From CRZ to SEZ: Naxal reins of terror
Monday, April 30, 2007
It was in August 2001 that the idea of establishing a Com-pact Revolutionary Zone (CRZ), from the forest tracts of Adilabad (Andhra Pradesh) to Nepal, traversing the forest areas of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, was conceptualized at Siliguri in a high-level meeting of the Maoist leaders from India and Nepal.
Th primary aim of CRZ is to facilitate the easy movement of extremists from one area in the proposed zone to another. The concept of CRZ was essentially seen as a prologue to the further expansion of Left-wing extremism in the subcontinent. Looked from this angle, the notion of CRZ seems to be moving in the right direction, for, there has been a remarkable Maoist growth between 2001 and 2007 in both India and Nepal.
As of now, while the Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist (CPN-M) has joined the interim Government of Nepal, their Maoist counterparts in India have carved out several guerilla zones in different parts of the country.
What was once a utopian concept, the idea and reality of CRZ in India has indeed made big strides. While the Maoists were busy executing their mega plan of CRZ, the economic policy of India marked a dramatic shift with the Government of India announcing the setting up of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in its Export-Import Policy 2000
As per the SEZ Act 2005, SEZs are geographical regions that have different economic laws to the rest of the country to facilitate increased investments and economic activity. The politics engulfing the whole issue of SEZs has definitely acquired a Maoist flavor, as can be clearly ascertained from the happenings of Kalinga Nagar, Singur and Nandigram. Recent happenings on the SEZs front shows that the idea of SEZs, which was originally formulated as a development strategy, has now become a rallying cry for Left-wing extremism. Couple of months back, during their ninth unity congress, the top ranking Maoist leadership from 16 Indian states decided to launch violent attacks on SEZs and projects that displace people.
The Annual Report of the "Central Military Commission" of the Communist Party of India- Maoist (CPI-Maoist) outlines the Naxal plan of creating disruptions at several proposed infrastructure and mining projects and steel plants.
The potential Naxal targets as mentioned in the report are the bauxite mining project of the Jindals in Visakhapatnam, the Polavaram irrigation project, steel plants proposed in Chhattisgarh by Tata, Essar and Jindal, the Center's proposed railway line on the Rajhara-Raighat-Jagdalpur sector, Posco's steel plants under construction in Orissa, power plants proposed by the Ambanis, a proposed steel plant in Jharkhand by the Mittal Group and the Kosi irrigation project in northern Bihar. The Naxal concept of CRZ and their brand of politics over the issue of SEZs is something which needs to be taken seriously.
Th Naxal intentions are clear; they want to use SEZs as the most powerful weapon for the complete realization of CRZ. The link between the Naxal concept of CRZ and the new development mantra of SEZs is no coincident. The Naxals have grown stronger in the tribal districts of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Maharashtra, which attracts US$85 billion of promised investments, mostly in steel and iron plants, and mining projects.
Ironically, all these investments and projects are of no benefit to the locals, and in most of the cases, in the absence of a credible 'Rehabilitation and Resettlement' (R&R) policy, the locals are forced to loose their lands which are crucial for their survival. The Naxals have been quick to realize this and reflect it in their agenda. After the sad happenings of Nandigram, the Union Government was forced to take stock of the issues related to SEZs.
Recently, after including a few changes in the SEZ Act, the Central Government's Empowered Group of Ministers on SEZs approved 83 new proposals in addition to the already notified 63 projects. The head of the government has already declared that SEZs is a reality. SEZs in itself is not a bad idea, but the problem lies with its poor implementation. 'Rehabilitation and Resettlement' holds the key to the successful realization of SEZs in India.
Government need to show that SEZs as a development strategy would result in equitable distribution of its gains. There is no denying that India is growing but certain sections are being continuously denied a share in this growth. Except for symbolic tokenism, such as the Employment Guarantee Scheme, the fundamentals of delivery are missing from most of the plans and projects.
It is this tokenism that has given an opportunity to the Naxals to hijack the issue of SEZs in their favor. Today, the Naxals have realized that the Spring Thunder of 1968 failed to give the desired results owing to wide differences in Indian and Chinese conditions.
Accordingly, they have reformulated their premises of Maoism. Unfortunately, the government is taking too long to realize that though its SEZs policy is based on the Chinese model, its success would depend a lot on its application to Indian conditions.
The writer is Lecturer, G M College, Sambalpur, Orissa. Courtesy IPCS
posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 11:08:00 PM,
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Naxalites set ablaze labourers' huts in Bihar
SHEOHAR: Nearly 200 Naxalites raided the construction site of a river overbridge in Bihar's Sheohar district exploding bombs, opening fire and setting ablaze a few huts of labourers, police said on Monday.
Suspected CPI(Maoist) rebels descended on the construction site near Dubba Ghat midnight last night and assaulted the labourers before setting on fire nine thatched huts, DIG (Tirhut range) Gupteshwar Pandey said.
They also damaged some machines, including a generator set, fired in air and exploded crude bombs to terrorise the labourers whom they warned against joining work.
The Naxalites had pasted posters near the place of occurrence a week ago directing the contractor of the Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation Limited to meet the representatives of the banned outfit.
Pandey, who is camping at Dubba Ghat along with superintendent of police Ajay Kumar Mishra to supervise raids to apprehend the culprits, said the Naxalites wanted to extort a levy from the contractor for allowing the work to proceed smoothly.
No arrests have been made so far.
The incident follows March 31 attack on a bank, block office and police station at Riga in adjoining Sitamarhi district. Though the attack was repulsed, a jawan of the special auxiliary police (SAP) was killed in the encounter.
The Times of India
posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 11:08:00 PM,
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Don't vote: Naxals tell UP voters
Nagwa village, Sonebhadra (UP), Apr 30: Naxals have called for a boycott of polls in parts of Utter predesh, as the State gears for the last two of the seven phases of Assembly elections in the State.
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With 52 assembly constituencies heading for the sixth phase polling on May 3, police and local administration are on their tenterhooks, as it would include three Districts of Sonebhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli, which have considerable axal influence.
The poll boycott call has been issued by releasing pamphlets that ask villagers to vote for particular candidates or not to vote altogether.
Naxals with double barrel country made guns slung on their shoulders can be sighted moving in groups in areas under their domination. For them the heightened security during the run up to the polls has meant little more than a mere curtailment of movement.
The Naxals know when to prowl and send the message across.
"These elections are taking place since the last 58 years. But what have we gained from it.
These elections are meant for capitalists and their goons. The rights of the common people are being overlooked.
None of the democratic parties are bothered about the common man then why should we be concerned about it.
We want elections that are meant for the common people and would work for them," Rakesh, a Naxal activist with an assumed name, said somewhere in a remote area in Nagwa village of Sonebhadra District.
