhere, the AFSPA is a bone of contention in Manipur also. Is
this Act essential to fight militancy?
The Jeevan Reddy committee (2005) reviewed the working of the AFSPA
and admitted that the Act had become "an object of hate and an
instrument of discrimination and high-handedness" and recommended that
it be repealed "without losing sight of the overwhelming desire" of
the local people that the army should remain. This means that the
AFSPA was not considered essential to fight the insurgency in the
region. The large number of fake encounters in Manipur appears to be a
direct outcome of the impunity conferred on the security forces by the
AFSPA. The CrPC, Section 176 was amended in 2006 to provide for
mandatory judicial enquiries in all cases of custodial deaths and
rapes. The procedure has not been followed. A sessions judge who
carried out enquiries into several such incidents had found all of
them to be fake encounter killings. His reports were not made
public.
chhotemianinshallah
PTI Thursday, December 24, 2009 22:55 IST
Gondia (Maharashtra): A former Naxal commander was shot dead by his
old companions at his home in the districthere, police said today.
Around 30 to 40 Naxalites entered the house of Raghunath Fagnu Markam
(48) at Daharitola under Salekasa tehsil of Gondia district at 1am
yesterday, took him out and pumped two bullets in his chest, killing
the former Naxalite on the spot, they said.
Raghunath was associated with the Naxal movement from 1992 to 1999,
before he surrender on November 25, 1999, they said.
He has served as commander of Tanda Dalam between 1992-'96, and was
instrumental in attacks on police party in the year 1993 and 1995 at
Darekasa, Banjaritola and Murkudoh, police said.
Raghunath was also the man behind to blown up the BSNL mobile tower in
the year 1994 at Darekasa, and was wanted by Chattisgarh police also,
they said.
After his surrender the former Naxal served a three-year jail term and
was living a peaceful life at Daharitola, 3 km from Darekasa.
Raghunath had also contested State assembly elections from Gondwana
Gantantra Party from Amgaon seat and got 636 votes.
A case has been registered in this connection under relevant section
and further investigation is on, they said.
chhotemianinshallah
TNN 25 December 2009, 05:27am IST
GONDIA/CHANDRAPUR: In separate incidents Naxals killed their former
aides in Salekasa and Etapalli tehsils.
In the first incident a group of 25 Naxalites, allegedly belonging to
the Tanda dalam, shot dead their former comrade and deputy commander
of Darekasa dalam Raghu Murkam (45) in his native village Dabara Tola
in Salekasa tehsil late on Wednesday night.
Sources said Murkam, founder member of Darekasa dalam, was involved in
four crimes during 1993-94 and was acquitted for the crime in 2003-04.
Since then, he had withdrawn from the Naxal movement and was living a
normal life in his native village. He also contested the last assembly
elections as Gondwana Ganatantra Party candidate and secured 636
votes.
Late on Wednesday night, 25 Naxalites entered village Darba Tola.
While 20 Naxals kept vigil in the area, around five of the group
entered Murkam's house and shot him. Though the exact cause behind the
killing is not known, it is believed that Naxals suspected him to be a
police informer.
District superintendent of police Pradeep Deshpande, police inspector
Mukund Lambe, police sub inspector DS Sonuley, head constables Sayyed
and Dabhale rushed to the spot. Further details are awaited.
Meanwhile, in another incident a group of unidentified Naxalites
killed their former collogue in Yemli Burgi village under Etapalli
police station in Gadchiroli in on Wednesday evening. Deceased Sadhu
Rama Pungati (24) was former Naxalite and had surrendered before the
government in 2006.
Police have informed that deceased Pungati had gone to chicken market
in Yemli Burgi on Wednesday. The Naxalites learnt about his presence
in the market and cornered him there. Sadhu Pungati was shot dead
point blank by his former aides at around 4 pm. Pungati had laid his
arms on March 12, 2006 and was living peacefully in Markaltoal village
in Etapalli tehsil. Joint search operations of Gadchiroli police and
CRPF have been launched in the area following the incident.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Naxals-kill-two-former-aides/articleshow/5376458.cms
chhotemianinshallah
Express News Service
First Published : 27 Dec 2009 06:24:00 AM IST
RAYAGADA: In a joint operation, forces of CRPF, SOG and district
police today arrested four Maoists from Gudari police limits. The
arrested are Gopala Pedikaka (38) of Khatiguda panchayat, Dubala
Kadraka (40) of Tembaguda under Panili GP, Bafee alias Papai Kasika
(38) of Maria Kasika of Bithapur village under Kadama GP and Huna
Gandalaka (32) of Parupada under Kadama panchayat, all under Gudari
police limits. Bafee and Huna joined the Naxal movement during 2001
and became party members in 2003. They were operating under Akash
alias Ghasiram Majhi who surrendered along with his wife Jharana
earlier. Gopal was supporting the activities of Naxals. The forces
also recovered cellphones, explosive material and wires from them.
Of late the Naxals started threatening the villagers not to use
mobiles and other modes of communication. A number of posters asking
the people not to use cellphones and threatening to sever their hands
if do so along with prohibitive literature was recovered.
A couple of days back the police got a tip-off that some groups of
Naxals were planning to hold a meeting in the forests of Gudari. After
questioning the Naxals were arrested, outgoing SP Asis Kumar Singh
told the mediapersons. Incoming SP Anup Krishna was present.
chhotemianinshallah
December 26th, 2009
By Our Correspondent Hyderabad, Dec. 26: The year 2009 was a
relatively peaceful year as far as the threat from Naxals and
terrorists was concerned, compared to last year. However, the rate of
offences against women and of arson and rioting, including the
Telangana and United Andhra agitations, increased.
Significant events on the Maoist-Naxal front were the “encounter
killing” of top gun Patel Sudhakar Reddy of the Maoist Central
Military Commission by police in Warangal, and the release of video
footage of CPI-Maoist India chief Ganapati alias Muppalla Lakhsmana
Rao, which for the first time put a face to the name of the top Maoist
leader.
Left wing extremist violence has come down in the state this year.
There were 96 incidents related to Naxal violence in 2008 and just 56
in 2009. Naxals killed 15 persons in the state and 16 extremists were
shot dead in exchanges of fire with the police. There were no attacks
on police stations and no incidents of weapons being snatched away by
the Naxals in the past 12 months.
However, the value of property damaged by Naxal violence has increased
from Rs 45.6 lakh last year to Rs 1.38 crore this year.
A senior intelligence official of the anti-Naxal wing said, “The
Maoists attempted to make a comeback. They laid several ambushes for
the police by damaging property, but this was thwarted. Increased
movements of Naxals along the Andhra-Orissa border continue to be a
source of worry. We are making efforts to prevent the Naxals from
gaining ground again.”
Significantly, the state unit of the Greyhounds, the elite anti-Naxal
force that suffered a huge loss of 32 personnel in Balimela in Orissa,
has plunged back into action.
The force has started to train commandos in jungle warfare and has
trained anti-Naxal forces of all Naxal-affected states.
The Special Intelligence Branch, the anti-Naxal wing, played a key
role in nabbing the Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy.
However Kishenji alias Mallojula Koteswara Rao who led the laal bagh
siege in West Bengal still continues to evade the police. After a bad
year of terrorist violence in 2008, this year saw just minor incidents
of terror.
A new organisation Tehreek Galba-e-Islam floated by one of the most
wanted terrorists, Viqar Ahmed, came to light on May 18 when a
motorcycle borne terrorist shot at a home guard, killing him and
injuring another constable. Police said it was revenge for the firing
on May 18, after the Macca Masjid blast.
A Pakistani spy, Malik Arshad Mohammed, a native of Pakistan, was
caught in the city in 2004, and Hizbul Mujahideen South India chief,
Mujeeb Ahmed, involved in arms smuggling, was convicted by the courts.
The National Security Guard’s temporary hub at old Begumpet airport
was inaugurated and it began operations in the city.
The elite terror force, Octopus, filed a charge-sheet against the
accused in the twin blasts. However, the force has not been able to
function as effectively as it could since it was made a mere commando
force. After seven years, the trial began into the Saroornagar temple
blast.
State Crime Records Bureau statistics showed around 18,361 cases of
crimes against women were booked till October 2009, including 960
cases of rape, 104 dowry murders, and 1,041 kidnappings. Women were
the victims in 620 cases of murder.
There has been a decrease in the number of murders and grave crimes
this year in the state but Hyderabad city had shown an increase.
In 2009, till October, 1,914 murders took place in the state as
against 2,026 in the corresponding period last year.
Murder for gain, dacoities, robberies and burglaries have come down
this year. White collar offences have shown an increasing trend with
Hyderabad as the con-capital.
The Hyderabad commissioner of police, Mr B. Prasada Rao said, “Most of
the murders take place on the spur of the moment and police have no
control over them. We are successful in curbing organised gangs. As we
register all complaints of economic offences so there is rise in white
collar offenders. Due to the recent agitations, arson and rioting have
increased. There is no substantial increase in dacoities and
robberies.”
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/naxal-attacks-dip-riots-go-933
chhotemianinshallah
TNN 28 December 2009, 02:49am IST
MIDNAPORE/KOLKATA: For nearly a year, the West Bengal police has been
looking for Koteswar Rao, more famous as Kishenji, the Maoist leader
who calls the shots at Jangalmahal, the scene of CPM-Naxal clashes in
West Midnapore district.
All efforts to track the elusive guerrilla leader through his
cellphones have failed, but Kishenji hasn't restricted his calls to
mediapersons. He is now calling up state and district-level
administrative officials on issues related to Jangalmahal. Kishenji
claimed that he had also spoken to three ministers from the Front
partners, other than CPM on the same issue.
Sources said that the Maoist leader is also in touch with the district
level officials working in the Jangalmahal belt. "I know the state
government and police are very eager to find out the officials who
have spoken to me. I don't want anybody to suffer. There's no question
of ever revealing any names," Kishenji said on Sunday.
Recently the state environment secretary L N Meena received a call on
his cellphone from the leader on the sponge iron units active around
Jangalmahal. The call created a flutter in the corridors of power.
State chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti ordered a probe.
Sid Harth
Posted On Monday, December 28, 2009
By Our Staff Reporter
Bhopal, Dec 28:
The state government has imposed ban on Krantikari Jan Committee and
Krantikari Kisan Committee in the state.
The police think that naxal activities may spread in future to 13
districts of the state - Shahdol, Rewa, Seoni, Dewas, Khandwa,
Khargone, Chhindwara, Hoshangabad, Betul, Harda, Badwani, Dhar and
Jhabua. Hence local police should be trained and infrastructure
developed in these districts. Moreover, hawk force should also be set
up in them.
So far the police department considered Balaghat, Mandla, Dindori,
Sidhi and Singrauli districts as naxal-affected. It was thought that
the Maoists would target Shahdol, Umaria, Anooppur and Seoni
districts. But this is for the first time considered that 13 districts
would be infested with naxal activities. There is dispute over
declaring Singrauli, Sidhi and Dindori districts as naxal affected
even though police have been getting information about naxals trying
to increase its activities in these districts.
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=22960
chhotemianinshallah
PTI Tuesday, December 29, 2009 10:38 IST
Aurangabad: Armed Maoists detonated dynamites to blow up a school
building at Jurati village in Bihar's Aurangabad district early today,
police said.
Around 200 ultras surrounded the state-run school and triggered
dynamite blasts partially damaging its building, the police said.
A patrol soon arrived and locked the ultras in an encounter for more
than two hours, the police said.
No casualty was reported from either side.
Police recovered two cane bombs, cable wires, several police uniforms
besides Naxal literature from the spot.
A combing operation has been launched to nab the Maoists, the police
added.
chhotemianinshallah
Administration staff to face action for refusing Gadchiroli posting
PTI Tuesday, December 29, 2009 15:22 IST
Mumbai: Resolving to initiate strict disciplinary action against its
administrative staff who refuse to join posting in the Naxal-hit
Gadchiroli district, the Maharashtra government has asked them to
report for duty immediately.
The government has issued a resolution stating "administrative staff
and officers, who have been transferred in Gadchiroli should resume
the duty immediately (or) else disciplinary action would be taken
against them", sources in the general administration department said
today.
The resolution was issued recently after chief minister Ashok Chavan
during a review of development work in the district felt that lack of
sufficient staff was delaying execution of projects, and instructed
that vacant posts be filled before January 31.
Sources said about 10% of posts lay vacant as many employees were
reluctant to join their postings for fear of Naxalites.
The government has also asked the concerned departments to prepare a
report till January 20 detailing the status of vacant posts, sources
said.
bademiyansubhanallah
Bibhuti Barik
First Published : 30 Dec 2009 03:32:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 30 Dec 2009 08:08:10 AM IST
BHUBANESWAR: To achieve the seven per cent inclusive growth the Centre
must devise special plan for the Central Naxal-infested parts
comprising parts of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.
While some states are progressing at the rate of 11-12 per cent, major
part of this region and those especially under Maoist threat are still
going with a poor 3 per cent overall development. So to achieve the
magic figure the Centre has to give priority to the region.
Speaking to this paper on the sidelines of the 92nd Indian Economic
Association convention here today, noted regional planning and
development expert Prof Amitabh Kundu from the Centre for Study of
Regional Development, JNU, said like the North East, Himachal Pradesh
and Jammu Kashmir benefitted from the special category status, the
central region with plenty of natural resources now needs similar or
another special package for a holistic regional planning and
development.
The N-E had received the attention due to the insurgency. But in the
past no one ever thought of Naxalism assuming such a proportion in the
central parts of the nation. The time has come for inclusion of the
‘hungry belly of India’ in the list of beneficiaries for the inclusive
growth target.
The special help for N-E region is now visible with their regional
development despite the state exchequers losing huge amount of money
as the region is not coming under taxation, he said adding the
political process must now start for the Naxal-infested regions to
facilitate even distribution of benefits of development.
Also calling for a firm administration by the respective state
governments, Prof. Kundu said unless the administration comes with a
success formulae, the funds for upliftment cannot be utilised as the
distabilising forces are against any infrastructure and communication
development.
Saying that the states must have ‘iron gloves with soft hands’ to deal
with the issue, the regional development expert said without
improvement in law and order situation, the benefits of development
cannot go to the grassroot people.
The administration cannot function if the officials would be killed by
the ultras. So the governments concerned must act accordingly with
sympathy, attention and strategy keeping the poor in mind, he advised.
In many instances it is seen that the vested interests are operating
in these area in the name of Maoists and they must be traced, he said.
chhotemianinshallah
STAFF WRITER 16:36 HRS IST
Ranchi, Dec 30 (PTI) Making a fresh offer of talks with the Maoists,
the Jharkhand government today said that the state's naxal policy
would be reviewed.
"We are ready for talks. They should shun violence and tell us what
they want. Do they want to run the government? If so, how? They should
come forward for talks," Soren told a joint press conference with
cabinet ministers Raghuvar Das and Sudesh Mahto.
Mahto, who had introduced a naxal policy when he was the home minister
in the the Arjun Munda government in 2005, said the government would
review it.
On acquisition of land for industry, Soren said there should be a good
rehabilitation package. "See, how people lost their land and did not
get compensation after the setting up of the HEC (Heavy Engineering
Corporation). We would like to have a policy, which will give housing,
employment and monetary benefits.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/446151_Soren-for-talks-with-Maoists
chhotemianinshallah
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Report by Orissadiary correspondent; Koraput: A woman Maoist named
Pidikaka Laxmi (Sunita) of Golanda village allegedly involved in
violence for the last three years in Odisha, Wednesday surrendered
before Rayagada Police accusing that she was being forced to marry a
Chhatisgarh Naxal cadre. She said that, “she was being pressurised by
senior Maoist leaders to marry a Chhatisgarh Naxal cadre though she
wanted to tie the knot with a young tribal man”.
Sunita agreed that she took part in an attack on an armoury in
Odisha's Nayagarh district, joined the group at the instance of a
Maoist, Uday, currently in jail, on the charge of killing VHP leader
Swami Laxamananda Saraswati in Kandhamal district last year.
