Banned Maoist Magazine People’s March is Coming Back

On 7th August 2009 the Hon’ble Press & Registration Appellate Board, New Delhi set aside the order dated 15-01-2009 of the District Collector, Ernakulam canceling the Declaration furnished by People’s March which was forwarded to The Registrar of Newspapers for India, Delhi. It showed the utter vindictiveness of the Government/ State to suppress the views hostile to it. People’s march has uncompromisingly stood on the side of the oppressed, exploited masses and the middle classes of our country who comprise an overwhelming 90% of our population.

The Government/State represents the mere microscopic moneybags of this country and their agents and hangers-on who comprise barely 5% of the population. Both stand in direct conflict to each other. But the interests of the country must and always be the interests of its bulk population. Before the Appelate Board stood a lawyer paid by the Government. On the other side stood me the Editor without any lawyer. The Government/State has no answer for the arguments and grounds put forth by me in my appeal as to under which clause under Section 8 B of the Press and Registration of Books Act 1867 the Declaration furnished by me was cancelled. After a few minutes ofsilence by the Government advocate

The Press & Registration appellate Board set aside the order of theCollector, Ernakulam. A copy of the order is awaited.Likewise after my illegal & arbitrary arrest and release on baileven after 21 months the Government/ State charge sheets were not filed. Butthe cases foisted on me are pending as a form of threat.It is clear that both the arrest and the banning of the non publishing magazine while I was under custodytogether with the earlier banning of the website http://www.peoplesmarch.com was nothing but a crude attempt by the Government/State to stifle the freedom of speech in this fake democratic setup.

AP: Naxal fear haunts IPS men

A senior Naxalite commander known as Comrade Kosa addresses about 5,000 tribal militiamen and supporters at an April rally near Bastar, India

Hyderabad, Aug. 30: IPS officers who earlier worked in Naxal-hit areas and now in the loopline are now feeling the heat due a series of steps taken by the police department.
It all started with the transfer of officers who are in the Naxal hitlist in police training centres, police academies and in non-focal jobs where they are provided less security when compared to mainstream cops.

SP Mahesh Chandra Ladda, who escaped a Maoist attack in Ongole town while serving as Prakasam SP, was posted as head of Police Training Centre in Warangal. Similarly, Mr Madhsudhan Reddy, who was Nizamabad SP during Manala encounter, was posted as Vizaianagaram PTC head.

The Andhra-Orissa border, including Vizainagaram, is still the hotbed of Naxal movement. Warangal was once the epicentre of Naxalism in North Telangana region.
A senior police officer said, “When IPS officers are unit heads, they can manage their own security. But in loopline, they may become easy prey to Naxals.”
Even the AP Police Academy has no compound wall now. Due to the Outer Ring Road work, the compound wall has been partly removed and it poses a serious threat to officers posted at the academy.

The IPS officers who are posted in APPA has to travel 25 km to reach their office. On the route, they are exposed to attacks. After the death of armed constable P. Muralinath, the police headquarters issued orders stripping senior cops of additional cars which they were using. The extra gunmen of senior IPS officer, Mr T. Krishna Prasad, were removed recently. “Old bullet-proof cars often bre- ak down. We need to board the other car following us. Now, there is no option. We have to take an autorickshaw,” said an IPS official. DC

At night, Maoists rule Lalgarh

On paper, Operation Lalgarh is still on. But in the villages, the Maoists’ writ runs supreme. And their circle of dominance and terror is growing. Caesar Mandal reports

The veneer of security is stretched too thin over the Maoist badlands of Bengal. And it can often be deceptive. On paper, the Lalgarh Operation that started on June 18 to flush out Maoists is still on. Guns at the ready, the forces are stationed at the outposts. The tarred roads are still being patrolled. But once the sun wanes and the shadows lengthen, the Maoist guerrillas take over.

Policemen and jawans stationed in the three districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia bordering Bihar and Jharkhand a vast 2,100 sq km terrain of field and forest are aware of this imbalance of power. As are the villagers. So, the indefinite bandh by the Maoists over the past fortnight has been near-total.

Lalgarh: We’ll fight for Jangalkhand autonomy: PCPA

Binpur students protest agianst police camps

Like the Gorkha and Koch outfits in North Bengal, Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) the tribal organization in Jangalkhand in
south Bengal has raised the call for autonomy.

Speaking exclusively to TOI from his hideout near Lalgarh, wanted PCPA leader Chhatradhar Mahato declared, “We, the sons of the soil, want the rights to the land, jungle and water of Jangalkhand. We want total autonomy because our people and land should be ruled by us.” He did not rule out the possibility of a statehood demand. ” We will soon set up an united ethnic platform to raise our demand for autonomy.” This is the first time the tribal leadership has expressed a clear autonomy demand.

