Report on Independent People’s Tribunal

Independent People’s Tribunal (Day 1)

Posted on Radical Notes

Press Release: 9th April, 2010

INDEPENDENT PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL ON LAND ACQUISITION, RESOURCE GRAB AND OPERATION GREEN HUNT
9th – 11th April, 2010, Constitution Club, New Delhi

Stop structural violence against adivasis

Stop destructive development and restore the faith of the adivasis in the Indian Constitution

The Independent People’s Tribunal on Land Acquisition, Resource Grab and Operation Green Hunt, organized by Citizen’s against Forced Displacement and War on People, kicked-off today to a packed hall, consisting of students, academics, activists and the media. The Independent People’s Tribunal is being held in New Delhi, Constitution Club.

Dr. Vandana Shiva, well-renowned environmental activist presented the inaugural address and spoke about the “urgent need to develop democratic spaces”, such as the IPT. She said “the complex issues related land acquisition, mining and exploitation of the tribals as well as mechanisms of state suppression need to be discussed in a open manner by concerned individuals and intellectuals without the threat of arrest”. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, continuing in a similar vein, referred to the mining mafia that was bleeding the nation of its resources. According to him “rampant mining is displacing adivasis from their lands and leading to the ecological ruin of India’s forest land”. He questioned the logic of undertaking such activity ‘in public interest’ when 80% of the profits were pocketed by private companies, while people were left dispossessed and left to suffer health hazards. Mr. Bhushan then introduce the People’s Jury comprising of Hon’ble (Retd) Justice P. B. Sawant, Justice (Retd) H. Suresh, Dr. V. Mohini Giri, Professor Yash Pal, Dr. P. M. Bhargava and retired IPS officer Dr. K. S. Subramanian. (Jury Bios are attached at the end of the press note). The first session was also addressed by Mr. S P Shukla who spoke about the deep injustice being met out to the tribals and the unfair polarisation of the debate in the media and the state. He said that violence by the Maoists was representative of years of injustice suffered by the poor in these lands and that use of excessive force, clamping down on democratic spaces by arrests and detention of activists like Binayak Sen would only exacerbate the situation. He strongly recommended that the State should engage in widening the discussion on the issue if it wanted to solve it. Dr. B D Sharma, a retired civil servant and ex-chairman of the SC/ST Commission, Bastar spoke about the continuous denial of rights of the tribals by the state – in the form of violations of the Vth Schedule of the Constitution, Panchayati (Extension) to Schedule Areas, Forests Rights Act.

Day 1 of the Independent People’s Tribunal focussed on the current situation in Chhattisgarh. Sudha Bhardwaj, lawyer and labour rights activist, Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha deposed on the intricate nexus between the State and Corporations in expropriating the land for industrial and mining purpose. She deposed on the ground situation in Chhattisgarh where in gross violation of the PESA Act, gram sabhas were being manipulated to take decisions on land use and sale, against collective community decision-making process. According to Sudha the scale of corruption was enormous. The district officials were facilitating the transfer of tribal land, flouting all legal and procedural conduct. She recommended that there should be strict enforcement of the Forest Rights Act and procedures of granting environmental clearances. In all cases, corporate acquisition of tribal land was to be stopped to restore the faith of the tribals in the State. Goldy M George, rights activist in Chhattisgarh also reiterated the corporate land grab and pointed out to the number of secret MOUs that were being signed, without adequate public consultation. Activists in these areas were being targeted by insidious campaigns by the State and corporates. The politics of alienation of the tribals was part of a larger strategy to use the politics of genocide in the game of Power. Harish Dhawan, human rights activist, Peoples Union for Democratic Rights spoke about the terror unleshed by the Salwa Judum and its role in the current operations.

The second part of the session focused on narratives by tribals, from the state of Chhattisgarh. The general narratives were different in details but similar in the pattern – atrocities by the police and Sulwa Judum SPOs; torture, interrogation and illegal detention for being an alleged ‘naxal’ supporter. Lingaram who was tortured and forced to join the Judum spoke about how the Gram Panchayats were mute to the cause of the tribals, and in fact, detrimental to their existence. He questioned the enormous amount of money spent since independence on the ‘welfare plans’ for the tribals and the lack of any progress in this regard. Lamenting on the lack of education and health services, he said that tribals needed development on their terms and not of the kind that was being enforced upon them from all quarters. Himanshu Kumar, Gandhian activist, spoke about the advisory, legal and rehabilitation support provided by the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram to the tribals and the consequent attempts by the state to squash the same by terrorizing villagers. Dr. Binayak Sen, offered a different perspective on structural violence that is embedded in the treatment meted out to the tribals. According to him, statistics on malnutrition revealed a severe hunger crisis and are emblematic of the neglect that these regions had been subjected to for long. He derided the state for using the development rhetoric when masses were dying of hunger and malaria.

The Independent People’s Tribunal will continue from 9th – 11th April, 2010, at the Constitution Club, New Delhi. This is organized by a collective of civil society groups, social movements, activists, academics and concerned citizens in the country.

