Category Archives: Countryside

Countryside, Law, Violence/Conflict

The police detain 3 more in Gompad case

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Konta: The mystery surrounding the killing of nine Adivasis in Gompad village in Dantewada district in October last year is deepening, with the Chhattisgarh police detaining three more witnesses to the incident and restricting all access to the area on the pretext of Operation Green Hunt.

Operation Green Hunt is a catch-all phrase, used by the police and media alike, for all major anti-naxal offensives since July 2009.

As previously reported by The Hindu, the Chhattisgarh police have assumed total control over the movements of Sodi Sambho – one of several witnesses in a Supreme Court petition that alleges that the 9 civilians were killed by the security forces.

On Friday, armed policemen and Special Police Officers (SPO) lined the length of the highway from Dantewada town to Konta, the block headquarters closest to Gompad, stopping vehicles and questioning commuters. Travelling with local journalists Anil Mishra of Nayi Duniya and Yashwant Yadav of Navbharat, this correspondent was repeatedly detained along the route and told that Gompad village was out of bounds as a major anti-naxal operation was underway. Non-journalists were, however, let through.

Continue reading The police detain 3 more in Gompad case →

Countryside, Violence/Conflict

Where is Sodi Sambho?

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Raipur: Sodi Sambho was last seen in public on January 3 this year, when the Chhattisgarh Police intercepted her as she was en route to Delhi to receive treatment for a bullet wound.

Since then, neither the press nor her lawyer has been able to access her.

Ms. Sambho is a key witness in a petition filed in the Supreme Court which alleges that security forces fired upon and killed nine Adivasis in a ‘sanitisation operation’ at Gompad village, Dantewada district on October 1 2009.

Continue reading Where is Sodi Sambho? →

Countryside, Frontiers

Police States, Anthropology and Human Rights: Nandini Sundar

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Guestpost by Nandini Sundar

3rd January 2010

Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Professor of Political Science, Delhi University and I have just returned  (January 1st) from a visit to the police state of Chhattisgarh. Ujjwal had gone for research and I had gone for a combination of research and verification purposes to assess the livelihood situation of villagers for our case before the SC, both entirely legitimate activities. In Dantewada, we had checked into Hotel Madhuban on the 29th of December around 2 pm without any problems, only to be told later that night that the management required the entire hotel to be instantly emptied out because they were doing some puja to mark the death anniversary of the hotel owner. We refused to leave at night, and were told we would have to leave at 6 am instead because the rooms had to be cleaned. As expected, other guests checked in the next morning, puja notwithstanding.
Continue reading Police States, Anthropology and Human Rights: Nandini Sundar →

Countryside, Government, Violence/Conflict

A Journey Into the Dark: Arati Chokshi

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This is a Guest Post by ARATI CHOKSHI.

[Chhattisgarh and Dantewada have been in the news for quite some time now, as matters have reached a climax with the state on its anti-Maoist offensive after the near-failure of its stratgey to prop up Salwa Judum as a counter-insurgency outfit. All intermediate spaces stand wiped out now. Recently, Himanshu Kumar of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram had planned a padayatra in Dantewada and around that time, a team of women’s and human rights organization visited the area apprehending trouble. This a report of that team’s experiences.]

It was night by the time we set out. Four jeeps sped carrying 39 women of diverse age, class, caste, religion, faith, ideologies, from ten states across the nation, and representing 20 women’s and human rights organisations. We sped from Raipur to Dantewada, on wide, smooth highways on a common journey, as part of our campaign to address the alarming reports of sexual violence and repression of women by the State, that were emerging, particularly from Dantewada, in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. We were headed there both to get a first hand account and to show solidarity with victims of heinous crimes, who defying all threats and intimidation had managed to come forth and lodge complaints against their assailants – in this case, the State. This journey was to be an enquiry – a personal exploration and examination of the truth- of dark, dangerous, secret whispers that managed to trickle out from Dantewada and ooze into wider consciousness – tales of tortures, horror, and barbaric acts that our representatives, our own protectors and security forces meted out on a particular collective us, the weakest, most vulnerable, the voiceless adivasis of Bastar.