As police and paramilitary contingents have stepped up patrolling, officials said they would ensure free and fair poll.
"The Election Commission has come out with a special deployment plan for the Naxal-affected areas. It is different from other areas.
It is a special deployment plan which will try to make sure that the Naxals do not affect the polls and that people can vote without fear," said R.P. Singh, Deputy Inspector General, Varanasi range.
The present election in Uttar Pradesh has been notably different from previous polls when booth capturing incidents and rigging elections were commonplace and the Election Commission was compelled to hold several rounds of re-polling.
The seventh and final phase of poll will be on May 8 and counting will take place on May 11 with most of the results expected the same day.
Daily India News
Labels: NEWS, Uttar pradesh
posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 10:47:00 PM,
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Kundapur: Naxal Threat - CM Cancels Visit to Kamalashile Temple
Kundapur, Apr 30: Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy who a few days ago had said that he would stay in a Naxal-affected village, had to eat his words when he had to cancel his visit to Kamalashile Temple owing to an alleged threat from Naxalites on Sunday April 30.
He was supposed participate in the Chatush Pavitra Nagamandalotsava of Kamalashile Temple on Sunday evening. The entire area had been decked up specially to welcome the chief minister who was making his first visit to the place. Being a Naxal-affected place, even security had been beefed up.
On the other hand JD (S) party and chief minister's fans too had raised huge cut-outs of chief minister. Attractive welcome arches were erected in the vicinity. But all went in vain as chief minister had to cancel his visit at the eleventh hour owing to Naxal threat. With this his much-publicized stay in Naxal-affected area had drawn flak from all quarters.
posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 10:26:00 PM,
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Weapons, ammunition seized in raids in Bihar
| HAZARIBAG: Following a tip-off on Friday night, a Hazaribag police team headed by Barhi SDPO Saryu Paswan and inspector of Barhi circle Girish Pandey on a tipconducted raids in forests by the side of river Kahudag on borders of Gaya and Chouparan police stations of the district. The police have seized two rifles and around 80 rounds of ammunition of which 48 are SLR and the rest 315 are bore for rifles, said the Hazaribag SP, Praveen Kumar Singh, while addressing a press conference here on Saturday. Giving details of the raids, the SP said, on a tip-off that a about 25 armed Naxalites led by a sub-zonal commander had entered Chouparan from Fatehpur side of Bihar for attacking some villages, a police party rushed to the forest area. On seeing the police, the Maoists opened fire which was returned by the police. The encounter between the Naxalites and the police continued for more than half an hour, during which more than 60 rounds were fired from both the side. But with the break of dawn, the Naxalites managed to escape, said the SP. Immediately after this, the police conducted a search and found arms and ammunitions, which were seized. One of the rifles had "Jehanabd" inscribed on it, indicating a weapon looted during Jehanabad jail break. | |||||
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posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 10:32:00 AM,
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Terrorism has dropped by 40 pc in Jammu and Kashmir, North-East: Patil
Varanasi, Apr 29: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has said that the terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East have reduced significantly under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government.
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"Terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East has dipped significantly by 40 percent during the UPA regime," Patil said.
This, he said, was suggested in the reports of various committees and sub-committees on terrorism in the Valley. These reports were tabled at the Round Table Conference on Jammu and Kashmir held in New Delhi recently chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he added.
Patil further said that the Congress-led UPA government was not at all soft on terror but was tackling it with a balanced approach.
''While we are dealing sternly with terrorists killing innocents, we are also ushering development for the terror-torn province. Funds amounting to Rs 26,000 crore have been pumped in the State,'' he claimed.
While, Naxal problem in Andhra Pradesh has declined by almost 60 percent, the menace has shot up by the same percentage in both Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, he added.
Patil urged the media to refrain from reporting smalls incidents to suggest that terrorism was on the rise.
posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 10:25:00 AM,
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Buddha and CPIM have no other Survival Strategy but killing Nandigarm People once again!
Nandigram. Nandigram
Officials confirm that One killed, two injured in clashes at Nandigram between supporters of ruling CPI-M and Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), spearheading the movement against land acquisition, today. TV live telecast puts the death toll three at least! Media censorship is on. And you have to depend on official sources in War Zone!
The trouble started, according to villagers here, early in the morning when about 200 CPI-M activists began to fire bullets and throw bombs from the Khejuri side of Talpati canal at Satangabari, Bahargunge area in Nandigram block-II and at Simulkhanda in Nandigram block- I. The villagers under attack fled their homes fearing "lethal" assault by CPI-M cadres.
Supporters of the BUPC regrouped around 10-30 a.m to confront CPI-M cadres who had already advanced into the villages at Nandigram. The battle continued for over four hours after which CPI-M cadres retreated.
The CPI-M claimed two of their supporters succumbed to bullet injuries. They were identified as Dilip Mondal (19), a resident of Gokulnagar, and Mahitosh Karan (42), a resident of Jambari. Two other injured CPI-M supporters, Pintu Mondal and Nitai Mondal, have been admitted to Kamarda block hospital in Khejuri. On the other hand, BUPC leaders claimed that four villagers belonging to their organisation sustained bullet injuries and were admitted to Nandigram block hospital. One of them, Prakash Das, was later shifted to Tamluk Sadar hospital in a critical condition.
One person was shot dead and two others received bullet injuries during the clashes between CPI-M supporters and BUPC at Nandigram block-II, IGP (law and order) Raj Kanojia told PTI in Kolkata. He said that tension prevailed in the area following the clashes. The injured were rushed to hospital.
Local police said that bombs were hurled and gunshots exchanged between CPI(M) and BUPC activists as clashes continued for the third consecutive day today at Nandigram. They said that trouble began this morning when about 100-200 people from Khejuri tried to enter Nandigram in batches. Gunshots were also heard from Bhangabera, Satingabari, Adhikaripara and Shimulkundu areas in Nandigram, the police said.
Trinamool Congress MLA Sisir Adhikari alleged that the CPI-M cadres were attacking people at Nandigram from Khejuri and creating a reign of terror.
I have warned you already two days back, another genocide in Nandigram is feared! Memories of other days haunt the present while the present heralds the cold horror in future!
Live AND PROLONGED telecast of Mamtas`s press conference was a Hint only! The violence continued unabated despite Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's statement that the proposed chemical hub would not be located at Nandigram. As it was clearcut indication and I warned you, CPI-M claimed in a press statement that at least 50-60 armed TC activists raided Baharganj and Jambari villages in Khejuri, Nandigram-1 and Nandigram-2 blocks. The party alleged that a ''provocative'' speech by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on April 25 at Garchakraberia had encouraged her party's supporters to launch attacks against CPI-M cadre at Nandigram.
