CPM leader accused of molesting student
Friday, July 20, 2007
HOWRAH: With a senior CPM leader already in the dock over the Tapasi Mallick rape-murder case in Singur, another incident has come to the forefront in which CPM's Munshirhat local committee secretary in Howrah's Jagatballavpur, Basudeb Khotel, has been accused of molesting a five-year-old girl, his student, for over a month.
The incident has occurred just two days after two alleged CPM activists raped a woman and her two daughters in Diamond Harbour.
What's even more shocking, the child repeatedly told her mother and grandmother of her ordeal during the past two weeks but they kept on ignoring her, apparently out of fear of Khotel's political clout.
Her father finally lodged a police complaint on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the child - who was so traumatised that she could barely speak — gave her statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC. She was then sent for a medical test. Khotel initially denied the charges but then "apologised" to the family and the headmaster of the school before he went missing.
The victim, a Class I student, says Khotel - who was her teacher at Ballabhbati Primary School in Jagatballavpur - started physically abusing her about a month ago. During tiffin breaks he would take her to one of the empty classrooms and molest her. He also used to make her stay back after school hours and abuse her. The school is a few metres from the girl's house.
About two weeks ago, the girl told her grandmother about it, but she did not pay much attention. Then, on July 11, she came home during tiffin break and told her mother that she was being molested by her class teacher. But her mother took her back to school. That same evening she broke down on returning home and told her mother that she won't go to school again.
It was only then that the girl's mother told her husband, a railway employee. But instead of going to the police station, he went to the school and met Khotel. The teacher denied the charges. But a little later, Khotel reportedly went to the headmaster Sukumar Dhyang and confessed.
"After the girl's parents went back, he told us everything. I informed the school committee president. In the evening, we went to the girl's parents with him where Khotel apologised to them," said Dhyang.
CPM Howrah district secretary Sridip Bhattacharya said the zonal party committee will probe the matter.
Times of India
Labels: Bengal, CPI Marxist
posted by Resistance 7/20/2007 10:00:00 PM,
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Fate of tribals unchanged since independence: Mahasweta Devi
She has been a staunch leftist for 60 years, yet writer Mahasweta Devi minces no words when it comes to criticising the communist government of West Bengal, be it over land acquisition in Nandigram or trading of the dancing girls of Purulia.
'The fate of one-sixth of India is the same as it was at the time of independence. The state and central administrations have failed to deliver,' the Jnanpith award winner said talking about her life-long passion for tribal India.
She was in the capital to deliver the 2007 Durgabai Deshmukh Memorial Lecture on 'Fundamental Human Rights for the Nautch Girls of Purulia'.
'Tribal land is being appropriated without compensation. Nandigram and Singur are the worst examples of the state's apathy for the poor,' Mahasweta Devi, 82, told IANS in an interview. She was referring to land acquisition for industrialisation in these two pockets of West Bengal.
Mahasweta Devi, despite her advanced age, is busy either writing or travelling to far-flung places to intervene on behalf of tribals. She is self-effacing and shuns publicity. Thus it did not come as a surprise when she declined an honour at the recently held World Hindi Conference in New York saying there were more deserving Hindi authors.
The author of celebrated works like 'Hajar Churashir Maa' and 'Aranyer Adhikar' has taken up the cause of the Purulia dancing girls, saying trading them was an illogical outcome of the tradition of tribal folklore.
Comparing these girls to the Devdasis or temple dancers of South India, Mahasweta Devi said, 'In the heart of West Bengal, a Left Front-ruled state for 30 years, this cruel practice of purchasing a young girl, making her sing and dance to please her male clientele, taking all her money and treating her like a pariah goes on and on.'
She said their buyers make them dance at public functions to augment their income but do not provide basic amenities to their children born out of wedlock, ostracise them and dump their bodies as garbage, 'depriving them even a dignified funeral'.
She wants the state government to grant these women the right to property, health, education, equality and dignity in life and death.
She said she is not a feminist but strongly believes that half of humanity - namely, women - is suffering because of their physicality. 'Unless we give dignity to that, nothing will change,' she said.
Mahasweta Devi, who has organised tribals in Bengal and Bihar, wants the rest of the country to follow suit. She is a popular columnist in Bengali daily newspapers, often forcing the establishment to take note and act.
'The state government has deliberately failed to do even the minimum for the people of the state. No roads, no electricity, no doctors. Universal primary education is a part of the package of failures,' she said.
