‘Sick do not come with Naxal labels’

NAGPUR: Caught in the crossfire in conflict areas where Naxals operate are a bunch of medical practitioners who are torn between their ethos and security issues. Be it Dr Binayak Sen’s incarceration or the recent early morning raid at the resident of a former superintendent of Eastern coalfield limited’s main hospital at Asansol, doctors too have started coming under the scanner for their alleged Maoist links. Recently, a doctor attached to a public health centre at Kasansur in Gadchiroli too was questioned for ferrying an alleged Maoist to the city hospital from remote areas.

The doctor was grilled extensively by the cops. The Gadchiroli police had recently brought several health department workers under scanner after a sizeable consignment of government hospital medicines were seized during an encounter with the Maoists at Tadgaon in Bhamragarh. The security agencies believe that some of the medical practitioners and their machineries may be treating the outlaws. They now view these medical workers with suspicion. The police in West Bengal recently carried out a crackdown on quacks too on the grounds that they are clandestinely supporting the Maoists.

But the doctors TOI spoke to believe that ethics come first in their profession. International award winning social activist Dr Prakash Amte, whose Lok Biradari project at Bhamragarh is at the heart of Naxal stronghold, said that patients do not come with labels stuck on their forehead. “The government feels that the doctors are treating members of who approaches us. Our approach is to treat every human being equally. There is an element of fear but the Naxals do not trouble the doctors. I never heard of any public heath officer being harassed. In war, medical teams are always spared,” said Bang, adding that his hospital did not facilities to treat bullet injuries. Gadchiroli also has an MLA who was attached to the district hospital for long.

MLA Dr Namdeo Usendi too said responsibility that comes with the profession cannot be ignored. “Can you show me any rule book where a doctor is debarred from treating any particular category of patients? Ignoring someone’s illness is tantamount to violation of human rights,” said Dr Usendi. The first-time MLA said in case of suspect patients, the incident should be treated as a medico-legal case. “Let the police then conduct an enquiry. When patients come with general ailments, we provide them medicines irrespective of the background that he or she may have come from,” said Usendi. banned organizations. But how can a doctor discriminate against anyone seeking treatment on the basis of his background. We have to treat him,” said Amte who added that professionals in conflict areas always have to work under threat. Social activist Dr Abhay Bang, who runs a 30-bed hospital as a part of his mission ‘Search’ in Gadchiroli, said that he has never felt the heat of the skirmishes between Maoist and security forces. “Ethically we have to extend medical assistance to anyone who approaches us. Our approach is to treat every human being equally. There is an element of fear but the Naxals do not trouble the doctors. I never heard of any public heath officer being harassed. In war, medical teams are always spared,” said Bang, adding that his hospital did not facilities to treat bullet injuries. Gadchiroli also has an MLA who was attached to the district hospital for long. MLA Dr Namdeo Usendi too said responsibility that comes with the profession cannot be ignored. “Can you show me any rule book where a doctor is debarred from treating any particular category of patients? Ignoring someone’s illness is tantamount to violation of human rights,” said Dr Usendi. The first-time MLA said in case of suspect patients, the incident should be treated as a medico-legal case. “Let the police then conduct an enquiry. When patients come with general ailments, we provide them medicines irrespective of the background that he or she may have come from,” said Usendi. TOI

Chhattisgarh: Allegation of revenge killing against CRPF to be probed

New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) NHRC will inquire into a complaint alleging that security forces killed a villager and branded him a Maoist in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada "in an act of revenge" for the massacre of 76 security personnel by the extremists a day after the Naxal ambush on April 6.

The Nation Human Rights Commission took cognisance of the complaint filed by a rights activist and lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy. It told its Director General (investigation) to collect "all the requisite reports" within eight weeks.

Tripathy alleged in his complaint that Chattisgarh police and CRPF personnel picked up one Kunjum Suklu while raiding Mukram village in Dantewada on April 7 and beat him to death "in an act of revenge".