Over the next 22 hours, we were to find that our journey had become the goal, revealing to us far more from State’s desperate attempt to hide, than in our wanderings and talkings in Dantewada. In hindering us, we found how the State had repressed civil liberties of its citizens, how democratic spaces had vanished and how the authoritarian subjugation by the State had muted all voices – not just of protest, but of even posing a question.
Continue reading A Journey Into the Dark: Arati Chokshi →

Countryside, Culture, Everyday Life, Government, Identities, Images, Law, Left watch, Media politics, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Savarna Terror Erupts in Kerala

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(with inputs from Mythri Prasad Aleyamma)
I admit, this title sounds sensationalist. But one can hardly avoid resorting to it when confronted with utterly stupefying news of attacks on dalit colonies almost next door to Kerala’s capital city and nerve centre of Malayalee politics, and that too, by a minor anti-political force that has a legacy of anti-South Indian hatred — the Siva Sena. And of course when one is confronted with the hard, stony silence of almost all sections of the media about this. The mystery of the murder of an elderly, innocent morning-walker in Varkala, a town close to Thiruvananthapuram (of which I wrote in an earlier post) still remains a mystery; the police story is so full of holes that it looks like a sieve. But the Guardians of our Free Press are still lapping police versions and not conducting independent investigation. Activists who have dared to do so have been heckled and hounded, even senior and respected human rights activists like B.R.P.Bhaskar, by the Siva Sena, and their protests have been ignored. Meanwhile violence continues to be unleashed against the supporters of the group that has been accused of murder, the Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM).

Continue reading Savarna Terror Erupts in Kerala →

Countryside, Law, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Social Boycott of Dalits in MP: Uncivil Society, apathetic administration

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(A Fact Finding Report issued by Nagrik Adhikar Manch and Yuva Samvad.)

(The situation in the Gadarwara Sub Division of District.Narsinghpur (MP) has been in a state of constant flux since last 3-4 months. The Dalits living in the villages adjoining Gadarwara have been condemned to a life of fear and intimidation.Their human rights and dignity are being at stake.

Obviously there is a concrete reason behind this sudden spurt in violence against them.They have refused to remain subservient to the interests of the upper/dominant castes and have decided to speak up.

Instead of taking concrete steps to guarantee the human rights of dalits granted to them under constituion, the administration has preferred to remain silent or at best supportive of the interests of the dominant castes only. One can easily see why Madhya Pradesh happens to be the state which tops the list of atrocities on tribals and stands second when it comes to cases of atrocities against dalits.)

Dist: Narsinghpur(Madhya Pradesh)
Tehsil: Gadarwara
Affected Area: Dalits (Ahirwar community) in Gadarwara and adjoining villages
Villages visited by the Fact Finding Team: Nander, Madgula, Devri and Tekapar

Date: 7th and 9th November 2009
Members of Fact Finding Team

Jai Bhim, Moolchand Ahirwar, Javed, Skand Shukla, Manoj, Satyam, Shivkumar, Nishant Kaushik

Brief Introduction to Narsinghpur District. Continue reading Social Boycott of Dalits in MP: Uncivil Society, apathetic administration →

Capitalism, Countryside, Ecology/Environment, Everyday Life, Politics

The curses of Paikdev. A lament for water: Hartman de Souza

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My very old and lovely friend Hartman sent me the following:

To keep the blues at bay I am back to carving logs. This one attached is titled ‘The Curses of Paikdev, A Lament for Water’. It was a birthday present for my sister and is planted on her farm [in Goa]. It faces Paikeachi Zor (Paik’s Spring), which will disappear very shortly hanks to the rampant mining in the area. My sister plans to court arrest again, and this time refuse bail. She hopes that at least will get the Goans out.

In the thickly forested hills between the villages of Maina and Kawrem, to the south east of Quepem Town, a poignant story once fortunate enough to have had a happy ending, is now destined to end more sadly than it could ever have begun.

800 overloaded trucks groaning through the town throughout the day barring a few hours respite to let schoolchildren in the area to scamper to and from school is testament to this. It is this very same business, though ‘greed’ may be a better term, that is ‘legally’ destroying a myth of almost epic proportions, and with it, again ‘legally’, the water sources and bodies of the area.
Continue reading The curses of Paikdev. A lament for water: Hartman de Souza →

Capitalism, Countryside, Debates, Ecology/Environment, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

WHOSE LAND IS IT ANYWAYS? Public Meeting organized by National Alliance of People’s Movements

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An open discussion on the relevance and implications of Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill  and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2009
Saturday, November 21, Gandhi Peace Foundation, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 2 – 6 pm.