Recently Kolkata Police notified her as a Maoist but had to withdraw after strong protests from artists and writers all over the country.
She wishes to see a hospital built in the Palamu district of Jharkhand, which she believes is the most backward district of the country. She has concentrated on this area and much of her creative writing is also based on its people.
Labels: Bengal
posted by Resistance 7/20/2007 01:26:00 PM,
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Mixed reactions in Bengal to IB report on Maoists
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
KOLKATA: The latest report by the Intelligence Branch (IB) of the state police has brought both relief and concern for the West Bengal government regarding the Maoist future plan of action in the state.
The element of relief comes from the decision of the top ranking CPI(Maoist) leaders that there would not be any major "hit-and-run" action by the Maoist guerrillas in their strongholds like Bankura, Puruliya and West Midnapore during the next six months.
However, at the same time, the CPI(Maoist) leaders have decided that during the so-called peace period, there will be a major drive to mobilise new followers from other parts of the state especially Nandigram in East Midnapore and Singur in Hooghly.
The leaders have also instructed that the farming community's displeasure against the recent land acquisition drive for industry would be the exploiting factor in mobilising the new followers and for that Nandigram and Singur would be the two best ideal spots to launch this mobilisation drive.
Highly-placed IB sources said the decision was taken at a secret meeting of the Ninth Unity Congress of CPI(Marxist) last month somewhere in East Midnapore district.
http://www.dnaindia.comLabels: Bengal
posted by Resistance 7/18/2007 09:09:00 AM,
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Maoist held in Jalpaiguri
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Maoist held with arms | ||
| OUR CORRESPONDENT | ||
Siliguri, July 1: A member of the CPI (Maoist) was arrested in Jalpaiguri last night. Two pipeguns, 18 rounds of live cartridges and Rs 10,500 were seized from him. Acting on a tip-off, CID officials picked up Pradip Chatterjee, alias Japan, a resident of Garia in Calcutta, from the Beguntari area of the town. He has been booked under Sections 25, 26 and 27 — possessing and using weapons and ammunition illegally — of the arms act. "We have also charged him under Sections 468 and 471 of the IPC for possessing counterfeit currency. There were twenty-one 500-rupee notes with him, some of which were fake. Pradip had earlier been sent to jail for his Maoist activities," said Sisir Dewan, the deputy superintendent of police, CID. The 28-year-old had been arrested in Matigara, 5km from here, in 2005 on the charge of waging war against the state. He was in a Siliguri jail for eight months before being let out on bail. "Once out, Pradip was back to campaigning for his organisation. The Maoist leadership engaged him to expand its network in north Bengal, especially in the closed tea gardens of the Dooars," said Dewan. Police officials claimed that Pradip has visited Kanthalguri and Ramjhora. Talking to reporters on the way to Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital for medical tests from the Kotwali police station, Pradip alleged that the police had framed him. "I was carrying some money and publicity materials, but not arms and ammunition. I have been framed." He also shouted slogans like "Maobad Zindabad (Long Live Maoism)". Police and intelligence officials had been on alert since receiving information that the CPI (Maoist) had formed a zonal committee in north Bengal. "We were told that it had Pradip and leaders like Animesh Chakraborty (in Malda jail now) as members," a CID official said. Hours after Pradip's arrest, CID sleuths raided his Calcutta house at 120 Raja S.C. Mallick Road, where his parents stay. "They have taken away our cellphone and a computer. The mobile was important as both of us are cardiac patients and our landline is dead," said 56-year-old Reena Chatterjee, Pradip's mother. His father Prasanta Chatterjee is 70. According Reena, Pradip left home for north Bengal around 20 days ago. He was produced in court today and remanded in police custody for six days. Pradip is likely to be taken to Bhawani Bhavan, the CID headquarters in Calcutta, for further interrogation. | ||
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posted by Resistance 7/03/2007 12:24:00 PM,
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"Naxalites is far better grounded in ideology. Their weaponry is, of course, much better"
Monday, July 2, 2007
How do you look back at the Naxalite movement?
The Naxalites had committed several mistakes. When Charu Majumdar, or Charubabu as he was known then, came to Calcutta, he was speaking of a liberated countryside and the final rise of Naxalite forces from the city. It never happened that way. City students who went to rural areas and attacked jotdars (landowners) were badly disillusioned. Their prime weakness was lack of weapons. Charubabu made a mistake by following the Chinese model of Maoist movement - elimination of class enemy. The Naxalite cadres began trooping back to the city, which was not part of Charubabu's plan. When he failed to stop this retreat, he began pretending that what was happening was according to plan. But many of the retreating Naxalites fell into the hands of police. At that time, several anti-social elements had also joined the movement, who were used by the police.