Independent People’s Tribunal (Day 2)

Social Scientists, Experts and Adivasi representatives depose before the Jury;
Testimonies on Land Grab and Government/Corporate Atrocities in Jharkhand and West Bengal

A poignant session (9.4.2010) on Chhattisgarh and the situation of adivasis was presented at the Independent Peoples Tribunal on Land Acquisition, Resource Grab and Operation Green Hunt on 9.4.2010. This was followed by a second session focusing on two other states (where the Operation Green Hunt has recently commenced) with presentations and depositions on 10.4.2010. Speakers from Jharkhand and Orissa testified on numerous violations of laws, relating to land acquisition, tribal protection, pollution, and other violations of the Indian Constitution by corporations and the state governments.

Rights oganisations seek withdrawal of forces

B.D. Sharma, former IAS officer addressing a meeting organised against Green Hunt, in Bhadrachalam on Sunday. Varahara Rao is also seen. Photo: G.N. Rao

Leaders of different tribal organisations and rights organisations on Sunday wanted the government to withdraw security forces tasked with the “green hunt“ and restore peace in the tribal heartland. They organised a rally here denouncing the anti- naxalite operations carried out targeting the innocent tribal communities causing large-scale displacement in the country.

The tribals and the organisations fighting for the cause of the tribals were not against development and they were basically for the kind of the development, which would be implemented according to conditions of the tribals by fully recognising their rights over the resources of land, said the speakers.

Dr. B. D. Sharma, convenor, National Campaign for Eradication of Inequality and former collector of Bastar district, said the tribals were fighting for their self-defence. They were fighting against exploitation and any one fighting with them representing the corporate interests would only make a war.

They were not animals to be hunted down, he said. It is an insult on the tribals to call the fight a “green hunt”. He said the forests and the resources belong to the tribal communities and even if the government ventured to exploit the recourse without the consent of the tribals, it would amount to thieving. Even if it was an insect, it would hit back when trampled upon.

How could be the tribals be expected to surrender their rights over the resources meekly, he questioned. The Constitution had given them the right to defend themselves, he said.

Varavara Rao said in his address that that no multi-national company could venture into the Bastar forests that was endowed with rich natural resources ever since the Maoists could make it their base in 1980. But the BJP government that came back to power was going all out to woo the multi-nationals and rolling out a red carpet for them undermining the interests of the tribal communities. The ‘green hunt’ was to protect the interest of the MNCs. The tribals and their women were killed and subjected to vile indignities in the Bastar forests.

Kranti Chaitanya, APCLC secretary, called for an end to ‘green hunt’.

People’s Tribunal Jury : Interim Observations And Recommendations

By People’s Tribunal Jury

12 April, 2010
Icawpi.org

The jury heard the testimonies of a large number of witnesses over three days from the States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa as well as some expert witnesses on land acquisition, mining and human rights violations of Operation Green Hunt. The immediate observations of the Jury are as follows:

Tribal communities represent a substantial and important proportion of Indian population and heritage. Not even ten countries in the world have more people than we have tribals in India. Not only are they crucial components of the country’s human biodiversity, which is greater than in the rest of the world put together, but they are also an important source of social, political and economic wisdom that would be currently relevant and can give India an edge. In addition, they understand the language of Nature better than anyone else, and have been the most successful custodian of our environment, including forests. There is also a great deal to learn from them in areas as diverse as art, culture, resource management, waste management, medicine and metallurgy. They have been also far more humane and committed to universally accepted values than our urban society.

It is clear that the country has been witnessing gross violation of the rights of the poor, particularly tribal rights, which have reached unprecedented levels since the new economic policies of the 90’s. The 5th Schedule rights of the tribals, in particular the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act and the Forest Rights Act have been grossly violated. These violations have now gone to the extent where fully tribal villages have been declared to be non-tribal. The entire executive and judicial administration appear to have been totally apathetic to their plight.

The development model which has been adopted and which is sharply embodied in the new economic policies of liberalization, privatization and globalization, have led in recent years to a huge drive by the state to transfer resources, particularly land and forests which are critical for the livelihood and the survival of the tribal people, to corporations for exploitation of mineral resources, SEZs and other industries most of which have been enormously destructive to the environment. These industries have critically polluted water bodies, land, trees, plants, and have had a devastating impact on the health and livelihoods of the people. The consultation with the Gram Sabhas required by the PESA Act has been rendered a farce as has the process of Environment Impact Assessment of these industries. This has resulted in leaving the tribals in a state of acute malnutrition and hunger which has pushed them to the very brink of survival. It could well be the severest indictment of the State in the history of democracy anywhere, on account of the sheer number of people (tribals) affected and the diabolic nature of the atrocities committed on them by the State, especially the police, leave aside the enormous and irreversible damage to the environment. It is also a glaring example of corruption – financial, intellectual and moral – sponsored and/or abetted by the State, that characterizes today’s India, cutting across all party lines.

