Indian state and media cast a worried eye on Maoist-led people’s movement

[Despite ongoing claims of imminent demise of Maoist forces, the Indian State remains obsessed over the continuing growth of the people’s movements and People’s War.  Two major newspapers, known for reporting the “official” views, describe their worries in the following articles from the Hindustan Times and ZeeNews.  While the accuracy of their assessments cannot be confirmed, the adage “time will tell” certainly applies.  — Frontlines ed.]

————————————————

Aloke Tikku, Hindustan Times

New Delhi, April 15, 2013

Three-state Red corridor is new Maoist threat

In bad news for security forces, Maoists have managed to form a Red corridor that gives them easy movement and safe passage through three states – Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.

The term Red corridor has so far been used for the entire naxal-infested region in India that includes the three states as well as parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

But recent interrogation of arrested cadre has revealed it now literally means a narrow but contiguous strip that runs from the southern tip of Chhattisgarh to central Jharkhand – the two key theatres of naxal violence.

Such a corridor would be crucial to the Maoist strategy of enabling free and safe movement of its military companies from one battlefield to another.

Government sources told HT that Maoists arrested in recent weeks, including a courier, had confirmed the corridor was now in use.

“A corridor is essentially a question of support structures. In recent times, they have strengthened themselves in Odisha’s heavily-forested Naupada district,” a home ministry official said.

This means Maoists have managed to build a reasonable support base among the local population along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, right up to Jharkhand’s Gumla district.

India:’Operation NGO Hunt’ in Jharkhand state

[This article from the Indian media exposes that the Indian government’s attacks on “Maoists” and “Naxalites” now include adivasis (tribal people) and over 1300 Non-Governmental Organizations–that advocate for tribal people’s rights in the state of Jharkhand alone.–Frontlines ed.]

 

Indian state of Jharkhand

Mainstream, December 11, 2010

’Operation NGO Hunt’ in Jharkhand

by Gladson Dungdung

The Jharkhand Government has launched a new operation in the State; it can be called “Operation NGO Hunt”.

In a latest discovery, the Jharkhand Police have found 1300 nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) as sympathisers of the Naxalites though nobody knows the ‘parameters’ of the ‘sympathisers’. However, the way the state is behaving with these organisations, it is very clear that anyone who raises questions against the violation of the rights of the people residing in the Red Corridor is a sympathiser of the Naxalites.

In fact, these NGOs, human rights groups and mass organisations are empowering the villagers, mobilising them and fighting to protect their constitutional rights in the Red Corridor but the state is determined to suppress them.

Therefore, the government has ordered an inquiry into these NGOs. The Superintendent of Police (Intelligence Department) and the Deputy Commissioners of the concerned districts are investigating the matter. According to the Intelligence Department, some NGOs are involved in unlawful activities; several organisations have direct links with the Naxalites and many organisations have protested against the government in the street. The Police Headquarters has also identified these NGOs and the Home Department has sent a list of these NGOs to the Deputy Commissioners.

It seems from the state’s action that no one has the right to protest against the state under any circumstance. If so, why do we have the constitutional rights? Are we really living in a democratic country, where only the Naxalites and Maoists have the right to protest?

India: Women’s social and economic conditions, struggles for land and women’s resistance

Armed with traditional weapons, adivasi (tribal) women march in Lalgarh, West Bengal

 

From International Campaign against the War on People in India  www.icawpi.org

Contemporary Anti-Displacement Struggles and Women’s Resistance

By Shoma Sen, Associate Professor, RTM Nagpur University

Women’s exclusion in the present model of development needs to be understood as inherent to a system that benefits from patriarchy. Seen as a reserve force of labour, women, excluded from economic activity are valued for their unrecognized role in social reproduction. The capitalist, patriarchal system that keeps the majority of women confined to domestic work and child rearing uses this as a way of keeping the wage rates low.

The limited participation of women in economic activity is also an extension of their traditional gender roles (nursing, teaching,or labour intensive jobs requiring patience and delicate skills) with wages based on gender discrimination. Largely part of the unorganized sector, deprived of the benefits of labour legislation, insecurity leads to sexual exploitation at the workplace. In the paradigm of globalization, these forms of exploitation, in export oriented industries, SEZs and service sector have greatly increased.