Don`t you understand the game plan?
A concerned West Bengal Governor G K Gandhi today said he was keeping a close watch on the situation and discussed the matter with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. ''I have discussed the Nandigram development with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and I am keeping a close watch on the situation,'' a Raj Bhavan communique said quoting the Governor today.
This was the second statement by the Governor after the March 14 police firing at Nandigram in which 14 people were killed and scores of others injured.
Expressing serious concern over fresh violence, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee today sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to stop ''atrocities'' on people. While Nandigram continued to witness fresh violence,
Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said that a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) delegation will inform President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on the issue soon. "Our MP Dinesh Tribedi will lead an NDA delegation to President A P J Abdul Kalam shortly to inform him about the happenings in Nandigram," she said. Banerjee said that the party has already sought Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's intervention to stop the violence.
"We have already informed the Prime Minister's Office about the situation in Nandigram and sought his intervention to stop the unabated violence there," Banerjee told reporters here.She further said that the party will organise an hour long 'rasta roko' (road blockade) in West Bengal on Monday from 11am to 12 noon.
She also appealed to all parties except the ruling CPI-M to take to the streets to demand the restoration of peace in Nandigram.Banerjee has also announced a series of programmes, including a gherao of all police stations in the State on May 2 and meetings across the State to condemn the violence.
She alleged that the Government was itself "sponsoring violence" in Nandigram.She said this in reply when asked as to why Trinamool Congress or its allies were not participating in all-party meetings called by the East Midnapore District administration to restore peace in Nandigram. Banerjee also question as to why violence was continuing in Nandigram if a chemical hub was not to be set up there.
Forward Bloc state general secretary Ashok Ghose said intervention by a third party was needed to bring the recalcitrant opposition and ruling parties on the negotiating table in view of an all-party meeting failing to take place repeatedly. ''A piquant situation has developed which can be resolved only by the intervention of a third force,'' Ghose said.
Buddhadev bhattacharya and his party concentrated on Nandigram long before. Taming the resistance is a specialised mechanism of the forces in power. Marxists of Bengal learnt the art very well during Comrade Jyoti Basu`s tenure as Chief Minister of Bengal, during starngulation of the Thundering Spring in seventies and amidst the merciless massacre of Dalit Refugees in Marichjhapi. We have latest examples of Keshpur, Nanur and Chhota angaria!
In the seventies, the Congress Party of India crushed the Maoist rebellion in West Bengal. Educated middle class youths were killed in scores. Those days they were known as Naxals. In a pitched battle in Jadavpur University Hostel of Kolkata, the Army finally had to bring in armor to win. During that time the main weapon Congress Party used was propaganda and media based lies.
Once again it is WAR in Nandigarm! This time it is neither Army nor the Police, it is the Marxist Gestapo which is involved in Genocide and ethenic cleansing!
Once again Bengal image is flashed as a Killing Field! Newsbreaks continue to tell you Death Toll and it follows with Horror and more Horror stories. Left may not afford to bear a Free Zone in the RED fort! Scietific rigging machinery may work only in a Capitive geopolitics, mind you.
Meanwhile Buddha had meetings in Haldia with Laxman Seth, the MP and mastermind of Nandigram Genoside! It was a green signal for the Gestapo to go for action!
Come Hunting Time!
Buddha and his Gestapo go for Hunting in Nandigram!
Halida is the ultimate destination of DOW`s and Salim`s chemical hub! Buddhadev has told this so many times. So Manmohan Singh, the Comrador Salve of US Imperialism and MNCs has justified so many times. The ruling class in India is nothing better than Slaves! It damn cares for Vote Bank as it may be managed with established Cadre Base and so called spritual Brahminical ideologies, pet media and intellegentsia! US interests are their interests. They may kill anyone to defend the rotten system of supremacy. Underprevileged Rural India should be annihilated mercilessly, this is the law of Post Modern Manusmriti enacted by Global Government and the Comaradors in colonies dare not to violet!
Where from you get the land for SEZ to import Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Vietnam, Iraq and Afganistan? How do you escalate Bhopal Gas Tragedy?
Based on the new, improved, growth projections, India's economy will be even bigger than that of the US before 2050 (in the first one, India's 2050 GDP would have been 80 per cent that of the US). The new report does not report the per capita income number (this would be influenced by inflation resulting from a higher GDP growth) but in the first report, in 2050, India would still have a per capita income, which is only a fifth that of the US.
Capitalist Marxist way of indiscriminate Industialisation and Urbanisation is not limited in Bengali Geopolitics at all as based on the new, improved, growth projections, India's economy will be even bigger than that of the US before 2050 (in the first one, India's 2050 GDP would have been 80 per cent that of the US). The new report does not report the per capita income number (this would be influenced by inflation resulting from a higher GDP growth) but in the first report, in 2050, India would still have a per capita income, which is only a fifth that of the US.Thus, the crux of the projections is the productivity surge that India will get due to the "demographic dividend" and the "urbanisation bonus" - essentially a higher educated younger population, increasingly living in urban areas, would be far more productive than the less educated and largely rural population of the past.The country's international trade has boomed (the trade-to-GDP ratio rose from 13 per cent in 1990 to around 31 per cent in 2005) while tariffs fell from 48 per cent to around 10; access to finance has increased dramatically and domestic credit-to-GDP rose from 27 per cent in 1991 to around 43 per cent of GDP in 2005; IT expenditure is up to around 6 per cent of GDP from 3.5 per cent in 2001; India had 23 cities with a population of over a million in 1991 and this rose to 35 a decade later (by 2020, another 140 million rural dwellers will move to urban areas, according to Goldman Sachs projections); the list goes on.
Americanisation is the only agenda of the Hindu Zionist Comrador ruling classes in India!
After Tatas , now it is Mahindra! Mahindra has to get a SEZ in Haldia for motor factory.
Mukesh Ambani is lobbying in New delhi to woo the Kulin Brahmin Pranab Mukherjee to capture Retail Market in Rural Bengal as he has got a chemistry with Buddha despite contradictions in the ruling left front and objections expressed by nonogeneration patriarch Basu!
Under the Centre's industrial package, industries setting up shop in states including Uttarakhand before March 31, 2010 would enjoy exemption from excise duty, besides income tax holiday up to March 31, 2013. West Bengal has started making noise about concessions extended to select states to promote industrialisation, saying such sops affected its own ability to attract huge private investments.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, addressing a CPI-M rally in Barasat on Saturday, said he had talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the industrial package extended to hilly states, particularly Uttarakhand, which is trying to wean away Tata Motors from Singur by promising tax holidays.
Bhattacharjee said Uttarakhand has reportedly informed Tata Motors that the company would accrue benefits to the tune of Rs 18,000 crore over a period of time if it relocated its small-car plant to the hilly state.
