Weapons Of Mass Desperation, An article on Anti- Maoist ops

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 39, Dated October 03, 2009

Operation Green Hunt, the offensive against Naxals, might blow up in our faces. SHOMA CHAUDHURY examines the tricky and dangerous terrain

Enemy worthy? Naxals in Abujmarh. Women suckle babies. The poverty shows Photo: AP

ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2009, India woke up to the news that the Delhi Police had captured a top Naxal ideologue, 58-year-old Kobad Ghandy – a South Bombay Parsi who had grown up in a giant sea-facing house in Worli, had gone to Doon School, and had studied for a CA in London before returning to India to work with the most destitute of Indian citizens in Maharashtra, before going underground in the 1970s. His wife Anuradha, a sociologist, went underground with him and died of cerebral malaria last year. (Malaria, particularly the lethal falciparium malaria, is a common affliction in the neglected heartland of central India.) Home Minister P Chidambaram called Ghandy the State’s “most important Naxal catch.”

On the night of September 22, Times Now had a prime time debate on the significance of Ghandy’s arrest. The aggressive rhetoric of anchor Arnab Goswami epitomised typical high urban attitudes to Naxal issues. If you happened to watch him anchor the show, several terrifying things would have become evident. Over this past year, the Home Ministry has been planning a major armed offensive against the Naxals, particularly in Chhattisgarh. According to reports, the plan involves stationing around 75,000 troops in the heartland of India — including special CRPF commandos, the ITBP and the BSF. Scattered newspaper accounts have spoken of forces being withdrawn from Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast; there is also talk of bringing in the feared Rashtriya Rifles — a battalion created specially for counter-insurgency work — and the purchase of bomb trucks, bomb blankets, bomb baskets, and sophisticated new weaponry. Minister Chidambaram has also said that if necessity dictates, he will bring in the special forces of the army.

Encounter killings in States

COVER STORY

Fake justice

“Encounter killing” is a pan-Indian phenomenon and an easy way out for men in uniform.

NISSAR AHMAD

The body of Abdur Rehman Padder, killed in a fake encounter, being exhumed from the grave at Batmohalla Sumbal near Srinagar on February 1, 2007.

MAHARASHTRA
by Anupama Katakam

MAHARASHTRA was among the first States to introduce “encounter killings” as a method of policing and has perfected it over time.

Encounters fall into two categories in the State – shootouts that take place in Mumbai, which are largely underworld-related, and those that take place in the districts, particularly in the naxalite belt that borders Andhra Pradesh.

To understand the origin of encounters in Mumbai, one has to understand the history of crime in the metropolis. Police documents say that encounters began in the early 1980s, when the underworld started exercising control over the metropolis in a big way. At that time, it operated mainly in the area of hafta (protection money). Drugs, commercial sex, and trade in illegal weapons became major sources of income for the underworld, when Dawood Ibrahim took over from the don Karim Lala.

Fake Encounter Killings: Political patronage

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN
Most political parties, when in power in the States or at the Centre, have turned a blind eye to extrajudicial killings.

RAJEEV BHATT

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram with Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Home Shakeel Ahmed and National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan at a meeting in New Delhi with Chief Ministers of seven States affected by naxalite extremism.

IF one goes by the proclamations of the mainstream political parties in India, all of them are critical of all forms of extrajudicial killing. Leaders of all parties have time and again raised their voices against encounter killings and custodial deaths. Their declamations become all the more intense when such an incident makes the headlines in a State governed by their political adversaries. The leaderships of the two principal parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have adopted such postures in various States. However, their own track record in the States they have ruled divest them of all moral authority to protest on this issue.

Peace can come to Bastar only when the State stops treating the adivasis as its enemy

Source: Open Space

Peace can come to Bastar only when the State stops treating the adivasi people at large as its enemy and lets them return to their villages.

The Government of Chhattisgarh admits that since the start of Salwa Judum in the year 2005, 644 villages of district Dantewada, whose overwhelmingly adivasi population is about 3.5 lakhs, have been emptied out. Our common sense understanding that enmasse displacement on this scale could only have been made possible by extreme violence, is vindicated by the horrifying incidents of arson, loot, murder, rape, and widespread arrests by the SJ and security forces that have continuously been coming to light, and which can no longer be ignored.