In spite of 63 years of so-called independence, women’s presence is negligible in political bodies and reservations for the same have been strongly resisted in a patriarchal political system. Though at the lower levels, reservations have made a limited entry possible, the success stories are more exceptions than the rule. Social institutions, thriving on feudal patriarchal notions are disapproving of women’s participation in production and laud her reproductive roles; violence against women at the familial and societal level is given social sanction and women are confined to a dependent life within the domestic space.

Therefore, women’s access to economic and political activity itself is a first step to their participation in decision making processes rather than the symbolic steps towards their “empowerment” that are seen in this system. Women’s resistance to this imperialist backed model of development, therefore, must be seen as their attempt to find space and voice in a system which has not only neglected their communities but even their gender within it.

Fact sheet on Operation Green Hunt–India’s massive military assault on the adivasis (tribal peoples)

 

Some of 200,000 paramilitary forces mobilized by the Indian government to attack the adivasis

Fact Sheet on Operation Green Hunt

By Campaign against War on People

The following document is a compilation of information gathered through news reports in the mainstream media, government reports, and reports of independent fact-finding teams. It aims to offer as objective and non-partisan a view of the situation in the affected states, as is possible.

The Status of the Current Offensive

• The offensive will be spread over the next five years.
• A special forces school, a special forces unit and an army brigade HQ will be set up near Bilaspur. The brigade HQ will participate in anti-Maoist ops in the future. The army is looking for 1,800 acres of land to set up the infrastructure.
• The IAF is looking for 300 acres for its base
• Home Ministry is sitting on a plan to redeploy the Rashtriya Rifles [from Kashmir to the Naxal affected areas]. RR and BSF unlike other paramilitary forces, have heavy weaponry like medium-range machine guns, mortars and rocket launchers.
• For now, 27 battalions of the Border Security Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police will be moved into Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Maharashtra.
• The paramilitary forces will be supported by six Mi-17 IAF choppers.
• The helicopters will have on board the IAF’s special force, the GARUDS, to secure the chopper and conduct combat search and rescue operations.
• The offensive will be in seven phases. Each phase has been marked area-wise as Operating Areas (OAsOA-1) involves moving along a north-south axis from Kanker, Chhattisgarh, and on an east-west axis from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and span the Abuj Marh forests used by the Maoists as a training centre and logistics base. (All points above from Outlook, 26 Oct 2009)

Why is the ‘adivasis soldier’ silent when the government attacks them?

[Throughout the world, capitalist governments that proclaim themselves “democratic” have a common response to mass rebellions and uprisings:  Some of their politicians adopt a “populist” guise and put on a friendly face, telling the angry masses not to worry, they will take care of them.  In India in recent times, this script is being played by Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Congress Party.  Gladson Dungdung explains.–Frontlines ed.]

Rahul Gandhi, Congress Party leader, momentary self-proclaimed "adivasi soldier"--now inexplicably silent

By Gladson Dungdung (Guest Contributor, Sanhati)

http://sanhati.com/articles/2947/

On August 26, 2010, the Congress leader and self-proclaimed soldier of the Adivasis, Rahul Gandhi visited to Niyamgiri in Orissa just two days after the Indian government denied clearance to the Vedanta Resource’s Rs.4500 crore bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri Hills.

While addressing a rally of 3000 colourfully dressed Dongria Kondh and other Adivasis at Jagannathpur village who have been fighting to save their holy mountain he said, “I am your soldier in Delhi. Whenever you need me, I will be there for you.” He got a huge ovation when he said, “True development takes place by respecting the interests of the poor and Adivasis.”

However, just two months later, the migrant Jharkhandi Adivasis were attacked by the Forest Department in Assam but the Adivasis’ soldier is still silent. Therefore, the Adivasis want to know why their soldier is silent. Is he shocked at the incident or is he silent because if he opens his mouth the Congress Government may face severe problems in Assam?