"Not only this, they also branded Suklu, a poor villager, a Maoist," he charged. PTI

CRPP Press Release : Produce Mr. Gopal Mishra, Mr. Pradeep trade unionists and Ms. Anu, wife of Gopal Mishra before the court!

The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) would bring before the media the news as per available from civil rights groups Mr. Gopal Mishra, a trade unionist was taken to custody by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on the 25 April 2010 from Ramnagar, Nathu Colony, East Delhi. They reached his residence along with him at 11 am on 26 April 2010 and waited till evenimg for his wife Ms. Anu to return, according to Mr. Ritesh Kumar the owner of the house in which Mr. Gopal Mishra was staying as a tenant. The house owner was later told by the police that they were taking him to the police station. Later it became clear that along with Mr. Gopal another trade unionist Mr. Pradeep was also taken away by the police. It is also reported that along with another person whose identity is not known was also detained. Even after 24 hours of the detention of all of them they have not been produced in the court. There is no news about the whereabouts of Gopal’s wife, Ms. Anu.

We at the CRPP demand the unconditional release of all the trade union activists and Ms. Anu. We are concerned that they may be tortured physically and mentally to extract any form of confession which can later be used against them and for media trial by the police. We demand that they be given access to lawyers and not to violate their right to silence through intimidation and torture. As per the court of law both Mr. Gopal Mishra and Ms. Anu should be immediately produced before the court.

In Solidarity,

Gurusharan Singh (President)
Amit Bhattacharyya (Secretary General)
SAR Geelani (Working President)
Rona Wilson (Secretary Public Relations)

Report: Indian State’s War On People And The Assault On Democratic Voices

By Forum Against War On People

29 April, 2010, Icawpi.org

In a public meeting organised by the Forum Against War on People at the Gandhi Peace Foundation on 24th April 2010, various organisations and individuals unequivocally demanded an immediate and unconditional stop to Operation Green Hunt and the plunder of people’s resources. Prof. Randhir Singh, prominent political thinker and former Head of the Department of Political Science in University of Delhi, noted that “the present government has armed itself with all kinds of armed forces in its war against people. In many parts of the country the behaviour of the Indian state can only be described as a terrorist state. Much has been made of the recent killing of 76 CRPF personnel in Dantewada. But what were they doing in that place? Is it not to repress the people and take away their land and resources to make way for the big corporations? People’s democratic verdict has been repeatedly flouted by the ruling classes. So the people need extra-parliamentary sanctions to pursue the democratic aspirations of the people. Without extra-parliamentary sanction to defend, the people will not be able to fight for democracy. What is happening in this country is part of a much larger story unfolding. Whether it is Congress or BJP, they are part of furthering the neo-liberal capitalist path of development. In contrast, the people’s alternative path of development has to be pursued and struggled for.”

Badshah Mandi from Jangalmahal (Lalgarh) in his speech stated that “Police is resorting to indiscriminate firing, torture, imprisonment and killing of the people of Lalgarh. Rape and torture is being used, people’s health centers built by the PCPA have been occupied by the paramilitary forces, the medicines have been taken away. Lalgarh has created an alternative to the governments run by the CPM, UPA or NDA, since the development policy of these governments is nothing but the policy of genocide. The sufferings of the adivasi people are the result of these government’s policies. The people of this country are suffering from state violence for more than last 60 years. The question of violence should not be reduced to armed struggle alone; the question is much deeper. The struggle is not between the Maoists and the paramilitary forces, but between the people and the Indian govt., between the ‘development’ polices of the government and people’s alternative development.” Aparna of the CPIML (New Democracy), gave more instances of atrocities on the people’s struggles all over the country in the name of fighting Naxalism/Maoism. People fighting for even their constitutionally mandated rights in Kosambi and Ghoorpur in Uttar Pradesh, Kalinganagar, Narayanpatna, Jagat Singhpur and Niyamgiri in Orissa are facing the brunt of this war on people. When people raise their voices against government’s pro-corporate policies, the government led by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram sends armed forces to crush them.

