Background to the National Liberation Struggle in Manipur: Kangleipak Communist Party

Protest against fake encounters/assassinations by Indian Army

September 22, 2010

An Open letter to Revolutionary Parties of South East Asia

Manipur in Brief

Manipur, one of the occupied seven States in India’s North Eastern Region, is in deep social and political turmoil. The national liberation struggle to restore Manipuri sovereign independence and the massive counter-insurgency measures by the Indian State forces have resulted in a disturbing situation of armed conflict. Thousands of innocent peoples have been killed, hundreds have disappeared from custody, and many women have been raped by the Indian State forces in the process of ruthless counter-insurgency operations. The entire state is filled with personal tragedies of families who lost their sons & daughters, and with young men de-capacitated, maimed and psychologically shattered without renewable capacity for rehabilitation. The impact of the armed conflict is severely felt by women and children.

The state’s productive forces, particularly women, had been undermined resulting in deep urban and rural poverty, thereby adding to the cycle of violence. Under the so-called democratic system of India, corruption in public life had reached unprecedented depths and the body polity is rent apart, the division between the haves and have-nots had widened, and family unity and family values had been shattered through severe economic strain.

Satyarupa Jana: A prize catch under UAPA

by Nisha Biswas

On July 9, 2009 Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the Chief Minister of West Bengal assured his colleagues in State Assembly that the government would see that Unlawful Activity Prevention Act (UAPA) is not misused. He also informed the assembly that from the day of banning of Communist Party of India (Maoist) by the Centre and the imposition of UAPA in West Bengal (June 22, 2009) till that date, only 39 persons have been arrested by invoking this Act, out of which thirty were from West Midnapore, five from Bankura and four from Purulia. However, as his habit is, he did forget (intentionally?) to mention the first arrest of Gour Chakroborty, spokesperson of CPI(Maoist) on the day the Maoist party was banned by the Government of India, without giving him a chance to clarify his stand.

The exact number of persons arrested so far under this Act is not known but the estimate is that it is not less than a couple of hundreds. However, an RTI inquiry by APDR reveals that, till March 2010, only 30 persons have been arrested from West Midnapore under UAPA. The list begins with unbanned CPI(Maoist) party Spokesperson Gaur Chakroborty, activists Raja Sorkhel, Prasun Chatterjee, Bangla People’s March editor Swapan Dasgupta (who died in custody), PCPA spokesperson Chhtaradhar Mahato, treasurer Sukhashanti Baskey, and other high profile persons, including activists of democratic movement to people like Satyarupa Jana of Pankhai, Khejuri of East Medinipur.

Satyarupa belongs to the region, which happened to be the ruling party stronghold during Nandigram protest. She is such a politically naïve person that she never bothered to find out what is happening on the other side of Taikhali Bridge. Even today, she is at loss in explaining why so many from Nandigram were murdered. Her life of 48 years has been a struggle to make both ends meet – she has tried to educate her three sons and is proud of the fact that they are doing well and that one of her daughter-in-law is a para-teacher and the other one is doing her graduation. Hers is a normal conventional life of a little ambitious and industrious person who has taken risks and has almost never missed any opportunity of an extra earning. Satyarupa says that she did hear gun shots and the noise of bomb hurling, but has always tried to keep her family and self away from all these political chaos.

Today the same Satyarupa Jana is languishing in Midnapore Central jail since 24th May of this year and is accused of various offenses including waging and conspiring war against the state, collecting and keeping arms, sedition. Her “seizure list” includes a bag of arms used for killing the Trinamool Congrss Panchayat leader Nishikanta Mondal at Nandigram on September 22, 2009. She is booked under Sections 121/121A/122/123/124A/120B of Indian Penal Code, Sec 25/27 of Arms Act and also under section 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. In Khejuri PS Case no. 65/10 dtd 14.05.2010 she is termed as a hard core Maoist; such a hard core Maoist who before her arrests had not heard the name of Mao or his ism.