Peaceful resistance movements of tribal communities against their forced displacement and the corporate grab of their resources is being sought to be violently crushed by the use of police and security forces and State and corporate funded and armed militias. The state violence has been accentuated by Operation Green Hunt in which a huge number of paramilitary forces are being used mostly on the tribals. The militarization of the State has reached a level where schools are occupied by security forces.

Even peaceful activists opposing these violent actions of the State against the tribals are being targeted by the State and victimized. This has led to a total alienation of the people from the State as well as their loss of faith in the government and the security forces. The Government – both at the Centre and in the States – must realize that it’s above-mentioned actions, combined with total apathy, could very well be sowing the seeds of a violent revolution demanding justice and rule of law that would engulf the entire country. We should not forget the French, Russian and American history, leave aside our own.

Recommendations:

1. Stop Operation Green Hunt and start a dialogue with the local people.

2. Immediately stop all compulsary acquisition of agricultural or forest land and the forced displacement of the tribal people.

3. Declare the details of all MOUs, industrial and infrastructural projects proposed in these areas and freeze all MOUs and leases for non-agricultural use of such land, which the Home Minister has proposed.

4. Rehabilitate and reinstate the tribals forcibly displaced back to their land and forests.

5. Stop all environmentally destructive industries as well as those on land acquired without the consent of the Gram Sabhas in these areas.

6. Withdraw the paramilitary and police forces from schools and health centres which must be effectuated with adequate teachers and infrastructure.

7. Stop victimizing dissenters and those who question the actions of the State.

8. Replace the model of development which is exploitative, environmentally destructive, iniquitous and not suitable for the country by a completely different model which is participatory, gives importance to agriculture and the rural sector, and respects equity and the environment.

9. It must be ensured that all development, especially use of land and natural resources, is with the consent and participation of the Tribal communities as guaranteed by the Constitution. Credible Citizen’s Commissions must be constituted to monitor and ensure this.

10. Constitute an Empowered Citizen’s Commission to investigate and recommend action against persons responsible for human rights violations of the tribal communities. This Commission must also be empowered to ensure that tribals actually receive the benefit of whatever government schemes exist for them.

The Independent People’s Tribunal took place from 9th – 11th April, 2010, at the Constitution Club, New Delhi. This was organized by a collective of civil society groups, social movements, activists, academics and concerned citizens in the country. The people’s jury, comprising of Hon’ble Justice P. B. Sawant, Justice H. Suresh, Professor Yash Pal, Dr. V. Mohini Giri, Dr. P. M. Bhargava, and Dr. K.S. Subramanian heard testimonies from the affected people, social activists and experts from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and West Bengal.

Stop Operation Green Hunt: People’s Tribunal

Operation Green Hunt was in the dock at a people’s tribunal in the capital over the weekend and the verdict of the jury was loud and clear: Guilty.

Organised by civil society groups, the “Independent People’s Tribunal on Land Acquisition, Resource Grab and Operation Green Hunt” heard the testimonies of tribal people, activists, academics and experts from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The final recommendations of the jury advised the government to “Stop Operation Green Hunt and start a dialogue with the local people.”

Among the jury members were Justice P.B. Sawant, Justice H. Suresh, Yash Pal, V. Mohini Giri, P.M. Bhargava, and K.S. Subramanian. In their observations, they noted that “state violence has been accentuated by Operation Green Hunt in which a huge number of paramilitary forces are being used mostly on the tribals. The militarisation of the state has reached a level where schools are occupied by security forces.”

They also warned that if peaceful resistance was violently crushed, the government “could very well be sowing the seeds of a violent revolution demanding justice and rule of law that would engulf the entire country.”

The jury recommended that all compulsory acquisition of agricultural or forest land be stopped. The forced displacement of tribal people needs to end, and rehabilitation started immediately. It called on the government to declare the details of all MoUs and industrial and infrastructural projects proposed in these areas and stop all environmentally destructive industries.

The paramilitary and police forces need to be withdrawn, and dissenters must not be victimised, said the jury. It also recommended the formation of an Empowered Citizen’s Commission to investigate and recommend action against those responsible for human rights violations of tribal communities.The Hindu

P. Chidambaram, Whose ‘Home’ Minister? Just Plain Resign And Go!

By Trevor Selvam

Countercurrents.org

Instead of offering to quit, Mr. Chidambaram should very simply have resigned and walked away. That would have shown some genuine morality, not the play acting and drama associated with trying to salvage his bruised ego by “offering”to resign.

Real moral people make up their minds, talk to their family and friends the night before, take their special South Indian two yard coffee from stainless steel cups in the morning and then send in their resignation. Khalas! No ifs or buts, sir!— as you had clearly stated a while ago to the Maoists. No conditions, no tentativeness—please ABJURE from drama therapy. The nation does not need it.