Talking of industry, Bhattacharjee said investment proposals worth Rs 78,000 crore had been received by his government during 2006-07, compared to Rs 32,000 crore in 2005-06.
The investment proposals included a steel-making factory at Salboni worth Rs 35,000 crore and another at Purulia worth Rs 11,000 crore, he said. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists on Saturday clashed with an anti-land acquisition group here.The groups threw bombs and fired in Nandigram's Tulaghata area.The clashes have been continuing since Friday.
Trinamool Congress-backed Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) clashed with CPI (M) activists at Bhangaberia area on Friday.No casualty has been reported during the two days of clashes.Meanwhile, CPI MLA SK Ilias Mohammed, who was allegedly assaulted by Trinamool Congress supporters on Friday, led a rally to protest against it. Mohammed has lodged an FIR on the incident.
Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee has been opposing the acquisition of farmland for industries in the State.
On March 14, at least 14 people were killed in police firing at Nandigram in east Midnapore District.
The ruling Left eventually shelved plans for an industrial park at Nandigram that was to have been built with the help of Indonesia's Salim Group.
Soon after the stay on the Nandigram project, Bhattacharjee had affirmed commitment to continue the project at another location in the State.
Echoing Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's allegation about the Centre's inaction in dealing with the situation in Nandigram, the Congress on Saturday said the UPA government should have been "more active" on this issue. Congress' stand came at a time when it is under attack from the followers of Union Minister P R Dasmunsi that the state unit of the party had failed to take up any movement on the Nandigram issue and not participated in any protest against the acquisition of farm land for industry. Senior party leader Subrata Mukhrjee, a Dasmunsi loyalist, has claimed that the Trinamool Congress is ahead in the movement on Nandigram "due to failure of the PCC".
"The Centre should have been more active on the question of law and order in Nandigram, though it is a state subject, by exploring legal and constitutional aspects," State Congress Working Committee President Pradip Bhattacharya said.
He said a party delegation will soon meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and also seek an appointment with President A P J Abdul Kalam to apprise them of the "explosive situation" created in Nandigram by efforts to acquire land for industries.
"The state unit of Congress will appeal to the Centre to find a way to resolve the Nandigram crisis," he said. Expressing concern at recurring violence perpetrated allegedly by the CPI-M, Bhattacharya said if the situation was allowed to drift further, "it may go beyond control and the state government will be solely responsible for it".
Nandigram
posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 09:15:00 AM,
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CPI(ML) plans stir against Smart City
| `Government concealing facts about impact of SEZ on the project' |
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Central secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML) K.N. Ramachandran has said that his party will launch intense agitations against the proposed `Smart City' project in Ernakulam and all other Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects in the State. Talking to The Hindu here on Friday, Mr Ramachandran said in the media euphoria that was being created in the name of `successful completion' of the Smart City negotiations, the State Government was cleverly concealing the fact that the project area would be declared as SEZ. It was now well known that as per the SEZ Act of 2005, any region declared as a SEZ would be like a `foreign country' within the country. Most of the laws of the land were not applicable to such regions. They would work as per the wishes of the profit-making multi-national companies, Mr Ramachandran alleged .
Trade union rights
When his attention was drawn to the reported statement of Labour Minister P.K. Gurudasan that the Government would insist on trade union rights within the SEZ, the CPI(ML) leader said these were `irresponsible statements' being made by the mainstream Left Democratic Front (LDF) leaders in order to cover up their betrayal of the commitment to the people.
The SEZ Act was a Central legislation and no amendment had been made to it so far. Then how could the State Government deviate from it? he asked.
The LDF Government took a similar position in the controversies regarding the Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan. They had then argued that they would not accept several conditions of the ADB. But the conditions of the ADB were the same for all the States, he said.
The newly-elected State secretary of the CPI(ML) P.J. James said the party supporters would take out a march to the spot where the proposed Smart City area would come up, within a couple of days. The party cadres would also physically remove the meters on public taps if the Government took such a step as per the dictates of the ADB.
Surrendering to ADB
The CPI(ML) leaders said surrendering to the dictates of the ADB and giving sanction to the projects like SEZ and Smart City, the LDF Government led by V.S. Achuthanandan established that it was moving in a direction totally opposed to the approaches of the first Communist Government in Kerala in 1957
So this Government had no moral or political right to celebrate the 50th year of the first Communist Ministry, they said.They said the party would also launch agitations for the release of prisoners who had completed 14 years of imprisonment
The Hindu
Labels: CPI(ML) Kanu Sanyal, Kerala, NEWS
posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 09:08:00 AM,
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Two die in Maoist-CRPF gunbattle
Malkangiri • At least two people died and four others were injured in a gunbattle between Maoist rebels and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team in south Orissa's Malkangiri district yesterday afternoon, police said.
The incident took place at the weekly market of MV 79 village, 70 km from the district headquarters of Malkangiri and some 700km from state capital Bhubaneswar, in the afternoon, sub-divisional police officer Satyabrata Bhoi said. The armed CRPF jawans had gone to market on duty as part of the security measures.
A group of Maoists fired at a person who had come to the market. When the man fell on the ground, the CRPF team rushed to the spot and retaliated, he said. A Maoist and a CRPF personnel were killed in the gun battle, Bhoi said.
Local police also rushed to the spot and joined the CRPF team in the operation. One AK-47 rifle was seized from the slain rebel. A woman Maoist was also arrested from the spot, he said. At least four people including three CRPF personnel and a villager sustained injuries in the shootout. They were rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment.
Additional police forces were moved to the area to nab the Maoists who later fled to a nearby jungle, the official said.
The Peninsula
posted by Resistance 4/30/2007 09:04:00 AM,
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Janakeeya Patha (Malayalam Revolutionary Magazine)
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Dear friend
CPI(Maoist) 9th congress report
Interview: Arundhathi Roy
Nandhigram: Fact finding report
Singure struggle
SEZ: Neo colonial islands inside the country
RYO struggle report
Homage to comrade Chandramouli
Editor,
Janakeeyapatha,
xvii/183, kochi-22
janakeeyapatha@rediffmail.com
contribution: Rs 10/-
Labels: Janakeeyapatha, Kerala
posted by Resistance 4/29/2007 09:51:00 AM,
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The world we live..
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Courtesy: Bhumkal Bastar
Scoroll Down.....
Labels: Picture
posted by Resistance 4/28/2007 10:35:00 PM,
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Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi relives ?70s
Director Sudhir Mishra's Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi relives the '70s and is a tribute to the burning issues of the time that may still seek a redress.