India: Ensuring the right to education in the ‘Adivasi Corridor’

 

Adivasi students in West Bengal protest army occupation of schools

Gladson Dungdung (Guest Contributor, Sanhati)

 

The Indian Government and the Indian Media are repeatedly telling us that a ninety-two thousand square kilometres geographical area covering 170 districts in 9 states of India is out of control of the Indian State. The vicinity is full of the natural resources including a variety of minerals, forests and water sources. The territory is ruled by the Maoists therefore the Government has branded it as the ‘Red Corridor’.

Actually, the area is highly Adivasi dominated and therefore should be called the ‘Adivasi Corridor’. And of course, it is their homeland. The Indian State has been carrying on a major offensive in the Red Corridor since October 2009 to clear the land. In the latest development, the British Company “Execution Nobel limited” has estimated a business of $80 billion if the area is liberated from the Maoists. Consequently, the government is determined to cleanse the Maoists by 2013 by taking all required steps.

Meanwhile, on 1 April, 2010 (the day is observed as a “Fools Day” and many attempt to fool others), the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh appeared on the television channels addressing the Nation on the occasion of enforcing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and declared the day as a historic day for Indians. Perhaps, hardly anyone from the Red Corridor saw him in the television channels, as survival and protection are the biggest questions for them rather than hearing about their rights to education coming out of the auspicious mouth of the Prime Minister.

CPI(Maoist) calls bandh in six states to protest Indian repression in Kashmir

[Wikipedia:  “Bandh (Hindi:  बंद), originally a Hindi word meaning ‘closed’, is a form of protest used by political activists in some countries like India and Nepal. During a Bandh, a political party or a community declares a general strike.  Often Bandh means that the community or political party declaring a Bandh expect the general public to stay in their homes and strike work. The main affected are shopkeepers who are expected to keep their shops closed and the public transport operators of buses and cabs are supposed to stay off the road and not carry any passengers. There have been instances of large metro cities coming to a standstill. Bandhs are powerful means for civil disobedience. Because of the huge impact that a Bandh has on the local community, it is much feared as a tool of protest.^“]

Maoists support Kashmiris, call strike

Times of India,  September 27, 2010

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to show solidarity with protesting Kashmiris who have been demanding “azadi” and attacking security forces, Maoists have called for a 24-hour bandh in six states on September 30.

In a statement dated September 23, the CPI (Maoist) said September 30 will be observed as a bandh in six states — Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa — and also in Gadchiroli, Gondia and Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh in protest “against the killing of Kashmiri youth by security forces since June 11”.

The statement was issued by Abhay, spokesperson of the central committee, and Anand, central regional bureau spokesperson. The party said there would be a “closedown of all rail and road traffic, banks, government and private offices, industries, educational institutions and business establishments”. “We are excluding essential services like hospitals and other services from this bandh call,” the statement said.

The statement justified the stone-pelting in Kashmir and called it democratic. It has been a Maoist strategy to join forces with all manner of protests, particularly if they are directed against the state.

In their attempt to gain support from Kashmiris, the party demanded “immediate end to massacres by Indian armed forces in Kashmir, withdrawal of military and paramilitary forces, repeal of AFSPA, plebiscite for Kashmiris and release of all political prisoners”.

Jharkhand, India: Independent People’s Tribunal delivers verdict on Operation Green Hunt

 

Operation Green Hunt seeks to suppress mass meetings such as this of adivasis in Lalgarh, West Bengal.

 

The Jury Verdicts of IPT, Ranchi

by Gladson Dungdung

Sanhati, September 28, 2010

We are extremely pleased to inform you that we had organized a very successful Independent People’s Tribunal on Operation Green Hunt in Ranchi on 25th and 26th of September, 2010 under the banner of the Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum with the support of Operation Green Hunt Virodhi Nagrik Manch, Jharkhand Indigenous People’s Forum, Jharkhand Initiatives Desk, Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan, Jharkhand Mines Area Coordination Committee and many other groups.