She surrendered herself before Rayagada Superintendent of Police
Ashish Kumar Singh, with the presence of her parents. "The surrendered
woman will be provided with adequate security," Singh said.
http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=16018
chhotemianinshallah
December 30, 2009 21:30 IST
The year 2009 has been one of the most peaceful years, as far as
Maoist violence in Andhra Pradesh was concerned. The state director
general of police R Girish Kumar told a year-end press conference that
Andhra Pradesh police had emerged as a role model for the other states
in dealing with the Maoist problem.
"We are very happy that the extremist violence this year was lowest in
last one decade," he said. The state recorded only 56 incidents of
extremist violence this year, compared to 96 last year, in which 15
civilians and 16 extremists were killed, compared to 45 and 37
respectively last year.
The most redeeming feature was the fact that no policeman died in
Naxal attacks this year, while 34 policemen died last year. 33 of them
died in a single attack in which Maoists drowned a launch carrying the
greyhound commandos back from Orissa to Andhra Pradesh.
Lauding the good work done by the state police, Girish Kumar said,
"Though the violence has come down drastically, it does not mean that
our level of vigilance has come down," he said.
"Taking into consideration the level of activity of extremist violence
in neighbouring states," he said.
"We are keeping utmost guard and vigil in regard to monitoring
movement of extremist element across the border. We hope to reverse
any sustained campaign by extremist elements to cross over to Andhra
Pradesh and again try to set up their base. There is a move to
resurface in AP in a big way, but we are sure that any such attempt
will be repulsed with all available force at our command," he said.
Asked about the reports of Naxal infiltration into Andhra Pradesh from
other states, he said, "The situation was receiving utmost attention.
We are very vigilant with regards the movement of Maoist from across
the states border," he said, adding that Andhra Pradesh police had
succeeded in repulsing some of the units of Maoists who had entered
Karimnagar, Warangal and Adilabad.
The important Naxal leaders who were killed by the police this year
include Patel Sudhakar Reddy, member of the Communist Party of India-
Maoist central committee and Central Military commission, and K
Sudhakar, state committee secretary of CPI-ML Pratighatana. V
Veeresham, state committee secretary, CPIML Janashakti, was among 326
naxalites arrested.
Mohammed Siddique in Hyderabad
Showing 1-8 of total 8 messages
Naxal violence in Andhra depletes in 2009
by Ravinder Malhotra on Dec 31, 2009 12:38 AM
Would not the right word be 'ABATES' instead of " Depletes ". Or does
the reporter mean it has bled the State of Andhra Pradesh and its
resources have depleted or have the cadres and resources of the
Naxalites been depleted . I am sure the reporter knows the difference
in the meaning of the two words.
Re: Naxal violence in Andhra depletes in 2009
by Atul Narain on Dec 31, 2009 01:01 AM
Goes well with "the boat drowned"
:)
Obviously It has to be depleted, for their dreams come true
by mammen antony on Dec 31, 2009 12:31 AM
They had a dream to have a seperate state, and they almost achieved
it . Jai telengana
Inquilab Zindabad- India China Bhai Bhai-Islamabad-Hyderabad-Beijing
Trio Long live
These are some of the token slogans on new state's inauguration
day.KCR will unfurl the telegana flag of Green & red. President WHU of
china,Zardari of Pakistan,PWG reps,Prachanda from Nepal, will be the
dignataries on dias along with Yetchury,Achutanandan,and Bardan will
be included in the invited guests'list.
Message awaiting moderator review. Show message
Naxal
by Dalit Christian on Dec 30, 2009 11:45 PM
Why we are hosting Commonwealth Games, 2010 eventhough 75% of our
population living below poverty line. Only to show the might of Hindu
upper castes on the cost of poor people. We should not host CWG, 2010.
Awareness and Globalization Factor
by Praveen Goud on Dec 30, 2009 11:32 PM
Globalisation and Liberalisation reforms had given some confidence to
people to look towards education and aspire big if the domestic system
suppressed and closed the door for the oppressed people. People
awareness towards Democracy and their rights in Democratic system is
making the people not taking up armed struggle than before.
Some naxalism got reduced as their arms supply connections were
deprived and also due to Police action using latest technology which
Naxals dont have.
Naxalism will be totally wiped out if the people are given equal
opportunities, quality education and STRICT action on Politicians,
Police and Judiciary when they deprive their deserved justice and
rights as citizens.
The impeding danger in AP is FACTIONISM and Attrocities committed by
educated bureaucracy, Judiciary , Police and Politicians who are
exploiting the system loopholes without being accountable. If these
are not addressed , Naxalism will emerge back.....
Message awaiting moderator review. Show message
Kill KCR and all Telangis
by shyam gupta on Dec 30, 2009 11:31 PM
Kill KCR and all Telangis who want a separate state, and you will
have 0 incidents in 2010
Re: Kill KCR and all Telangis
by irfacar on Dec 31, 2009 12:18 AM
Kill Jagan and all the factionists first, AP will be peaceful.
Message awaiting moderator review. Show message
Awareness and Globalization Factor
by Praveen Goud on Dec 30, 2009 11:28 PM
Globalisation and Liberalisation reforms had given some confidence to
people to look towards education and aspire big if the domestic system
suppressed and closed the door for the oppressed people. People
awareness towards Democracy and their rights in Democratic system is
making the people not taking up armed struggle than before.
Some naxalism got reduced as their arms supply connections were
deprived and also due to Police action using latest technology which
Naxals dont have.
Naxalism will be totally wiped out if the people are given equal
opportunities, quality education and STRICT action on Politicians,
Police and Judiciary when they deprive their deserved justice and
rights as citizens.
The impeding danger in AP is FACTIONISM and Attrocities committed by
educated bureaucracy, Judiciary , Police and Politicians who are
exploited the system loopholes without being accountable. If these are
not addressed , Naxalism will emerge back.....
Message awaiting moderator review. Show message
will it increase or decrease?
by pirated software on Dec 30, 2009 10:46 PM
will it increase or decrease if separate telangana is formed?
Re: will it increase or decrease?
by Rushi on Dec 30, 2009 11:34 PM
nature of violence will change but amount of violence will
increase...
Re: will it increase or decrease?
by saida chowdary on Dec 30, 2009 10:48 PM
and telangana will became naxal hub
Re: will it increase or decrease?
by IndianLogic on Dec 30, 2009 11:45 PM
You have Chattisgarh as answer.
Re: Re: will it increase or decrease?
by irfacar on Dec 31, 2009 12:19 AM
Naxals already shooed to chattisgarh. There is no chance of them
coming back. Thnx to locals who got educated and solved their own
problem.
YSR 'Managed' Maoism in AP
by Satya N on Dec 30, 2009 10:29 PM
He was a daring and courageous person. He showed the same tenacity in
controlling naxalism with greyhounds and central forces. AP is
peaceful now is because of his political and administrative support in
controlling naxalism.
Re: YSR 'Managed' Maoism in AP
by subramanyasastry hoskote on Dec 30, 2009 10:52 PM
I agree. It is just a corollary that his family has made a reported
fortune of 78,000 crores in just his 5 years of stewardship! May his
soul rest in peace.
Message deleted by moderator
Re: Re: YSR 'Managed' Maoism in AP
by this that on Dec 31, 2009 12:46 AM
You mean soul of a corrupt politician and his family, who will go to
heaven after all the bungling and still rest in peace?
http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/dec/30/naxal-violence-in-andhra-depletes-in-2009.htm
chhotemianinshallah
Maoists blast two schools in Bihar
Aurangabad, Thursday 31 December 2009: Armed Maoists blew up two
school buildings early Thursday in the naxal-hit Aurangabad district,
police said.
Over 200 ultras surrounded a state-run school at Chandaur and blasted
the building with dynamites in the wee hours, district SP N K Tiwari
said.
In another attack, the naxalites detonated dynamites to blow up
another school building at Belowa early morning, he said.However,
there are no reports of any injury or casualty.
A combing operation has been launched in the area to nab the ultras.
By KOL News , Written on December 31, 2009
http://www.asianetindia.com/news/maoists-blast-schools-bihar_115478.html
chhotemianinshallah
|| by Gladson Dungdung ||
On 4th November 2009, the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manhohan Singh,
while addressing a conference of Chief Ministers and State Ministers
of Tribal Affairs said, “There has been a "systemic failure" in giving
tribals a stake in the modern economic processes”. He helplessly went
on saying, "The alienation built over decades is now taking a
dangerous turn. We must change our ways of dealing with tribals. We
have to win the battle for their hearts. Administrative machinery in
some of such areas is "either weak or virtually non-existent", the
"heavy hand of criminal justice system has become a source of
harassment and exploitation" and over the years, a large number of
cases have been registered against the tribals, whose traditional
rights were not recognized by earlier forest laws". "Systematic
exploitation and social and economic abuse of our tribal communities
can no longer be tolerated", he warned emotionally. One surprises, is
it the realization of a democratic government after 62 years of
Independence or just one more attempt of wooing, manipulating and
betraying the Adivasis?
On the next day, thousands of Adivasis belonging to 37 people’s
organizations gathered under the banner of ‘Bisthapan Virodhi Nav
Nirman Morcha’ (a state level united forum of displacement movements)
in Ranchi the capital city of Jharkhand and marched from Railway
station to Rajbhawan by scaling about 3 km distance. This time, they
were surely not with the bows and arrows or any other traditional
weapon (which they have been carrying for the centuries) as holding
these are used as proofs for branding them as Maoists by the
democratic government(s) and the media. Of course, these Adivasis had
neither come to demand their share in the development programmes meant
for them nor even to acquire power in the political arena but they had
come to tell the democratic government (through the governor) very
simple thing: “Stop grabbing their land, which their ancestors have
given them”.
As the Jharkhand Assembly election is at the door therefore they
wanted to convey the messages to the political leaders that they do
not want to surrender their land for the so-called development project
at any cost therefore the democratic government should stopped
snatching their “land” the only resource they have. Later on they
submitted a memorandum to the governor through his executive
magistrate as the governor was in Delhi (now the governors turn as
political persons in our democracy, Jharkhand governor inaugurated and
given political speeches more than most of previous Jharkhand Chief
Ministers). They have also conveyed the message that branding them as
Maoists, anti-development people or anti-nationals will not stop their
fight for protecting their land. They are resolved to fight for
protecting their ancestral lands till the last breath.
Unfortunately, this did not become the breaking news for the 24 hours
news channels and the print media, who recently carried out tireless
campaigns for a month, branding the Adivasis as Naxalites. It would
have been surely become the breaking news for them if the Adivasis
would have marched in the city with the bows and arrows in their
hands. In that case, the media would have made one more attempt to
brand them as Maoists or at least Maoists supporters of course. This
is how the fourth realms (media) of the democracy is playing bias role
for the Adivasis. Ironically, the same Media teaches the Adivasis
about the democracy, whose society is based on the collectivism.
One of the award winner news anchors asked me whether I lost hope in
the Indian democracy. Of course, in the so-called democracy, I
replied. He was upset for a day by thinking that why a young man at
the age of 30 lost hope in the idea of India. He writes in twitter,
“Still thinking of the Jharkhand activist who was in our studio, his
parents were murdered over land dispute, has lost faith in the idea of
India”. Indeed, he failed to understand what I mean. Can anyone tell
me that how one would have hope in so-called democracy, where a
winning candidate/party gets merely 30 to 40 percent votes (mostly by
money (according to latest information the Corporate Houses are all
set to spend Rs 300 crore in coming Jharkhand Assemble Election by
giving money to the big political parties so that they can buy the
votes), muscle and manipulation power).
The story does not end here. Later on, the winning candidates are
treated like God merely for winning the elections and most of them
become billionaires within one term (five years) by bagging the public
money. The poor voters have only right to vote, garland these
billionaires and express their pathetic conditions year by year. If
one talks about the role of Media in the democracy, recent Assembly
elections shows the roadmap of how the culture of “coverage packages”
exploded across Maharashtra, where the media followed the principle of
“no money no news”. The replication begins in Jharkhand too. The media
houses have told to Netas (political leaders), if they want good
coverage, they must give them money in form of ads. Can still any news
anchor ask me to have hope in so-called largest democracy?
However, the Corporate Home Minister P. Chidambaram sees the
‘democracy as panacea’ to existing social, economic, political,
cultural and developmental issues of the Adivasis. In his recent
impassioned speech at the Nani Palkhiwala lecture, he said, "If the
Naxalites accuse elected governments of capitalism, land grabbing,
exploiting and displacing tribal people, what prevents them from
winning power through elections and reversing current policies? Can
Chidambaram tell us about ten major issues, which the democratic India
government has addressed in last 6 decades? Can he explain us, why the
democratic government failed to address the basic issues of India i.e.
food, clothing and shelter for last 62 years? Can he tell us why the
political parties always bargain for money generating ministries after
acquiring people’s mandates? Why do the Indian (developing country)
elections cost more than American (developed country) elections?
Should we still clap for our so-called largest democracy, where a
Chief Minister holding office for 706 days bags Rs.4000 crore and a
personal secretary of a minister secure fix deposit of 13 crore with
in five years and even a cycle rider Neta becomes billionaire merely
in five years? What kind of democracy it is?
In six decades of the Indian democracy, the Adivasis have received
their shares only as alienation, exploitation, discrimination,
deprivation and dispossession. The democratic government(s) has never
listened to the Adivasis. When they demanded their citizen rights as
the Indigenous People of the land, the India government denied them.
When they claimed the forests as their only abode, they were
officially coined as the enemy of trees, forests and wild animals
through the various legislations, and finally, when they denied
surrendering their lands for the so-called development projects, many
false criminal cases were filed against them, they had to face the
bullets of police and they were branded as Maoists and anti-national.
All these happened with them in a democratic country. The government
of India officially accepts through the Forest Rights Act 2006 that
historic injustice was done to the Adivasis. The Prime Minister added
more on it but he failed to provide a radical mechanism to right the
historic wrongs. Let’s accept the fact that the Adivasis will not
survive without land and forests therefore ensuring their ownership
over the natural resources are the way forward but the question
remains unanswered is will the democratic government listen to them?
- Gladson Dungdung is a Human Rights Activist and Writer from
Jharkhand
chhotemianinshallah
- Gladson Dungdung -
The Police Officer of the CID Special Branchi, Francis Induwar was
abducted, beheaded and thrown on the roadside on Ranchi-Jamshedpur
highway by the Maoists, which was condemned strongly by the civil
society, Human Rights Groups and other non-state actors. Ironically,
when the news of brutal killing came up, the Home Ministry and the
Media suddenly became proactive in condemning and alleging the Human
Rights Activists rather than nailing down the Maoists.
Condolence gathering with the body of Late FrancisThe opinions were
manufactured such a way, which give sense that Induwar lost his life
not because of the Maoists but the Human Rights Activists. The Union
Home Minister P.Chidambaram even threatened to the Human Rights Groups
by saying that the Human Rights Groups have to choose, which side they
are. He also questioned, “Why are human rights groups silent now when
Naxals attack innocents?” However, he said, “Human rights groups need
to speak more strongly against the Naxals.”
After hearing the heartbreaking news, one of my friends told me that
Francis Induwar was not protected by the police department because he
belongs to the Adivasi (Indigenous) community. One can assume it as a
biased statement but it seems to be true because the similar
allegations were made by Sunita Induwar the wife of the deceased. She
said, “Nothing was done to protect my husband and I was not even
informed by the Police Department about the death of my husband. I
only came to know about it through the Media.” What does it mean? What
was the whole department doing? Doesn’t it give a clear picture about
what was happening inside of the Police Department?
The story does not end here. The chairman of the Special Branch
Association, Ram Sevak Ray alleges, “The Senior Police Officers were
not serious on the matter, they did not visit to the areas and even
after five days of kidnapping the Special Branch was not allowed to
conduct a meeting in Ranchi because the senior officers were not
concerned about it.” The fact is, Francis Induwar was abducted on 30th
of September and he was beheaded on October 6, which means he was
almost alive for 6 days. But the police department and the government
did not do much to save him. Being a Human Rights Activist, I condemn
the brutal killing of the sincere police officer, demand for adequate
compensation to the family and a high level inquiry so that all the
perpetrators can be brought to justice.