Satyarupa is a perfect example of the misuse of a draconian Act to meet the agendas of political parties and their associates. So who is Satyarupa? Satyarupa is one who has never missed any chance of earning money for a better life. She has vended vegetables, fish, sold sarees in the weekly bazars. But she has always treaded the lawful and truthful ways and was never ever lured by illegal means. It was four or five years back when she first heard the name of Self – Help Groups and how it can improve one’s economic status. Being industrious, she was among the first few who took the training and made her own group naming it Ma Durga Self Help Group. Among the few groups that she formed one was named after revolutionary freedom fighter Matangini Hazra, who had been assassinated in front of Tamluk Police Station. Her group includes ex-panchayat President of CPI(M) and wife of ex-panchayat member belonging of Trinmool Congress. Including all colours, she had skillfully tried to avoid any political confrontation.

Problem started with the government instruction that the Supervisor of NREGA work will be amongst the presidents of the Self-Help Groups functioning in the locality. And there too we find that Satyarupa has already taken seven-day training in BDO office around March end. Therefore the work of renovation of B M School pond at Pankhai, Khejuri costing more than two Lakhs goes to her. Satyarupa, even today in Midnapore jail believes that truth prevails and that as long as her accounts are clear and that she is honest and sincere, she has nothing to be afraid off. She never felt the need to give any commission to any political group or person. This raised a huge discontent amongst the local leaders and their accomplices. They, therefore, tried to stop her work under NREGA and instructed local village people not to work in her projects. But, who can stop Satyarupa? She was growing big to bigger without any political patron. She recruited people from Bartala, a neighbouring village. Work started at 11am of May13, 2010 and the commotion started within three hours, i.e. around 2pm while she was going home for lunch. She was beaten up by the vested interests and was brought to Khejuri PS. She was interrogated there and when in the night, Lutfar Rehman and Somen Mondal of the same village, on the instruction of OC Atanu Santra went to the PS for her release, they too were arrested.

She and the other two were produced in Court on 15th May and police took them in custody for further investigation for ten days. In these ten days Satyarupa witnessed severe beating of Lutfar and Somen and was taken to Nandigram once. According to police in these ten days she helped them in locating a bag of arms used for killing Nishikant Mondal. She denies knowledge of any such bag and remembers the threat of OC Atanu Santra of Khejuri PS that they are going to put her in jail to rot for the rest of her life.

I met her in the only Female Ward of Midnapore Central Jail, where I too had to spend 43 days for waging and conspiring war against the State and sedition. Bengali writer Manik Mondal, school teacher Sri Kanishka Chowdhury and myself were arrested from Rameswarpur of Lalgarh on June15, 2010. All through the 43 days of my stay with her, I did not find her interested in politics, she never read newspaper and always asked me who are Maoists and who am I. She does not understand an iota of politics and her only worry is when will she be back with her family and the losses that she is incurring because of her detention. In Jail we were termed Maoists, I used to enjoy the special status and privileges associated with this word, whereas Satyarupa used to get very angry and had repeatedly complained to jail authorities and warned other inmates that if they do not stop calling her Maoist, she too will start calling them by their crimes for which they are arrested or convicted.

India is a corporate, Hindu state: Arundhati Roy

Hello and welcome to Devil’s Advocate. At the end of a week when the Maoists have been on the front pages practically every day, we present a completely different perspective to that of the government’s. My guest today is an author, essayist and Booker Prize winner, Arundhati Roy.

Karan Thapar: I want to talk to you about how you view the Maoists and how you think the government should respond, but first, how do you view the recent hostage taking in Bihar where four policemen were kidnapped and kept kidnapped for eight days, and one of them – Lukas Tete – murdered?

Arundhati Roy: I don’t think there is anything revolutionary about killing a person that is in custody. I have made a statement where I said it was as bad as the police killing Azad, as they did, in a fake encounter in Andhra. But, I actually shy away from this atrocity-based analysis that’s coming out of our TV screens these days because a part of it is meant for you to lose the big picture about what is this war about, who wants the war? Who needs the war?

Karan Thapar: I want very much to talk about the big picture. But, before I come to that, let me point out something else. In the last one year, the Maoists have beheaded Francis Induwar and Sanjoy Ghosh; they have killed Lokus Tete. They have kidnapped other policemen. There have been devastating attacks in Dantewada, there has been the sabotage of the Gyaneshwari Express. In your eyes, does it amount to legitimate strategy or tactics, or does it detract from the Maoist cause?