Friends,

The current economic model of growth prevalent in India , with strong neo-liberal leanings, needs to be re-assessed in the wake of increasing alienation and dispossession of vast populations from their land and the wave of resistance, both violent and non-violent, against such activities that are being played out in many parts of the country.

In the wake of an armed operation against escalating Maoist insurgency; adivasis, particularly in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are stiffly resisting the industrial development that threaten their traditional way of life; farmers around the country raging against acquisition of their lands in the name of growth and development – the importance of revisiting the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 (LAA) and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2009 (R&R) is paramount, if not imperative.

We the struggling communities from different regions of the country have resisted the government’s machinations of enacting a faulty Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act and introducing amendments to the Land Acquisition Act, promoting private and corporate interests over public good. We gathered recently in Delhi in July 2009 and our struggle gained a significant boost when the Acts could not be passed in the Budget session of the Parliament. We have been in Delhi since 18th November and held meetings at Kanjhawala, Jantar Mantar and JNU and explained our concerns on these two Bills but also on the fires raging in the country and the path of growth on which the country is being pushed today.

It is in this context that we invite you to discuss the relevance and implications of these half hearted measures for the millions of people who are struggling to retain their means of livelihood and seek meaningful rehabilitation from a system in which they no longer seem to have faith.

The panelists for this meeting are :

K B Saxena, Former Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development and Agriculture, Union of India now at Council for Social Development, New Delhi

Ramaswamy Iyer, Former Secretary, Ministry of Water resources, Union of India and Government’s nominee on the Sardar Sarovar review Committee now at Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi

Sanjay Parikh, Senior Counsel, Supreme Court of India.

Roma, Kaimur Kshetra Mahila Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, NFFPFW  (Sonbhadra)

Gautam Bandopadhyay, Nadi Ghati Morcha , Chattisgarh

Dayamani Barla, Adivasi Mulnivasi Astitva Raksha Manch, Jharkhand, INSAF [to be confirmed]

Sandhya Devi, Kalahandi Mahila Mahasangh, Orissa

Praffula Samantray, NAPM Orissa

Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan & NAPM

MODERATOR : Anand Mazgaonkar, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, NAPM Gujarat

Capitalism, Countryside, Debates, Ecology/Environment, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Dhinkia to Beladal: A Protest Padayatra to Make the Orissa Coast Free of Capitalist Investments

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An Appeal to join this  Padayatra November 29 to December 5, 2009

(Mail sent by Mamata Dash)

Dear Comrades/Friends,

Coastal Orissa and hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants who have been living for generations on its precious resources such as agriculture, beetle-vines, fisheries and village art and craft industry are facing today a great crisis of existence imposed on them all over the coast by capitalist investors with the active patronage of the state at the centre and in Orissa.  Be it POSCO or Vedanta or any other name, the most favorite investment destination for everyone is our natural resources and our rich coast line. No iron and steel factory can manufacture sustainable livelihood systems and life centric ecology. No world class university can take care of education of economically deprived who can’t even afford minimum primary education. The Nabin Pattnaik government knows this truth. But they also know another truth-the amount of black money these corporations can pump in for the benefit of the ruling elites no other work in the state can ensure that much for them.  The farmers, the peasants, the workers protest and they take the shape of powerful people’s movements in the form of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti or Vedanta Viswavidyalaya Virodhi Sangharash Samiti. The people threatened by a project resolve not to give in, but they take the pledge to fight back even if they have to pay a price. Many fighters have been killed but the fight continues in Kalinganagar, Kashipur, Keonjhar, Sundergarh, Lanjigarh, Hirakud, Dhinkia and Beladal. Hundreds of false cases have been filed against the people resisting destruction. But it has only added their resolve to fight with determination. In order to spread the messages of continuing the fight against unjust capitalist aggression on our resources the PPSS has initiated along with the help of Vedanta Viswavidyalaya Virodhi Sanghrash Samiti and several other mass movements, a Padyatra which will start on 29th November 2009 from Dhinkia and culminate on the 5th of December 2009 at Beladal.