We had the renowned author and activist Ms. Arundhati Roy as a special observer in the IPT. The esteemed members of the Jury were Retd Judge of Jharkhand High Court, Justice Vikramaditya Prasad, Sri Prashant Bhushan Senior Supreme Court advocate, Sri K.S. Subramanian, I.P.S. and former Director General of Police, Sri C.S. Jha, former CMD of BCCL and ECL and others. We are sharing the observations and recommendations of the Jury. We hope it will have a huge impact in the human rights movement.

INDEPENDENT PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL ON OPERATION GREEN HUNT IN JHARKHAND (held in Ranchi on 25th and 26th Sept 2010)

Organised by : Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum

Observations of the Jury

The jury heard the testimonies of a number of social Activists working the Tribals in Jharkhand as well as a number of Tribals themselves who have been directly affected by Operation Greenhunt over the two days. The picture which emerges from these testimonies presents a dismal and indeed alarming picture of Human Rights violations of the adivasis population of the State which has driven them to unprecedented levels of desperation where their very survival is being threatened.

Over the last 60 years, more than 20 lakh acres of land has been acquired directly by the State in the name of various “development” projects displacing more than 15 lakh Adivasis from their homelands. This drive for acquisition of their land has become particularly acute during the last decade when 102 MOUs have been signed with a number of large private corporations, some of which are for thousands of acres of land involving the displacement of thousands of tribals in each case. Most of these MOUs are for mining or for setting up other polluting industries. These have however met with enormous resistance from the adivasis who have organized themselves and have so far successfully resisted the accusations of their land as a result of which virtually none of these MOUs have so far been operationalised.

India: Maoists block railway track construction in Jharkhand

Latehar, September 24 (ANI): Maoists torched two excavator machines that were engaged in the construction of the Lohardaga-Tori railway link in Latehar district in Jharkhand on Wednesday. The staff of the construction company disclosed this on Thursday informing that the incident took place around 8.30 pm, when some unidentified rebels attacked the construction site.

Maoist attacks have become more frequent this year, especially after the federal government launched Operation Green Hunt, a coordinated security offensive involving tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel to flush out the rebels from their jungle hideouts in central and eastern Indian states.

The story of dispossession and criminalisation of the Adivasis of central India

The dispossessed Adivasi is hunted as a criminal; the looter-outsider has become ‘honourable citizen’

by Stan Swamy

August 03, 2010

1. The sad story of impoverishment of the Adivasi : A few examples will suffice. GladsonDungdung is a young human rights activist and writer. His family had 20 acres of fertile land in Simdega district, Jharkhand . It was forcibly acquired by the govt for the construction of a dam at a terribly low rate. The compensation for the 20 acres fertile land the family got was Rs. 11,000. Even by minimal standards, it should have been at least Rs. 20 Iakhs. This is just one example among many many such deprivations. Is this not deliberate impoverishment of a people ?

2. The Suvernrekha Project in Chandil, Jharkhand, displaced 120 villages and alienated 43,500 acres of land from the Adivasi, Moolvasi communities. A rehabilitation package was worked out 27 years ago. But it has not been implemented in about half of the villages. Yet people of these villages have lost every thing they had. To add insult to injury, the project management wants to close the radial gates of the dam which will inundate 44 villages awaiting rehabilitation Is this not a deliberate act of deprivation of a people?

3. Heavy Electricals Company (HEC) in Ranchi displaced 12,990 families and alienated 9,200 acres of land from Adivasi, Moolvasi communities. Of this, about 2000 acres of acquired land has been lying idle during half a century. This surplus land should as per law be returned to the original land owners.But the govt is giving it for real estate housing for the well-to-do. Is this not a deliberate violation of the legal rights of a people?

4. During the past five decades, about 17 lakh of Adivasis&Moolvasis have been displaced and about 24 lakh acres of their land has been alienated from them at minimal compensation. Of the displaced, only 25% have been resettled. The remaining 75% have been neatly forgotten. This whole process of dispossession took place without any rehabilitation policy in place. Is this not a deliberate dispossession of a people ?

Fact-Finding Report on the Anti-Displacement Movement in India

Villagers man checkpoint to keep out government and company officials at site of planned POSCO plant in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa.