Arundhati Roy: You can’t bundle them all together. For example the train accident. I don’t think anybody knows who did it yet.

Karan Thapar: Everyone’s convinced that the Maoists…

Arundhati Roy: Everyone can be convinced. But it is not enough to be convinced. You got to have facts and the facts are unravelling every day.

The Trickledown Revolution – By Arundathi Roy

The Trickledown Revolution

Article by Arundathi roy on Greenhunt and communist movement in India.

Read it on Outlook at the link below
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?267040

Amnesty International – India: Authorities should investigate torture, sexual assault and illegal detention of adivasis in Chhattisgarh

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT

AI Index: ASA 20/026/2010
14 September 2010

India: Authorities should investigate torture, sexual assault and illegal detention of adivasis in Chhattisgarh

The Indian authorities should order a prompt, impartial and independent investigation into reports of torture and ill-treatment, including rape and other sexual violence, against adivasis (indigenous people) illegally detained in Chhattisgarh, Amnesty International said today.

Adivasis from Pachangi and Aloor villages in Kanker district told Amnesty International that paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and the Chhattisgarh state police rounded up 40 adivasi men from their villages on 5 and 6 September, stripped them and beat them with sticks. Five men – Narsingh Kumra, Sukram Netam, Premsingh Potayi, Raju Ram and Bidde Potayi were reportedly raped with sticks and are still being treated at the Kanker government hospital.

These violations followed the 29 August ambush of a BSF-police patrol by members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in which three BSF personnel and two policemen were killed.

Seventeen people from the two villages were also detained– blindfolded, split into batches and taken to the BSF camp at Durgkondal in closed trucks. Amnesty International has been informed that at least two of those detained – Dhansu Khemra and Sarita Tulavi – were 16 year old girls while another four were women and girls between 16 and 20.

During their detention, security forces beat the detainees in an attempt to force them to confess that they were Maoists involved in the 29 August ambush. The interrogators gave electric shocks to at least 10 detainees and sexually assaulted two female detainees.

Villagers said that on the morning of 7 September the Kanker police released one female detainee Sunita, as she was suffering from malaria, and her father, Punnim Tulavi, a school-teacher, but then arrested two more men.

The five remaining female detainees were taken to a local court along with two of the adivasi men on 8 September, while the remaining ten male detainees were taken to court on 10 September. All of the adivasis were charged with involvement in the 29 August ambush by the banned Maoist armed group and are presently in Kanker and Jagdalpur prisons, after being denied bail.

Indian law requires that arrested persons be produced before a court within 24 hours of the arrest. In an attempt to circumvent this requirement, the police claimed the two groups of detainees were arrested only one day before their respective appearances in court.

Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including sexual violence, are prohibited in all circumstances, including war or other emergency under international law, and in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Geneva Conventions. India is also a signatory to the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture and the Indian Parliament is currently engaged in passing a new law against torture in accordance with the provisions of the Convention before its ratification.

Amnesty International calls upon the Indian authorities to:

· ensure a prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigation into the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual assault, and the illegal detention of adivasis. Those suspected of involvement in the violations, including persons bearing command responsibility, should immediately be suspended from positions where they may repeat such offences, and brought to justice;
· award the victims of torture and other ill-treatment full reparations. In particular, immediately ensure that all victims of torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, are provided with proper medical care, both physical and psychological, by professionals trained and sensitised to treat such victims; and
· ensure that, if – as a measure of last resort – those under the age of 18 are kept in prison, they are held separately from adults and otherwise treated in accordance with India’s juvenile justice legislation and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a state party.