Was the brutal repression of Naxalites necessary?
The commissionerate took the view that the Naxalite storm of killing policemen and judges would blow over if faced with great courage. That courage was shown by the Calcutta police. There was devolution of power from the control room to the police station or to the officer-in-charge. Each OC formed a joint force with police and anti-socials to combat the Naxalites. In this fight, many were killed on either side. I have no doubts that the Naxalite style of killing asked for retribution. However, many of the killings of Naxalites were in reality carried out by CPM-supported goons and Congress-backed anti-socials.
Did fake encounters occur?
Yes fake killings happened. To a major extent the police force was controlled in its response. But they were in a vengeful mood with so many policemen being killed.
But police brutality could not finish the Naxalite movement.
Yes, the Naxalite ideology lived on. There are now 40-50 large and small Naxalite groups all over the country. Today, in West Bengal, the Naxalites have penetrated as far as Nandigram. The current breed of Naxalites is far better grounded in ideology. Their weaponry is, of course, much better. They are better equipped to take advantage of the administration's failings.
posted by Resistance 7/02/2007 01:49:00 PM,
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West Bengal Police policy opens red success door
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Police policy opens red success door |
| RANJAN DASGUPTA |
| Ranchi, June 27: A faulty policy on police transfer has come as a boon for the Maoists to reap mileage from the two-day economic blockade, which ends midnight today. Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) could despatch only 17,500 tonnes of coal — against its usual 67,000 tonnes — by railways yesterday, the first day of the blockade. The sudden fall in the supply of coal was due to unavailability of wagons, said senior CCL officials, adding that it has hit the company and the state financially. The blockade crippled economic activities, especially in the transport sector. With businessmen having low confidence on the law enforcing agencies, they thought it prudent to withdraw trucks and other commercial vehicles. "If the rebels can murder a Lok Sabha member (Sunil Mahto) in broad daylight, can anyone rely on the government to protect our lives and properties?" asked a leading transporter. Some of the senior state police officers admitted that the fear factor has gripped the common people about the rebels. "To instil the confidence among the people the police machinery has to undertake operations against rebels on a continuous basis. But men in khaki are hardly visible in remote parts of districts that have become safe haven for the unofficial men in khaki — the rebels. They are punishing those who defy their diktat and the common masses do not have the courage to ignore agitation sponsored by the Naxalites," said a superintendent of police. Several police officers admitted that clearly there is a lack of motivation to inspire the jawans and the officials to take on the rebels fearlessly. "It is a fact that in our state, the authorities transfer police officers and jawans in Naxalite-hit districts and police stations as punishment for their alleged problem with the higher-ups. So will such staff give their cent per cent in battling the rebels?" questioned a senior police officer. In many rebel-hit states, the government makes it a point to depute its most efficient officer in districts that are hit by Naxalites. Manpower is another issue that is preventing the police from carrying out the anti-Naxalite operations. Take the case of the government railway police assigned to keep a tab on trains and stations. Against the sanctioned strength of 800, only 550 jawans are functioning and with this skeleton force, GRP has to provide escort parties in over 70 trains passing through the state. But deputy chief minister Sudhir Mahto refused to admit that the police had failed to tackle the issue. "The rebels adopt hit and run strategy. They do not have the courage to come to face to face with police. The government is serious in dealing with the problem." Meanwhile, Maoist area commander Teklal Mahto was arrested by Giridih police from Dwarpahri under Jamua police station. "He was wanted in eight cases of loot, murder and violence," said superintendent of police A.K. Singh. In Bokaro, two rebels — Rameshwar Gangu (40) and Dhaneshwar Mahto (32) — were arrested from Upper Ghat in Nawadih. Both were wanted in many cases. |
posted by Resistance 6/28/2007 11:09:00 PM,
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Maoist eye on target for 4 months
West bengal: railway station attack, Eye on target for 4 months | ||
| A STAFF REPORTER | ||