In honest moments, the security experts of the Jungle Warfare School, Kanker admit, that this is the well known American counter insurgency strategy of “draining the water to kill the fish”. Though many of us, who are witness to widespread displacement all over Chhattisgarh for rich mineral resources, believe that there is also considerable evidence, that the motive for ground clearing is acquisition for mining companies. Whatever the motive, what is the situation in Dantewada today?

LALGRAH & MISCONCEPTIONS OF SOME MISGUIDED INTELLECTUALS

by Ajay [From People’s March, vol. 10, #10, Oct. 2009]

There are many well meaning individuals who are genuinely confused on the issues that the Maoist movement in general has thrown up and this has more particularly been raised by the intellectuals of West Bengal in the light of the Lalgarh mass upsurge. Some of these intellectuals are well meaning progressives, but others, claim not only to be Left, but also of the M-L camp. Here we take some arguments presented mostly from the two Bengali journals Aneek and Shramjeevi (of Santosh Rana). Here, in India, the mis-conceptions mostly centre around the issue of revolutionary violence. Our intellectuals actually rarely see violence in their own lives and so are, quite naturally, horrified by violence. Yet, this is surprising as India is probably one of the most violent societies in the world, with violence on a scale not probably seen even in any backward country. Of course we are here not talking of the type of butcheries unleashed by the US on a country like Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, nor its massacres (peace-time) perpetuated in countries of Latin America, Indonesia, etc. What we are talking of is everyday violence that the poor of this country have to face over and above the violence associated with acute poverty and a sub-human existence (India is on a par with countries of Sub Saharan Africa). What we are speaking of is the additional violence on women and dalits that no other society of the world face (genocide of Muslims in India is part of what they face in other parts of the world whether in Palestine, Afghanistan, Chechnya or even in west China). The continuous so-called „dowry killings‟ of women is a phenomena not seen in any other country of the world; the lynching of dalits and the inhumanity and subtle violence of the hierarchical caste system is a phenomena too not seen in other parts of the world.

Encounters Are Murders’

by Bernard D’Mello, MR

Inquiries by magistrates into “police encounter” killings in India have mostly corroborated the police version of the situation and reality leading to the deaths. But the Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate S P Tamang’s investigation of the facts and circumstances leading to the deaths of 19-year olds Ishrat Jahan and Javed Sheikh and two others (25-year old Amjad Ali, alias Salim, and 17-year old Jisan Johar, alias Abdul Gani, claimed by the police to be Pakistani citizens, but their identity is yet to be established) in June 2004 are totally at odds with the Ahmedabad police and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Gujarat government’s claims. The police officers involved, going by the magistrate’s report, had concocted the story that the four were “operatives” of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) on a mission to assassinate the chief minister, Narendra Modi, but were apprehended by the crime branch police, and shot dead in a “real” encounter on the outskirts of the city in the wee hours of the morning on 15 June 2004.

Harbhajan Singh Sohi-A Tribute (Died on June 15th 2009)

Harsh Thakor

Introduction

The revered Comrade was an outstanding architect in the development of the massline.The Political line formulated by Com.Harbhajan Singh Sohi displayed outstanding polemical understanding on the International Line, the handling of mass organizations and it’s relationship with the party,. the nationality question and the correct work method within the trade Union Movement..I am not a member or suppporter of any organisation that Com.Harbhajan Singh Sohi belonged to,but an admirer as a Maoist Historian. Overall Theoretically Com Harbhajan Singh Sohi was sounder than any comrade in the last 3 decades ,being an outstanding polemicst.On the International level this trend rejects the erroneous trend of ‘Maoism ‘ in place of Mao Tse Tung Thought and at the internal level struggles in developing a mass agrarian revolutionary line,even if it has not yet developed a mass line yet. A mass military line has not been developed even if strong attempts were made.This was particularly relevant where strong movementsof tribals and peasants were developed .Eg.Bihar,Orissa or Andhra Pradesh.