However, the government must inform to the people that in what
circumstances, the Police Officer Francis Induwar had to pay the price
of his life? What kind of actions had been taken by the police
department and the government to save him? Why did the Police
department fail in tracing him even after 6 days? Why did the
intelligence fail? And are only the Maoists responsible for the brutal
killing of Induwar or he had to face such heinous act because the
department, which he belongs to is failure, inactive, insincere,
incapable and unjust?
The State, the Media and the Middle Class often allege that the Human
Rights Groups do not speak out strongly when the Naxalites and
Terrorists commit such heinous crime against humanity but they raise
their eyes only against the state because they get money from the
external actors to do so? As far as the Human Rights Violation is
concerned, the Human Rights Groups have always stood up against it.
The People are unaware about the work of Human Rights Groups merely
because the Media don’t carry the press statements issued by these
Groups regularly condemning the human rights violation committed by
the State and non-State Actors, which also happened in the case of
Francis Induwar therefore the Media is also responsible for
manufacturing the opinion against the Human Rights Activists. All the
allegations against these groups are baseless.
The interesting question is why the State is afraid of the Human
Rights Activists who merely possess pen, paper and mouth? Indeed, the
government of India is not afraid of the Human Rights Activists but it
is afraid of the big boss (United Nations) as it has signed and
ratified the numbers of UN Protocols, Conventions and Covenants but
failed to implement these. Therefore, the Human Rights Activists have
exposed the government of India in front of the International
Community several times. Secondly, the government attempts to bury the
impunity enjoyed by the law enforcement agencies, Ministers and the
politicians but unable to do so. Finally, the government also wants to
hide the inactiveness, insincerity, incapability, ineffectiveness and
inefficiency of the legislative, the executive and the judiciary but
the Human Rights Groups do not let it go that’s why the state targets
them so that they lose the patience and shut up their mouth.
In fact, the state wants to whither away from the responsibility of
dealing with the economic, social, cultural, developmental and
political issues therefore it attempts to fix the responsibilities on
others. There are some serious questions need to be address before
alleging the Human Rights Activists. Whose lands have been illegally
grabbed, forcefully acquired without compensating them and handed over
to the multinationals? Where from those millions displace masses come?
Why millions of men, women and children are without nutritious food,
education and health facilities? Why the perpetrators not brought to
justice for grabbing the money of NREGA and other Welfare schemes
meant for the poor?
According to the Human Development Report 2009, the quality of life in
India continues to be appalling with the country ranked poorly at 134
among 182 countries, 4 lack children die within 24 hours of their
birth and 40 percent children under 3 are malnourished. Who are these
children? Obviously, they don’t come from the family of sunglasses,
shining faces appearing in the television channels and AC lover holy
cows but these are the children of Adivasis, Dalits and marginalized
communities. Who is responsible for the pathetic condition of these
people? Is it the Human Rights Activists or the State? Why should not
the Human Rights Activists stand with them? Is it a crime to demand
justice in India? Would it have been possible to delivery justice to
the victims of Gujrat riot, several fake encounters and torture
without intervention of the Human Rights Groups?
The rulers have made the system unethical, bias and double standard.
Irony is they also justify it. For instance, when a member of the
Gandhi family like Priyanka becomes sympathizer of Nalini (a murderer
of late Rajiv Gandhi the former Prime Minister of India) is portrayed
as Messiah of the people meanwhile the curing the Adivasis of
Chhatishgarh makes a humanitarian Dr. Vinayak Sen as the Maoists’
supporter. In another case, the politicians like Sibu Soren saying
Naxalites as his brothers and sisters does not make him the
sympathizer of the Maoists but when a Human Rights Activists like
Sandeep Pandey demands justice for the victims of fake encounters
comes under the purview of the Naxals’ supporters. Similarly, the
state head of Gujara, Narendra Modi is made hero for killing more than
2000 Muslims but when a Human Rights Activist, Teesta Setalvad demands
justice for the victims makes her anti-state. What kind of democracy
it is?
However, the real Human Rights Activists would never justify any kind
of cold-blooded murder, torture or ill-treatment committed either by
the State or non-State Actors. Therefore, the Government, the Media
and the Middle Class must not manipulate the public opinion, should
not manufacture the consent and stop portraying the Human Rights
Activists as supporters of the Naxalites and Terrorists. The Human
Rights Activists raise their voices only when the state violates or
does not enforce, ensure and protect the Human Rights guaranteed under
the Constitution of India, embodied in the UN Conventions, Covenants
and Protocols signed and ratified by the Government of India and
enforced in the Court. The human rights violation by the non-state
actors takes place only when the state is inactive, ineffective and
unjust, which also should not be justified.
But as far as the issue of Naxalism is concerned, it will not be
addressed through the blame games. The problem deepens by creating
wrong perception. The public perception was built up during the NDA
government, that every man with the long beard and each woman with the
Burka is Terrorist. The same theory is being applied to the Adivasis
that every man and woman with the black faces, having traditional
weapons and living close to the nature is Naxalite. This kind of
opinion building is injustice to the community. The root causes of
Naxalism lies on economic, social and cultural injustices therefore
tackling these issues lies the solution. But who bothers about it as
either way the sufferers are only the Indigenous People who are always
unwelcome in India due to their race.
Gladson Dungdung is a Human Rights Activist and Writer from Jharkhand.
chhotemianinshallah
TNN 1 January 2010, 04:50am IST
NAGPUR: It may have taken more than a month to finalise it, but the
list of guardian ministers released on new year’s eve shows that home
minister R R Patil has kept his word.
Accepting the challenge to make a difference in the Naxal-affected
Gadchiroli district, he has taken upon himself to be the guardian
minister of arguably the most underdeveloped district of the state.
Shivajirao Moghe, the seniormost member in the Ashok Chavan cabinet,
has been given charge of Nagpur.
Moghe for Nagpur is a good news as he is seen a leader with clean and
noncontroversial image. He was the district’s in-charge minister in
the DF government’s first term too in 1999 and has a feel of things.
Moreover, given the nature of factional feuds between Congress leaders
of the city which has shown no signs of receding in last one decade,
Moghe could act a neutral umpire to oversee developmental needs of the
district. As a social justice minister,Moghe is keen on taking up an
effective statewide campaign to wean away youth and farmers from
addiction of liquor and tobacco playing havoc in the countryside.
Of the eleven Vidarbha districts, the NCP has got four districts of
Gadchiroli (R R Patil), Gondia (Vijaykumar Gavit), Washim (Anil
Deshmukh) and Buldhana (Manohar Naik). The seven districts with the
Congress are – Nagpur (Moghe), Yavatmal (Nitin Raut), Bhandara (Vijay
Wadettiwar), Chandrapur (Ramesh Bagwe), Amravati (Rajendra Darda),
Akola (Subhash Zanak) and Wardha (Ranjit Kamble). Significantly, a
couple of weeks ago, R R Patil, known as aaba, had shown his keenness
to be the Gadchiroli guardian minister.
“I am serious. This is not a gimmick. I want to bring about proper
development of the district. We have seen that use of force against
Naxalites may not solve the problem there. Without all-round
development, any anti-Naxal operation can only be counterproductive as
people there are craving for development. The situation should be made
conducive for government staff to function there. Posting in the
district should no longer be seen as a punishment,” he told TOI.
The delay in finalizing the list is attributed to differences between
the ruling partners on whether to have a minister belonging to the
same district as in-charge or get an outsider. Finally the ‘outsider’
camp prevailed with only one exception. Ranjit Kamble, minister of
state for rural development and MLA from Deoli in Wardha, has got the
chance to head the same district. Kamble is a kin of Himachal Pradesh
governor Prabha Rau who seems to have prevailed in the district’s
traditional party rivalry. The guardian minister plays a key role in
development planning of the district and works as a link between the
government and the bureaucracy.
chhotemianinshallah
Raghvendra Rao , Joseph John , Vivek Deshpande
Posted: Saturday , Jan 02, 2010 at 0355 hrs
NAGPUR/RAIPUR/NEW DELHI:
The first major, concerted ground offensive against Naxalites has
started with police forces in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh launching a
joint operation.
The initial stage of this offensive — kept in abeyance for the end of
the Jharkhand elections — includes searching for Naxals in the
interiors of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and in Maoist-dominated areas
of Chhattisgarh.
It was launched on December 25 as part of what is being termed as
Police Week (December 25 to January 1), sources said. It’s is for the
first time that something like a Police Week is being observed in
these areas.
On December 24, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had met Chief
Secretaries and Directors General of Police (DGPs) of five Naxal-
affected states in New Delhi. Following this, the Centre plans to move
in 33 battalions (almost 33,000 personnel) of Central paramilitary
forces in these states as part of the “offensive.”
The Centre, however, is maintaining that it’s only providing
assistance to the states and not piloting the operations.
For the record, CRPF’s Special DG Vijay Raman, commanding the anti-
Naxal operations, told The Indian Express: “There is nothing like
starting or end of an operation. It’s on since (the) beginning
itself.”
But sources said the operation is being conducted jointly by the CRPF,
regular Gadchiroli police, the Special Action Group (SAG) created
specially for anti-Naxal operations in Maharashtra, the Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP), BSF and the regular Chhattisgarh police.
The ITBP and BSF have taken up positions at strategic locations in the
forest areas of Rajnandgaon and Kanker districts in Chhattisgarh,
cutting off supply lines of Maoists from Maharashtra.
The forces are trying to establish their dominance in this area, which
had seen a major attack on security forces in July last year, in which
32 security personnel, including Superintendent of Police V K Choubey,
had lost their lives. DG Raman has already visited these areas.
Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Vishwaranjan said the
objective of the joint operation by the state and Central forces was
to station security forces in the area for a “reasonable period” to
allow the civil administration take up development initiatives there.
However, there will be surgical strikes wherever necessary.
Confirming that Maoist supply lines have been cut off at many places,
he refused to divulge details, saying “you will come to know about it
once the forces make advancements”.
The plan is to extend the operation further to Jharkhand, now that the
state has a government. “Taking the state government on board is
mandatory,” officials said.
While forces were deployed immediately after the Maharashtra Assembly
elections two months ago, they have been using the time till now to
get acclimatised to the terrain and conducting their operations
separately. The past few days they started long range patrols (LRP)
deep into the interiors.
Officials claim the Naxals are feeling the heat. “This is seen from
the appeal to lower-rung policemen and officials to revolt against
their superiors, with Naxals calling them fellow-sufferers,” said an
official. He also claimed that while they had plans for a big strike
during the recently concluded winter session of Maharashtra
Legislature at Nagpur, they backtracked because of forces sealing off
the entire area.
The Centre, as per information available with The Indian Express, has
already increased the numbers of Central Paramilitary (CPMFs) for
deployment in the Naxal-affected states from 37 battalions to 58
battalions over the past few months, an increase of 21,000 personnel.
While 25 Central paramilitary battalions have been positioned in
Chhattisgarh, another 11 have been provided to Jharkhand. West Bengal
has been given five battalions of CPMFs while Orissa, Andhra Pradesh
and Bihar have got four battalions each.
Maharashtra has been provided with three battalions of Central forces
while Madhya Pradesh and UP have been sanctioned one battalion each.
As per the Centre’s assessment, the gravest Naxal threat is being
faced in Chhattisgarh and that’s reflected in the number of Central
forces sent to this state.
Significantly, 49 of the 58 battalions deployed for these operations
belong to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) with the remaining
nine belonging the Border Security Force (five battalions) and Indo
Tibetan Border Police (four battalions). The Centre, sources said, has
also decided to use the specialized Commando Battalion for Resolute
Action (CoBRA) during this offensive.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/antinaxal-ground-offensive-begins/562440/0
chhotemianinshallah
STAFF WRITER 17:21 HRS IST
Suri (WB), Jan 1 (PTI) Two persons, suspected to be Maoists, were
arrested today from a village in Birbhum district in connection with
recent landmine blasts in neighbouring West Midnapore district, police
said.
Rakhahari Ruidas and Kajol Pramanik, hailing from naxal-affected
Ghatsila in West Midnapore, were arrested from Purba Borkola village
this morning, they said, adding the duo would be produced before a
court at Dubrajpur near here for transit remand.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/449048_Two-suspected-Maoists-held-in-Birbhum
chhotemianinshallah
Naxal bandh today
(No Ratings Yet)Naxal organisation CPI (Maoists) has called ‘Jharkhand
Bandh’ on Saturday alongwith four other states Bihar, Orissa,
Chhatisgarh and W. Bengal in protest of alleged police atrocities. DGP
V.D. Ram has said that the police have been instructed to keep vigil
in view of ‘bandh’. Meanwhile there were unconfirmed reports regarding
withdrawal of ‘bandh’.
http://ranchiexpress.com/naxal-bandh-today.php
chhotemianinshallah
Brutal and Media Friendly. The New Face of Naxalism?
Posted in Analysis, Comment, Guerilla Warfare, Indian Media,
Insurgency, West Bengal by Michael on January 1, 2010
One of the most underreported developments in Naxalism in 2009 has
been the emergence of a new leadership cadre that is guiding the CPI
(Maoist) in an entirely new tactical direction. Less conservative and
reclusive than has historically been the case, the new West Bengal-
based group has chosen to undertake bold (and brutal) actions
calculated to garner media attention. This has included the beheading
of a captured police inspector in October and a dramatic train hijack
during India’s election campaign. This was preceded by the capture of
Lalgarh in West Bengal, a move seemingly calculated to demonstrate to
India and the world that the Maoists were a force to be reckoned with.
All of this suggests a dramatic re-orientation in Naxalite tactics.
Historically, the Maoists have been a tactically conservative force.
Rather than court media attention, they preferred to work quietly,
expanding their reach and power methodically and patiently. Their
leadership has been notoriously recalcitrant and media shy. What has
changed? Significant numbers of party leaders, most notably Kobad
Gandhi, were arrested in 2009 as the Indian government has improved
its counter-insurgency intel apparatus. As a result, a new crop of
people with different tactical ideas has emerged. This new face of
Maoism has been best personified in Kishenji, the Andhra born, West
Bengal-based rebel.
Kishenji is a new kind of Naxalite leader. He has actively courted
media attention- holding numerous press conferences and maintaining
regular correspondence with prominent journalists. He has demonstrated
a flair for the theatrical:
Kishenji had a seven-minute telephone conversation with West Bengal
Principal Secretary (Environment) Madan Lal Meena complaining about
polluting mines earlier this week, the Chief Minister was forced to
accept the state intelligence machinery’s failure to locate the Maoist
leader, who is on the run.
It remains to be seen how effective this tactic will be. While
Kishenji has succeeded in garnering interest in the Maoist movement
(and perhaps gained the support of segments of the urban population),
much of the Naxalite’s strength stems precisely from their patient
expansion. By refusing to draw attention to themselves, the
government of India has felt little public pressure to respond,
creating a space for he gradual expansion of Maoist territory. A new
strategy centred around engagement with the press and audacious
assaults against the state carries a great deal of risk.
http://naxalwar.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/brutal-and-media-friendly-the-new-face-of-naxalism/
chhotemianinshallah
Posted in MSM by Michael on January 1, 2010
Time Magazine has declared India’s Maoist insurgency to be the 3rd
most under-reported story of 2009. I’m surprised that they even
noticed. While media coverage internationally and domestically has
been sparse, this has started to slowly change. For too long, the
Naxalites could be ignored by the urban-based Indian elite as a
problem which affected only small segments of the largely invisible
rural poor. While events such as the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008
threatened the safety and security of the countries chattering
classes, what happened in the dusty forests of rural Chhattisgarh
could easily be ignored. This has started to change. Perhaps, 2010
will bring increased coverage not only to the insurgency, but also to
the scandalous conditions in which India’s rural poor exist. One can
only hope.
http://naxalwar.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/the-forgotten-war/
chhotemianinshallah
Posted in Comment, Counter-Insurgency, Insurgency by Michael on
December 9, 2009
The Indian government just released the official figures for combat
deaths across all of the country’s insurgencies. I haven’t yet been
able to track down the official report (if there is one), but, from
what’s being reported in the media, it doesn’t look good for the
government:
In Naxal affected States, the number of the number of Civilians and
Security Forces personnel killed upto Oct.31, 2009 was 742 while it
was 721 in 2008. However, the number of Naxalites killed during the
same time is 170 (till Oct.31, 2009), which stood at 199 in 2008.