Over the last five years, Chhattisgarh has witnessed an escalation of violence between the banned Maoists who claim to be fighting on behalf of the adivasis and India’s paramilitary forces. At least 600 people have been killed and some 30,000 adivasis continue to be displaced from their homes in the state.

http://www.amnesty.org
http://www.asiapacific.amnesty.org

List of armed CPI(M) cadre (harmad) camps in the Jangalmahal region of West Bengal

September 7 2010. Source: Sanhati

Lalgarh and adjoining areas of jangalmahal, the adivasi-populated districts of West Bengal, have been ravaged by the armed gangs of the ruling CPI(M), ever since their entry into the area was facilitated by the joint state and central security forces. Organized in a paramilitary manner, on the lines of the notorious Salwa Judum of Chattisgarh, and housed in numerous camps dotting the entire jangalmahal region, the armed CPI(M) cadres, called locally as harmads, have been raiding villages, burning and looting houses, killing people, raping women and working closely with the joint forces in tracking down and killing leaders of the PCAPA, all in the name of regaining lost territory in the Lalgarh area. Recruited from areas such as Keshpur and Garbeta and also Jharkhand, and under the direction of senior CPI(M) leaders, in the last few months they have styled themselves as “Mao daman sena” (Maoist suppression army). In the recent past, they are widely believed to have been involved in the Sonamukhi rapes, in the Jnaneshwari Express derailment and the killing of Umakanta Mahato, a leader of the PCAPA. Though numerous statements regarding the presence of these armed camps in the area have been made, including by the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the home minister P Chiambaram, the governor of West Bengal M K Narayanan and in a report by the Intelligence Bureau of the central government, the West Bengal government has flatly denied the existence of such camps. Last week, a group of reporters who had gone to the area to investigate the presence of these camps, were beaten up and their camers destroyed by CPI(M) harmads.

Here for the first time we make public the list of harmad camps in jangalmahal, as on 5th August, 2010. More such camps have been set up in the last one month, as the harmads have advanced deeper into the area, and hundreds of people have fled from their villages. As the list shows, most of the camps have been set up in primary schools and in other government buildings including panchayat offices and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) centres.

In many cases the harmad camps have been set up adjoining the base camps of the security forces. It is quite clear that the West Bengal government is blatantly allowing the use of government infrastructure, and worse, educational institutions, for furthering the nefarious and destructive activities of the ruling CPI(M) party, and the harmads are being accorded protection and impunity by the joint state and central forces.