Ido not uphold the Communist Party Re-Organisation Centre of India(Marxist –Leninist),Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India(C.C R.I.) or the earlier Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India(U.C.C.R.I.(M.l) )as proponents of the mass revolutionary line in totality. One can question whether armed struggle could have been developed in areas like Bihar,Andhra Pradesh,Dandkaranya.Orissa Etc. However even if not totally agreeing with the deferring of armed Struggle,the author sees a very valid contribution and theoretical.point made by organizations following The Nagi Reddy Line . Perhaps armed struggle could coincide with mass struggles.

Legacy of Com.Amulya Sen and the Maoist Communist Centre

By Harsh Thakor

Charu Majumdar and Kanhai Chaterjee

In October,1908 Co.Amulya Sen was born.This year thus commemorates his 100th birth anniversary year.He made a historic contribution to The Indian Communist Movement and with Com.Kanhai Chaterjee ,he was the founder of he Maoist Communist Centre which was formed I October 20th 1969.Soon In October it will b the 40th aniversary year of the formation of the Maoist Communist Centre.This organization is one of the constituents of the historically formed C.P.I(Maoist) in 2004.Kanhai Chaterjee literally lived and breathe revolution.Few Orgaisnationjs I hehistory of he Comunst Movement have launches such daring actions on the enemies.It si a tribute to he outstanding tenacity o their comrades that they survived for 35 years,traversing every thorn in the bush.

It was his innovative thinking that made him critical of Charu Mazumdar’s C.P.I(M.L.)and it’s tactical line of individual annihilation. Comrade K.C.chalked out a path for the M.C.C whereby they formulated a strategy of heir own. The methods of work they adopted resembled Comrade Mao Tse Tung’s Red Army in the revolutionary war. Few revolutionary books or observers cannot remember their striking similarity with the Chinese Peoples Liberation Corpses, particularly he way they fled to the mountains. It was Comrade Kanhai Chaterjee who believe staunchly that the time was not appropriate for the forming of the party.He felt their had to be greater development in the revolutionary movement to form a party. In his view first an agrarian revolutionary movement had to be launched. Today it is significant that both the Charu Mazumar C.P.I(M.L) and the Maoist Communist Centre are recognized as the founding parties and not just Charu Mazumdar’s party.(The Peoples War and Party Unity Groups staunchly defended the Charu Mazumdar Party as the re-organised party.)

Vedic Village: A long history of brutality behind the final destruction

Source: Sanhati

Recently, Vedic Village, an upscale resort sprawling out in Rajarhat (near Kolkata), was torched down by angry villagers. This vent of public anger was the culmination of a history of brutal land acquisition in the area, perpetrated since the 1990’s by the CPI(M) and brought to fruition by armies of local terrors like Gaffar Mollah, Ruidas Mandal, and others. The following articles trace the recent history of this real estate-Party-musclemen nexus that finally led to the destruction of Vedic Village.

1. A history of the brutal Rajarhat land acquisition – booklet by CPIML(Liberation), translated by Santanu Sengupta, Sanhati.

2. Short introduction – Partho Sarathi Ray, Sanhati

3. Vedic Vultures – A hard look at the realtor-musclemen-CPIM nexus in Rajarhat by Sankar Ray

4. Left out of dazzle & delights, villagers may have struck back – An initial TOI report, August 25 2009

5. Biplab Biswas arrested – the link between Vedic Realty and local tough Gaffar Molla – TOI, August 27 2009

6. Souring of the urban-industrial vision: Gated communities want stronger gates – Reaction of realtors

7. Land cell goes against norms: Abdur Rezzak Mollah under the scanner – The Telegraph, August 31 2009

A history of the brutal Rajarhat land acquisition, Bengal’s new IT hub

Source: Sanhati

By Santanu Sengupta, Sanhati. Translated from Rajarhaat – Uponogorir Ontorale Arto Manuher Kanna

Rajarhaat, near Kolkata, is Bengal’s new IT hub and a hotspot for real estate investment. Within no time Rajarhat has become the hotbed of real estate investments with companies like DLF, Keppel Land, Unitech group, Singapore-based Ascendas, Vedic Realty, etc. coming in. Land prices have soared. The first phase of DLF’s Rs 280 crore (Rs 2.80 billion) IT project has been operational since 2005 and a second IT park is on the cards. Wipro, Infosys, IBM – all the major IT houses are in operation here, on subsidized lands. A wireless hub is in the offing.