An approximate 4:1 ratio is not an indication of anything
approximating victory. India The Indian government should be worried.
http://naxalwar.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/umm-not-a-good-ration/
chhotemianinshallah
Vivek Deshpande ,Joseph John,Raghvendra Rao
Posted: Jan 02, 2010 at 0355 hrs IST
Situation in Lalgarh 'pretty depressing'...Fight like a brave not as
coward, Mamata...Maoists blast two schools in Bihar
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/AntiNaxal-ground-offensive-begins/562440/
chhotemianinshallah
Bhubaneswar, Jan 2
Buses were off the roads in parts of three Orissa districts fearing
attacks as the Maoists Saturday called for a two-day shutdown to
protest alleged police atrocities.
"The movements of buses has been affected in some places in Gajapati,
Malkangiri and Rayagada districts," Inspector General of Police
(Operations) Sanjeeb Marik told IANS.
"Schools, colleges, private and government offices and shops are open
as usual," he said.
The Maoists have called for a two-day strike in five states of Orissa,
Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to protest police
excesses, violation of human rights and the price rise.
Last updated on Jan 2nd, 2010 at 16:03 pm IST--IANS
http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a104516.html
Sid Harth
STAFF WRITER 20:41 HRS IST
Ranchi, Jan 2 (PTI) The Maoist-sponsored Jharkhand bandh today evoked
partial response with no untoward incident being reported from
anywhere in the state.
According to officials the bandh had affected life in some rural
pockets in Palamu, Giridih, Hazaribagh, East and West Singhbhum
districts.
Normal life remained unaffected in the state capital and other
district headquarters.
While majority of the long-distance buses did not ply, several trains
under Dhanbad division of the East Central Railway were either
cancelled or diverted.
The bandh was called in Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and
Chhattisgarh in protest against alleged "police atrocities and
violation of human rights by government machinery".
http://www.ptinews.com/news/450274_Maoist-bandh-partial-in-Jharkhand
Sid Harth
January 2nd, 2010 - 9:23 pm ICT by ANI -
Raipur, Jan 2 (ANI): Chhattisgarh Police has said that it has devised
a new strategy to combat Maoists by packing a small area with adequate
security personnel to force the Maoists to flee and develop it later.
Speaking to ANI on Saturday, Chhattisgarh Director General of Police
Vishwa Ranjan said: “We have started a new form of joint operation in
Rajnandagaon and northern Bastar. The objective is to pack a small
area with adequate force, so that Naxals are forced to flee the area.”
“Once they have retreated we will develop the area. When that area has
developed will move to another geographical area and develop it,” he
added.
Earlier in December 2009, after a meeting with the Director Generals
of Police of five Naxal affected states -West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Orissa, Chattisgarh and Bihar the Home Ministry had reportedly agreed
to depute 33 more battalions of the Central forces to the anti Naxal
offensive.
The Union Home Ministry has stationed 25 battalions of central forces
in Chhattisgarh as the state is witnessing the heavy movement of the
red rebels. (ANI)
Sid Harth
From ANI
New Delhi / Raipur, Jan 2: The anti -Maoist offensive has gathered
momentum with the Union Home Ministry clearing the induction of more
Central paramilitary forces into the operation.
According to sources, the Central police personnel who were deputed
for the Jharkhand Assembly election duty have been diverted to conduct
anti -Naxal operations.
Forces have been deployed in the area to prevent violence during the
recently held assembly elections.
After a meeting with the Director Generals of Police of five Naxal
affected states the Home Ministry reportedly agreed to depute 33 more
battalions of the CPMFs to the anti Naxal offensive.
The Home Ministry has released the forces in support of the state
police in the operations.
Earlier this week, the Centre deployed a fleet of 10 Advanced Light
Helicopters (ALH) Dhruv to assist forces engaged in the anti Maoists
operations.
The helicopters are stationed at Ranchi and Raipur.
The helicopters would be used both for transportation, evacuation of
personnel as reinforcements for the operations and casualty evacuation
purposes.
The Raipur based Operational Commander will be handling the air
operations.
The ALH Dhruv helicopters recently inducted into the Border Security
Force (BSF) air wing, stationed at Ranchi and Raipur are also likely
to be pressed into the operation.
To bring down troop causalities and ensure immediate medical care over
80 specialist doctors have been appointed on a contract basis, who
will be part of the anti-Naxal operations.
Meanwhile, it was reported that the combined force has initiated a
flushing out operation in the Gadchiroli area of Maharashtra, which
had seen a major attack on security forces in July 2009 in which 32
security personnel including a Superintendent of Police were killed.
The Home Ministry has stationed 25 battalions of central forces in
Chhattisgarh and 11 in Jharkhand. West Bengal has been given five
battalions, while Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar have got four
battalions each of Central Para-Military Forces.
Maharashtra has been provided with three battalions of Central forces
while Madhya Pradesh and UP have been sanctioned one battalion each.
Copyright Asian News International/DailyIndia.com
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/352658.php
chhotemianinshallah
in National, News, Raipur
Raipur, Jan 2 (ANI): Chhattisgarh Police has said that it has devised
a new strategy to combat Maoists by packing a small area with adequate
security personnel to force the Maoists to flee and develop it later.
Speaking to ANI on Saturday, Chhattisgarh Director General of Police
Vishwa Ranjan said: “We have started a new form of joint operation in
Rajnandagaon and northern Bastar. The objective is to pack a small
area with adequate force, so that Naxals are forced to flee the area.”
“Once they have retreated we will develop the area. When that area has
developed will move to another geographical area and develop it,” he
added.
Earlier in December 2009, after a meeting with the Director Generals
of Police of five Naxal affected states -West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Orissa, Chattisgarh and Bihar the Home Ministry had reportedly agreed
to depute 33 more battalions of the Central forces to the anti Naxal
offensive.
The Union Home Ministry has stationed 25 battalions of central forces
in Chhattisgarh as the state is witnessing the heavy movement of the
red rebels. (ANI)
http://trak.in/news/chhattisgarh-devises-new-strategy-to-combat-naxals/43734/
bademiyansubhanallah
ANI
Posted: Sunday , Jan 03, 2010 at 1115 hrs
Patna:
Bihar has been put on high alert after Maoist threats.
After receiving intelligence reports that the Maoists are planning to
blow up railway installations, security has been tightened in Bihar.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel frisked passengers and
checked their luggage with bomb detection devices, and stepped up
patrolling of platforms as a part of the drill.
Officials said a high alert was ordered since there was information
that some anti-social elements from neighbouring Nepal had sneaked
into the city.
"We are searching railway tracks. A high alert has been issued after
observing the activities of Maoist rebels. We also received
information that some anti-social elements sneaked in the region that
is why we tightened the security," said Santosh Kumar, RPF official.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bihar-on-high-alert-after-maoists-threat/562761/
chhotemianinshallah
Noble Savages: A Mumbai Girl in Dantewada
(By Priyanka Borpujari, Times of India | January 03, 2010)
Watch Video (Hindi)
I remember my first periods. For seven days I was treated like a
princess, saatvik food was prepared especially for me, school was
bunked and I slept with a penknife under my pillow. The knife, mom
told me, was to protect me from evil, now that I was a woman.
As I sit next to the kiln, sharing personal histories with Lakhimi, on
a cold winter night in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, she tells me she too
was fed good food during her first periods. But the knife puzzles the
tribal woman, and she asks, protection from what? “From any man’s
lustful intentions that could strip me of my dignity,’’ I say. She
laughs, “I thought women in civilised cities didn’t need to protect
their dignity!’’
I am left wondering about civilisation in cities where we have
specialised NGOs to combat eve-teasing and sexual harassment at the
workplace. We have pepper-spray cans. Paedophilia is rampant behind
tightly guarded curtains while affluent school kids show off their
sexual rendezvous via MMS. Yet, we call ourselves modern; we call
tribals uncivilised.
The tall and dusky Lakhimi tells me how men and women are equal in her
tribal society, frolicking and even drinking together till late in the
night. She does not know what eve-teasing is. Then imagine my surprise
at finding victims of rape in her idyllic paradise. It was in Samsetti
village, 100 km south of Dantewada, where I made this discovery on
Christmas Day. Entering the picturesque village, I saw 100-odd men in
military fatigues, carrying automatic rifles walk out of it. Yes, it
was a Naxal-infested zone, but 100 guns in a village of a few hundred
was a stretch even for the imagination. By the time we halted, an
eerie calm had spread over this village, which had been terrorised
again, all because of four women.
These four girls in their early 20s have been victims of a concept
foreign to their tribal culture—rape. In 2006, each was reportedly
gangraped by SPOs (Special Police Officers) of the Salwa Judum, a
vigilante militia set up by the Chhattisgarh government to flush out
Naxals. Sadly, this sandwiched the tribals between Naxals and Salwa
Judum in a macabre way. Rapes and murders havebecome common in
villages of Dantewada, which is at the heart of the Naxal conflict
today.
Ironically, these SPOs are young recruits from tribal villages, some
even child soldiers, who end up beheading fellow tribals, burning
their own villages, and raping their own women in an inhuman,
statesponsored offensive against Naxals. All this for a hefty salary
of Rs 1,800 a month.The women I mention are only four among several
such cases of alleged rape. Almost each follows a similar pattern of
intimidation and threats to silence them. In this case it took some
sustained intervention and counselling by Gandhian activist Himanshu
Kumar, currently fasting since December 26 to expose such hushed-up
cases.
The rape cases were finally registered in the Bilaspur high court in
March 2009, after the cops refused to file FIRs. However, the sessions
court, in its last hearing in November 2009, declared the accused as
absconding. Absurdly enough, the accused walked into the village in
December 2009, beat up the four girls, took their thumb impressions on
blank papers and warned them against taking the case further. When
Himanshu Kumar tried to make this news public, the accused returned to
the village and took the girls to the police station where they were
tortured for five days. No wonder that when we finally reached
Samsetti the villagers first shielded them from us. Even when we found
them, they refused to talk openly about what had happened.
“Forget your rape; save your Muriya tribe from annihilation,’’ is what
the villagers had told the scared girls. So a society that was truly
independent now faces the scourge of being civilised. While we have
exported our ideas of being civilised to the forests, we haven’t yet
lent them our sympathies. While one IPS officer goes home scot-free
after causing the suicide of a teenager he molested and then
threatened, here too in Samsetti the protectors have become the
persecutors. At least the cities are agitated enough to debate and
gather support for the wronged Ruchika. But have we even heard of
these four brutal rapes in Samsetti? Can we even talk of justice for
them and the scores of other tribal women who have shared a similar
fate? Or is it convenient to ignore them just because they are bow-and-
arrow-carrying tribals? There are no easy answers. All we can do is
begin with these easy questions.
http://designandpeople.blogspot.com/2010/01/noble-savages-mumbai-girl-in-dantewada.html
chhotemianinshallah
Events of the past 12 months have completely exposed the incompetence
of India’s Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) lead by Home Minister P.
Chidambaram. Chidambaram was transferred from the Finance Ministry to
the Home Ministry after the Mumbai attacks during November of 2008.
It was widely assumed that individuals like Chidambaram were needed to
tackle the tough problem of terrorism facing the country today. But
was it the right decision?
Chidambaram is a career politician who has a legal and a business
background (Bachelor Laws from the Madras Law College and an MBA from
Harvard Business School). From 1985 to 1996 he was a Deputy Minister
or Minister of State in the Commerce department. He was briefly the
Finance Minister from 1996 to 1998 and then became the Finance
Minister again in 2004 under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
His appointment as the Finance Minister in 2004 was rather surprising
considering that he has no financial background either in terms of
education or in terms of work experience. But it is understandable
when we consider that he reports to Manmohan Singh who without
question is one of the architects of the modern Indian economy and a
financial guru.
But in my opinion Manmohan Singh overestimated the value someone like
Chidambaram brings to a department like the Ministry of Home Affairs.
As in any country the Home Ministry is the most important ministry in
India. The following are the divisions that the Ministry of Home
Affairs is responsible for: Administrative, Border Management, Center-
State, Coordination, Disaster Management, Finance, Foreigners, Freedom
Fighters & Rehabilitation, Human Rights, Internal Security, Jammu &
Kashmir, Judicial, Naxal Management, North East, Police, Policy
Planning and Union Territories Division. What type of leadership,
organizational or management skills has Chidambaram exhibited in the
past that would give us confidence that he is capable of running this
huge ministry at this critical juncture?
2009 clearly was the year of the Naxals and the Maoists. These
movements are inspired and in some cases have the support of countries
like Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. The Prime Minister has mentioned
that these movements present the greatest threat to India’s security.
But has the Home Minister formulated a policy to effectively combat
the Naxal and Maoist movements?
Are we going to make peace with these leaders or are we going to fight
them? Should we treat this as an internal security issue and use our
police force or should we involve our armed forces? Are we going to
talk to some of them and fight the others? The government has the
duty to inform the public about how they are going to address this
critical issue.
Although Chidambaram was not the Home Minister when 26/11 happened
nobody today believes that we are much safer than we were a year ago.
Most Indians know deep inside that the only way we can stop the next
attack is by luck or by outside help as was the case with the
suspected American terrorists David Headley and Tahawwur Husain Rana.
The Home Minister also has done a poor job of prosecuting the case
against Ajmal Kasab (technically this falls under the Ministry of
Justice but the Home Minister in this case has a big stake in the
outcome). It was India’s opportunity to showcase its judicial system
to the rest of the world. Instead the whole case has become a circus
and a real black mark on the Indian judiciary. The trial looks to the
outsider as if it is held in a “banana republic” and not in a country
that has a long history of criminal and civil trials and distinguished
prosecutors and trial lawyers.
The Home Ministry’s response to the David Headley case and the
resulting modifications to the visa rules showed a complete lack of
understanding of the real problem. You cannot catch a potential
terrorist by modifying the visa rules. You are only going to
inconvenience millions of people who are entering and leaving the
country every year for various purposes (tourism, transit, business
and personal).
Chidambaram should explain how making people wait for 60 days before
reentering India will make India safer? He cannot because it
doesn’t. This is one of the most boneheaded responses to fighting a
serious threat like terrorism that I have ever come across (the other
was fingerprinting all Asians travelers upon arrival by the United
States immediately after 09/11 attacks).
All of us know what happened during the recent Telangana issue. The
Home Ministry initially completely succumbed to the blackmail by KSR.
But after some thought the Home Ministery is slowly backtracking from
the initial promises.
But as citizens do we not have the right to ask why certain promises
were made in the heat of the moment without taking the Indian public
into confidence? We now have a sham political process that is setup
to come to the already promised end goal which is a separate Telangana
state.
Shouldn’t the process precede the outcome? Does the Home Ministry
have a policy and procedure in place for anything or is Mr.
Chidambaram just making it up as he goes along?
2 comments
By Hari – January 2, 2010
Cool Gai says “What type of leadership, organizational or management
skills has Chidambaram exhibited in the past that would give us
confidence that he is capable of running this huge ministry at this
critical juncture?”
None, really. I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow we learned that
appointments to cabinet posts were made on the basis of one’s
closeness to “Sonia Madam”. I don’t think Chidambaram even knows what
the departments in his ministry are. Ministers have rarely been
appointed on basis of their abilities. It’s usually, sycophancy,
favouritism and coalition politics that are dynamics. How else do you
explain the presence of Mamata Bannerjee and those idiots from DMK in
the government?
“Manmohan Singh who without question is one of the architects of the
modern Indian economy and a financial guru.”
I won’t (can’t) comment on the awesomeness of our Prime Minister, but
I don’t think he possesses the qualities of a leader. From what one
can observe, he doesn’t seem to exercise much control over his
ministers. He may be a really nice person, but is he competent
enough?