Remember the '70s – Bell Bottoms, Rock 'N' Roll, The Hippies, Satyajit Ray, The Typewriter, Guerrillas, Kissa Kursi Ka, The Naxalites, Vietnam War, Sholay, The Beatles, The Emergency, Garibi Hatao!, Ayatollah Khomeini, The twist and Jaiprakash Narayan! - Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (HKA) is film about all that and more.
Mishra who grew up amdist all these says, "HKA is probably my most personal film. Through Hazaaron… I have strived to understand a generation that has inspired me, disgusted me, challenged me and puzzled me through the years - a generation grappling with their solutions for a better system and a generation ridden with ironies of egalitarian dreams on one hand and corroding fraudulence on the other. The film is set in a period which I grew up and empathised with."
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (HKA) revolves around three characters - Siddharth Tyabji (Kay Kay Menon), Geeta Rao (Chitrangada Singh) and Vikram Malhotra (Shiny Ahuja) - whose lives intertwine across a decade. It is a love story against a backdrop of a politically decaying India from the late sixties to the late seventies often described as Indira Gandhi years.
Geeta is in love with Siddharth but politics is Siddharth's first love. Meanwhile Vikram falls madly in love with Geeta, but she treats him as a good friend only. These three are caught in a vicious cycle of sorts, and eventually go their different ways.
Geeta gets married to a bureaucrat after her higher studies in Britain. Vikram becomes a highflying fixer in the corridors of power in Delhi whilst Siddharth decides to join the Naxal movement in the villages of Bihar.
Chitrangada, who plays the female lead in the film, says, "My character is called Geeta, she has a South Indian father and is in love with Siddharth who is more interested in politics, Marxism and all such things. He gets involved in the Naxalite movement. Our relationship goes through its ups and downs as it grows into maturity amidst the turbulent political times."
Set against a backdrop of immense political turmoil in the country, HKA unfolds at a prestigious Delhi college where the three protagonists complete their graduation and are in the process of charting out a career for themselves. "I play the role of Vikram who hails from a small town Meerut and goes to a swanky Delhi College, St Stephens, for higher studies.
There he falls in love with a girl who treats him only as a friend. This other guy Siddharth, however, has no time for love as he is into politics and social awakening. So the whole film is about the trials and tribulations of love and growth as an individual seen through the eyes of these three protagonists. I am the fixer who has seen his father suffer despite being a staunch Gandhian and therefore have no time or patience to go through the same grist. I want to make it big in life through the easy available short cut" says Delhi boy Shiny Ahuja of Sins and Karam fame.
In 1975 the state of emergency is declared in the country. Vikram is on the right side of the power equation but for Geeta and Siddharth its testing time. This period of high drama changes things forever for the trio.
Widely regarded as one of the finest specimen of Indian cinema in recent times the narrative. The personal destinies of the characters are in active interplay with the political predicament of the country. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi examines a very significant period of post independent India and also a very special generation of people that went through something unique.
"It is a film about true meaning of youth, about taking risk, about people who inherited a country with conflicting views, about love – love for the person and for the country. On one hand you have friendship, love and growth of the three protagonists; on the other you have the backdrop of turbulent and politically volatile India. It's a retort on another kind of love – love enough to criticise your country. The film is an interesting comment where children get to know and learn what their parents were all about" says Mishra.
Making her debut with an off beat film as HKA Chitra (as she is called) cherishes the experiences and insists on having evolved as a more wholesome human being due to the film's impact. "Geeta discovers herself in the ten years – she sees her growth from a naïve, innocent college girl slowly finding answers in life to become her own person. She later matures into an individual in her own right who goes on to fulfil Siddharth's dreams after he is gone. It is the most challenging and fulfilling role I could have asked for."
Going further Chitra claims, "When I got this offer, it did not matter what the subject or cast would be, as long as it was clear to me that it is going to be Sudhir's film as I knew him and had heard a lot about his work. I'm very fortunate to start my career in such a great manner. I can prove myself to an extent given the subject of the film. Besides Sudhir has a way of extracting the right performance from you."
A poignant telling tale of the quintessential search for the 'self' Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (HKA) taps the youth and its search for answers hitherto left wanting for more if not enough. The emergency plays a crucial role in deciding the fate of its lead characters take.
"I think Geeta turns out to be the tallest character which stands out at the end of the film. At one level, Hazaaron… is a love story between Vikram and Geeta - an aching unrequited romance. But most importantly, the film tries to articulate a total idea of India, as opposed to a crude western notion of India being a hell hole, or a land of exotic mystical kitsch.
Sometimes, even I find it puzzling to fathom the labyrinths of this film… but it's a film which I love to see over and over again, because it's outside me and about characters I love, even in their failures" says Sudhir
HKA was applauded in festivals across the globe including the prestigious Berlin film festival. Produced by Pritish Nandy Communications and directed by noted filmmaker Sudhir Mishra's HKA overcame many hurdles and is finally releasing on Friday.