We request you to please join this Padyatra to raise your voice against the powerful corporations who are eying shamelessly on our resources. The coast is to protect our livelihood and also to protect the environment. Let us not allow any private investment in the coast of Orissa. Let us make Padayatra a great success. We meet at Dhinkia in the evening of 28 November 2009. The Dhinkia villagers have arranged for food and stay for every pad Yatri. On 29th, the Yatra starts from Dhinkia (Centre of anti POSCO struggle) which ultimately will end on the 5 December 2009 at Beladal (Centre of anti Vedanta University struggle) where everything will be taken care of by the Beladal villagers.

Yours Sincerely

Abhaya Sahu, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, Dhinkia, Jagasingpur-( Mobile 9437571547)

Pitambar Das, Jatadhar Bacao Andolan, Ersema

Babuli Behera, Devi Muhan Surakhya Samiti

Benudhara Pradhan, Vedanta Viswavidyalaya Virodhi Sangharsa Samiti,

Bhagaban Majhi, Prakrutika Sampada Surakhya Parishad, Kucheipadar

Lingaraj Azad, Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti

Rabindra Jarika, Vistapan Virodhi Janmanch, Sukinda

Ashok Pradhan, Paschima Odisha Krushak Sangathan Samanwaya Samiti

Muralidhar Sardar, Mittal Virodhi Manch

Khirod Singh Deo, Hirakud-Rengali Budi Anchal Sangram Samiti

Akhaya Das, Jala Surakhya Jan Manch

Prafulla Samantra, Lok Shakti Abhiyan

Budha Gamango, Lok Sangram Manch

Sibaram, Jiban Jibika Surakhya Samiti

Natabar Sarangi, Prachi Chasi Meli

Narayan Redy, Gana Sangram Samiti, Ganjam

Jogendra Gadanayak, Sidheswar Anchalika Surakhya Committee, Naraj

Nikunja Bhutia, Odisha Jana Adhikar Mancha

Dandapani Mohanty, Odisha Forest Majdoor Union

Jayadeb Nayak, Basi Surakhya Manch

Nitu Chakhia, Rajdhani Basti Unayan Parishad

Countryside, Everyday Life, Government, Violence/Conflict

Maoist Martyrdom vs. State Barbarism: Satya Sagar

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This is a Guest Post by SATYA SAGAR.

Satya Sagar is a writer, journalist and videomaker based in New Delhi. sagarnama at gmail dot com

Is Maoism in India really the only response to poverty and lack of development? Is an armed rebellion the only way to change the way the Indian State operates? Will such a movement lead to a better future for underprivileged people in this country? Are other forms of mass democratic struggles an alternative option at all?  These are the questions that haunted me as I sat through a public hearing on drought at Daltonganj in Jharkhand’s Palamu district late October this year. Questions that are not new and have been debated repeatedly within the various strands of the Indian left movement for several decades now, with no clear answers as yet.

While I mused, there was this young woman standing on the stage, slowly edging towards the mike, patiently waiting for her turn to speak. She need not have said anything at all. Her emaciated, frail frame, the harassed look on her face and the tears silently welling up in her sunken eyes had already conveyed to us this was another tale of unmitigated tragedy. Barely in her early twenties, she had been diagnosed with tuberculosis a few months ago. Her husband was already on his deathbed due to the same affliction as there was no public health center near her village. Treatment in town was obviously unaffordable. The drought raging in the district, reported to be the worst in over half a century, would end up wiping out her entire family she explained in a quiet, matter of fact tone.

As we sat there, the small ‘jury’ of three or four of us who had come from Delhi and Ranchi to listen to the woes of Palamu’s villagers felt much, much smaller. For her horror story was only one out of some 3000 similar ones of neglect, deprivation and outright desperation that tensely waited to be recalled that early winter afternoon.
Continue reading Maoist Martyrdom vs. State Barbarism: Satya Sagar →

Bad ideas, Countryside

The Pleasure of Release

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While there is always the thrill of holding people hostage against their desire, the Maoists, of late, seem to have discovered the pleasure of release.

Having spanked the state into submission by beheading Francis Induwar; by freeing policeman Antindranath Datta and “peacefully” vandalizing the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani, the Maoists appear to be signaling a new phase in their troubled relationship with the State.

Now that the State and the media know that the Maoists are capable of taking the pleasure equals pain principle to its logical climax, freeing hostages and good-naturedly scribbling slogans on trains appears like a far more civilized way of fomenting revolution.

Just yesterday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed their willingness to break free from the handcuffs of current discourse and engage with those who abstain (from violence).