Calcutta, June 27: The plot to set Biramdih railway station on fire was hatched four months ago and the Chandil zonal action squad of the CPI (Maoist) was assigned the job, sources close to the Maoists told The Telegraph today. Sudip Chongdar, in charge of the squad, was, however, told not to kill any railway employee. The sources said Chongdar, in his mid-40s, picked 40-odd men from his squad for the task — said to be first of its kind in the state. They were from Bengal and Jharkhand. "We believe they slipped into Jharkhand by using the dense forest routes of the Dalma range," said an Intelligence Bureau official. The sources said the decision to set the station ablaze had been taken at the party congress held in February in a Jharkhand forest. More than 100 delegates from 16 states were present. "It was left on Chongdar, who is also a state committee member of the organisation, to select a station," the source said. "He chose Biramdih because it falls within the four areas — Bagmundi, Ayodhya, Saraikella and Chandil — where his squad operates." Intelligence officials believe Biramdih station's location made it an easy target. "It is flanked by two ranges of hills, Dalma and Ayodhya. This would make it easy for the rebels to get to the station undetected as well as escape to Jharkhand." According to information gathered by IB officials from villagers, Chongdar and his men had been spotted near the station for the past one month. But IB officials believe that Chongdar had taken the villagers into confidence. "That is why we had no prior information and no one tipped us off about the strike," said an official. | ||
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posted by Resistance 6/28/2007 11:05:00 PM,
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Students attacked by CPIM goons
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Student booked for Maoist 'link'
Statesman News Service
DURGAPUR, June 26: Three of the five students of United Students Democratic Front who were detained by Katwa police last evening were released after preliminary questioning. Though Lokeshweri Dasgupta, second year history student at Jadavpur University, Priyonkar Dey of JU and Supriyo Sur of Presidency College were released, Jaladhar Mahato was arrested for his suspected links with Maoists.
Police said that Jaladhar might have links with the Lalgarh squad of the Maoists in West Midnapore and his name had figured during investigations following two Maoist strikes in Belpahari in 2005. The other three students were released after police did not find any links with them and the Maoists. However, police are yet to question Ashim as his condition is not stable and is currently admitted at a local hospital with critical head injuries. All the five were taken to the Katwa police station yesterday following a squabble at a village about six km from Katwa town. Around 5:30 p.m. yesterday, the students were attacked by a group of CPI-M activists when they were seen taking measurement near the proposed thermal power super-project at Srikhand village. The villagers beat up the entire five-member group.
Labels: Bengal, NEWS, Student Politics
posted by Resistance 6/27/2007 08:30:00 AM,
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West Bengal: RYL attack on railway tram, protest against industrialization
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Naxal act a crime: Cops - 1 HELD FOR TRAM ATTACK |
| A STAFF REPORTER |
| A youth, said to be a member of a Naxalite outfit, has been arrested on charges of setting fire to a tram on College Street on Sunday night. Bhola Dutta, in his early-30s, was picked up from his Muraripukur Road home on Monday. Police said he is a member of the Revolutionary Youth League (RYL), known to be sympathetic to the CPI (Maoist). Sunday's incident marked the first attack on government property by Naxalites in Calcutta since the Seventies. In February, the window-panes of Lexus Motors, on AJC Bose Road, were smashed by a group of Jadavpur University students who were reportedly members of a Naxalite group. Three of them were arrested. An RYL spokesman said "last night's incident was a symbol of our protest against the state government's atrocities in the name of industrialisation", but the police dubbed it a "criminal" act. "We are not ready to accept the RYL's claim that setting ablaze the tram was part of their political movement. The incident was a criminal act and the accused will be treated accordingly," said Pradip Chatterjee, deputy commissioner of police (headquarters). Dutta, who runs a small business, has been charged with damaging government property and indulging in criminal conspiracy. Chatterjee said all those present with Dutta have been identified. "We will arrest them soon." A group of five intercepted the tram heading towards Belgachhia at the crossing of Mahatma Gandhi Road and College Street. "After the driver and the passengers in the first-class coach were forced to get off, the youth sprinkled kerosene on the footboard and threw a burning matchstick," said an officer of Bowbazar thana. On seeing a police jeep, the youths fled, leaving behind handwritten leaflets. "The fire was doused immediately and the tram taken to the depot," said the officer. The RYL spokesman asserted that such incidents would recur if the government did not adopt "a people-friendly industrialisation policy". |
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posted by Resistance 6/26/2007 12:59:00 PM,
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Maoists plan economic blockade next week
Saturday, June 16, 2007
KOLKATA: Nandigram has stoked the embers and Maoists plan to take this agitation to a new height. CPI (Maoist) is preparing to launch an "economic blockade on June 21 and 22 in the state.