Mr. Chidambaram is not up to the task that he has defined for himself. He is a lawyer, a business executive, a one time academic, expert in corporate representation, suave spokesperson for collapsed megalomaniac organizations like Enron and enviro-pillaging Jurassic outfits like Vedanta. How can he be a Minister for “Homes”? Why does Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put up with such ineptitude camouflaged by hollow intellectualism and pedantic pronouncements on law and order?

To be a Home Minister (quaint term is it not for someone who has razed 640 villages to the ground and displaced a few hundred thousand people from their HOMES into strategic hamlets?) you must recognize 62 years of ineptitude at HOME, first. He should first try and understand why several million citizens of this country, who regard the hills and mountains as their “homeland” and were the first citizens of this country, do not want to be moved from their “homes.”

What has Mr. Chidambaram done so far?

He has held several high level meetings with dishonest, deceitful police officers. These are the same police officers who said Chatradhar Mahato had one crore rupees insurance and a house in Orissa. They never apologized for spreading such Goebbels-like trash. These are the same Police officers who openly disregard Supreme Court directives to produce missing people that they had arrested in Dantewada. These are the same Police Officers who shot Lalmohan Tudu, President, Pulishi Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (Peoples’ Committee against Police Atrocities) and two other persons, Yubaraj Murmu and Suchitra Murmu, in front of their families at Narcha village near Kantapahari in Lalgarh, during the night of 22nd February and then declared they were killed in an armed encounter. Subsequently, they have tried to weasel out of their own statements. These are the same police officers who will not let Sodi Sambo speak out. These are the same Police officers who are hounding well known human rights activists and charge sheeting them or arresting them. Not a single Police Officer engaged in such deceitful, murderous activities have been charge sheeted, never mind suspended or fired by Mr. Chidambaram.

Mr. Chidambaram has flirted with the same police chiefs of Dantewada and Bastar who masterminded the shooting of witnesses of rapes and massacres of adivasis by the CRPF and Selwa Judum, the same police officers who carry out the chopping of breasts of 70-year old women and the fingers of a 4 year old whose parents had already been executed. He confers and confabulates with the same police force (with a variety of reptilian, feral names) who on an average week carry out wanton killings in the name of “encounters” ranging from 5 to 10 Adivasis victims. Has anyone tallied up the civilian, non-Maoists, killed by Mr. Chidambaram’s police forces in the last one year alone? It would make the plight of the 76 hapless CRP personnel who were ambushed, a drop in the bucket. Why is no one bringing up those numbers? Hello! Shoma Chaudhry of Tehelka? Are you listening?

Mr. Chidambaram thought he had so smartly provoked the CM of Bengal Mr. Bhattacharya—“the buck stops at the CM’s office”—and then the buck stopped at his desk after the Dantewada ambush and all he does is say “Something has gone wrong, somewhere.” Is this a low budget horror movie we are watching here or enacting primary school idiom tutorials… like people in glass houses… etc etc?

Mr. Chidambaram had already called the Naxalites, savages, butchers and cowards. He plants this terminology, so that the NDTV/Times Now crew can hyperventilate, salivate and freely use terminology like “terrorists, massacre, and carnage” with impunity. Despite that when the Naxalites offered a 72 day ceasefire, he did not have the gumption to pick up the phone and talk. Here is a man who said that in 72 hours he can respond to the Naxalites! He could have done it secretly, taken the initiative to work out a deal, but instead he wanted a fax!! What a typically feudal Indian bureaucratic cop out for the Minister of all Cops! In a quiet moment, Mr. Chidambaram should seclude himself and ask his God, if he himself is responsible for this ambush and as well as the Silda attack and the Koraput one as well.

Mr. Chidambaram knows perfectly well that the Indian Government has spoken to the openly secessionist Hurriyat in Kashmir, has spoken to Underground leaders of the North East, even arranged meetings outside the country to meet them. And he wants a fax from people who even his own Service Chiefs have declared as citizens of the country and would not like to bomb, strafe and kill? Mr. Kishenji, the Maoist military commander, has openly declared that the Maoists would be the first people to defend the country and fight the Taliban if they tried to foment their type of fundamentalist nonsense in India.

Mr. Chidambaram does not want to talk to people who know the facts and the terrain and the history of this land. He likes to talk to people who are trained by foreign counter-insurgency experts, guerrilla warfare school masters who mouth platitudes about warfare and keep scratching their heads why the graduates of their famous anti-guerrilla schools are not following Standard Operating Procedures. There are apparently 48 well-known instructions on how to deal with insurgents. Well, sir, here is your problem! You see, real guerrillas create a new set of situations from point number 49 onwards, when you have just learned the first 48! That is what makes a true guerrilla. Your management training must have told you to “think out of the box.” Well, the guerrillas have been doing just that for a long time now. You are talking to the wrong people, Mr. Chidambaram!