Maoist leader Kishenji has insisted that while the rebels shall not lay down their arms, talks with the West Bengal and Central Governments must be preceded by the unconditional release of all prisoners taken captive since military operations began in Lalgarh in June, a withdrawal central forces from the area and a declaration of ceasefire by both sides.

In the meantime, the Home Minister, P.Chidambaram, has warned that he can keep his velvet gloves on for only so long; thereafter it’s steel fisting all the way. The victims of military operation shall inevitably be the poor tribals who have love for neither State nor rebel.  Now if only the Maoists would take themselves in hand.

First published in the Hindustan Times

Countryside, Left watch, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Complicating the ‘Naxalite’ debate

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(An edited version of this piece appeared as the cover story in Himal Southasian in December 2007. The report is based on travels across Andhra to Bihar in October of the same year. At a time when most of the media is pushing the same binaries we must avoid, this may help in conveying the enormous complexity of the issue. Some facts may be outdated, and Kafila readers will be more familiar with certain issues like Salwa Judum than this reporter, but the broad argument may still have some relevance. I will follow this up with posts on the Nepali process and Indian Naxalites.)

A people’s movement. The greatest internal security challenge. Struggle for the rights of the poor, tribals, Dalits, landless. Compact Revolutionary Zone with influence in almost 200 districts. A socio economic problem rooted in exploitation and idealism. A law and order threat . True people’s democracy. A criminal, authoritarian and opportunistic outfit. The revolution will smash the Indian state. The Maoists are ants and can be crushed anytime .

Neat black and white portrayals have come to characterise one of the most complex stories of our times. The Naxal as the saviour and the state as the oppressor. The state as protector and Naxal as the villain. Numbers and scale of action act as the judge of Maoist spread and activity. 1608 incidents of Naxalite violence and 677 people killed in 2005; 1509 incidents and 678 killed in 2006; 249 persons killed till June 2007. Continue reading Complicating the ‘Naxalite’ debate →

Countryside, Politics

Some stories are never told

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So what is Maywati in news for? For statues and concrete parks, for being reprimanded by the Supreme Court and for being insecure about Rahul Gandhi trying to woo Dalit voters away from her. And for not garlanding Gandhi.

Did anyone tell you the story of a scheme she came up with, a simple one, nothing as complicated as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Corruption Guarantee Act. A scheme that simply hires sweepers for the village, from the village.

Well, someone just did, and I can’t thank him enough. Here it is.

There are many such stories, but we don’t want to hear them. Let’s just gaze at the Mayawati statue and wonder when it’s coming down.

Countryside, Left watch, Politics

A People’s Uprising Destroyed by The Maoists: Santosh Rana

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[This is a guest post by SANTOSH RANA, one of the legendary leaders of the Naxalite revolt in 1967. Rana lead one of the important CPI(ML) groups that is active in the Jharkhand region. Here he writes of the Lalgarh and the Maoists. The post was written sometime ago. It gives a more nuanced picture of the different strands and phases of the movement, including the PCPA phase.]

Lalgarh lies in Jhargram sub-division of West Medinipur district of West Bengal. It is part of the Paschimanchal (western zone) of the state and is an extension of Chhotanagpur plateau. With its laterite soil of low water-retention capacity and Sal-Mahua forests, the area differs from the Bengal plains both geographically and culturally. It is indeed a part of the Jharkhand cultural region. Nearly 30 percent of the population are Scheduled Tribes (ST), 20 percent Scheduled Castes (SC) and the rest are communities like Kudmi-Mahatos, Telis, Kumbhars, Bagals, Rajus, Tamblis, Khandaits and others. The Kudmi-Mahatos are the biggest among the rest, who had been treated as ST till 1935 when they were de-scheduled. The Mahatos, Bagals and some other communities are actually semi-tribals who have been partly Sanskritised but still retain their tribal characteristics; now they are treated as Other Backward Classes (OBC). There are other OBC communities like Kumbhar, Tanti, Teli and others. But in West Bengal, benefits for OBCs started not only late but also unenthusiastically. Even today, there is very little reservation – only 7 percent, and that too in the government jobs only – given to the OBCs here. The OBCs are not given any reservation in higher education. The SC communities living in the region ( Bagdi, Dom, Jele, Mal and Bauri etc) are so backward that they are unable to get government or semi-government jobs through reservation. The tribals constitute 30 percent of the population Jhargram sub-division, but in local jobs, they are given only 6 percent reservations – the stipulated quota for the STs at the  state level.