“Prime Minister has mentioned that these movements present the
greatest threat to India’s security”
His job is to evolve a policy to combat the menace, not to make such
statements. That’s what reporters are for. But he seems to be acting
more like a sociology professor than a politician. What’s even more
hopelessly annoying is the complete lack of will on the part of the
media in grilling the fellow. That’s the problem, we’re all too
satisfied by a nice,long speech containing a few hi-fi angrezi words
we don’t understand.
But from what one can gather, Chidambaram seems to be going for an out
an out offensive, which is going to fail big time, IMO. The Naxals are
not these bloodthirsty pyschopaths who do what they do because it’s
cool to hate India or something, if anything their rise highlights
miserable failures of the entire Union of India,of you and me. Crush
the violence, but ensure the reasons these people sought recourse to
violence in the first place are eliminated. (That doesn’t mean I
support those “left-liberals”, ofcourse. )
“The Home Minister also has done a poor job of prosecuting the case
against Ajmal Kasab. It was India’s opportunity to showcase its
judicial system to the rest of the world. Instead the whole case has
become a circus and a real black mark on the Indian judiciary”
The trial is in progress in a court which comes under the jurisdiction
of the Bombay High Court. The Union Home ministry has got nothing to
do with the trial per se. I would put majority of the blame on the
media. By reporting stuff like his defecating times and the colour of
his underwear, they’ve made him a superstar, that’s what has given him
the audacity to say the kind of crap he does. It’s because we take him
seriously. This and the occupational hazard that comes with trying
anyone who’s involved in a terror attack having a religious angle in
this country. Push the trial too fast,and you might have our zillion
rights groups screaming “communalism” and “inhumanity” and all that
tripe, not caring for the fact that he killed more Muslims than people
from any other religion. (I’m hypothesizing, but I do feel it would
have happened.) The Afzal Guru fiasco is a case in point.
” You cannot catch a potential terrorist by modifying the visa rules.
You are only going to inconvenience millions of people who are
entering and leaving the country every year for various purposes
(tourism, transit, business and personal).”
It’s more a knee jerk reaction to the Indian consulate goofup in
Chicago. It’s always easier to treat the symptoms instead of the
problem :P
“All of us know what happened during the recent Telangana issue. The
Home Ministry initially completely succumbed to the blackmail by KSR.
”
I didn’t understand why they listened to him in the first place. Why
not just let him die? Nearly a third of India starves every day, yet
we don’t see states being created lest they die! And they’re taking
this loser seriously! The anarchy argument was invalid because it was
happening in any case. Some believe Congress possibly saw KCR as a
potential political ally, which I myself don’t believe really, because
TRS has hardly any political visibility. Another possibility is the
Congress genuinely sees merit in KCR’s argument, i.e. The only way
Telangana can progress is through its separation from AP. That is
again, a classic example of treating the symptoms while ignoring the
problem, i.e. the need for decentralization of power from state to
local self-governing bodies. It’ll only trigger demands for more
states– Vidarbha, Gorkhaland, Cooch Behar, Bodoland etc. from regions
that have (allegedly) received step-motherly treatment from their
respective state governments. Again, it’s easier to create more states
instead of undertaking the much more difficult(and hence much less
appealing) task of examining why the demands originate in the first
place.
“Does the Home Ministry have a policy and procedure in place for
anything or is Mr. Chidambaram just making it up as he goes along?”
No, not unless Sonia Madam approves :P
Nice blog, btw… I’ll try to follow more often…
January 2, 2010, 4:32 PM Reply Hari says Welcome to my site and thank
you for taking the time to respond. I agree with you that Manmohan
Singh is not a leader in the traditional sense of the word. But on
some crucial issues (Nuclear deal with US, Voting against Iran,
Staying put on the climate issue) has has represented India’s
interests well in spite of tremendous pressure internationally and
locally.
You are right about the trail about Kasab. It does fall on Moily and
not on Chidambaram directly. But this is not an ordinary trail and the
Home Ministry has a tremendous stake in the procedure and outcome.
January 2, 2010, 10:29 PM Reply
http://indiafirsthand.com/?p=1121
chhotemianinshallah
STAFF WRITER 16:19 HRS IST
New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) With the catchline "who is against
development?", the government is hitting at naxals with a media
blitzkrieg by putting out an advertisement in national and regional
newspapers about the destruction of vital infrastructure by Maoists.
The advertisement carries photographs of a bridge and railway wagons
damaged by the Maoists through their subversive activities and full
particulars of the telephone towers, school buildings and railway
properties destroyed by the extremists during 2009. Through the
advertisement, the Home Ministry wanted to highlight the Naxal menace,
its impact on people and society.
"Who is against development?" the advertisement questions people, in
an attempt to isolate the Maoists.
It says that during 2009, the Naxals destroyed 38 railway properties,
53 telephone towers, 20 panchayat buildings, 47 schools buildings and
121 forest buildings, roads and culverts.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/450979_Govt-corners-Maoists-with-media-campaign
Sid Harth
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Lesser citizens
S. VISWANATHAN
Reservation has had some effect on the conditions of the oppressed
sections, including Dalits, but strong government action aimed at
their emancipation is yet to come.
KAMAL NARANG
A PROTEST BY medical students in New Delhi in May 2006 against the
government proposal to make 50 per cent reservation for backward
classes in the education sector and in government jobs. The anti-
reservation protests that year went on for weeks, but the government
came up with the Central Educational Institution (Reservation in
Admission) Act, 2006, which provided reservation in the institutions
of higher learning.
THE first 25 years of Frontline covered a turbulent period in the
political, economic and social histories of the country. The period
witnessed several incidents and events of far-reaching consequences.
These include the brutal assassination of Rajiv Gandhi; India’s
adoption of neoliberal economic policies; the demolition of the Babri
Masjid and the consolidation of Hindutva forces; the growing assertion
of Dalits inspired by the Ambedkar centenary celebrations; the
extension of quota benefits to larger sections as recommended by the
Mandal Commission, the Sachar Committee, and so on; a spurt in
incidents of violence against Dalits and tribal people; and attempts
to empower Dalits and women under the panchayat raj system. The last
three are considered significant in terms of social justice.
Outrage KHAIRLANJI
In a large country ridden with poverty, unemployment and disparities
in income, reservation of government jobs and seats in educational
institutions is an effective instrument for ensuring social justice.
The Constitution provided for reservation in education and employment
for the Scheduled Castes (Dalits) and the Scheduled Tribes in
proportion to their share in the population. This provision was made
as part of positive discrimination in view of the historical
discrimination and social injustice faced by these sections. An
amendment to the Constitution in the early years of its operation
empowered the States to provide reservation for the educationally and
socially backward classes in educational institutions and government
service.
Gohana attack HARYANA
The Janata Party government led by Morarji Desai appointed a
commission headed by the parliamentarian Brindeshwari Prasad Mandal to
identify “the socially and educationally backward” and consider their
case for reservation. (Article 340 of the Constitution enables the
President to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of
socially and educationally backward classes and the difficulties under
which they labour and to recommend steps that should be taken by the
Union and State governments to improve their condition.)
Although Mandal submitted his report as early as 1980, it gathered
dust for nearly a decade. It was Prime Minister V.P. Singh who took
the initiative in 1990 to implement the commission’s recommendations,
as promised by the ruling National Front during its election campaign.
He announced in Delhi on December 6, just four days after he was sworn
in as Prime Minister, that his government would implement the Mandal
Commission recommendations and that both Hindu and non-Hindu Other
Backward Classes, together accounting for 52 per cent of the
population, would be given 27 per cent reservation.
Khagaria killings BIHAR
The announcement triggered instant protests, mostly from “upper caste”
students. Protesters, who included over 3,000 university students,
staged demonstrations and stopped traffic in many places. Violence was
reported from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. The
next move from V.P. Singh came only on August 13, 1990, when he issued
a notification for the OBC reservation, which was also met with a
series of agitations. Notwithstanding legal battles against the scheme
on one pretext or another, the system has managed to survive.
The next significant move in respect of reservation came in 2006. It
was the Central Educational Institution (Reservation in Admission)
Act, 2006. It provided for the extension of reservation to the
prestigious institutions of higher learning. The Act is a significant
legislative measure – for the first time, Parliament recognised,
through a law, the need for reserving seats in higher educational
institutions as an expedient and necessary measure. The Supreme Court
has stayed the operation of the Act in respect of Other Backward
Classes pending the final disposal of certain petitions. The court
also clarified that the operation of the relevant section to the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes had not been stayed. The
Mandal Commission report pointed out that mere reservation of seats in
educational institutions or government jobs would not solve the
problems of OBCs. It recommended many other initiatives, such as the
intensification of land reforms, extension of credit facilities to
deprived sections, clearance of backlogs in respect of poverty
alleviation programmes, development initiatives, and measures to
spread education. A notable point in this context is that most of
those who come under the OBC category live in villages, something that
administrators and political leaders simply ignore.
Khap panchayat HARYANA
In recent years, some State governments granted separate reservation
for Muslims and Christians in the OBC quota. In Tamil Nadu, this has
been done by enacting a law, in response to representations from
people belonging to these two communities. The law was based on the
recommendations of the State Backward Classes Commission. Another
reservation-related step taken by some State governments was the
creation of sub-quotas for Dalit sub-castes such as Arunthathiyars and
Chakkiliyars (in Tamil Nadu), who are the worst sufferers of
untouchability, in the 18-20 per cent quota for Dalits. In Tamil Nadu,
the State government, through a resolution, has provided for a 3 per
cent sub-quota for some sub-sects from the existing 18 per cent
reservation for the Scheduled Castes. The percentage, however, changes
from State to State depending upon the Dalit share in the population.
People belonging to these sub-castes mostly serve as sanitation
workers.
Sixty years after Independence, reservation has not done much to
elevate these hapless people to any higher position in society.
Despite tremendous developments in science and technology, and in
violation of a Supreme Court order, the Centre and the State
governments have failed to bring an end to the practice of manual
scavenging and to rehabilitate those engaged in it in decent jobs
elsewhere.
Dalit rally DELHI
Though reservation has substantially benefited large sections, it must
be remembered that with sections of people remaining outside this
safety net, ensuring social justice to all will continue to be a
distant dream. The disinvestment policy under the neoliberal regime
has posed a serious threat to those employed in scores of public
sector undertakings (PSUs). The dismantling of PSUs and the steadily
falling state investment in employment-generating industries are
posing even more serious challenges to the system. More and more
people are made to be dependent on jobs in private establishments,
which are in no mood to introduce reservation. This has only resulted
in increasing the number of the unemployed in the country. Adding to
this is the closure of a number of factories and the resultant spurt
in the number of the jobless.
In the case of Dalits, the situation is worse, particularly because of
what Dalit leaders describe as “tardy” implementation of reservation.
Dalit activists complain of discrimination against Dalits in this
policy of “positive discrimination”. Bureaucrats from the “oppressor
castes” do not show any genuine interest in implementing reservation.
A large number of posts under the quota remain unfilled, and upper-
caste officials show the least interest in clearing backlogs. This
only proves that reservation in employment and education is not enough
to bring about any big change in raising the social status of Dalits.
Dalits on the payroll of private employers presumably suffer a much
worse form of discrimination.
Tribal homes torched by Salwa Judum activists in Dantewada, a file
photograph. Tribal residents of the Chhattisgarh forests are the worst
victims of the fight between the Salwa Judum and the naxalites.
A shocking expose in recent years is how Dalits, numbering more than
22 crore in the country, were taken for a ride by the governments at
the Centre and in the States in the matter of allotment of funds for
improving their lot. The Centre and the State governments failed to
implement faithfully the Special Component Plan (SCP), now known as
the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP). The SCP was supposed to be in
operation for the past over 30 years. Because of the failure of the
Ministries to allot money for Dalit-related schemes in proportion to
their share in the population, Dalits, according to one estimate,
could have lost a whopping Rs.3,75,000 crore in the last 25 years.
(“Plan and prejudice”, Frontline, October 19, 2007). This shows that
even Ministers and highly placed officials cannot claim to be free
from prejudice against Dalits.
It is not surprising that the outlawed practice of untouchability is
very much alive in the country, taking several new forms, and
atrocities against Dalits have become almost a daily affair in most
places. The 1990s saw a steep rise in atrocities against Dalits across
the country. The manifestation of “upper caste” prejudice against
Dalits is now more cruel and vulgar than in the past. However, one can
also see a qualitative shift in the response of Dalits to the physical
and verbal assaults on them. Dalits appeared determined to resist
these, apparently inspired by the nationwide celebrations of the birth
centenary of Ambedkar in 1991. They began to hit back. The caste-Hindu
response to this Dalit assertion has also been manifesting itself in
even more cruel ways. The police force, mostly packed with members of
non-Dalit castes, often side with the attackers.
Human rights activists and political observers say caste-based
violence against Dalits cannot be contained unless the police are
impartial and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act is effectively used against the guilty. The situation
that Dalits find themselves in has been aggravated by the economic
downslide brought about by the policies of an insensitive, market-
driven, neoliberal regime in the past 25 years. The period saw the
emergence of powerful Dalit leaders in almost all States in which
Dalit concentration is substantial, but not all could succeed to any
great extent in consolidating their base, maybe because of their need
to depend on bigger parties. Also, they did not have an agenda that
could radically transform the social and economic condition of Dalits.
Copyright © 2010, Frontline.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100115270105600.htm
Sid Harth
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
India's shame
ANNIE ZAIDI
in New Delhi, Punjab and Haryana
Manual scavenging is still a disgusting reality in most States despite
an Act of Parliament banning it.
SANDEEP SAXENA
AT NAND NAGRI in New Delhi, at a toilet complex that is cleaned
manually twice a day.
`SHAMEFUL', `degrading', `dehumanising', `disgusting', `obnoxious',
`abhorrent', a `blot on humanity' - these are some of the words used
to describe `manual scavenging', which in plain language means people
lifting human excreta with their hands and carrying the load on their
heads, hips or shoulders. If they are lucky, they get to use a wagon.
Over the years books have been written, committees and commissions
have been set up, laws have been enacted and crores of rupees have
been spent to eradicate manual scavenging. But even after six decades
of Independence, India continues to dehumanise, degrade and shame the
most vulnerable amongst us. Governments in several States have denied
in court the existence of manual scavengers despite evidence to the
contrary.
In 2002-03, the Union Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment
admitted the existence of 6.76 lakh people who lift human excreta for
a living and the presence of 92 lakh dry latrines, spread across 21
States and Union Territories. However, when the Safai Karamchari
Andolan (SKA), along with individual scavengers and organisations
which are working for the cause, filed a petition in the Supreme Court
in 2003, most States hotly denied having scavengers and claimed that
most of them had been rehabilitated in alternative professions. It
took three years and strong admonishments from the apex court for the
States to respond. Most of them submitted affidavits claiming that no
dry latrines exist and, therefore, no manual scavenging exists. Since
then, several affidavits and counter-affidavits have been filed.
Bezwada Wilson, national convener of the SKA, says the problem is not
about identifying, educating or providing alternatives. The problem is
one of attitude. "No reliable data are available. We have conducted
sample surveys with our limited resources and we estimate that there
could be as many as 13 lakh manual scavengers in the country," he
says.
The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrine
(Prohibition) Act was passed in 1993. Says Wilson: "It took another
decade for some States to adopt it. Some States refuse to adopt the
law, saying that they don't have any manual scavengers, despite
evidence to the contrary, while some States adopted the law only after
the SKA went to the Supreme Court. How can you solve a problem unless
you first admit that a problem exists?"
Capital falsehood
A Frontline investigation found that the state of denial extends to
the national capital. The affidavit filed by the Delhi government in
the Supreme Court has accused the petitioners of levelling "bad
allegations against answering respondent without verifying facts". On
a visit to Nand Nagri near Shahdara in the National Capital Region in
order to verify, Frontline met Meena, who is a volunteer with the SKA
and has been working as a manual scavenger since she was nine.