Peoples March 2010 March-April

Appeal from Women of Dandakaranya against the State’s Military Offensive

By Ka Frank, FRS

Militant adivasi women in Lalgarh, West Bengal

An appeal by KAMS to fraternal mass organizations, progressive democratic women, intellectuals, students and all democrats

Dear friends,

Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan [Revolutionary Adivasi Women’s
Organization] is working in the Dandakaranya comprising seven districts of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh with a population of about 40 lakhs. Women comprise about 19 lakhs 88 thousands among them. It is working in an area where various tribes like Madia, Muria, Dorla, Rajgond, Halba, Bathara and many nationalities are residing. The women here work for about 16 hours everyday in the fields, homes, as labourers, gatherers of forest produce etc. Though they labor day and night, they are being exploited and are denied all rights.

Feudal patriarchy is exploiting women’s labour and is suppressing all their rights. It has relegated women to a secondary position in the society. The feudal, comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie ruling classes of our country, with the backing of the imperialists are directly responsible for the continuation of exploitation and oppression of women as they are the ones who are strongly entrenching patriarchy in our society. The revolutionary movement entered into DK in 1980 in such a social background.

Brazilian Peasants demonstration against Operation Green Hunt

Brazilians peasants demonstration in Embassy of India in Brasilia, in disgust to Operation Green Hunt in India and solidarity with Advasi people, other nationalities and Indians peasants.The demonstration occurred on April 19th, 2010 and was organized by LCP Liga dos Camponeses Pobres (Peasants Poor League) was also attended by representatives of following entities: CEBRASPO Centro Brasileiro de Solidariedade com os Povos (Brazilian Center of Solitarity to the People), Liga Operária (Workers League), ILPS Brasil (Internacional League of People Struggle), ABRAPO Associação Brasileira de Advogados do Povo (Lawyers People Brazilian Association), MEPR – Movimento Estudantil Popular Revolucionário (Popular Revolutionary Student Movement), MFP Movimento Feminino Popular (Womens Popular Movement) and FRDDP Frente Revolucionária de Defesa dos Direitos do Povo (Revolutionary Front for the Defense of Peoples Rights).

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AISA & RYA protest against Maoist operation Green hunt

Kolkata,April 24 (ANI): Several youth activists of a radical Indian communist party staged a protest in Kolkata on Friday against anti-Maoist operation.Supporters of the All India Students Association (AISA) and Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA), the students and the youth wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) respectively, also burnt the effigies of Home minister P Chidambaram and West Bengal chief Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Protestors demanded immediate halt to the operation Green Hunt.

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Lalgarh: 60 people killed by CPM in last 10 months

A ‘Salwa Judum’ in Bengal, helped by CPM & police

The CPM party office in Enayatpur doubles as a camp

The Salwa Judum movement may be mired in controversy in Chhattisgarh, but in West Bengal’s Maoist hotbed of Lalgarh and neighbouring Bankura and Purulia districts, a Communist version of the “people’s resistance” has taken root over the past one and a half years.

Heavily armed CPM “fighters” living in nearly a dozen camps have been taking on Maoist activists and killed at least 60, say police sources. Each of these camps, set up at strategic locations, houses not less than 100 such men.

They are backed by local MPs and MLAs of the CPM, and their command headquarters is located in Keshpur in West Midnapore, which has not been touched by Maoist violence and is a stronghold of the party.

In Junglemahal area of Lalgarh, the “fighters” go by various names, such as the Mao Daman Sena, Gana Protirodh Manch or Sendri Committee. On their goal, there is no ambiguity: to ensure protection to villages known to have allegiance to the Communists and to carry out selected, targeted killings of Maoists.

The camps where the CPM “fighters” are lodged have never been raided by the police, despite the weapons wielded by the men.

West Bengal DGP Bhupinder Singh, in fact, says he sees nothing wrong in the cadres fighting back.

Start talks, stop Operation Green Hunt: Arundhati Roy

The Imphal Free Press

by Seram Rojesh

NEW DELHI, April 24: In a public meeting organised by the Forum Against War on People at the Gandhi Peace Foundation on 24th April 2010, various organisations and individuals unequivocally demanded an immediate and unconditional stop to Operation Green Hunt and the plunder of people’s resources.