But it will not take the Medha Patkar route or the parliamentary path that is the mainstay of the Opposition parties. The Maoists want people to launch a counter-offensive against the CPM-led "repressive police force" as the Maoist squads have done in Lalgarh in West Midnapore, in the first week of June.
In a recent press release, CPI (Maoist) state secretary Somen has owned up responsibility for the mine blasts in Lalgarh and Chhurimara on June 7.
"It's we who conducted the operations in Lalgarh and Chhurimara. The nine-member police team had a close shave that day. This was part of the democratic mass resistance against the police force," said Somen, hinting that more such blasts were in store.
The CPI (Maoist) leader is not ready for peace talks or any negotiation with the LF government. "CPM leaders — Buddha, Biman, Nirupam — do not understand any other language," he insisted. Explosion, he felt would pave the way for a protracted people's war.
"Narmada Bachao Andolan has failed to yield fruits for the masses. The armed resistance in Nandigram is the model," the Maoist release claimed.
Its militant stance has become a stumbling block for the Trinamul Congress to sit for peace talks. For the Maoists, in a limited way, have their presence in Nandigram and played a role in facilitating the armed offensive in the area.
CPM leaders are aware of the threat and have been campaigning against the Maoist hand in the Nandigram bloodbath.
Trinamul Congress leaders at the grass roots are in a fix. They can neither sever the informal understanding they had with the Maoists during the agitation, nor can they endorse the violent path in public.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
posted by Resistance 6/16/2007 12:28:00 PM,
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Steps to curb Maoist menace in W.Bengal
Friday, June 15, 2007
Statesman News Service
PURULIA, June 14: The Purulia police cautioned all the 21 thanas, specially the Maoist infested Bandwan, Jaipur, Barabazar, Jhalda, Boro and new Kotshila, following the Maoist attack in Lalgarh and Belpahari of the West Midnapore district last week.
The Maoists exploded one land-mine on 7 June, and another on 10 June, targeting the police and injuring one in Midnapore West. The Police administration of Purulia has also imposed red alert, as the Maoist movement is on the rise in Jharkhand and Chattishgarh. "We shall not take any risk, and we never wait for any sudden attack by the ultras," said an official of Purulia police.
As a result of this, the security has been tightened in the bordering areas of West Bengal (Purulia) and Jharkhand (Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and Bokaro) All the nine check posts between Purulia and Dhanbad, and Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Bokaro districts had been cautioned.
"Armed police, including the central para-military force are also keeping a close watch, and are frequent raiding the jungle areas of Purulia and the neighbouring districts of Jharkhand," informed a concerned police official: "However, we shall never give details of police operation" he told the Statesman here today.
Meanwhile, Pijush Guha, a Kolkata based businessman was arrested in Chattisgarh, and brought to Purulia for being allegedly involved in the blasting of the Gurpara police camp in Bandwan of Purulia district on 4 October, 2005. He was produced in Purulia Court last week, when the chief judicial magistrate (acting-in-charge) of Purulia passed an order to send him to police custody for investigation. Mrs Rupa Guha, the wife of Mr Pijush Guha, however, ruled out the possibiility of her husband's involvement in the case. While talking to the media persons at the Purulia Court campus, Mrs Guha strongly criticised the Chattisgarh police for unnecessary harassment.
Mr Sagar Mondal, an advocate, pleaded to release Mr Pijush Guha, as he appealed for bail. The chief judicial magistrate of Purulia, however, refused the bail petitions. A suspected Maoist supporter called Dolgoinda Kumbhakar was arrested, who is a resident of Koira village, Patamda thana, East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. He was allegedly involved in the gun looting case of Berada village in Barabazar of Purulia on 29 November 2006. To curb the menace of criminals and political extremists in West Bengal and Jharkhand, a high level meeting headed by the IGP of Dumka and the west zone (West Bengal) was held at Durgapur. It remains to be seen whether this offers a
solution.
posted by Resistance 6/15/2007 03:22:00 PM,
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Basu-Mamata ‘jugalbandi’ failed to address basic issues, say Nax...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
KOLKATA — Maoists have vehemently criticised a landmark meeting between Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and Marxist elder statesman Jyoti Basu to sort out nagging differences between the opposition and the government over the state's controversial industrialisation programme.
"The Basu-Mamata jugalbandi left key issues in Singur and Nandigram untouched", the CPM (Liberation) state secretary Kartick Pal said.
"The people of Nandigram and Singur are not bothered about who is holding meetings with whom. They want to know when those responsible for the March 14 genocide (in Nandigram) will be punished", he added.