Continue reading A People’s Uprising Destroyed by The Maoists: Santosh Rana →

Capitalism, Countryside, Government, Law

Land and Human Rights

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There are few more contentious and complex problems in India than those dealing with land and land rights. Rather than just focus on a single issue, a continuum of rights has to be established regarding land, especially in areas of access and reforms, laws and enforcement, use planning and management, administration and information, and its cross-cutting issues. The new and existing initiatives on land should be guided by the core values of pro-poor, conflict resolution, democratic governance, equity, and justice, as well as gender sensitiveness. Although land policy development is taking place, it generally lacks a human rights framework. Land is not simply a resource for one human right. While some rights have been recently established in the legal framework (like work, education, food), they all can be adversely affected by access to land, and the legal implications of it for a broad range of human rights is obvious. The Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bills should also be assessed on the basis of several international principles, interpretive documents and legal frameworks. Continue reading Land and Human Rights →

Countryside, Everyday Life, Government, Scams

A Month and a Half after Aila: Jadavpur Academics

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This is guest post sent by DEEPTANIL RAY from Jadavpur University

Seven weeks after the cyclone Aila hit West Bengal, the situation in the Sunderbans remains alarming. Some of us, teachers, research scholars and students at JU, without any affiliation tags, have tried over the last month and are still trying to reach out to some of the remote areas with materials and distribute them first hand, though our efforts are feeble and insignificant compared to the magnitude of the crisis. Last weekend, we had gone to one of the remotest villages of the Hingalgunj island in the Sunderbans— with the forests on one side, and the Bangladesh border on the other.

As most of you know, Hingalgunj is a Sundarban island on the south-eastern tip of the North 24 Parganas District of West Bengal, with the Sundarban Tiger Reserve Forest on one side, and a small river separating this country from Bangladesh on the other. It is one of the block areas to suffer most from Aila— with over 28,000 families and more than 1,26,000 people affected, according to modest government reports.
Continue reading A Month and a Half after Aila: Jadavpur Academics →

Countryside, Law

Speaking of litigation: Anant Maringanti

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Guest post by ANANT MARINGANTI

Speaking of successful litigation, one day after what some may call the makings of India’s rainbow coalition celebrated the Delhi High Court’s final verdict in the Naz Foundation case, agricultural workers in Andhra Pradesh celebrated a favorable interim order in the APVVU (AP Agricultural Workers Union) case. Judge N.Ramamohana Rao of AP High Court ignored the Additional Solicitor General’s objections and ordered that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme wage rates be revised up from Rs 80 per day to the prevailing minimum wage of Rs 119 (111 and 112 in some areas) per day set by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. This will remain in force for 8 weeks. Of course, a favorable interim order does not imply that the final verdict will be favorable. But it bolsters the confidence of the contestants. It is a precious gift of time for solidarity building. And in this particular case, it will put an additional amount of a whopping Rs 31-40 per each of the 100 work days in a year in the hands of those availing work under the NREGA. It did not bring tears to the eyes, but in a general clime of judicial unresponsiveness to the claims of the poor it made many heave a sigh of relief. Continue reading Speaking of litigation: Anant Maringanti →

Bad ideas, Countryside, Excavation

A review of Anand Teltumbde’s “Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop”

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Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop By Anand Teltumbde; Navayana, New Delhi, 2008, 214 pp.; Rs 190; ISBN 978-81-89059-15-6

Anand Teltumbde is a noted Bombay-based Dalit intellectual who also wears the hat of a business executive. He has written this book about the lynching of a Dalit family in a Maharashtra village in 2006 to ensure that the incident is not easily erased from memory. He quotes Milan Kundera: “The struggle against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” In other words, he sees this book as being a seminal work on the Khairlanji atrocity.

The book begins with Abel Meeropol’s song Strange Fruit, written in 1936 (and not 1939, as the book incorrectly states) about the lynching of two black youth. It is from this song that the book derives its sub-title, “A Strange and Bitter Crop,” which once again reinforces the book’s ambition. Billie Holiday’s rendition of Strange Fruit (in 1939) soon became an anthem for the anti-lynching movement in the US, but does Teltumbde’s book achieve its ambitious goal?