Mr. Chidambaram and his new found supporters in the BJP, who have openly sided with his plight, must know that until and unless the Godhra massacre hoodlums are prosecuted and that includes Mr. N(azi) Modi and as well the Congress leaders of Selwa Judum and the 1984 carnage against Sikhs, (who by the way include several sitting MPS and even his cabinet colleagues) let us not talk shop about violence and non-violence.

There must be someone out there in Delhi who knows better, overcomes the usual clichés of “democracy, law and order and justice” and comes out with a refreshing new agenda that recognizes that India must face up to this new reality. It will simply not go away like a bad dream. It is time for India to comprehend that there is a reality outside of the rancid parliamentary ethos and the accompanying parliamentary parties; that there are thousands if not millions of activists who are advancing refreshing new ways to advance the welfare of this country and not cater to the 100 families who own more than 25% of India’s wealth; that ways have to be found to overcome this police state that is passed of as the world’s largest democracy; that a new alliance must be built by the broadest possible agreement of the people who are assembling today against this war on the people of India declared by Mr. Chidambaram himself. There must be someone out there, who can be a better “Home Minister.” Someone who will meet with civil society activists, constitutionalists, lawyers, doctors, engineers, writers, artists, rights activists, journalists who are against this displacement which is at the root of the problem.

It is time for Mr. Chidambaram to go! He has failed the nation, the first citizens of the country and the hopes and aspirations of the majority of the people who have not benefitted an iota from the neo-liberalist onslaught that he and his mentor, the Prime Minister of this country, have unleashed. It is better that he cuts the drama now and walks away.

‘Police killed my brother’, alleges Mukram adivasi

Moonchasing April 12, 2010

‘This is where we found his body.’ Says Mandgroo Kunjam (45), pointing out the spot where he found his older brother’s body on the 10th of April, 2010. This was the same area where 76 CRPF jawaans were killed on Tuesday.

‘There was blood coming out of his ears. He was badly beaten.’ Continued Mandgroo. His brother Suklu Kunjam, aged around 60 was allegedly apprehended from his home in the village of Mukram by the police on Wednesday, the day after the Mukrana encounter. Villagers found his body only on Saturday morning. Superintendent of Police Amresh Mishra claims that he received no information about any such incident.

The village of Mukram is the closest village to the site of the ambush. It has four ‘sections’ or ‘paras’– Pujaripara, Patelpara, Nadipara and Bojapara consisting of over 130 homes and almost all of them are now empty. Every house has been locked, livestock has been abandoned, the mahua left uncollected. The few residents of Chintalnar claim that all the Muria tribals left to live further in the jungles, in fear of further police action.

The 10th of April was also supposed to be market day at Chintalnar for the Muria tribals of all the nearby villages but there wasn’t a single tribal seen at Chintalnar.

Interestingly, exactly a year ago on the 10th of April, another encounter had taken place near the village of Chintagufa where 10 CRPF jawaans were killed with over 19 wounded. The situation for the CRPF posted between Chintagufa and Chintalnar has not improved either.

The company that was ambushed on Tuesday consisted of CRPF jawaans from three different companies – A Company, C Company, and G Company of the 62ndnd posted at Chintalnar had an opportunity to speak to the press where they expressed their own complaints – ‘Around 80% of us suffer from malaria at some point or the other’, ‘The INSAS is not a good gun, it only maims, never really kills,’ ‘We live under tin roofs, and its more than 45 degrees here,’ ‘There are no SPOs here,’ ‘None of us speak Koya, how are we going to communicate with the tribals?’, ‘Everyone in this area is a Maoist or supports them in some way or the other’. battalion. Around 20 jawaans of the 62

“In First Strikes itself, 26 Jawaans were killed”

According to intelligence sources, 26 of the CRPF jawaans were killed in the first contact with Maoists before they could even return fire, in the Mukrana forests of Dantewada in the early morning of the 6th of April.

“The first strike itself must’ve struck terror into the minds of the remaining forces’, according to source in the intelligence agencies. It is yet unconfirmed whether the CRPF was moving or whether they were merely sitting down. The ambush didn’t take place on a hillock as many say, but in an opening in the forest.”

Meanwhile, the Maoists have released a statement signed by Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee member Ramanna who is known to have hailed from Warangal and has been active with the tribals of Chhattisgarh since the 1980’s. In the statement he claims that around 300 Maoists were present during the attack while only eight of them were killed, including one section Commander Rukhmati who also hails from the village of Mukram. He also claims that they have stolen 75 weapons – 21 AK47s, 38 INSAFs, 7 SLR, 6 LMG, one stengun and one two-inch motor.

All of the Maoists killed in the attack are adivasis. At least half of them hail from villages that have been burnt down or attacked by the Salwa Judum. For instance Comrade Vagaal hails from Regagatta near Bhejji that was burnt down in the first few months of the inception of the Salwa Judum. Three more Maoists hailed from Pamra, Mukram, Kondapalli, that are villages where killings have taken place, according to petitions filed in the Supreme Court.