Contrasting with Singur-Nandigram, official state versions have given the picture that Rajarhat’s land acquisition from the mid 1990’s onwards has been peaceful.

This is an acount of the immense bloodshed that lay behind this acquisition, in a decade when the civil society and media wasn’t interested.

Bastar rally of BSKSS: Demands, attitude towards Maoists and established activism

By Gautam Navlakha and Asish Gupta. August 28, 2009.

This article reports the first rally of a newly formed peasant organisation in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. The rally voiced its protest against corporate landgrab and the complicity of the state. Interestingly, the political background of members covers the full spectrum, bound together by common demands, and the attitude towards established social activism is one of watchful distance. Equally interesting is the attitude of attendees towards Maoists. This is a nominally edited version of the report on Radicalnotes. – Ed.

After two months of persistence Bastar Sambhag Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (BSKSS) could hold its first rally cum public meeting on June 1, 2009 in Jagdalpur, Bastar district, in the state of Chhattisgarh. This rally was held to protest displacement of adivasi peasants from their land and forest as well as construction of Bodh Ghat Dam, privatization of mines and river water resources. As the only two ‘outsiders’ we looked on as streams of people at the height of summer month walked raising slogans and their fist.

Click here for leaflet distributed at rally [Hindi, JPG] »
Click here for list of slogans raised in the rally [Hindi, JPG] »

They gathered at College Campus and then from Dharampura the rally made its way to Indira Priyadarshini Stadium. Their short but wiry bodies in terms of age and gender may have been different but the steps they took, many barefoot, were determined and firm. After the rally as people made their way into the Stadium some were seen leaving in a different direction. These were people who had arrived the night before, and had to travel long distances to return home. They were anxious to do so before dusk fell. But those who remained behind for the public meeting sat under the shade provided by canopies rented by the organizers. They sat down to listen. Slogans had been shouted; now was the time to hear what their own people had to say.

Delhi public meeting and statement on impending offensive of the government

The following statement was formulated during the course of a public meeting in Delhi on August 4 2009, on the impending armed offensive of the government “to wipe out the CPI(Maoist)”. It reflects a certain aspect of civil society response to the issue. – Ed.

Stop Militarization- Engage in Dialogue

4th August 2009, New Delhi

Resolution

We are a group of citizens concerned about the escalating armed confrontation between the CPI (Maoist) and Government forces.

Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh recently said “dialogue and engagement is the best way forward… Unless we want to go to war with Pakistan, dialogue is the only way out.” Surely, the fallout of waging war on one’s own citizens is as serious, and perhaps more so, than the fallout of war between two states. Yet, from all accounts, the government is planning a major military offensive after the monsoons across several states, in an effort to wipe out the CPI (Maoist). This attempt to replicate the recently concluded war in Sri Lanka, will involve a similar huge cost in civilian lives, which is unacceptable in any country, which claims to be a constitutional democracy.

The military build-up by the government is accompanied by the increasing use of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and the enactment of security laws, which penalize ordinary freedom of expression. It has also involved, as in Chhattisgarh, the use of non-state actors like Salwa Judum to terrorise villagers, burn their homes and force them into camps or outside the state. Over a thousand people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced and rendered destitute by the Salwa Judum, SPOs and security forces acting in concert. In the context of Pakistan, the Prime Minister has said: “I was told that Mumbai was the work of non-state actors. I said this gave little satisfaction and that it was the duty of their government to ensure that such acts were not perpetrated from their territory.” What is applicable to the Government of Pakistan must be equally applicable to the Government of India and the Government of Chhattisgarh, which continues to support and promote the illegal activities of the Salwa Judum and Special Police Officers (SPOs). In addition, even when the Supreme Court has ordered that the Chhattisgarh government give compensation and rehabilitate victims of Salwa Judum and security forces, the CG Government has taken no action whatsoever.