Says Meena, who is in her mid-twenties: "I remember the first time I
had to carry a basketful on my head. I slipped and fell into the
gutter. No one would come to pick me up because the basket was so
dirty and I was covered with filth. I sat there, howling, until
another woman scavenger arrived. She hosed me down and took me home.
But that day I felt like the most unfortunate child in the whole
world."
According to her, there could be anywhere between 100 and 150 families
in that suburb working as manual scavengers. "There is Rampur,
Seemapuri, Tarpur, Kachipura, Ashoknagar, Seva Dham; in Seva Dham
people go into open fields around their kuchcha houses. But
afterwards, they make you clean that open space also," she says. "Many
people just dig a hole in the ground and hang jute mats around it.
Then they call people from our community to clean up."
SANDEEP SAXENA
In the scavengers' colony.
Meena somehow managed to stay in school until she cleared her
secondary level examinations, but education brought little change.
"This is what we've been doing for generations and nobody gives us
other work. In fact, my mother was married to my father based upon the
fact that he lived in a busy, crowded area and there was that much
more to carry."
Meena's husband Mukesh works in a community toilet near their shack in
Nand Nagri. Mukesh wanted to apply for a government sweeper's post,
like his father, but could not. "They ask for Rs.50,000 in bribes for
a government job. At best, I could hope for occasional work, where I
get Rs.100 on a daily-wage basis, but the policeman takes his cut," he
says. "Finally, I cleaned this public toilet, which was run by the MCD
[Municipal Corporation of Delhi] until last year. Now, it is in
private hands. There is no water to clean the toilet, incidentally. I
fill my bucket with water from the open gutter outside." He adds that
many people simply squat outside the toilet, instead of sitting on the
commode; the safai karamchari is left to clean up.
Meena's mother Sharada cleans most of the private dry latrines in the
area. She says: "There are about 10 dry latrines now. I get Rs.10 per
house. Many houses have got pucca latrines now. But the way they are
constructed, the sewage comes from a pipe into the open gutter below.
And we have to clean this gutter. On many days the gutter overflows
with excreta and when there isn't enough water to wash it away, it
accumulates and dries. My husband sweeps it into a corner and I lift
it out of the gutter using two pieces of plastic and put it into a
basket."
Sharada's current grouse is that her basket is broken. A new one costs
around Rs.70, which she cannot afford. So she has hired a rickshaw-
cart, which she pulls herself. She piles it with both garbage and
gutter-filth, which she later sorts to pick out anything with resale
value.
Even Mahatma Gandhi's Gujarat has not learnt to clean its own toilets.
There are about 55,000 scavengers in Gujarat, according to the
Navsarjan Trust, which has been leading the movement in the State. Its
founder, Martin Macwan, believes that it is impossible to determine
correctly the size of the problem because people refuse access to
their homes. "We can know only about those employed with the
government, local civic bodies or panchayats. The estimates are based
on the population of Balmikis, the kind of work they engage in, and
sample surveys," he says. "The State government does nothing except
allocate money. The scavengers are made to believe that this is their
work and they cannot do anything else, so they don't want to talk
about it."
Clearly, State governments are not going to talk about it either, if
they can help it. Haryana and Punjab claim they have no manual
scavengers. However, visits to localities in the two States showed
that they had not only failed in their commitment to eradicate manual
scavenging but also lied to the Supreme Court.
SANDEEP SAXENA
Clearing garbage and sewage on a cart she has hired.
At Sanoli Road, a locality in Panipat town in Haryana, Frontline saw
at least five dry latrines and met three scavengers. Bhagwati, who
lives in Deha basti, has spent her whole life doing precisely the task
the civic authorities deny the existence of - cleaning dry latrines
manually. She says that she carries narak (hell, in Hindi). "I have
been doing this ever since I can remember. My mother did it, my sister
did it and I am doing it." The only saving grace, according to
Bhagwati, is that there is no lack of water in the area. "As it is, my
hands and feet and waist get marked by the `narak'. At least, I can
bathe after work," she says.
Bala, 35, lives in what is commonly known as Balmiki basti in Panipat
town and has been cleaning dry latrines in some of the houses in the
area for the past 18 years. She would gladly stop doing it now if only
she had an alternative. "Who wants to lift other people's filth? But I
am forced to because we're so poor. No household gives me more than Rs.
15-20," she says.
However, as far as the State government is concerned, people like
Bhagwati and Bala do not exist. Its affidavit filed this year in the
Supreme Court claims that until 1992 there were 2.02 lakh dry latrines
but these were phased out and not a single one remains. It also claims
that the Rs.18.36 crores received from the Centre was used up for
training and rehabilitation, that 15,739 scavengers were rehabilitated
and that "Haryana is a scavenger-free State".
Punjab has a similar take. The State government conducted a survey in
1992 after the Centre launched the National Scheme for Liberation and
Rehabilitation of Scavengers and their dependants. The scheme, which
was to be implemented by the States, enabled beneficiaries to get
vocational training and be settled in alternative professions. It also
provided households below the poverty line an 80 per cent subsidy to
build flush latrines.
At that time, Punjab identified 12,444 scavenger families. In the
affidavit filed in the Supreme Court this year the State claimed:
"Since banks were not providing timely loans to the beneficiaries, the
Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation also
started disbursing loans to them under its own scheme to avoid
hardship to this class. The pace of the scheme was very slow as
scavengers were not coming forward to avail the loan under this
scheme; therefore, fresh survey for identification of scavengers was
got conducted (sic) through Deputy Commissioners in all the districts
of the State. As a result, only 531 scavengers were identified."
K. ANANTHAN
IN COIMBATORE, TAMIL Nadu, going down to clear a choked drain with
minimum equipment.
How this statistical miracle occurred is anybody's guess. Of the 531
people identified, the State claimed that 389 "rehabilitated on their
own and remaining 142 scavengers have been rehabilitated by the
Corporation". Most of them are women and that they are "on their own"
is clear to them.
Subhash Desawar, State convener of the SKA, told Frontline that in
Samrala town, in relatively prosperous Ludhiana district, he could
recall readily the names of 20 women. "Incidentally, this is the home
town of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president. We also have
evidence of manual scavenging in Patiala, the constituency of the
Chief Minister," he says.
Most of the women got into this work only after marriage. Shanti, 70,
began cleaning dry latrines about 20 years ago. "Many have been
converted to flush latrines, especially after the SKA people came with
cameras. Those people whose homes had dry latrines got frightened and
were ashamed, so many of them converted," she says. "But there are a
few left. We get Rs.20 from each house, and sometimes leftover food."
Amarwati, another senior citizen, has been cleaning dry latrines for
as long as she can remember. She says: "I don't like it. I have
studied till the 4th standard. I can read newspapers, novels and can
write a bit. But there was no option. It seems I have done this
forever. I didn't let my daughter do it, but I have no alternative for
myself."
At least 15 women confirmed that they clean dry latrines and that they
have not got any help from the authorities. They had not heard of any
government scheme to train and rehabilitate them, no civic official
had approached them with an offer of loans, and, until the SKA
intervention they were neither included in any survey nor asked to
stop doing their work.
Another major hurdle to the eradication of scavenging is the Railways.
The tracks have to be cleaned manually since coaches have the `open
discharge' system, and most stations are not equipped with concretised
platforms that would allow waste to be washed away with jets of water.
In their response to the Supreme Court, the railways cited lack of
money. The Railways claim that a proposal to fit fully sealed latrines
is "under consideration" and "various technologies shall be tried
out", but refuse to set themselves a deadline to end the present
practice.
Challenges ahead
In the 13 years since the passing of the Employment of Manual
Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrine (Prohibition) Act there has
not been a single prosecution; the Act stipulates imprisonment up to a
year and fines up to Rs.2,000 or both. "The law is more like a scheme;
it has no teeth. The powers rest with the sanitary inspector or the
Collector, while the worker himself cannot file a case," says Wilson.
"Workers who clean open gutters, manholes and septic tanks, who are
exposed to great risks, are not covered by the Act. Also, though the
States have adopted the Act, most have not adopted the rules and
regulations along with it."
While the government has made attempts through various schemes
offering loans and subsidies, setting up the National Commission for
Safai Karamcharis and the National Safai Karamchari Financing and
Development Corporation, they have not succeeded.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in its affidavit,
claims that 1.56 lakh people were trained and 4.08 lakh were
rehabilitated until 2002, and that Rs.712.14 crores have been released
to the States. It also says that there were only about four lakh
scavengers in 1989, conveniently omitting to mention more recent
statistics.
COURTESY: ADI THAMIZH AR PERAVAI SAXENA
In the same city, a public facility that is cleaned manually.
The Social Justice Ministry, at different points of time, offered five
different sets of figures, as stated in the Ninth Report of the Public
Accounts Committee. For instance, the number of scavengers identified
in Assam went up threefold between 1997 and 1999.
Interestingly, an audit of the National Scheme for Liberation and
Rehabilitation of Scavengers for the period 1992 to 2002 by the
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) threw up a maze of conflicting
data. In fact, the CAG report on the audit said the Rs.600-crore grant
given by the Centre to the States had "gone, literally, down the
latrine". The latest scheme is a National Action Plan for the Total
Eradication of Manual Scavenging by 2007, under which the
responsibility for liberation and rehabilitation has been shifted to
the Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation, which is the
nodal Ministry to deal with the issue.
However, the Centre cannot resolve this problem alone, for
`sanitation' is a State subject and manual scavenging is, finally, a
sanitation issue and, more importantly, a health issue.
The SKA petition had mentioned a study by the Environmental Sanitation
Institute, Gandhi Ashram, which said the majority of scavengers
suffered from anaemia, diarrhoea and vomiting.
Besides, 62 per cent of them had respiratory diseases, 32 per cent had
skin diseases, 42 per cent had jaundice and 23 per cent had trachoma,
leading to blindness. Many died of carbon monoxide poisoning while
cleaning septic tanks, it said.
Any public health official would agree that septic tanks themselves
are a health hazard. Sewage and storm-water drains often mix, and the
effluent flows into the local river. Open gutters are another menace,
making whole populations vulnerable to malaria, dengue,
gastroenteritis, hepatitis and many other diseases.
SANDEEP SAXENA
Meena, a manual scavenger, at home with family in Nand Nagri.
Unfortunately, government and municipal authorities tend to ignore
sanitation because it does not bring the voters' wrath upon their
heads as urgently as, say, water and power supply. It takes a plague,
as it did in Surat, to make them sit up and smell the sewage.
As far as the primary issue of dry latrines is concerned, there is no
way of countering it other than the demolition of all existing units.
Uttaranchal, in fact, may have inadvertently struck the nail on the
head when it filed an affidavit saying, "as long as dry latrines
remain in existence, the scavengers to clean the same will also remain
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2318/stories/20060922005900400.htm
Sid Harth
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
THE STATES
Slaughter of the Dalits
T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
in Jhajjar and Gurgaon
Were the five Dalits killed in Haryana the victims of mob frenzy
following the slaughter and skinning of a cow? Or did the police do it
after failing in an extortion bid, as the victims' relatives allege?
R.V. MOORTHY
The spot near the Duleena police post where two of the victims were
thrown into a fire.
EACH year on Dasara day, the triumph of good over evil is celebrated
with ritual and symbolic splendour in northern India. The day marks
the defeat of Ravana and his forces by Rama. But this year, for five
Dalits of Haryana, it turned out to be the day of victory of evil. On
October 15, the police, allegedly in connivance with communal
elements, ensured that the young men, who had fallen into their hands,
would not escape alive. They were lynched, their eyes gouged out and
their bodies mutilated. The faces of two of them were burnt. Their
alleged crime was that they skinned a cow on the road leading to
Jhajjar town. Ironically, the carcass was sent for a post-mortem to
ascertain the time of the cow's death.
The version of the Jhajjar police is that a mob of thousand people had
found the Dalits skinning a live cow on the evening of October 15. The
crowd, according to the police, was returning after watching the
Dasara celebrations in Jhajjar town. On seeing the "cow slaughter and
the skinning", the crowd dragged the five to the Duleena police post,
5 km from Jhajjar town. The police claim that they were helpless and
could do little to control the mob. The police registered a first
information report (FIR) charging the five persons with cow slaughter
and then handed them over to the mob. The attack started at 6 p.m. and
went on till 10 p.m. Senior officials, including the Deputy
Superintendent of Police (DSP), who arrived at the spot even before
the lynching had started, could do little. It is claimed that the
police tried to convince the mob that the men were Hindus and not
members of the minority community. A leading newspaper even mentioned
that it was a case of "mistaken identity". There is at least one other
version that contradicts that given by the police. That points to the
insidious role played by the police and communal elements. This is not
the first time that communal frenzy has been whipped up based on
rumours of cow slaughter.
ON October 15, it was work as usual for Virender, Dayachand, Tota Ram,
Raju and Kailash. While the first four belonged to villages in Gurgaon
district, the fifth was a hide merchant from Karnal. Virender and
Dayachand were merchants from Badshahpur village, Tota Ram was a
driver from Aklimpur, and 16-year-old Raju, his helper, was from
Teekli village. Around 2 p.m., Virender and Dayachand, both in their
twenties, loaded the hides of buffaloes, calves and goats, collected
over period of a month from various parts of Sohna block, onto Tota
Ram's hired vehicle. They possessed licences from two agencies, the
Sohna Panchayat Samiti and the State government-recognised Adarsh
Gaushala of Teekli village, to skin dead animals and collect their
bones. The panchayat samiti had given them, on payment of Rs.35,000,
the licence valid for the period from Apri1 1, 2002 to March 31, 2003.
(Frontline possesses copies of the receipts issued by both the
agencies.) For the past 35 years, their families had been doing this
job. All five men belonged to the Jatav caste.
The families of Virender and Dayachand were the only ones in
Badshahpur village that skinned dead animals. The skins, which they
sold at nominal prices to traders, seemed to fetch good prices when
they reached the shoe factories in Karnal. The skinners had small
godowns in their homes to store the skins which were salted to keep
the smell away. These families have been living with hides in their
midst for decades. Not many people belonging to the Jatav community
prefer to do this work if they have a choice. With tears in his eyes,
Rattan Lal, Virender's father, told this correspondent that their
source of livelihood had been snatched away from them.
Information gathered from Rattan Lal and others revealed that Kailash
had stayed for three days in the village and on October 15, around 2
p.m., he collected the skins stored in the homes of Virender and
Dayachand. The skinning was usually done in the jungles, away from the
roads. Tota Ram hired the vehicle from the adjoining Teekli village.
The group left Badshahpur in the afternoon. That was the last time
people of the village saw them.
Early the next morning, the families of the five persons were informed
by the police that there had been an "accident" involving them and
were told to rush to the Jhajjar Civil Hospital. The family members
reached the hospital to find the mutilated bodies.
Relatives of the five men do not believe the police version. They
appear convinced that the police personnel at the Duleena post tried
to extort money from the men and an altercation ensued. The five, four
of whom were well-built men, might have resisted the extortion attempt
and might have been killed, they believe. The family members do not
think that the villagers were behind the lynching. "I want justice,
only justice. I don't want any money," says Virender's mother. The
police are the main culprits, say the family members of the dead. They
ask how the police personnel would know the identities of the dead
unless the five had been interrogated and their statements recorded.
The five had also been charged with cow slaughter. Rattan Lal said
that if at all they had skinned the animal, the police would have
found weapons on them. Inderjit Singh, Haryana State secretary of the
Communist Party of India (Marxist), told Frontline that it made little
sense to skin a cow worth Rs.200 on the roadside, especially when the
vehicle was already carrying skins worth thousands of rupees. He also
ruled out the involvement of people from the villages as it was highly
improbable that they would go all the way to Jhajjar town to watch
Dasara festivities.
S. SUBRAMANIUM
At a demonstration organised by the Communist Party of India
(Marxist).