Police action:Families Flee Dantewada Villages

Fearful of anti-Maoist operations after the Dantewada attack, many families in the district are now fleeing the villages even as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister today launched a major drive to reach out to people in Naxal hotbeds in rural areas.

Security forces have launched a massive manhunt to nab the Maoists after the deadly ambush that killed 76 personnel on 6 April.

Tension prevails in Chintalnar, Mukram and Tarmetla villages, about 500 kms from here, with the police questioning residents, official sources said.

During the ambush, security forces had gunned down eight Maoists, including Rukmati, a self styled section commander hailing from Mukram. Many residents have fled this village fearing police action, they said.

The other Maoists belonged to Rehadgatta, Pamra, Karigundam, Kodapalli, Rengam, Murpalli and Jadka villages which are a stronghold of the Naxals. Sources said that several families from these villages have also taken shelter at other places since the Maoist attack.

Collector, Dantewada district, Reena Kangla said that there was no report of any major exodus from these villages.

However, she admitted that the villagers were fearful after the attack.

"Some villagers have gone to nearby towns but you cannot say that they are fleeing the villages," she said.

Launching a major drive for "good governance" in rural areas, Chief Minister Raman Singh today visited the camps for Naxal-affected in Dantewada to take stock of the situation and assured the people of all necessary help.

Singh announced that the monthly honorarium of Special Police Officers will be raised from Rs 2150 to Rs 3,000 and that ration cards will be issued to them.

In Doranpal village in south Bastar, the chief minister announced several measures for the welfare of the people, including expansion of the local school.

Singh asked the villagers about problems related to electricity and water supply and functioning of the public distribution system.

Officials said that the drive led by the chief minister will be in two phases. The first leg will be till April 16 and the second from April 19 to April 23 during which officials will visit 20,000 villages and address the grievances of the people.

Meanwhile, a massive manhunt is on nab the red rebels, including their leaders, involved in last week’s gruesome killing for which three persons – Papa Rao, Ramana and Hidma – have emerged as prime suspects.

Born in Andhra Pradesh’s Warangal district, Rao, a general secretary of Maoists’ Jagarbandhu area committee, is known to be the right hand man of Ramana, the special general secretary of Dandakarnya region.

Dandakaranya is the forest tract in the country’s central-southern region covering parts of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra where the banned CPI-Maoist virtually runs a parallel government. Outlookd At: Apr 12, 2010 17:25 IST

Pitched battle over ‘Operation Green Hunt’ at JNU

NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University campus became a battleground on Friday night when members of disparate student organizations clashed over what was seen as an attempt to oppose operation green hunt.

The National Students Union of India (NSUI), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Pari-shad (ABVP) and Youth for Equality (YFE) came together to allege that a campus function by the JNU Forum Against War on People was used by Maoist supporters to celebrate the Dantewada killings. But the organizers said the meeting was only meant to oppose Operation Green Hunt launched by the government.

The NSUI national general secretary, Shaikh Shahnawaz, recalled: “Members of Democratic Students Union (DSU) and All India Students Association (AISA) organized a meeting to celebrate the killing of 76 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh. They were even shouting slogans like ‘India murdabad, Maovad zindabad’. How can this be allowed inside a Central university?”

To oppose the holding of the function, NSUI and ABVP activists took out a march to the venue where a clash broke out among the students. “How can an administration let anti-India activities take place? Such organizations which celebrate the death of security personnel should be banned, just like SIMI was,” said a PhD scholar from Tapti Hostel, Bharat Kumar.

‘Maoists are the govt for Dantewada tribals’

How could the Maoists hold their sway in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada region and massacre 76 CRPF personnel on Tuesday without suffering many losses themselves? The bloodbath took place despite the heavy presence of security forces there for the last five years and the ongoing Operation Green Hunt against the rebels. The answer is simple: The Maoists have the total support of local tribals, most of whom belong to the Muriya or Gothikoya sect.

A social activist from Andhra Pradesh’s Khammam district, J. Venkatesh, said: “In the latest attack on the CRPF forces, these tribals played a major role. There were about 200 Maoists, but the number of Muriya tribals involved was double. The tribals attacked the forces with arrows, swords and axes.” He added: “The tribals form a large part of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) of the Maoists. They don’t understand the Maoist philosophy.

Orissa: Their Crime Was They Were Boys

Close to a village where police shot Adivasis dead last November, 13 minors have been jailed for ‘waging war against the State’. BRIJESH PANDEY reports from Koraput district of Orissa. Photographs by ANSHIKA VARMA

Police did not disclose that six people mentioned in the FIR as adults were minors, one of them just 13 years old

MY SON Narsingh is only 15. Yet he was mercilessly beaten and arrested by the police. Police are calling him a Naxal and a threat to the State. Are the police so weak that a young boy has become a threat to them?” asks a distraught Morapa Wano. Narsingh is one of six minors in Orissa’s Naxalite-infested Koraput district, almost astride the border with Andhra Pradesh, who have been charged under Sections 121 and 121A (waging war against the State) of the Indian Penal Code.