Stating that violence again erupted in Nandigram since Sunday night, he said people there would not accept "any decision taken at any peace meeting" unless Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, and local CPI(M) MP Lakshman Seth resigned.
Alleging that the state government had forcibly taken over land for the Tata Motors project in Singur under the Land Acquisition Act, he said "owners of 287 acre do not want to hand over their land. Besides 3,500 agricultural workers would be affected. They will not accept any meeting unless the land is returned to them."
Unless the government revised its land acquisition policy, any discussion on Singur would be fruitless, he said. Pal said his party would organise demonstrations in front of the offices of all district magistrates on June 26 to oppose the state government's policy and to demand the resignation of the chief minister.www.khaleejtimes.com
posted by Resistance 6/14/2007 01:04:00 AM,
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Maoist activity spreads to North Bengal now
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
KOLKATA: After having successfully established their strongholds in West Midnapore, Bankura and Puruliya districts of West Bengal, the Maoist forces for the past one year have concentrated on establishing their network in the closed tea gardens in north Bengal.
The rebel group is utilising the poverty of the people to shore up their base in the area. The Intelligence Branch (IB) of the West Bengal police has recently submitted a report to the state home department stating that the Maoist forces are gathering strength by roping in workers of the closed tea gardens under the banner of "Majdoor Kishan Sangharsh Samity" (Worker-Farmer Conflict Committee).
According to the report, the group is inducting locals for advanced guerrilla ambush training. Confirming the receipt of the report, state home secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said the state government will take all possible steps to tackle the problem.
The areas where the Maoist groups have strengthened their network are Malkani, Kalchini, Bamandanga and Raymatang among others. Sources in the IB informed DNA that a four-member high-powered Maoist cell has been given the responsibility to organise their network among the workers of the closed tea gardens.
According to an IB official, the police gathered the information from secret Maoist documents discovered recently from a residence at the Malkani area.
"The intention is clear. The Maoists are trying to use the ire of the workers against the tea garden owners for organising and strengthening their network in the region," he said.
posted by Resistance 6/13/2007 04:06:00 PM,
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W.Bengal: Land to curb Maoist influence
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Statesman News Service
MALDA, June 11: To curb Maoist influence in Bankura, Purulia and Midnapore districts, the state government has plans to distribute more land among the landless of the three districts.
“Last year 3,000 pattas were distributed among the land less in the Maoist affected districts. Going by our experience it can be said, the exercise has made the people happy,” the state land commissioner Mr PK Agarwal, said during a distribution of records programme at Kaliachak today.
According to him, his department has allotted Rs 30 crore in the last financial year to all districts to provide land to landless cultivators but the project is yet to be implemented fully.
When asked about the system of returning land acquired by the state government to farmers unwilling to offer farm land for the Tata small car project in Singur, he said: “ It is not possible to return acquired land right now. But they can be rehabilitated.”
Addressing the “record of rights” (patta) distribution programme at Manikchak panchayat samiti today, Mr Agarwal said the state government has stressed to distribute land to landless farmers in West Bengal, the pioneer state in the country and the department achieved more than the targeted figure of 10,000 acres last year.” According to him a total of 85,000 pattas were distributed last year.
The government has planned to distribute 16 decimal lands to each landless person after buying land from others if there is no available vest land in the respective district. The Malda district has received Rs 1 crore for this purpose, Mr Agarwal pointed out.
The government has also launched a plan for the ‘record of right holders’ pattadar so that they can receive loan from the banks at four per cent rate of interest where private moneylenders generally claim 36 per cent interest.
The bankers would issue credit cards to them and based on the cards the pattaders would be able to buy seed, fertiliser and other components for cultivation.
posted by Resistance 6/12/2007 09:34:00 AM,
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Urban Guerillas
Sunday, June 10, 2007
It was a small item in that day's newspaper. But to Dipanjan Rai Chaudhuri, the news about peasants killing a policeman in Naxalbari in north Bengal on May 25, 1967, literally leapt out of the page. Rai Chaudhuri, then a 23-year-old student at Calcutta University, was part of a growing number of youth in elite colleges who were fired by revolutionary ideology but were increasingly getting disillusioned with mainstream Communist parties.