Over the past three years, there have been a number of particularly significant victories by the anti-displacement movement in India:  In West Bengal at Nandigram (Dow Chemical), Singur (Tata Motors), Salboni (Jindal Steel); in a number of places in Jharkhand; and now the historic victory at Vedanta’s proposed bauxite mine at Niyamgiri, Orissa.

In the summer of 2008, US activist David Pugh travelled to five states in India to report on the anti-displacement movement, including the intense ongoing battles against US and South Korean owned POSCO, and against Tata Steel in Kalinga Nagar, both in Orissa. Below is the complete report on his fact finding trip.

by David Pugh

I recently spent three weeks gathering information about the anti-displacement movement in India. I traveled to India on this fact finding mission in my capacity as a member of the Initiative Committee of the International Campaign Against Forced Displacement that was launched in June 2008 by the International League of Peoples’ Struggle.

As a guest of Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan, I traveled across five states in central and eastern India visiting the sites of proposed industrial and mining projects, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and real estate developments.  I spoke with hundreds of villagers who are threatened with displacement and with many dedicated activists who are helping to organize the people’s resistance.

The villagers I spoke to, tribals, dalits and members of “other backward castes,” told me that the lives of their families are at stake.  Rapacious industrial and mining enterprises, supported by the state and central governments, are trying to grab fertile agricultural land. When bribery doesn’t work, the industrialists and government officials have sent in the police and hired outside goons to terrorize the villagers into submission.

Fake Military Encounters in Jharkhand, India

By Gladson Dungdung

In the afternoon on July 5, 2010, the security forces comprising of JAP and SAF under the leadership of E.H. Siddique the officer-in-charge of Tamar Police Station arrived to Gunti village and picked up 45 year-old Etwa Munda of Papirdah village (which comes under Tamar police station of Ranchi district in Jharkhand), when he was in the house of his relative Manav Munda. The police also caught a girl Bengi Kumari and escorted both of them towards Jabla pahari (forest). After sometime, the villagers heard the sound of firing and rushed toward the spot. They were shocked to see the dead body of Etwa Munda laying on the ground.

The police framed the cold-blooded murder of Etwa Munda as a result of an encounter between the police and the Maoists. The police also depicted him as a hardcore Maoist who was very closed to the Maoist Zonal commander Kundan Pahan. Perhaps, Etwa Munda was not an innocent person but under which laws the police killed him in a fake encounter is the question needs to be answered.

Since the villagers were fully aware of the cold-blooded murder of Etwa Munda therefore the police spared Bengi Kumari and threatened the villagers and family members of the deceased for keeping quite. However, the villagers wanted to raise the issue therefore they approached to a local activist Xavier Soy and told him about the fake encounter.

Dispossession of the Adivasis of Jharkhand, India

Coal strip mine in Jharkhand

By Stan Swamy

05 August, 2010,  Sanhati.com

The dispossessed Adivasi is hunted as a criminal; the looter-outsider has become ‘honourable citizen’

1. The sad story of impoverishment of the Adivasi [the tribal people of India]: A few examples will suffice. Gladson Dungdung is a young human rights activist and writer. His family had 20 acres of fertile land in Simdega district, Jharkhand . It was forcibly acquired by the govt for the construction of a dam at a terribly low rate. The compensation for the 20 acres fertile land the family got was Rs. 11,000. Even by minimal standards, it should have been at least Rs. 20 Iakhs. This is just one example among many many such deprivations. Is this not deliberate impoverishment of a people ?

2. The Suvernrekha Project in Chandil, Jharkhand, displaced 120 villages and alienated 43,500 acres of land from the Adivasi, Moolvasi communities. A rehabilitation package was worked out 27 years ago. But it has not been implemented in about half of the villages. Yet people of these villages have lost every thing they had. To add insult to injury, the project management wants to close the radial gates of the dam which will inundate 44 villages awaiting rehabilitation Is this not a deliberate act of deprivation of a people?

3. Heavy Electricals Company (HEC) in Ranchi displaced 12,990 families and alienated 9,200 acres of land from Adivasi, Moolvasi communities. Of this, about 2000 acres of acquired land has been lying idle during half a century. This surplus land should as per law be returned to the original land owners. But the govt is giving it for real estate housing for the well-to-do. Is this not a deliberate violation of the legal rights of a people?