A TEHELKA team travelled nearly 100 km by motorcycle from Koraput town to reach Jangdivalsa village, where children as young as 13 have been arrested, to find out the truth and make sense of the events. The first 60 km of the journey feels as if one is heading for a vacation —the beautiful hills and scenic surroundings make it a most unlikely war zone. The tryst with nature comes to a rude jolt 5 km ahead of Narayanpatna where a company of CRPF, sitting on both sides of the road, armed with machine guns and mortars, stares you in your face. Our guide instructs us not to look them in the eye unless we wish to invite trouble. A further 3 km up the hill and we come across one more company of CRPF, armed with heavy weaponry, inspecting the nooks and corners of the hills and keeping a close vigil on those entering the area.

My son is being called a Naxal. Are the police so weak that a young boy has become a threat to the State?’ MORAPA WANO, Mother of Narsingh, 15

Narayanpatna is where the Indian Reserve Battalion, a paramilitary force stationed at the local police station, opened fire on 150 Adivasis protesting in front of the station on November 20 last year. Two Adivasis — members of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh (CMAS) which has been fighting for the Adivasis’ right over land — died in the firing and 60 villagers were injured. The Adivasis were part of a 150-strong group protesting against excesses committed by police and paramilitary forces which entered their villages during search and combing operations.

Police claimed the tribals had laid siege to the police station and fired at them, prompting retaliatory fire. Eight days later, it punished the villagers of Jangdivalsa for being supporters of the CMAS. Police descended on the village around 7 am on November 28, 2009, surrounding it from all sides. The men were beaten brutally. Even women and children were not spared. The mayhem continued till noon.

BRANDED NAXALS AND JAILED The 13 teenagers charged with ‘waging war against the State’ and attempt to murder JANGDIVALSA VILLAGE PUALA BHEEMA, 13 KADURKA BHEEMA, 15 PUALA MALATI, 15 KANDAGIRI PENTA, 15 MANDINGI SIMA, 14 HIMRIKA MADANA, 15 PUALA TAMANNA, 15 PODAPADAR VILLAGE SANJIB NACHIKA, 15 WADERKA BIJAY, 14 NARSINGH WADEKA, 14 BHALIAPUT VILLAGE KUMBRA HAZANKA, 15 TAMA NACHIKA , 15 DOMSIL VILLAGE SISIR WANGDUKA, 15

TEHELKA, which visited Narayanpatna last November to unearth the truth, was back in Orissa a few days ago to investigate how much the Jangdivalsa juvenile arrests owe to the November firings. Villagers there told our team that police refused to believe that they had nothing to do with the Narayanpatna protest. “They just dragged us out of our house and we were beaten mercilessly. We thought they would spare our children but they showed no mercy,” said Vishwanath, among a handful who were fortunate enough to not be in the village at the time of the police crackdown.

Bala, 11, was another of the fortunate few, away grazing cattle at the time of the attack. When he returned, he saw his father writhing in pain in their hut. Speaking in the local Kondhi dialect, translated into broken Hindi to us by a villager, Bala says: “My father was very worried about my elder brother Penta [15]. He feared that those whom police had taken away would be killed and branded as Naxals. He heaved a sigh of relief when he came to know that they were not killed but taken to jail.”

Lucky survivor Bala, 11, was away grazing cattle when police struck. His brother Penta, 15, was not so lucky.

Lucky survivor Jurko Wadeka was roughed up by the police and her husband and sons arrested

Brutalised Setaiyah was pushed around by police when they came to arrest her son, Kadurka Bheema, 15

Police claimed they had arrested 15 people, including local civil rights activists Tapan Mishra and Padmanava Sahu, from the area. All 15 were charged with waging war against the nation and possession of explosives. What was not disclosed was that six people mentioned in the FIR as adults were minors, including a child as young as 13.

At Podapadar village nearby, the situation was not much different. Here too, juveniles were taken into custody, shown as adults and charged with serious offences. Jurko Wadeka, a villager, says: “My husband and two sons were beaten up and then forcibly taken to jail. When we protested, the police also roughed us up. I just hope that this ordeal ends quickly for us.”

MOST OF the villagers we spoke to requested us not to publish their names. They say that with ‘Operation Green Hunt’ having been launched on April 1, they are at risk. Clearly, the fear of a police backlash is very strong. The police version, as expected, is rather different. The FIR filed in the case says the police “received credible information that some members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), armed with firearms, explosives and other weapons would assemble at Jangdivalsa [on November 28] and finalise a plan to attack the police station to snatch arms and ammunition. Acting on this information, a police party along with the Special Operations Group and Cobra forces proceeded to Jangdivalsa village and surrounded it.” The FIR goes on to add that police spotted a group of armed men that had “congregated on the northern side of the forest”. Some of them managed to escape on seeing the police but “we were able to nab 15 activists and recovered a lot of firearms and detonators and one bow and arrow”, the FIR says. On interrogation, the men “told us that they were planning to destroy a bridge and damage a mobile phone tower in the locality. We arrested them and produced them in the court”, it adds.