With this fresh issue, PCPA which had emerged as a resistance group to counter police excess in the far-flung tribal villages has morphed into a full-fledged ethnic organization.

West Bengal: Maoists gain in the state

Barely five years ago, hardly anyone in West Bengal was aware of the presence of Maoists in the state.

Today political circles and civil society are abuzz debating how the Maoists are outwitting 50 companies of central paramilitary troops amassed in a small place called Lalgarh and whether their dream of building a corruptionexploitation free society will ever bear fruit. The Maoists never hoped to dominate the minds of argumentative Bengalis as they are doing now.

In the process, the rebels have been able to raise several issues hardly ever touched upon in Left Front-ruled West Bengal.

Their landmine blasts and politics through the barrel of their guns have killed many CPI(M) as well as police personnel. But they have also drawn public attention to the abject poverty and governmental neglect in large parts of the state. The “Marxist” government swore by the poor and yet did nothing for the truly marginalised population.

Guerrilla war zones in South

M P Prashanth

KOZHIKODE: The CPI (Maoist), an organisation banned by the Centre recently, has decided to set up new ‘guerrilla zones’ in South India with areas coming under Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.The Maoists have drawn up a detailed plan to convert the area into a special zonal committee along the lines of the Dandakaranya and Andhra-Orissa Border (AOB) guerrilla zones within two years.The move is seen as a part of the Maoists’ strategy to open new war fronts in the wake of reports that the Centre is getting ready for an all out offensive on the Naxalite strongholds like Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

The Maoists want to divert the attention of the security forces by creating new hotspots of violence in other parts of the country.Wayanad and some parts in Kannur district; Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kodagu in Karnataka and the areas in Tamil Nadu bordering Kerala and Karnataka will come under the proposed zone. The Western Ghats has been a strategic point for the Maoists for a long time. The documents of the CPI(ML) (People’s War), which later merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) to become the CPI (Maoist), reveal that the decision to create a guerrilla zone in these areas had been pending for a long time.

Police ‘bribe’ hunt & firing kill 2

Truck speeding to escape cops mows down motorcyclist, mob attacks force

OUR CORRESPONDENT

The truck and a police vehicle that were set ablaze by villagers in Chandrakona. (Kumaresh Roy)

Midnapore, Aug. 29: A truck driver apparently speeding away from bribe-hungry cops, mowed down a motorcyclist today in West Midnapore, sparking mob violence that led to a youth’s death in police firing.

Around 8.30am, when Lakshmi Ari was riding down the Ramjivanpur bypass in Chandrakona on his motorbike, a paddy-laden truck crushed him. Fifty-year-old Lakshmi died on the spot.

“I saw the truck running at high speed and crushing the motorist while trying to avoid the policemen who had definitely targeted the driver to extort money. The policemen generally ask for money from drivers here,” said Samir Mondal, 40, who was in his betel leaf shop nearby.

Manipur, a State which hardly figures in the mainstream media.

SEVANTI NINAN

Manipur, a State which sees much more daily violence than Kashmir, hardly figures in the mainstream media.

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Once in four or five years a stunning incident hits home and brings Manipur back into national focus.

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Photo: R. V. Moorthy
In Focus: Manipuri students protesting State violence in New Delhi.

Manipur is in the news. That is a miracle in itself. A State accustomed to steady national amnesia is watching bemused as the media descends. CNN IBN is here, New York Times is here, says a local editor. NDTV and Times Now have come and gone, says a local reporter.

Manipur is in the news and its killing fields are feeling the impact. A State that reported 225 encounter killings this year until Tehelka hit the stands on July 31 has seen hardly any killings by the State in the three weeks since. The magazine ran an unnamed photographer’s sequence of 12 shots which chronicle the straight killing of a former insurgent by police commandos. No encounter, just a plain, point blank killing in a marketplace. Given Manipur’s status on India’s news radar it did not become a cover story even then, not until a subsequent issue. But it suddenly brought home to the country and the world the chilling realities in the border State that gets the least media attention.

Rally In Kolkata Against State Repression in Lalgarh

Source: Red Barricade

For more than three week, Red Barricade has not been able to report on Lalgarh. Meanwhile as state repression is showing its brutal faces, like destruction of health centres constructed and run by People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), abduction of two supporters of PCAPA, who were going to Lalgarh with medical help and medicines, people’s resistance is taking more concrete shape. Disobeying section 144 in the Indian Penal code, people of Lalgarh under the banner of PCAPA in regular basis organizes mass rally. Huge participation of people in those rallies proves that the people of Lalgarh demand immediate withdrawal of combined armed forces from Lalgarh and stop the ongoing state repression.