At the Duleena post, a structure with three small rooms, there were
tell-tale signs of brutal killings. There were bloodstains on the road
where the post is located. The stains on the porch of the police post
were still visible. The badges on the uniforms of the three policemen
on duty were conspicuously missing. All three denied that they were
present on the day of the incident. One inspector, who identified
himself as Virender, showed this correspondent the grills of the two
windows that had allegedly been twisted by the mob. In fact, the
frames were intact, and it was surprising how a 5,000-strong crowd
could not break it. The garden in front of the building remained
intact, with sunflower in full bloom. When asked how the plants and
the flowers had escaped the wrath of a rampaging crowd, the inspector
said: "We had to do a lot to get them in shape." He added that the
police could not do anything as the mob had all kinds of implements.
This also sounded improbable, for if the people were returning from
Dasara festivities, they would not have been carrying farm implements.
He said that the Station House Officer (SHO) was hurt, but it turned
out that the officer had only a scratch on his arm.
The cruel deed was carried out in the presence of the DSP, the City
Magistrate, the Naib Tehsildar and almost 50 police personnel. The
District Commissioner's (D.C.) office got the information late in the
evening, but by the time the D.C., Mohinder Kumar, reached the site,
district officials had little role to play. Local Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) activists and other anti-social elements, who must have
been mobilised from the town, joined the police and the five men were
allegedly beaten to death.
The Superintendent of Police, Mohammad Akil, was unavailable for
comment as he was busy making arrangements for the Chief Minister's
visit to the district. Jhajjar SHO Rajinder Singh refused to part with
the details of the FIR, saying that he was not authorised to say
anything to the media. The charge of cow slaughter recorded against
the victims under the Cow Slaughter (Prevention) Act remains. Another
FIR registered by the Jhajjar police is under Section 302 (murder) of
the IPC against unidentified members of the mob. Till date, nobody has
been arrested.
Of equal significance is the role of organisations such as the VHP and
the Bajrang Dal. This needs to be examined, as there have been
instances of their raising the issue of cow slaughter at periodic
intervals, the most recent being in Loharu town in Bhiwani district in
April when shops and homes belonging to members of the minority
community were selectively destroyed and an old mosque was vandalised.
The incidents followed a call for an all-India bandh given by the VHP
soon after the Godhra incident. Rumours were rife that Muslims were
slaughtering cows. It was also rumoured that a calf with one ear and a
clipped tail was roaming near Loharu town. A total of 39 people were
arrested in connection with the violence, including two office-bearers
of the Dadri unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On October 16, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal took out a victory
procession in Jhajjar, in which the people responsible for the killing
of the Dalits were allegedly lauded. In New Delhi, the VHP's senior
vice-president, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, defended the VHP's position
stating that it was more important to ascertain if the men had
actually killed the cow or were skinning a cow that was already dead.
He quoted Hindu scriptures to say that the life of a cow was more
precious than that of a human being. Inquiries revealed that the local
units of the two organisations were active in Jhajjar town. They had
submitted a memorandum to the police asking them not to take action
against anybody in connection with the killings. After visiting the
area, a VHP secretary, Surendra Jain, claimed that cow slaughter was
rampant in the Mewat area, which comprised parts of Rajasthan and
Haryana and was home to Meo Muslims. He blamed the government for not
implementing laws relating to the prevention of cow slaughter. Yashpal
Gandhi, another VHP office-bearer in Bahadurgarh, said that the
"Ravanas found slaughtering cows had been punished" and those who
acted against them should be honoured.
THE families of the victims were in a state of shock. At least four of
them have left behind little children. Neighbours cutting across caste
lines were seen commiserating with the bereaved families. More
important, the families did not fall into the trap of the communal
logic given by the police about the killings being a case of "mistaken
identity". Dayachand's brother said that even if the men had been
Muslims, the killings would not have been justified. He was reacting
to reports which held that the police had tried to save the victims by
telling the mob that the men were Hindus and not Muslims. "Are they
not human?" Dayachand's brother asked. He too believes that it was the
police personnel and some anti-social elements who killed the five
men. He explained how the police persuaded them to take a different
route while returning home with the bodies. They were told that they
might be attacked by angry mobs on the way. He said that two of his
relatives checked out the route on a motorcycle and found no mob lying
in wait.
All the four families in Gurgaon district are landless. Tota Ram's
family situation is tragic. He is survived by a near-blind mother, a
young wife and four children, the eldest of whom is six years old and
the youngest three months old. Raju, the cleaner, was learning
driving.
While almost all political parties reacted to the incident,
particularly the Left parties and some of the organisations of
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe people, the Om Prakash Chautala-
led Indian National Lok Dal government took its own time to respond.
On October 20, Chautala visited Jhajjar but did not meet the families
of the victims. It also did not go unnoticed that the Chief Minister
was in Badshahpur two days after the incident but did not visit any of
the families: he was there to visit a party worker, residents of the
village said. However, on October 24, nine days after the incident,
Chautala made a brief visit to the bereaved families. Moreover, it was
only a week after the lynching that Chautala declared that the guilty
would be brought to book immediately. In his opinion, it was a case of
"mistaken" identity. All the 13 police personnel on duty at the
Duleena post have been transferred and R.R. Banswal, the Rohtak
Divisional Commissioner, has been put in charge of the inquiry. On
October 24, after all five families had rejected the compensation of
Rs.1 lakh initially sanctioned by the State government, the Haryana
Cabinet raised the amount to Rs.5 lakhs and decided to provide
employment to the next of kin of the dead persons. The National Human
Rights Commission sent a notice to the State government asking it to
file a detailed report on the incident. Deputy Prime Minister L.K.
Advani, perhaps sensing the popular mood, announced that the Centre
would prevail on the State government to take action against the
guilty. However, so far little has been done to achieve this end.
A joint delegation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the
Communist Party of India and the All India Democratic Women's
Association (AIDWA) was the first such group to visit the families and
meet the district officials. It demanded strict action against the
culprits and a compensation of Rs.5 lakhs to each of the five
families. While the mass organisations of the Left parties held
demonstrations in Jhajjar, the Delhi State unit of the CPI(M) held a
protest rally led by senior leaders such as Brinda Karat and Inderjit
Singh. Congress(I) president Sonia Gandhi visited the families and
assured them of monetary help. Lok Jan Shakti president Ram Vilas
Paswan visited the bereaved families. Significantly, Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, also a
Jatav by caste, did not react to the incident for several days.
However, at a rally organised by the BSP on October 25 in Gurgaon, she
railed against the government, particularly the police, but gave a
clean chit to the communal organisations, which played an overt or
covert role in the incident.
On October 27, at a public meeting organised by the All India
Confederation of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Organisations and
the Lord Buddha Club, several Dalits, including the families of the
dead persons, converted themselves to Buddhism and other religions.
While the move is being seen as a reaction to the prevalent Hindu
system of social organisation that discriminates against Dalits, it is
unlikely that such measures will result in social change, especially
when the class character of society remains unchanged.
In Haryana, barring protests by some political parties, there is no
discussion of the incident, and there is no sense of shock in Jhajjar.
An employee in the S.P.'s office said that there was no tension over
the incident. Only the media seem to be interested, he remarked. Such
apathy characterises Haryana today. With an entrenched feudal order,
rampant casteism and a declining sex ratio, the only saving grace was
that the State had been relatively free of communal incidents.
However, since 1992, sporadic instances of communal violence have been
reported from various parts of the State, some of them rather serious.
It is clear that apart from the general social discord that already
exists, Chautala will soon have a new problem on his hands if he does
not rein in the political forces that foment communalism.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1923/stories/20021122003703800.htm
Sid Harth
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Desperate peoples
P. SAINATH
The vanishing world of India's tribes
M.A. SRIRAM
Tribes formerly notified as "criminal" by and large live in subhuman
conditions. Here, life in a colony of such a tribe at Ekalavyanagar
near Mysore.
AS I sat down on a rock, puffing, somewhere down a treacherous slope
on a hill in Godda, Bihar, I marvelled at Guhy Paharini and her
friends. The Paharia tribal girl, barely 16 years old, was carrying
about 40 kilograms of lakdi (firewood) on her head. That was probably
a couple of kg more than her own body weight. And the lakdi was in
length about two and a half to three times her height.
When Guhy and the two other women with her rested halfway down the
hill slope, I got time to breathe. We had already walked more than 28
km, across extremely tough terrain. When I first got to their village,
they had moved 8 km towards the forests to cut the firewood and an
equal distance back towards the village where they secured the bundles
and rested for a while. For eight of the 16 km they had covered, they
had between 25 to 40 kg of firewood on their heads - each of them.
Since this was the last phase of the monsoon, the wood was that much
heavier, being wet. And, again, waterlogging was forcing scorpions and
snakes out of their holes, a constant danger to the women as they
walked barefoot. By the time we reached the haat (the weekly or bi-
weekly rural market) we had covered close to 40 km, a good deal of
that across rocky and hilly terrain. The Paharia villages in Godda –
one of India’s poorest districts, located in the Santhal Parganas –
are very isolated. To reach some of them you have to cross two or
three hillocks. The young women seemed to do these routes with
practised ease. I found it pretty difficult to keep pace with them
(and take photographs at the same time).
At the haat the women sold their bundles – Rs.5 to Rs.7 for each. I
found it impossible to accept that anyone one would have to live this
way, but for the Paharia women this is pretty much part of day-to-day
reality.
In addition to this bi-weekly trip to the haat, Guhy and her friends
have to walk 6 to 8 km each day for water in an area where water
sources are few and often foul. Put together their various chores and
you will find that Paharia women like Guhy walk a distance equivalent
to that between Delhi and Bombay – four to five times a year.
Completely in the grip of the Mahajans (trader-moneylenders), the
Paharia tribal people, one of India’s most backward and impoverished,
have to resort to extensive tree-felling and deforestation to raise
the few rupees they need to stay alive. Development programmes come
and go, leaving no major impact. But that is because these programmes
seldom take into account their cultural uniqueness.
In one instance, under the Integrated Rural Development Programme,
cows were distributed to the Paharias – who believe it is wrong to
milk cows. Believing that the cow’s milk belongs to the calf, they do
not consume milk or milk products. So they could only use these cows
as draught animals. Being weak creatures from the plains these died
pretty quickly – leaving some of the Paharias repaying “soft loans” on
dead cows.
The Paharias are down to a mere 20,000 in Godda, with some more in
other parts of the Santhal Parganas. But they are certainly not the
only tribal people in trouble. In Palamau, another of India’s poorest
districts, the Birhors, one of our most backward tribes, are facing
near-extinction. Between the 1961 and 1991 Census, their population
came down by more than 50 per cent and now there are less than 2,000
of them between Hazaribagh and Palamau.
Not a single Birhor child in the Balumath block of Palamau goes to
school and not one woman is literate. Originally hunters, the Birhors
lived in complete harmony with the great jungles around them. They
could teach the world a thing or two about rational utilisation of
resources. Their settlements normally have only 10 huts or so at one
place and are usually spread across the forest. This allows the
different groups fair access to and equal share of forest resources.
Today the Birhors are victims, on an unprecedented scale, of
deforestation and “development”.
The Kurwas are more in number, but are not much better off than the
Birhors in a number of other ways. The government has tried to give
the Kurwas in some blocks of Palamau small plots of land. More than
two years after this land has been allotted with pattas issued,
several of the Kurwas are still searching for the land.
I met more than half a dozen Kurwas who had been allotted land that
they could not locate. They receive no help at the circle office since
those who work there will not do anything for free. They expect bribes
- from a people for whom Rs.50 is nothing less than a fortune. A
proposed Army field firing range in the Mahuadarr block of Palamau and
in some parts of neighbouring Gumla district will displace thousands
of Oraons, Asurs, Kurwas and other tribals. For years the Army has
been using the area as a temporary firing range, Each time the 23
Artillery of Ranchi has a practice session, hundreds of tribal
families have to leave their homes and live on the edge of the jungle
for a night – with their children, goats, cattle and all other
belongings.
When they return home the next morning, they will be paid the princely
compensation of Rs.1.50 for their “cooperation”. Meanwhile, falling
shells and Army vehicles would have caused immense damage to the few
crops the tribals are able to raise. If the Army goes ahead with its
proposal to make the field firing range a permanent feature, then the
displacement of the tribals will be permanent.
Back in Balumath, I spent hours trying to talk to members of the tribe
known as Parhaiyas. Unfortunately, I had approached their village by
jeep. The moment we were sighted, the men bolted into the fields and
the forest, leaving the women and children behind. For the Parhaiyas a
jeep means the police, and the police mean beatings and bestiality.
The Parhaiyas were designated a “criminal” tribe by the British raj.
To this day, the stigma remains. Any crime committed in the Balumath
block is likely to be followed by the police descending on the
Parhaiyas, regardless of whether there is the remotest ground for
suspecting their involvement. Again, not a single child in this
community is attending school.
Across the Chhotanagpur region (and even in the Santhal Parganas) the
key word is displacement – and the major victims of that phenomenon
are tribal people and Dalits. Whether the cause is the building of
dams or mining or the Army’s requirements or government decisions, the
loser is usually a tribal or a Dalit.
The International Year of Indigenous Peoples has not gone down very
well in India. In fact, barring the inevitable seminars and
conferences, it has been a dismal failure. Tribal people in this
country continue to be the weakest, usually the first targets of land
grab, displacement or “development”.
Between 60 and 70 million Indians are tribal people. Outside the north-
eastern region many face conditions ranging from deprivation to
disintegration, and a relentless assault on their land, resources,
culture and civilisation. Yet, in their dignified, non-acquisitive
struggle for survival, there are rich ideas to be drawn from what
Jawaharlal Nehru called their “better corporate life than the caste-
ridden society we suffer from”.Many of India’s 400-odd tribes played a
tremendous part in resisting British colonialism. In Godda, where the
Paharias are in decline, there stands in the middle of the district
headquarters a “martyrs’ pillar”, put up in 1947 to honour those who
laid down their lives in the struggle for freedom. The first name on
it is that of a Paharia person – and indeed most of the other names,
too, are of Paharias and other tribal people. The first to die for
freedom, the last to benefit from it. Is this picture confined to
Bihar? Far from it.
Tribal people in India account for the highest incidence of a large
number of health problems, from malnutrition to malaria. In Orissa and
Madhya Pradesh, both States with a high percentage of tribal
population, the tribes depend upon the forest for well over 30 per
cent of their food. What is termed “minor forest produce” is essential
and life-giving for them. The “major forest produce”, timber, goes to
urban Indians – its collection and smuggling often destroying tribal
areas at an alarming rate.
The fastest rate of depletion or alienation of resources belongs to
the tribal peoples, who, unsurprisingly, also suffer the highest
levels of indebtedness. According to the Reserve Bank of India, not
only is the debt burden highest among tribal people, it is
particularly heavy in the lowest asset groups among them. Theirs is a
Fourth World within the Third. In Maharashtra, the rate of
indebtedness among tribal peoples is about three times that among non-
tribal people.
In schooling, in literacy, on every measure of educational
achievement, the indigenous peoples of India are lagging way behind,
thanks to an unsympathetic state, apathy, indifference, criminal
neglect and active hostility. They constitute a very large proportion
of school dropouts in each State. In Medak, a constituency in Andhra
Pradesh from where the Prime Minister was elected, not even two out of
every 100 tribal women are literate. Even against a national scenario
where 70 out of every 100 Indian women are illiterate, the tribal
picture is desperate.
Tribal people occupy the lowest rung in an enforced caste hierarchy,
though theoretically they should be outside that system altogether.
And they suffer the highest level of atrocities for any group. In
Madhya Pradesh alone, in 1989 there were 2,163 officially recorded
atrocities – including murder, rape and arson – committed by non-
tribal people against tribal people. Even at the national level those
atrocities have been increasing. The overall national figure for such
crimes recorded in 1976 was 1,065. By 1989 it was 3,623 – an increase
of 340 per cent (approximately).
Besides, as former Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Tribes B.D.
Sharma has so eloquently argued, tribal people have been criminalised
by definition. Successive rulers have structured a complex of laws
relating to forests and other tribal resources – laws that were framed
without even recognising the existence of the tribal people and their
rights. In most places, it is impossible for the tribal people not to
break several laws each day.