Among those arrested was Puala Bheema, 13. He was charged with the same offences as the rest, but was lucky enough to be sent off to the juvenile centre in Behrampur. The other five juveniles were not so fortunate — they were bundled off to the district jail in complete violation of the Juvenile Justice Act, which states that children cannot be imprisoned with adults and hardened criminals.

V Balakrishna, a lawyer representing the juveniles in court, says: “They [police] killed two tribals in Narayanpatna when they demanded their rights [to land] and protested police highhandedness and now they are terrorising these villagers to ensure they desist from making such demands in the future. What they are not realising is that they are literally pushing them into the hands of Naxals.”

‘What about our police stations being blown to bits and arms looted by Naxals?’ fumes the Koraput SP

Interestingly, police no longer insist that all those arrested were adults. TEHELKA has in its possession schoolleaving certificates of two of the accused, proving that they are juveniles. When asked about juveniles being arrested and being charged with offences like waging war, the Koraput SP, Amit Sahu, shot back angrily: “What about us? What about the fact that our police stations are blown to bits and arms looted by these people? Don’t we have some rights?” Regaining his composure, Sahu added: “We are screening such cases and will forward a list to the court of individuals which we think are juvenile.” Asked if the officers who violated the Juvenile Act would be pulled up, he replied: “No comments.”

Rajendra Prasada Sahu, the public prosecutor at Jeypore court in Koraput, is more candid. He admitted that there were 14-15 juveniles in jail right now and district authorities are trying to resolve the matter. “On March 23, 2010, there was a meeting of senior officers in the circuit house at Koraput, including the Collector, SP and District Judge. We had a discussion about these juveniles. Even the SP expressed unhappiness about the manner of their arrest. The accused are in the age group 15-16. We also went to the jail to meet them. We are trying to find a solution.” But even he steered clear of the alleged violation of the Juvenile Act. However, the court staff, on condition of anonymity, told TEHELKA that even basic arrest procedures had not been followed. After the case was brought before the court, not a single statement had been recorded from the 15 accused.

Balakrishna does not think the errant police officers will be punished. “It is doubtful that police will act against its own brethren. What is bothering me most is the fact that those poor juveniles who don’t even know Oriya have to put up with hardened criminals. How they must be fending for themselves is beyond comprehension.” The lawyer hopes that since the matter is now in the public domain, authorities might act fast and try to undo the injustice meted out to the juveniles.

Two days after the TEHELKA team left Koraput, a landmine was set off in Govindpalli in the neighbouring Malkangari district, killing nine Special Operations Group personnel. Considering that police intensified random arrests after Maoists triggered a blast in Koraput — to halt combing operations following the November 20 firing — the latest blast could trigger a fresh round of hostilities. The war continues.

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Kolkata – prominent human rights activist Kirity Roy arrested

Statement from MASUM, Source: Sanhati

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER HARASSED

Well-known human rights activist Mr. Kirity Roy, Secretary of Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) and National Convenor, Program Against Custodial Torture and Impunity (PACTI) was arrested illegally, harassed and indicted in frivolous charges on 07th April 2010 in connection with holding People’s Tribunal on Torture

Background

MASUM organized a People’s Tribunal on Torture (PTT) at Moulali, Kolkata on 9th and 10th of June, 2008 a programme as part of the project of NPTTI (National Project on Preventing Torture in India). Nearly 1200 victims and their families were present and 82 victims of torture narrated their plight before the panel members, consisting of illustrious persons of national repute in the public tribunal.

Though it is a well-known practice all over the world since past half a century, MASUM has been framed for the same questioning the legality of doing same, quite unknown incident to this effect by Kolkata police.

The quashing for the above FIR is scheduled to be heard by Hon’ble High Court Calcutta on 08/04/2010. The said case was initiated for holding People’s Tribunal on Torture, a project under National Project on Preventing Torture in India on 09/06/2008 and 10/06/2008 at Kolkata.

Maoist military success sets back mining investment strategy

Business Week, April 7, 2010

Deadliest Maoist Raid Highlights Mittal, Posco India Challenge

The deadliest attack on Indian security forces in four decades of left-wing conflict underscores the challenge companies including ArcelorMittal, Posco and NMDC Ltd. face in investing in mineral-rich states.

Maoist rebels killed 76 officers in an ambush yesterday in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh, where NMDC operates its biggest iron-ore mine. In neighboring states, ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, and South Korea’s Posco have yet to start their $32 billion projects because of protests over land.

Resistance from property owners, some backed by Maoist or Naxalite rebels, and delays in approvals for land and mines have stalled more than $80 billion of projects in India that would double national steel output. Yesterday’s attacks are a setback to India’s efforts to rid the eastern states of left-wing guerillas and open up regions rich in iron ore, coal, bauxite and manganese to investment.