Naxalbari was like a clarion call to Rai Chaudhuri — who retired as head of the department of physics in Presidency College in 2004 and was one of those who featured in V S Naipaul's India: A Million Mutinies Now — and many of the best and brightest of his generation. "We were elated. We had only read about the armed peasant struggles in China and Vietnam. Now it was actually happening here in our land," says Rai Chaudhuri. Soon posters supporting Naxalbari appeared in College Street and elsewhere. Slogans such as 'China's Chairman is our Chairman' suddenly sprouted on Kolkata walls. The lawns of Presidency College became a meeting ground for students from Calcutta and neighbouring areas, and the informal group came to be known as the Presidency Coalition.
By April 1969, a Maoist party — the CPI(ML) — had been formed and Naxalite leader Charu Majumdar's call to liberate the countryside was finding ready takers among students. The rules as framed by Majumdar — himself a college dropout from Siliguri and a veteran of the Tebhaga movement — for the young organisers were clear: Stay only in the house of a landless or poor peasant; stay secretly right from the first; and never expose yourselves. The rural stint did not always go down well with city-bred students. Dipesh Chakrabarty, a Presidency College student of the 1960s who now teaches in University of Chicago, recalls: "Many of the urban youth who went to liberate villages came back within weeks with acute bowel problems."
For those like Rai Chaudhuri, who decided to stay on, life was hard. "The CPI(ML) had been formed by then, and the line of 'annihilation of class enemies' had taken shape. The idea was that after killing a hated landlord in an area, the action would itself act as an 'organiser'. After one or two circuits, I was sent to a new area where there had just been an annihilation. I tried sincerely but could not reap any organisational harvest from that action," he says. This was also the time brutal killings became part of life in Bengal. Indeed, one of Majumdar's favourite dictums was: "One who has not smeared his hands red with the blood of the class enemy is not fit to be called a Communist." Calcutta, in particular, lived in daily fear of Naxalite violence.
The violent turn to the movement and the subsequent police brutality alienated some of the urban youth. "While I supported Maoism, I did not have a taste for the cult of violence that Charu Majumdar preached. Also, I did not have the courage to face the prospect of police torture," admits Chakrabarty. The distaste for violence among some students is confirmed by Arun Mukherjee, who had an intimate knowledge of the psyche of the young activists. As deputy commissioner of police in the special branch from 1969-72, he was in charge of interrogating arrested Naxalites. Mukherjee, who has just released a book on the period, believes that the egregious violence propagated by Naxalite leaders deeply unsettled many students from middle-class families. He cites the case of a Presidency College student who developed "serious mental aberrations" after committing an act of brutal annihilation.
This was also the time when members of the underworld joined the Naxalite movement — sometimes actively encouraged by the police — leading to an upsurge of violence. There were many students who were shot in cold blood and several more put behind bars. In end-1971, Rai Chaudhuri — who by then was married and had a daughter — was arrested with another prominent Naxalite leader, Asim Chatterjee — better known as Kaka — in Deoghar. After having spent 11 months in jail, Rai Chaudhuri was released on the condition that he and his family leave the country. In August 1972, Rai Chaudhuri was taken straight from jail to Dum Dum airport to board a flight to London where he went on to complete his PhD.
Not everyone was as fortunate as Rai Chaudhuri. For some students, their careers were virtually finished. There were, however, many who picked up the pieces of their lives and moved on. There was, for instance, Amal Sanyal who sat for his university exams from prison and later settled down in New Zealand. Chakrabarty joined IIM Calcutta in what he says was a "peculiar mood that combined elements of self-denial with those of self-affirmation". Some like Kaka stayed in active politics and even contested elections.
But for most of the youth from elite colleges who dedicated the best years of their lives to the cause of revolution, the Naxalite movement fundamentally changed their lives. Rai Chaudhuri recently took to the streets to protest the police firing in Nandigram. Chakrabarty's involvement with the Subaltern Studies project would never have happened without the Naxalite movement. While the fires of revolution sparked by Naxalbari have spread and taken on a different character, the events that happened 40 years ago still remain a source of inspiration for the 1960s generation.
posted by Resistance 6/10/2007 09:22:00 AM,
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Summer of '69 in St Stephen's
If it were some other time, the graffiti could have passed as some Stephanian's idea of a prank. Scrawled across the main tower of St Stephen's college building was the message, "China's path is our path, China's chairman is our chairman."
But it wasn't some other time.
It was 1969-70. The idea of rebellion was infecting young 'petit bourgeois' minds everywhere. The upheaval at Paris' Sorbonne University and the anti-Vietnam war protests across US campuses were already the stuff of legend. Closer home, Naxalbari had exploded into national consciousness.