In support of the popular demands of PCAPA and to stop the state repression in Jungalmahal including Lalgarh, today (29 August, 2009) a rally was organized by Lalgarh Mancha (Lalgarh Forum) in Kolkata. Starting from College Square it ended at Esplanade passing through M. G. Road, A. J. C. Bose Road and S. N. Banerjee Rad. People from different strata of the society including workers, students and intellectuals have taken the streets in demand of immediate withdrawal of combined armed forces from Lalgarh. Slogans were shouted demanding immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and abolition of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). In the rally participation of workers and All Santhals Students Association (ASSA), a students organization of Santhals (a tribal students organization) was note-worthy. Sanhati Udyoug, IFTU, Gana Pratirodh Mancha (W.B.) also participated.

Anti-Maoist Ops: How can the army help

An activist of Maoist rebel group shouting slogans while leading a procession of tribal villagers to pay tribute to their activist killed in confrontation with security forces to mark ‘Martyr’s-Week’ at an unidentified place inside the deep forests in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh

…the state in fighting the naxals?

Most observers contend that the expertise earned by the Indian army in over five decades of counterinsurgency operations is not being utilised by the Indian state in its operations against Naxals. So how can the army practically help Indian government in fighting the naxals?

The most obvious — yet most difficult — way is to bring the army or the Rashtriya Rifles units directly into this fight. The government is reticent to do so for valid political reasons, and the army seems to be equally reluctant to get embroiled in another internal security battle. The portrayal of Naxals as misguided youths fighting discrimination — who have been midwifed by gross underdevelopment and state apathy — makes it extremely difficult for the government to deploy army or RR units against them.The ensuing uproar from the liberals and the leftist media against the disproportionate retaliation by the state is likely to embarrass the government; it would be an unmitigated public relations disaster for the ruling formation. The government is also perhaps correct in appraising that the nation doesn’t yet believe — and is not prepared for the eventuality — that army needs to be moved in against the naxals. Moreover, pushing for army deployment at this stage would actually prove that UPA 1.0 was an unmitigated disaster in assessing and tackling the naxal threat. Any acceptance of this brutal fact would obviously be an anathema to the Prime Minister and the Congress party. Read More>>>

‘Half Of The Last 16 Chief Justices Were Corrupt’

The decision to declare assets is a big victory. Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan tells SHOMA CHAUDHURY what else is rotting in our judiciary
In public interest Prashant Bhushan has championed the fight for judicial accountability
Photo: SHAILENDRA PANDEY

It’s great judges have agreed to declare assets. But will it really help? Politicians do it too.
This decision is very welcome, even if it’s only happened under public pressure. It is proof of the power of public opinion. And even though declaring assets is a relatively minor aspect of judicial accountability, it will help. If a judge misdeclares his assets, there’s a chance someone might know he has particular properties he hasn’t declared, and may point it out. One could then examine if these can be explained within their legal income.

The debate around judicial accountability has got really hot. Are there watershed events that triggered this?
Not in my own perception, but I think for the public there were two watershed events – the Chief Justice Sabharwal case (where there was an allegation that Chief Justice YS Sabharwal’s orders to demolish commercial outlets in Delhi directly benefited his sons, who were partners with some mall developers) and the Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam. Both these cases got wide media attention. A 2006 Transparency International report said the judiciary in India is the second most corrupt institution after the police.

Kidnappers In Khaki

Manipur’s security forces detain an 11-year-old girl to force her parents out of hiding. TERESA REHMAN reports on the insurgency’s latest victim

Battlelines The unending clash between security forces and civilians in Manipur has ruined the fabric of the state Photo: SHAILENDRA PANDEY

FOUR DAYS after personnel from a combined team of the Imphal West Commandoes and 12th Maratha Light Infantry picked her up from her home in Imphal Mayang, 11-year-old Salam Bidyarani Devi lies listless at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal. Tended to by five aged women, Bidyarani complains of breathlessness, murmurs incoherently and stares into nothingness. She’s so afraid of strangers that she refuses to let the five women — one of whom is her grandmother — leave her bedside.

Bidyarani, a Class VI student of Immanuel Grace Academy in Nongmaikhong was picked up by security forces on August 14 when they came looking for her parents for allegedly harbouring militants and hiding their ammunition. Since her parents were not at home at the time of the incident, Bidyarani was taken to the Imphal Mayang police station and later admitted to a private clinic at night. She was released on August 18 after police arrested her parents.