Hindustan Times
Labels: Filim Review
posted by Resistance 4/28/2007 09:48:00 PM,
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Beheaded for late arrival
| SHASHANK SHEKHAR |
| Bokaro, April 27: In a throw-back to medieval times, a security officer employed by Bokaro Steel Plant chopped off the head of a milkman last night, merely because he had been an hour late in milking the officer's cows. Petrified neighbours, warned not to interfere, watched as Jaiprakash Singh (55) held the milkman Upendra Yadav (32) and ordered his sons to chop off the head. The dutiful sons obliged. The sensational crime caused a commotion and hundreds of agitated people stormed the officer's residential quarter. But by then the officer and his sons had fled, leaving behind the officer's wife. When the older son, Kaushal (26), who had actually used the sword, was found hiding in a neighbour's house this morning and arrested, the mob surrounded the sector IX police station, demanding an eye for an eye. Tension simmered as civil and police officers tried to control the situation. The commotion continued till late in the afternoon with the mob finally demanding adequate compensation and a job for the widow. The security officer and his younger son, Chhotu Singh (22) are absconding. Upendra Yadav's wailing widow recalled that the officer reached the hutment, located barely 50 yards from the officer's quarter, late in the night in an inebriated condition. Her husband, who was ailing, was asleep on a cot when the officer woke him up, tied a towel round his neck and dragged him out. The widow and neighbours kept pleading with him but the officers warned onlookers not to interfere. Horrified neighbours watched as the officer and his younger son held the poor victim down while the elder son brought down the sword on his neck. The widow, left with three children below the age of 12, said her husband had been reaching the officer's house late because of his own illness and also because their eldest son was not keeping well. The security officer, said neighbours, is short-tempered, foul-mouthed and arrogant. "He always boasted of being a Rajput and a landlord and claimed it his right to keep swords at home," recalled one. Even the officer's eldest son, Kaushal, has a criminal past and had shot a man dead a few years ago. He was released on bail late last year. The Telegraph |
posted by Resistance 4/28/2007 08:58:00 AM,
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Callous about Maoist terror
| KPS Gill |
| There is much focus now on the Maoist threat in India and, despite entirely inconsistent assessments by various Government agencies, an increasing consensus around the view that this is the greatest internal security challenge confronting the country. At the same time - and particularly in the aftermath of the major incidents that are all-too-frequently engineered by the Maoists - there is rising concern at the 'police failure' or 'security forces failure' to contain this rising menace. |
| It needs to be recognised at the outset that a professional and motivated police force, with a sufficient numerical strength and adequate material and technological resources, and with a clear political mandate, can defeat any insurgency in India, including this latest bogey - the Maoist 'protracted war'. If there is a failure to contain and defeat the Maoists, it is because the necessary capacities and mandate are deliberately kept in abeyance; indeed, the limited and entirely deficient capacities that do currently exist are systematically undermined by a cabal of corrupt political, administrative and police leaderships that have developed a deep vested interest in the persistence of the Maoist insurgency. Unless the dynamics of the implicit or explicit nexus between this leadership group and Maoist violence is understood and neutralised, an effective strategy to defeat the Naxalites can neither be framed, nor implemented. |
| The reality of the situation on the ground - irrespective of the theoretical and supposedly ideological constructs that are given currency in the mock discourse among the 'intelligentsia' - is that this is a fight between two corrupt entities that find mutual benefit and enrichment in fake engagements which can be sustained in perpetuity. A few hapless members of the constabulary and subordinate ranks in the security forces, and equally luckless cadres of the so-called revolutionaries are, of course, killed off from time to time. But no one is really concerned about the occasional massacre - despite the brouhaha that is raised in the media after each major incident. |
| Fatality figures, in fact, can be used to support whatever thesis is calculated to augment the flow of funds to personal or party coffers. A close scrutiny of the operational situation and the conditions under which the forces are working will demonstrate unambiguously that, in most States and areas, nothing really changes on the ground in the wake of major incidents. |
| This is the reason why almost no State - and some have been at it for 40 years and more - has been able to entirely and permanently eradicate Left-wing extremism. The Maoist movement, over the past decades, has steadily augmented to attain the status of a massive trans-State exercise in organised extortion and protection racketeering. And everywhere, opportunistic alliances between the Maoists and 'overground' political parties and entities are in place, most visibly around each electoral exercise, but in a constant intercourse at all times. |
| Almost all political parties have become mirror images of each other in India today, but in this regard they are even more so, with a multiplicity of corrupt parties and organisations woven together in a complex tapestry of duplicity and fraud that entrenches the ruling elite - an elite that grows increasingly more dynastic in all parties over time. Small cabals of violently criminal adventurers manage to break into the charmed circle of political privilege, from time to time, by their sheer ferocity and lack of restraint. The Maoist leadership and the many criminals in the State and national legislatures fall, naturally, into the latter category. |
| Drumming up a sense of crisis has become an integral part of the efforts at 'resource mobilisation' in this broad enterprise, and that is why the 'developmental solution' to Naxalism finds such strong advocacy among political leaders and state bureaucracies everywhere. Long years ago, Rajiv Gandhi noted that barely 15 paisa in each rupee of developmental funding actually reached its intended beneficiaries; the rest was swallowed up by the black hole of 'power brokers'. In insurgency affected areas, the proportion of developmental funds that is actually utilised for intended purposes would be even smaller - virtually the entire sums, totalling thousands of crores, find their way into the pockets of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and their hangers on, and through their symbiotic relationship with the 'insurgents' into the pockets of the Maoists as well. |
| Among the multiplicity of reasons for the military debacle in the Indo-China war of 1962, it was found that the Border Roads Organisation had 'constructed' many roads that existed only on maps, but of which there was no evidence on the ground. Forty-five years later, the same formula is now being applied in Naxalite areas, and it is difficult even to imagine how much of the exchequer's money has been spent on roads that were never constructed, but for which payments have been made and distributed among the local 'stakeholders', with the Naxalites cornering a considerable share to bolster up their 'revolution'. |
| The Centre now underwrites virtually all security related expenditure in Maoist afflicted States, providing support for police modernisation and force augmentation. Yet, States fail to create the necessary capacities to counter the Maoist threat. Even where significant disbursal of such funds occurs, their utilisation remains inefficient, and diversion to other, often unauthorised uses, is endemic. |
| The tragedy of existing or newly created capacities is as great. The State police leaderships are raising new battalions of armed forces, but recruitment is marred by widespread bribery. You cannot expect a man who secures his position in a police force through bribery to actually risk his life fighting the Naxalites. So the next stage is inevitable: Policemen pay bribes to the police leadership to secure postings outside the Naxalite affected 'conflict' areas, and in 'soft' areas and duties. The amounts collected through these and other 'administrative' channels - including the continuous business of transfers and postings - total in the hundreds of crores, and are naturally shared with the political leadership that enables corrupt officers to retain 'lucrative' positions, where they can continue with this despicable commerce. That is why, even in State's where there has been a visible augmentation of forces over the past years, deployment in the 'conflict' areas remains disproportionately deficient. |
| These are 'snapshots' of the objective situation on the ground. How are we to extricate the nation from this predicament? The cabals that are currently exploiting the situation to the hilt will have to be broken. The right individuals - from constables to the highest force commanders - will have to be identified and correctly located. Political leaders will have to look beyond party coffers and the next election, to a future in which people can live without fear. If this does not happen, the corrupt state will continue to fight the corrupt 'revolutionary', with mounting casualties in widening theatres, till the collapse of governance reaches a point where the venality of the national elite threatens its own existence. The Pioneer |
Labels: Articles
posted by Resistance 4/28/2007 08:42:00 AM,
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Four cops killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh
Friday, April 27, 2007
Raipur, April 26: Maoist militants detonated a landmine blast Thursday evening in Chhattisgarh, killing four state police personnel and injuring 16, a senior police officer said.
The incident took place at Michgaon village near the forest belt of Durgkondal in Bastar region's Kanker district, about 175 km south of capital Raipur.
"The blast tore apart the front portion of the police bus. Four policemen were killed on the spot while seven of 16 injured cops were serious," district police chief B.K. Choubey told IANS by phone.
He added that the injured were rushed to local hospitals. "Extra reinforcements have been rushed to the blast site and a combing operation launched to apprehend attackers," Choubey informed.
In 2006, Chhattisgarh accounted for 48 percent casualties in the 749 people killed by Maoists in the country.