Prof. Randhir Singh, prominent political thinker and former Head of the Department of Political Science in University of Delhi, noted that “the present government has armed itself with all kinds of armed forces in its war against people. In many parts of the country the behaviour of the Indian state can only be described as a terrorist state.

Much has been made of the recent killing of 76 CRPF personnel in Dantewada. But what were they doing in that place? Is it not to repress the people and take away their land and resources to make way for the big corporations? People’s democratic verdict has been repeatedly flouted by the ruling classes.

So the people need extra-parliamentary sanctions to pursue the democratic aspirations of the people. Without extra-parliamentary sanction to defend, the people will not be able to fight for democracy.

What is happening in this country is part of a much larger story unfolding. Whether it is Congress or BJP, they are part of furthering the neo-liberal capitalist path of development. In contrast, the people’s alternative path of development has to be pursued and struggled for.”

Badshah Mandi from Jangalmahal (Lalgarh) in his speech stated that “Police is resorting to indiscriminate firing, torture, imprisonment and killing of the people of Lalgarh. Rape and torture is being used, people’s health centers built by the PCPA have been occupied by the paramilitary forces, the medicines have been taken away. Lalgarh has created an alternative to the governments run by the CPM, UPA or NDA, since the development policy of these governments is nothing but the policy of genocide. The sufferings of the adivasi people are the result of these government’s policies. The people of this country are suffering from state violence for more than last 60 years. The question of violence should not be reduced to armed struggle alone; the question is much deeper. The struggle is not between the Maoists and the paramilitary forces, but between the people and the Indian govt., between the ‘development’ polices of the government and people’s alternative development.” Aparna of the CPIML (New Democracy), gave more instances of atrocities on the people’s struggles all over the country in the name of fighting Naxalism/Maoism. People fighting for even their constitutionally mandated rights in Kosambi and Ghoorpur in Uttar Pradesh, Kalinganagar, Narayanpatna, Jagat Singhpur and Niyamgiri in Orissa are facing the brunt of this war on people. When people raise their voices against government’s pro-corporate policies, the government led by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram sends armed forces to crush them.

Civil Society Groups Condemn Proposed Action against Arundhati Roy

Don’t Choke Off Dissenting Voices

Source : Outlook

The Director General of Police, Chhatisgarh is reported to be seriously examining whether writer Arundhati Roy should be prosecuted under the Chhatisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA) / Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for having written the article Walking With The Comrades, which was published by Outlook magazine recently.

The article is a journalistic account of what is happening on the other side of the battle lines in this War in Chhatisgarh which is also called Operation Green Hunt. It provides the readers with the story of what the Maoists are doing and thinking and how they are received and perceived by the villagers living in the areas where they operate. It is a detailed, sensitive and honest account of their history, their motivations, their thinking and their methods. Precisely because the account provides the perspective of the Maoists, it is a very valuable account, one that the people of the country need to hear. It is after all a phenomenon which has been described as the most serious security threat to the country. It is important for the people of the country to be as well informed as possible about the phenomenon of Maoism and how it has arisen so that a properly informed decision can be taken about how to deal with its challenges. In our view, the authorities on their own should have elicited inputs on the Maoist activity across the States, from as many diverse sources as possible and formulated its strategy to deal with the problem in a holistic and sensitive manner, essentially keeping the interests of the tribal central to such a strategy. Arundhati Roy’s inputs need to be viewed in this context.

Whether or not one agrees with the writer, a country which prides itself as a democracy must allow the free and honest expression of such views. Any attempt to stifle such expression of views on pain of prosecution would not only be violative of the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution, it would seriously undermine the country’s claim that it is a robust working democracy.