The book’s first chapter is a narration of the events of 29 September 2006, when Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange’s family was lynched to death. The atrocity is reduced in this narrative to a dry report, as if it were from the file of a district magistrate. Sample this: Continue reading A review of Anand Teltumbde’s “Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop” →

Capitalism, Countryside, Ecology/Environment, Everyday Life, Movements, Politics

Gaon chodab nahin

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Countryside, Everyday Life, Government, Left watch, Violence/Conflict

इतिहास से साक्षात्कार की घड़ी;

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लालगढ़ मुक्त कराया जा रहा है. पिछले आठ महीने से जिस इलाके में पश्चिम बंगाल की मार्क्सवादी सरकार की पुलिस नही घुस पा रही थी , उस पर केन्द्र सरकार के सशस्त्र बल की सहायता से अब बंगाल की पुलिस धीरे–धीरे कब्जा कर रही है. केन्द्रीय गृह मंत्री पी. चिदंबरम ने कहा ज़रूर था कि यह कोई युद्ध नहीं हो रहा है क्योंकि कोई भी राज्य अपनी ही जनता से युद्ध नहीं करता लेकिन लालगढ़ में अभी चल रहे सैन्य अभियान की रिपोर्ट दे रहे पत्रकार लगातार यह बता रहे है कि वहां स्थिति किसी युद्ध क्षेत्र से कम नहीं है. गांव के गांव वीरान हो गए हैं.हजारों की तादाद में आदिवासी शरणार्थी शिविरों में पनाह ले रहे हैं. ध्यान देने की बात है कि ये शिविर भी राज्य सरकार नहीं चला रही है. पहले दो बडे शिविर तृणमूल कांग्रेस के द्वारा स्थापित किए गए. लालगढ़ की जनता के लिए शिविर स्थापित करने के बारे में बंगाल की सरकार अगर नहीं सोच पाई तो ताज्जुब नहीं क्योंकि उसके हिसाब से वह उसकी जनता नहीं है, वह तो शत्रु पक्ष की जनता है!दूसरे शब्दों में वह गलत जनता है. सही जनता वह है जो मार्क्सवादियों के साथ है.

लालगढ़ में पिछले आठ महीने से एक विलक्षण जन आंदोलन चल रहा था. बुद्धदेव भट्टाचार्य के काफिले पर हमले के बाद पुलिस ने जिस तरह लालगढ़ के आदिवासियों को प्रताड़ित किया, उसने साठ साल से भी ज़्यादा से असह्य गरीबी और अमानुषिक परिस्थितियों को झेल रही आदिवासी जनता के भीतर सुलग रही असंतोष की आग को भड़का दिया. लेकिन ध्यान दें, इन पिछड़े आदिवासियों ने कितनी राजनीतिक परिपक्वता का परिचय दिया! उन्होंने ‘पुलिस संत्रास विरोधी जनसाधारण समिति’ बनाई और लगभग हर संसदीय राजनीतिक दल से सहयोग मांगा. वह उन्हें मिला नहीं. लालगढ़ ने कहा , यहां हमारा अपमान करने वाली पुलिस और हमारी उपेक्षा करने वाले प्रशासन का स्वागत नहीं है. पुलिस और प्रशासन की उनके जीवन में अप्रासंगिकता का आलम यह है कि राज्य विहीन आठ महीनों में इस समिति ने ट्य़ूबवेल लगवाया जो बत्तीस साल के जनपक्षी वाम शासन में नहीं हो सका था, स्कूल चलाया, सड़क बनाई जो बत्तीस साल से नहीं थी और इस बीच अपराध की किसी घटना की कोई खबर नहीं मिली. एक तरह से यह जनता का स्वायत्त शासन था.
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Countryside, Left watch, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Requiem for a Movement

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Current media discussions about Lalgarh seem to miss out one crucial fact: Till less than a month ago, it was not a Maoist fortress, but a place where a fascinating experiment with a new kind of democratic politics was being undertaken. Maoists were certainly present, but they were constrained to go along with the mood inside Lalgarh, as earlier posts on Kafila have pointed out. This mood was certainly not one of forming ‘dalams’ or squads of roving Maoist guerillas. In fact, as People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) leader Chhatradhar Mahato told Times of India a couple of days ago, ‘if the state government had done even 10 percent of what we have done, the situation would have been very different.’ Continue reading Requiem for a Movement →