New Kerala.com
Labels: Chhatisgadh, NEWS
posted by Resistance 4/27/2007 08:25:00 AM,
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Crucial meet on Maoist violence today
Thursday, April 26, 2007
New Delhi • During its crucial coordination committee meeting on Maoist violence today, the union home ministry will try to impress upon the states hit by left-wing extremism the need to achieve proper coordination among their police forces and security personnel to wipe out the four-decade-old menace.
The various states hit by Maoist violence continue to entertain reservations on the police force of a neighbouring state stepping on to their territory without prior information while chasing Naxal guerrillas crossing state boundaries. This reservation has been hampering the establishment of proper coordination between various states' police and security personnel.
The centre's coordination committee meet to explore ways to resolve this problem would be chaired by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and attended by chief secretaries and director generals of police of all the Naxal-hit states, besides chiefs of paramilitary forces deployed in various states to fight Maoist violence.
Senior officials from various central ministries and departments will also be participating in the meeting to take a holistic view of the Maoist violence, which the government does not consider a mere law and order problem but a fallout of the lack of socio-economic development in various regions.
Today's meet comes close on the heels of two other important meetings on the issue held in Hyderabad and Patna respectively on April 13 and 16. At the ministry's Task Force meeting in Hyderabad on Moaist violence, the agenda included evolving joint strategies to tackle the Maoists, modernising intelligence gathering and improving inter-state coordination to target Maoist leaders and cadres.
posted by Resistance 4/26/2007 09:00:00 AM,
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Cops teach to mend image
| SUMAN K. SHRIVASTAVA | ||
Ranchi, April 24: Policemen are teaching schoolchildren in Simdega and selling vegetables on behalf of villagers in West Singhbhum. This is part of the individual exercise by some of the superintendents of police to put behind the trigger-happy image of the men in khaki and as a confidence building measure to build bridges with the people. Bullets, said Simdega SP Martin Pores Lakra, can never be an answer to extremism. "The police will have to first win the hearts of the people," he told The Telegraph . The first step he took after getting the new assignment two months ago, he recalled, was to prepare a dossier of police officers and constables about their educational qualifications and identify subjects, which they could teach to the school students. They now compulsorily teach the students for one and a half-hours whenever the police are on the anti-Naxalite operation, the SP said. Policemen now carry a bag full of instrument box, medicines, sports kits and so on. It is a kind of payback to the villagers for allowing policemen to take rest for some time in the school building, he said. But don't policemen scare the schoolchildren? "No. Rather, we have been successful in befriending hem," he claimed. "Besides, we are also doing a survey of persons afflicted with tuberculosis and carrying them to hospitals." Lakra recalled how his men played the good samaritan to three girls of Saranga village, who did not have money to fill up forms and appear at the secondary examination. All three appeared in the exam this year. Policemen on patrol have also been instructed to pick up schools students and reach them home or to their schools. In his district, Lakra said, policemen had also begun a campaign against liquor addiction. Even more impressive is Lakra's claim that the police on patrol have also been asked to prepare reports on the state of tubewells, hospitals and roads and submit their reports to the district administration for corrective measures. Director-general of police J. Mahapatra said the SPs were encouraged to promote community policing and get closer to the people. Some of them have responded well, he said. Each SP, he claimed, has been given Rs 5 lakh under community policing. On why police cannot attend to basic problems like absence of ration cards, the DGP said: "Government officials will resist the move, if we get into it." | ||
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posted by Resistance 4/26/2007 08:04:00 AM,
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Five naxals, cop injured in Gadchiroli encounters
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
GADCHIROLI: About five naxalites and a policeman are believed to have been injured in two separate encounters in Gadchiroli district on Tuesday. Police sources said that the naxals belonging to Diwakar and Tippagarh dalams were camping in the jungles of the district.
In the first incident, the naxals opened fire at two police parties of the anti-Naxal operations and one party of the police health centre at about 7 am near village Kamkote (Jufragad hill), Korchi tehsil on the Chhattisgarh border. The police returned the fire and the shootout lasted for about 20 minutes, police sources said.
An 8-mm rifle, detonators, detonator wires, a walkietalkie, battery charger, hand grenades, claymore mines, puttu (a bag containing articles of daily use by naxals) and literature were recovered from the spot. The police claimed to have injured two naxals in the incident.
Superintendent of police Shirish Jain and SDPO Ravindra Pardeshi visited the spot and the police have launched a massive combing operation.
In the other incident reported from Murumgaon area of Dhanora tehsil in Gadchroli district, the naxalites opened fire opened fire at 2.30 pm at two police parties of anti-naxal operations between Ravitola and Katematka villages.
The police exchanged fire for 20 minutes and policeman Prabudas Madavi received bullet injuries in the neck and hand.
He was rushed to the Gadchiroli civil hospital, where he is reported to be out of danger. The naxals, however, escaped into the jungle.
The police recovered Bharmar guns, 3 kg gelatin, 2 kg gunpowder, 20 live bullets, puttu and naxal literature. Given the blood stains at the spot, the police feel that at least three naxalites might have been injured in the exchange of fire.
The Times of India
Labels: Chhatisgadh, NEWS
posted by Resistance 4/25/2007 09:30:00 PM,
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WB: 'I was raped by policeman'
Kolkata: A woman told officials probing the Nandigram killings in West Bengal that she was raped by a policeman on March 14 during a police attempt to crush protests by villagers against land acquisition.
Kajal Majhi of Kalicharanpur village in East Midnapore district made the allegation Tuesday to senior official Balbir Ram, appointed by the government to inquire into alleged police atrocities in Nandigram. Kajal reportedly said she was raped when the police entered Gokulnagar village in Nandigram, 150 kilometres from Kolkata, while the villagers were protesting against proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ).
"We peacefully assembled in the village when police entered the area and tear-gassed us. When I went to wash my eyes, a policeman forced me inside a cattle shed and raped me and I fainted," she said.
"I regained consciousness after a day. The local people first took me to the Nandigram hospital and then to the Tomluk district hospital. I came back home after 11 days of treatment," she said. Pushpa Mondal, who suffered a bullet injury apparently in police firing, and Bhanu Das, father of a villager who was killed during the protests, were also present at Tuesday's hearing. Fourteen people were killed and over 100 injured in violence in the area in March. (IANS)
posted by Resistance 4/25/2007 09:00:00 PM,
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Combined effort to curb Naxal menace in Karnataka
BELLARY: It's hunting time for both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh police. Both have decided to take up joint combing operations against Naxals in border areas.
At a high-level meeting held recently in the city, they exchanged ideas and operational methods to catch criminals and Naxals. They have also decided to co-operate with each other to curb Naxal activities.
Naxals have been active in the border district of Bellary for past many decades. Hundreds of villages coming under 13 police stations are identified as naxal-prone.
On AP side, in areas like Kurnool, Ananthapur, Guntakal and Adoni, bordering Bellary, Naxalism has been in top gear. When AP police strengthened their activities, Naxals shifted to Bellary, said police officers.