The forests have been declared the property of the state. This means
it becomes an offence for the tribal people – who have been dwelling
in these very forests for millennia – to make a living from them. If a
tribal person enters a forest with a bow and arrows, that is an
offence. If his cattle graze, as usual, in the forest, he is violating
the law and the cattle might be confiscated. If he takes his
traditional brew after worshipping the gods, or in social functions
according to his traditions, that makes him a lawbreaker. Having made
it impossible for them to observe the law, the state then punishes
them for breaking it. In Balumath block of Palamau, also one of
India’s poorest districts, I had a conversation with Rambirich, a
young man of the Birhor tribe – one on the verge of extinction. He was
fascinated by the concept of the International Year of the Indigenous
Peoples when I told him about it. “Is it really meant for us?” he
asked, but added after some contemplation: “It can’t be, otherwise we
wouldn’t be in this state” – and moved off with his ancient snare,
hoping to trap a rabbit and put an end to the hunger of several days
of at least one family of indigenous peoples.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/19940128063.htm
Sid Harth
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
POLITICS
Relevance of Ambedkar
N. RAM
THE HINDU PHOTO LIBRARY
Dr B.R. Ambedkar. No other national figure in Indian politics in the
20th century matched his scholarly orientation.
IN the centenary year of his birth, Babasaheb Ambedkar stands taller
than he ever did before – his role in the struggle for a modern, new
India gaining steadily in weight, stature and centrality at the
expense of various other outstanding national figures who were
contemporaries and opponents in the great battles of the freedom
movement era. This is essentially because the deep-seated and central
problems spotlighted by his life, struggles, studies and
experimentation in ideas remain alive and kicking while the big socio-
political questions he raised about the state, well-being and future
of India remain basically unanswered.
He was born Bhimrao on April 14, 1891, at Mhow in Central India in an
austere and religious Mahar family with a military service background
and considerable respect for education. In school (Satara and Bombay),
college (Bombay), service under the Maharaja of Baroda (briefly in
1913 and again between July and November 1917) and study abroad
(Columbia University, the London School of Economics, Gray’s Inn, the
University of Bonn), he displayed a scholarly orientation, a
commitment to the life of the mind and trained intellectual gifts that
no other national figure in Indian politics could match over this
century.
He benefited from opportunities which had just opened up, which none
in his family (or, for that matter, in the recorded history of his
people) had access to over the centuries; yet every one of his
academic, intellectual and professional achievements was hard earned,
in social battle, against entrenched oppression, discrimination and
anti-human prejudice. By the time he was finished with his formal
studies in the early 1920s, Dr Ambedkar had acquired qualifications
that surpassed the M.A., Ph.D., M.Sc. (Econ), D.Sc. (Econ), Barrister-
at-law he had added, by right, to his name and title; the young man
had been through a real life educational experience which most people
(including the most renowned scholars) do not manage to acquire in a
lifetime.
There may be various opinions on the formidable range of issues and
controversies in which Dr Ambedkar figured as a protagonist over 40
years of his public life – which can be said to have begun with the
sharp and insightful paper on “The Castes in India, Their Mechanism,
Genesis and Development” which he did for Dr Goldenweiser’s
anthropology seminar in New York in May 1916. He was a searchingly
honest, challenging, analytical eclectic liberal thinker who was
attracted to utilitarianism (and eventually to Buddhism) in philosophy
and to the ideals of the French Revolution as much as to the socially
forward-looking and humanistic elements and values in Indian culture
and civilisation over the millennia.
He delved into the Marxist classics (claiming, during the historic
anti-khot mobilisation of peasants in Bombay in early 1938, that “I
have definitely read studiously more books on the Communist philosophy
than all Communist leaders here”), but was not persuaded either by the
revolutionary theory or the practice. He was emphatically opposed to
Gandhism and to the Congress ideology, although on some social issues
he shared common points with Jawaharlal Nehru – who badly let down his
Minister of Law on the Hindu Code Bill in the early 1950s. Right from
his early days, Ambedkar made a mark as a restless and courageous
experimenter who, obviously, did not always get it right in the matter
of trade-offs (and did not claim to). He fell in love with ideas as a
socially oppressed and humiliated schoolboy who refused to be taken
for a ride by anyone, including Baroda’s royalty. Throughout his life
(which ended on December 6, 1956, a couple of months after he publicly
embraced Buddhism along with his followers), he was interested in the
big picture. But the boy who was socially barred from playing cricket
with his schoolmates in Satara (by the curse of untouchability) never
took his eye off the ball. He concentrated in his public life on
attainable, practical goals and never became too big to go into
specifics, details, doubts, books, the problems of ordinary people,
especially the lowliest of the low in Indian society.
During Dr Ambedkar’s lifetime, his many opponents and critics –
especially Congressmen – alleged from time to time that he had missed
the main strategic task or objective. Such criticism gained wide
currency, especially in the press which tended to patronise him as a
sort of sub-national leader, a sectional leader of the Scheduled
Castes rather than the towering and challenging national figure he was
in every objective sense. Unfortunately, some of the heroes of the
freedom struggle, social reactionaries themselves, completely missed
the point about how Dr Ambedkar’s studious, tough-minded, powerful
social questioning and battles fitted into the overall picture; some
of them even questioned his patriotism and called him names, but who
remembers them today? Looking at this inspiring but contradictory
freedom movement experience in late-twentieth century light, we can
begin to appreciate why Dr Ambedkar was unerringly on target on social
questions and his critics and opponents dead wrong (even if they were
so for understandable reasons).
What is absolutely clear in this centenary year is that Dr Ambedkar
represented, in the truly national sense, the profound side of the
socio-political struggle which formed an irrepressible part of the
nationalist movement, although it was not often understood (by
conservatism and orthodoxy in politics) to be such. Politically
moderate, he tended towards radicalism and uncompromising struggle in
the social arena in which he generalled many battles. His lifelong
concern with religion, morality and justice in the idealistic sense
was marked by a restlessly serious attempt to get the intellectual,
social and political measure of these things. He did not believe in
class analysis, but intuitively and intellectually grasped the link
between caste and class in India. What is impressive is that the giant
whose moderately couched, constitutionally canalised socio-political
revolt we are observing retains a formidable constituency – in terms
of people, gut issues and social and moral dilemmas to be addressed by
a complicated nation which needs to find its way out of a host of
troubles.
Aside from his collected works, there are some reasonably good
biographies, such as W.N. Kuber’s Dr. Ambedkar: A Critical Study
(People’s Publishing House, New Delhi, 1973) and B.R. Ambedkar in the
Builders of Modern India series (1978). Eleanor Zelliot’s unpublished
PhD dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania (1969) and Gail
Omvedt’s more recent studies on Dr Ambedkar and Dalit Labour
radicalism and protest movements do contribute useful insights. This
literature can be significantly improved upon if centenary celebration
resources are intelligently deployed in the relevant research and
study (as the Central government has promised).
Ideologically, Dr Ambedkar occupied the “centre”, frequently the space
right of centre, but at times he moved sharply the other way, to the
radical side. This happened especially when his ideas, campaigns and
political organisational work were backed by powerful mass movements
(in the “radical” second half of the 1930s, for example, during the
1938 workers’ struggle in Bombay against the anti-strike Bill). He was
the builder of the Independent Labour Party, which did not take off in
an all-India sense, but yielded some valuable political, ideological
and organisational lessons to the Opposition round the nation. Despite
his chairmanship of the Constitution Draft Committee in the
Constituent Assembly and his stint in the Union Ministry under Nehru,
Dr Ambedkar can be considered as a founder of non-Congressism and anti-
Congressism in Indian politics.
Even while championing social egalitarianism and popular liberties and
criticising the sway of big business and landlordism, campaigning for
social and economic democracy, he remained a conscious ideological and
political adversary of Marxism and Communism – for the basic reason
that he found them challenging in the same way he found Buddhism
inspiring. He had a number of interesting things to say about tricky
national problems – Kashmir, language, nationhood, citizenship,
ethnicity and so on – and his analysis lit up the field for a proper
democratic understanding of federalism and Centre-State relations in
India. On international questions and foreign policy, his approach was
that of a centrist-conservative dissenting from non-alignment and from
the Nehruvian (not to mention radical) world view.The social and class
basis of the following he commanded; the non-philanthropic, non-
petitioning nature of his social questioning; his passion for social
justice (going well beyond Gandhiji’s compromising vision so far as
the ancien regime and the oppressed sections were concerned) and
democratic liberties; his openness to modern, scientific and rational
ideas, his unyielding secularism and progressive views on a number of
questions, especially on the condition and future of women and on what
it took to make a civil society; his great intellectual gifts and wide-
ranging interests; his ability to concentrate on attainable, practical
goals and his constructive sense of realism – these marked him out as
a unique kind of leader.
The recent period of socio-political development in India has seen a
blossoming of Hindutva and a majority chauvinist ideological and
political offensive which can only be classified as extremist in
relation to national unity. At this juncture, Dr Ambedkar’s fearless
analysis of the caste system, of chaturvarnya, of notions of
pollution, of unalterable or rigid social hierarchy and so forth, and
of the implications of the hegemony of the shastras must be read, re-
read and made part of a national debate. His major theoretical
exposition of such questions is contained in a 1936 presidential
address which stirred up a hornet’s nest, the radical “Annihilation of
Caste”. This ideological offering to the building of a new India must
be ranked on a par with his signal and justly celebrated contribution
to the making of a Republican Constitution.
In this work, Dr Ambedkar emphasised the anti-social, anti-progress
character of an unjust social order as well as its vital connection,
through networks of force and ideology, with political power. The
caste system, in his analysis, militated against fraternity,
“sanghatan and cooperation for a good cause”, public charity and broad-
based virtue and morality. When critics challenged him to specify his
“ideal society” in lieu of a caste-based order, he replied: “My ideal
would be a society based on liberty, equality and fraternity.” He
specified that his ideal society would be mobile; there would be
“social endormosis”; there would be fraternity, which was only another
name for democracy; and democracy was primarily a mode of associated
living, of conjoining communicated experience and breeding an attitude
of respect and reverence towards fellow human beings.
“Chaturvarnya must fail for the very reason for which Plato’s Republic
must fail,” warned the seriously read intellectual as social rebel. He
pointed out that “the lower classes of Hindus” were “completely
disabled for direct action on account of a wretched system”. He
asserted: “There cannot be a more degrading system of social
organisation. ... It is the system which deadens, paralyses and
cripples the people from helpful activity.” He attempted to follow
through the implications of this system in the political sphere. To
him the real remedy was “to destroy the belief in the sanctity of the
shastras” and their caste-borne tyranny.
It was no wonder that Gandhiji, a notable compromiser in such matters,
declared more than half a century ago: “Dr Ambedkar is a challenge to
Hinduism.” He remains so today, which is why the votaries of Hindutva
and the forces which form part of the RSS constellation will not be
celebrating Ambedkar.
One battle in which social orthodoxy and opportunist politics allied
to defeat progress was the instructive fight over the Hindu Code Bill
in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The leading author of the
Constitution led the effort to institute a reasonably forward-looking
and egalitarian Hindu Code law (especially from the standpoint of
women), but it was sabotaged by orthodox elements. The Congress party,
despite Nehru’s claim to rationality and progressivism, refused to
support the Bill. The abandonment of this progressive legislative
measure meant the betrayal of Dr Ambedkar’s vision on such gut issues.
His solid contribution to institution-building apart, he had a great
deal to say about democracy as a real way of life and about citizens’
rights, about authoritarianism and also about a healthy democratic
political system. He detested hereditary, dynastic rule and a one-
party system. “To have popular government run by a single party is to
let democracy become a mere form for despotism to play its parts from
behind it,” is a typical Ambedkar formulation. He warned: “Despotism
does not cease to be despotism because it is elective. The real
guarantee against despotism is to confront it with the possibility of
its dethronement, of its being laid low, of its being superseded by a
rival party.” Dr Ambedkar clearly had little use for political
stability premised on a single party’s rule, or on a social philosophy
of “letting sleeping dogs lie”.
Two other political principles which he focussed on have been honoured
in their systematic and cynical violation over the years. Do not lay
liberties at the feet of a great man; in politics, bhakti or hero-
worship is a sure road to degradation. Make political democracy a
social democracy; resolve the contradictions, else they will
undermine, or blow up, democracy itself. Over a historic century, the
many-sided achievement of Dr Ambedkar – as an individual of prodigious
intellectual, political and moral gifts and as a towering national
figure representing large forces of historical change in a process
that is painfully incomplete – inspires awe.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/19910427014.htm
chhotemianinshallah
Alert in Bihar on Maoist, infiltration threats
PNS | Patna
Bihar appears to be on maximum alert these days, following
intelligence reports of a possible entry by six Pakistan-trained
terrorists, as well as the Maoists threat to target railway tracks and
buildings during their bandh call.
“A high security alert has been sounded in the State and police
officials have been asked to keep a close vigil on movement of
suspects,” said the State police chief Anand Shankar. He added that
there was extra vigil at railway stations, bus stands, markets and
temples, especially in border areas and Maoists-prone regions.
Police sources told The Pioneer that intelligence officials had
informed Bihar police of infiltration by six well-trained terrorists
from Nepal. “The terrorists have sneaked into Araria district after
killing an ISI agent in the neighbouring country on December 27,” said
an official. The State police headquarters sounded the alert to all
superintendents in districts bordering Nepal, to increase security and
try to apprehend the infiltrators.
Meanwhile, intelligence reports also noted that the Maoists were
planning to blow up railway tracks and installations in the State.
With the Central Government has reportedly stepped up operations
against Maoists in Chhattisgarh, the Maoists have called a five-day
bandh in some States, including Bihar.
Railway Protection Force personnel could be frisking passengers and
checking their luggage with bomb detection devices at some stations
falling in the Naxal-affected zones.
“We’ve stepped up patrolling on platforms as a part of the drill. We
are also searching railway tracks. A high alert has been issued after
observing the activities of Maoist rebels,” said RPF official Santosh
Kumar. Kumar added that the RPF was taking all necessary precautions
to meet any challenge from any quarter.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/226800/Alert-in-Bihar-on-Maoist-infiltration-threats.html
chhotemianinshallah
Anti-Maoist strike force homes in on rebels
Shivanand Shukla | Raipur
Both security personnel and Left Wing guerrillas in insurgency-prone
Bastar region of Chhattisgarh are treading cautiously. They are
watching each other’s moves as paratroopers are inching into the rebel
bastion on the Maharashtra border, as part of the joint strike.
Highly placed sources said BSF and ITBP security personnel had created
40 posts in Kanker and Rajnandgaon district while nine more bases
would be established in the region before the forces venture into
Maoist strongholds. “Security personnel — already trained at Kanker
jungle warfare school about rebels’ strategy, war techniques and
maneuvers — are taking precautions in movement to avoid being trapped
by the ultras,” said a top official.
On the other hand, the ultras too are carefully watching the forces
movement, in order to make well-calculated moves. “Given the fact that
the forces are making inroads in areas till now controlled by
Naxalites, the rebels too are busy studying the strategy, apparently
as there is now little scope for trial and strike,” the official
added.
Police sources said hardcore Maoists had retreated to their strongly
guarded hideouts in Abujmad forests and other safe places, while their
second rung leaders had come forward to engage the forces.
The hardcore Maoists are, intelligence inputs suggest, analysing the
forces concentration, movements and expected strikes. “We want to make
small moves as any success to rebels in their strike against the
forces will give them a psychological point in the war,” said a
source, adding that areas in Maoists control were already heavily-
mined.
Though at present, 40 companies of the ITBP and BSF have been fanning
out for a joint operation in Chhattisgarh, more forces are likely to
join them once an all-out battle is launched against the rebels.
However, before being deputed to Naxal-hit areas, the security
personnel will be given what is being called capsule training at the
Kanker jungle war school, on Maoists strategy and war maneuvers.
“Understanding guerrillas warfare is a must as the rebels too are
trying to reorient their tactics to challenge the forces,” added a
source.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/226796/Anti-Maoist-strike-force-homes-in-on-rebels.html