Given its disquieting record of persecuting local journalists and activists for daring to stray from the official line, any attempt to book Arundhati Roy for her article would confirm the government’s determination to choke off dissenting voices, especially to prevent any independent information from coming out of this theatre of ‘War’

Signed by:

Admiral R.H. Tahiliani (Former Navy Chief and Chairman Transparency International)
Amit Bhaduri (Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
Anoop Saraya (Professor, AIIMS)
Aruna Roy (Founder, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and National Campaign for people’s right to Information)
Arvind Kejriwal (RTI Activist, Magsaysay awardee)
Badri Raina (Former Professor, Delhi University)
C. Rammanohar Reddy (Editor, Economic and Political weekly)
Colin Gonsalves (Director, Human Rights Law Network)
Dr. Banwari Lal Sharma (Convenor, Azadi Bachao Andolan)
Dr. K.S. Subramaniam (I.P.S., Former DGP)
Dr. Mira Shiva (Initiative for Health Equity and Society)
Dr. P.M. Bhargava (Biotechnologist, Founder Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad)
Dr. Walter Fernandes (Director, North East Social Research Centre)
Dunu Roy (Director, Hazard Centre)
E.A.S. Sarma (Former Secy. Government of India)
Harsh Mander (Director, Aman Biradiri)
Himanshu Thakkar (Director, Centre for Water Policy)
Jagdeep Chhokar (Former Prof. IIM Ahmedabad)
Javed Naqvi (Journalist)
Jean Dreze (Economist and Social Scientist)
Kamini Jaiswal (Lawyer)
Karan Thapar (Journalist)
Madhu Bhaduri (IFS, Former Ambassador of India to several countries)
Manoj Mitta (Journalist)
Nikhil De (MKSS and NCPRI)
Prashant Bhushan (Lawyer)
Prof. Yashpal (Scientist and Educationist & Former Chairman UCG)
Ravi Chopra (Director, People’s Science Institute, Dehradun)
S.R. Hiremath (Samaj Parivatan Samuday)
Shabnam Hashmi (Convenor, ANHAD)
Shankar Singh (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan)
Teesta Setalvad (Citizens for Justice and Peace)
Trilochan Shastri (Professor, IIM Bangalore, and Convenor, Association for Democratic Reforms)
Vandana Shiva (Director Navdanya and Research Foundation for Science and Technology)
Vikram Lal (Director, Common Cause)
Yogendra Yadav (Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies)

Adivasi Activists branded as Maoist in Gujarat

DANGS IS the smallest and perhaps the most scenic Adivasi district of Gujarat. As you soak in the beauty and breathe the fresh air, Ashish Pawar, a young Adivasi activist acting as a guide, struggles to explain why his “god”, activist Avinash Kulkarni, who has been branded a Maoist by police, was arrested. Fearing a similar fate for himself, he adds, “I don’t even understand what Naxalism or Maoism means.”

In south Gujarat, police arrested at least nine “Maoists” in February and March claiming they received information from the Orissa government that Naxals were preparing for a violent movement in the state. But so far, Gujarat Police have not produced any evidence — except alleged confessions by those arrested — that they were involved in any armed, violent or anti- State activity. Before this, police have not registered any Maoist activity in the region since 1998.

In what appears to be a two-pronged strategy, activists like Kulkarni who are working with tribals to ensure they get ownership of their forest land are dubbed Maoist and arrested. At the same time, tribals are themselves being divided along Hindu vs tribal lines and turned into Hindutva acolytes.

The recent arrests come at a time when the Adivasis of Dangs thought they had learned to deal with the “tyranny” of forest authorities through legal instruments like the Forest Rights Act (FRA). Among those arrested is prominent Gandhian and forest rights activist Avinash Kulkarni, 55, whom the tribals deeply respect. Kulkarni was arrested from the house of fellow Adivasi activist Bharat Pawar on March 26 in the administrative headquarters of Dangs. An MPhil in political science, Kulkarni has been charged with “waging war against state” besides organising and participating in “unlawful” assembly of people in Dangs and Surat. His associates say Kulkarni has been arrested to “create a possibility of dividing” the Adivasi Maha Sabha (AMS), a conglomerate of 40 tribal rights groups comprising some 30,000 tribals who are involved in a robust movement in Gujarat’s tribal areas seeking the implementation of the FRA.