According to the police, a few politicians and their relatives have been supporting Naxal activities in Bellary district. The son-in-law of a politician of the ruling coalition partner is closely associated with naxalite Ranga Reddy.
Ranga Reddy is notorious for his arms manufacturing and selling business, apart from involving in Naxal activities. He escaped from Bellary police a year back. But the police managed to seize a vehicle full of explosives and other arms.
Police suspect that over 30 Naxals have taken shelter in and around Bellary and the border villages of AP. They got information that these naxals have engaged themselves as fruit and vegetable vendors, sweepers and various other workers.
Lookout notices were posted at all police stations and villages of both states. Apart from combing operations, the police have taken up awareness programmes among youths, in particular. This has helped contain Naxal activities to some extent, said SP, Bellary, Amrit Paul.
Meanwhile, the Police Department suspects that Ranga Reddy is hiding either in Kerala or Tamil Nadu. Also, the police have been searching for the other two wanted persons, Seetharama Gowda and Thippeshi of Kudligi, the SP added.
Newindpress.com
posted by Resistance 4/25/2007 07:04:00 PM,
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Maoists training children as guerrillas-India
DANTEWADA (Chhattisgarh): Maoists here have ordered pregnant women to deliver only at makeshift camps run by women guerrillas so that the children can dedicate themselves to extreme left ideology.
"Pregnant women have been ordered to deliver only under the guidance of health experts of the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangh," said Yelam, a 32-year-old Maoist leader, in the Abujhmad forest in Dantewada district.
The Sangh comprising women guerrillas is one of the frontal organisations of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).
"The children, boys or girls, will be enrolled as new cadres and will be brought up in a culture that will help fulfil the long-awaited dream of liberating the red zone," he added. Police say the 20,000 armed Maoists who operate in India have formed the 'red zone' from southern India to Nepal's border.
"The decision is intended to keep reminding these children as they grow up that they are born to the cause of Maoist ideology and the creation of the red zone," said Yelam, who belongs to Indravati Dalam, an affiliate of the CPI-Maoist in Chhattisgarh.
The CPI-Maoist, an outfit formed in late 2005 with the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and People's War Group (PWG), has a strong presence and terror network in 13 of India's 29 states.
"Our influence and support base is fast widening as police lack local support and their intelligence set up has entirely collapsed."
The CPI-Maoist has set up several war training camps and explosive units in a forested stretch of Chhattisgarh's southern region of Bastar where they virtually run a parallel government.
The guerrillas have killed hundreds of civilians and policemen and bombed government buildings and establishments since 1967 when they launched an armed movement from a West Bengal village.
The rebels carried out one of the deadliest attacks of their four-decade-old armed struggle March 15 on a police camp in Chhattisgarh, killing 55 policemen.
According to a report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), a total of 749 people were killed in India in 2006 in Maoist violence, with Chhattisgarh accounting for 48 per cent of the casualties.
The ACHR has said in its latest report that the state has reported 101 of the total 144 casualties of Maoist violence in India from January to March this year
The Times of India
Labels: Chhatisgadh, NEWS
posted by Resistance 4/25/2007 07:02:00 PM,
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Chhattisgarh Police fudged data to project win against Naxals
RAIPUR, APRIL 23 : It now appears that fudged figures submitted by the police may be one of the reasons why Chhattisgarh is losing its battle against Maoist rebels.
A confidential internal report prepared by the Chhattisgarh Police says various police districts in the state have been over-reporting encounter deaths, while the weapons recovered during surrenders are practically unusable ones.
The report prepared under the guidance of Inspector General (Naxal Operations and Special Investigations Bureau) Girdhari Nayak and submitted to Director General of Police O P Rathore was commissioned to analyse each encounter in 2006, detailing the number of Naxals killed, weapons recovered, where and when the encounters took place and how the police reacted. However, it has ended up raising several questions about police conduct.
However, the report is unlikely to be put forth for government inspection as senior officers are said to be trying to cover up the findings. Home Minister Ram Vichar Netam, when contacted, said he won't be able to comment as he had not seen the report.
While the police claim to have carried out 325 encounters with the Leftist guerrillas in 2006, killing 250 Naxalites, the report points out that the security apparatus is not able to explain why only 69 bodies could be recovered. Apart from the 325 encounters, the police also says 1,582 Naxalites and Sangham members surrendered during the sm period. But the weapons they have deposited are far from sophisticated. The Chhattisgarh Police, in fact, was able to recover just one AK-47 rifle, three SLRs, one US Carbine, one stengun, one revolver, one mortar, 28 hand grenades and two wireless sets in the entire year.
An overwhelming number of recoveries shown after encounters and surrenders in fact comprised muzzle-loaded guns (86), 135 bore rifles (15), .12 bore rifles (14), .303 rifles (9), country-made pistols (9), various kinds of landmines, including pressure mines, tiffin bombs (345) and detonators (383). Even senior police officers have questioned the weapon recoveries. "If the police are to be believed, then the Leftist guerrillas are inflicting heavy casualties on security forces with outdated weapons. This is a ridiculous claim, proved wrong by last month's attack at Rani Bodli, where 55 security personnel were killed," a senior police officer said, pointing out that AK-47s, carbines, hand grenades, SLRs and IEDs were a few of the sophisticated weapons used by Naxals during the attack.
A senior police officer, who was part of the team that analysed the encounter data, also confirms that less than 10 per cent of the weapons recovered from anti-Naxal operations were in functional condition. Questions have also been raised about the high number of muzzle-loaded guns being recovered after such encounters. Interestingly, these muzzle-loaders are generally used by the tribal population living in Naxal-affected districts for hunting.
The highest number of encounters took place in Bijapur police district (160), followed by Dantewara (60), Narayanpur (35), Kanker (25), Bastar (16), Balrampur (14), Rajnandgaon (8), Jashpur (2), and Sarguja and Surajpur (one each).
Sources say the misrepresentation of facts—reporting higher number of Naxalites killed in encounters—are part of efforts by officials to secure gallantry medals or out-of-turn promotions. However, while the internal assessment has implicated the police department as a unit, it has failed to fix responsibility for such malpractices and misrepresentation of facts and not even a single officer has been named for departmental inquiry.
Despite repeated attempts, DGP Rathore was unavailable for comment. Chhattisgarh has the worst record in tackling Maoist insurgency in the country, with about 150 security personnel and over 300 civilians losing their lives last year alone. And this isn't the first time that allegations of fake encounters and surrenders have been levelled against the Chhattisgarh Police.
IndianExpress.comLabels: Chhatisgadh, NEWS
posted by Resistance 4/25/2007 08:21:00 AM,
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