List
of CPI(M) harmad
camps

No.	Name of village	Number of Harmads	Location
	Goaltore block, West Medinipur
1.	Patharpara	150	High school, primary school ( combined forces base camp)
2.	Santhargeria	20	Primary school
3.	Amlachati Podabanali	100	Primary school
4.	Dopati	20	Primary school
5.	Chowrangi More	30
6.	Singla	30	Junior high school
7.	Bhedua	10	Prmary school
8.	Chotonagdana	10	High school (upper floor of hostel)
9.	Nischintapur
10.	Keshia	20	Primary school
11.	Amjore	15	Primary school
12.	Komarpur	15	Primary school
13.	Moyna	30	Primary school
14.	Kanjimakli	30	Panchayat office
15.	Thakurpara	10
16.	Pidabandh	6
17.	Hadimara
18.	Kadma
19.	Amlashuli
20.	Goaltore	40	CPI(M) zonal committee office
21.	Hatimashan
22.	Keyamacha		CPI(M) party office
23.	Dikunaji
24.	Pingbani
25.	Kharkanta Ukhla		Primary school
26.	Jeerapara		Dhamcha primary school
27.	Betjharia		Jeerapara panchayat office
28.	Metla		Metla panchayat office
29.	Andar Alia		CPI(M) branch committee office
30.	Pakudiha		Primary school
31.	Jamirashole		Primary school
	Shalboni block, West Medinipur
32.	Chatuni Paradiha	50	Primary school, at home of CPI(M) local committee member (LCM) Bikash Ukil
33.	Jatra Bishnupur
34.	Dhangashole	20	Primary school
35.	Retingshole	25	Primary school
36.	Sitanathpur	50	High school, at home of MLA Khagen Mahato
37.	Ashnashuli	15	Primary school
38.	Kashijora	15	Panchayat office
39.	Bhursha	10
40.	Parulia	50
41.	Baghpichla	70	Primary school
42.	Jara		Panchayat office
43.	Dakshinshole	150	Primary school
44.	Moushole		High school (operation head-quarter)
45.	Bhadutala	70	CPI(M) party office (combined forces base camp)
46.	Shalboni	50	CPI(M) party office, Tushar Bhawan
	Medinipur Sadar block, West Medinipur
47.	Deluoa	150
48	Enayetpur		CPI(M) party office
49.	Kangshabati
50.	Chandra	70	Local committee office
51.	Kelemari	15	Integrated child development scheme (ICDS) centre
52.	Bhatpara
53.	Chandpur
54.	Bhalukhutiya	30	Primary school, factory
55.	Medinipur town
	Jhargram block, West Medinipur
56.	Chuntri	70	Private house
57.	Agrashole	70	House of Prashanta Das
58.	Pathri	70
59.	Jhargram town		Two lodges in Bachurdoba
	Jamboni block, West Medinipur
60.	Dubra	40	Panchayat office and CPI(M) party office
	Nayagram block, West Medinipur
61.	Patina (Nakbadi)
62.	Kalma (Pukuria)
	Sankrail block, West Medinipur
63.	Ragra
64.	Baroda
65.	Kultikri		Combined forces base camp
	Belpahari block, West Medinipur
66.	Dhenkia	30	Club
67.	Kapat kanta	30	Primary school
68.	Harda
	Simlapal block, Bankura
69.	Dubrajpur	30	Primary school
70.	Bikrampur
	Sarenga block, Bankura
71.	Sarenga		CPI(M) zonal committee office
72.	Bejdanga
	Rahipur block, Bankura
73.	Baksi
74.	Dumurtore
75.	Dhenko
	Bandowan block, Purulia
76.	Sarga	50	In the house of LCM Raghu Singh
77.	Chirudi	40	CPI(M) party office
78.	Bandowan	30	CPI(M) zonal committee office
79.	Jhurigora	25	In the house of LCM Lakshmi Mahato
	Balarampur block, Purulia
80.	Market
81.	Ghatbera	10	In the house of LCM Madhu Mandal
	Arsha block, Purulia
82.	Sundarpur
83.	Kantadi
	Barabazar block, Purulia
84.	Berada
85.	Barabazar		CPI(M) zonal committee office
86.	Hanspur		In the house of LCM

List of CPM Harmad Vahini Camps in Junglemahal

The word “harmad” has been incorporated recently in Bengali vocabulary, thanks to CPM. It means armed forces of CPM constituted by hired goons. Icore Ekdin (2 Sept 10), a Bengali daily reported that in Junglemahal CPM runs 52 harmed camps with 1620 goons hired from Bihar, Jharkhand, Arambag, Keshpur etc. After establishing its domination over a locality CPM shifts their harmad camps to another area. The schools, CPM party offices and houses of CPM leaders are used as camps. According to the daily, central intelligence branch has also mentioned these harmad camps in their report.

Source: Icore Ekdin 2 Sept, 2010. Red Barricade

Party offices, schools and panchayats are stacked with arms. The CPM is gearing up for a bloody election in 2011

TUSHA MITTAL

Rallying to recapture Hundreds of villagers are being forced to declare loyalty to the CPM

DRIVING INTO Delgunda village in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, you could almost be fooled into thinking that this is a CPM bastion. Dug into the thatched roofs of teashops, the gates of a primary school and barks of trees, red flags are everywhere. Everyone you meet on the frontlines of Delgunda will tell you that they fled in fear after the Maoists captured this village,that they have returned only with help from the CPM, which now protects them from the rebels.

It is only when you walk to the end of the village to find the poorest family and the shabbiest hut, that some semblance of reality emerges. It is only when you meet a frail tribal lady called Shanti Bai that you realise this is a captured village, but one where everyone is being held hostage by their own state government, where everyone has surrendered to the CPM.

It is not easy for Shanti Bai to speak up. Everytime she tries, her husband, a rice farmer, shushes her up, begging you to go away. “Why can’t we tell them the truth? Why should we be afraid? Even if we are killed, it is better than living with this fear,” Shanti cries. She wants to tell her story, and if you stay long enough, the tiny wooden doors firmly closed, the horror emerges in hushed whispers.

Peoples March July-September 2010

http://www.bannedthought.net/India/PeoplesMarch/PM2010-04.pdf