4. During the past five decades, about 17 lakh of Adivasis & Moolvasis [1.7 million people] have been displaced and about 24 lakh acres of their land has been alienated from them at minimal compensation. Of the displaced, only 25% have been resettled. The remaining 75% have been neatly forgotten. This whole process of dispossession took place without any rehabilitation policy in place. Is this not a deliberate dispossession of a people ?

In India, Constricting Democratic Space through Terror

Gladson Dungdung

In the midst of the hide-and-seek between the sun and the cloud, the environment at the Jaipal Singh Stadium in Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand, was very tense on June 25, 2010. The reason was that the “Operation Green Hunt Virodhi Nagrik Manch” (Citizens Forum against Operation Green Hunt) had called a rally and mass meeting against the cold blooded murder, rape and torture of innocent villagers by the security forces in the ongoing so-called anti-Naxal operation codified as “Operation Green Hunt”. The Forum has been intervening on issues of police atrocity since the inception of the OGH. As a result, the police has declared it a Maoist organisation which is, of course, the outcome of Chidambaram’s theory of democracy that describes the struggle as one between ‘this side and that side’. Therefore, whoever questions Operation Green Hunt is considered a Maoist, a Maoist supporter or at least a sympathiser of the Maoists.

When the Senior Superintendent of Police (Ranchi), Pravin Kumar, came to know about the Forum’s rally and mass meeting, he started a special operation against the Forum. On June 18, the police caught Jitendra Singh Munda of Nuridih village of Tamar block, while he was returning from Ranchi to his village by bus carrying pamphlets of the Forum for distribution. The bus was also seized and the driver, assistant driver and conductor were taken into police custody. In the evening, the SSP held a press conference in the city with a smiling face, telling the media about how the police succeeded in arresting some Maoists. Jitendra Munda was asked to hold the pamphlets of the Forum for the media show. The SSP declared the Forum a Maoist organisation, its pamphlet as Maoist literature and also announced that he would not let the rally and mass meeting to take place on June 25 in Ranchi since it was an event of the Maoists.

Indian Maoists appeal to Army men: Don’t join Unified Command

[After the government assassination of CPI(Maoist) spokesperson Azad and independent journalist Pandey–and the assassin’s concoction of a fake “encounter” complete with guns planted on the victims bodies–was widely exposed, the pretense of government interest in a cease-fire has evaporated.  This week, PM Manmohan Singh ordered Home Minister Chidambaram to convene a national war council, and appointed a retired Major-General to lead the next onslaught of “Operation Green Hunt”–more heavily armed, and leaving all government claims of peaceful, democratic intent behind.  The Maoist response is reported, below.–ed]

P. Chidambaram and Manmoham Singh

KOLKATA, July 17, 2010

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) criticised on Friday the Centre’s decision to appoint a retired Major-General of the Army as a member of the Unified Command for anti-Maoist operations in four States and issued a veiled threat to any person of that rank against taking charge of the post at the Centre’s insistence.

In a voice-recorded press statement, Maoist Polit Bureau member Kishanji stated: “Whether retired or still in service with the Army, an Army officer will always be an Army officer, and this proves that Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram is engaging the defence forces to destroy the mass movement and kill people randomly. The decision to use increasing number of Air Force helicopters is also indicative of this fact.”

Following a meeting with the Chief Ministers and representatives of seven Maoist-affected States, Mr. Chidambaram had asked four States — Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal — to set up a Unified Command with a retired Major-General of the Army as a member.

“Appealing” to the retired Major-Generals of the Army not to get engaged in “a war against their own people”, Kishanji warned that “whoever [of the retired Major-General rank] will accept the offer of joining the Unified Command will be put on the same pedestal as Mr. Chidambaram, by the common people as well as the Maoists.” Claiming that neither the common man nor even a section of the UPA favoured the use of the defence forces to fight the Maoists, he accused Mr. Chidambaram of taking the decision “at the behest of the corporate world, the World Bank and the U.S.”