So when the high wall of St Stephen's College —that rarefied oasis for the nation's elite — was used as a pad for radical propaganda, it confirmed what most observers already knew: an influential section of Stephanians had fallen to Naxalism. Slogans appeared on lecture-room blackboards, writes Daniel O' Connor, a British priest who was the college pastor from 1963 to '73, in Interesting Times in India. One such work read, "Reactionary teachers, we will have your skin for shoes for the poor"!
Contemporary insiders put the number of core Naxals in the college at the height of militancy at no more than 30 — not a big figure, but by most accounts, the single largest Maoist presence in all DU institutions. In 1968, history student Arvind Narain Das had run for president of the college student's body elections on an openly Naxal platform. He won. "We were ready to storm heaven," Dilip Simeon, a leading member of the group, was to write later.
How a revered 'pillar of the establishment' fell to 'revolutionary activity' is an enigma. Certainly, the college's democratic ethos aided the process. And there were individual influences. Awadhesh Sinha, a history student who joined in 1965, was one of the first to turn radical. Says Rabindra Ray, another early convert, "Awadhesh was known as 'Commie' Sinha. Ironically, he joined the IAS in 1970 and was vilified in an ugly incident at the coffee house."
The group's ideological hangout was a barsati near the campus where a lecturer at the university's Psychology department stayed. Ajit Pal was a Marxist iconoclast who never joined any party. "Palda, as we called him, was a mesmeric motivator. He was our mentor, guide and organiser," says a member of the group.
By 1970, their activities were entering a more serious phase. A distressed parent approached O' Connor asking him to persuade his son to give up his politics. "By then, they (the students) were well into the vortex and almost out of hearing," writes the pastor. The campus was tense. TOI reported a 'plot' to burn the college library and bomb the chapel. "We didn't know it then, but some students and teachers close to us were spying for the police," says Ray.
Just then, Das and Ray went 'UG' (underground). Some 12-13 Stephanians followed, leaving studies to join the revolution between 1970 and 1971. Das and a few others were arrested; the rest returned on their own — disillusioned and scared. Rajiv Kumar, an Economics student, was in third year when he left for Bihar in mid-December, 1970. For three months, he stayed with CPI-ML sympathisers, including a bricklayer in Munger. "One of the reasons for my return was the prospect of being asked to kill people," he says. "We were a bunch of romantics who just didn't know that we were being fed with lies."
Ray remained a 'revolutionary' till 1975. "It was easy to get in, very difficult to get out. I had to painfully think my way out. Marxism-Leninism Mao thought is rubbish," he says. Ray was to later write a book, Naxalites and Their Ideology.
"It's difficult to retain that kind of blind faith," says Simeon. "Yet, coming out was cathartic. It was soul-destroying to realise that the Chinese Communist Party was working in its own self-interest, and not for world revolution."
Simeon has fictionalised his 'UG' experience as an itinerant cleaner in a truck plying on the GT road. The short story, 'OK TATA, Mobiloil Change (and World Revolution)', appeared in Civil Lines 3. At one point, the cleaner's ustad, the driver of the truck, finds his world turned on its head when his lowly assistant suddenly starts singing the Internationale along with a couple of French hitchhikers!
It was that kind of a time.
PS: Awadhesh Sinha is additional chief secretary in the Maharashtra government. Das, Ray and Simeon went on to do their PhDs. Das, a journalist and sociologist, died in 2000. He was 52. Ray teaches at Delhi School of Economics. Simeon joined Ramjas College as a teacher in 1974. In the '80s, he was attacked brutally while leading an agitation. He is now a senior research fellow at Nehru Library. Rajiv Kumar did his DPhil from Oxford and is director of ICRIER. Ajit Pal retired in 1991 and lives in Delhi.
posted by Resistance 6/10/2007 09:17:00 AM,
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West Bengal: Cops survive Maoist blast
Friday, June 8, 2007
Statesman News Service
MIDNAPORE, June 7: A 10-member police team had a close shave when the CPI (Maoist) triggered a land mine explosion seconds before the police jeep reached the spot where the mine was planted at Lalgarh in West Midnapur today.
A senior police official said the police team was returning to Ramgarh after covering a political agitation at the Lalgarh BDO's office. Around 3.30 pm when the police jeep was speeding down the Ramgarh-Lalgrah road the explosion took place at a place between Lokat and Dharampur. The driver managed to apply the brakes of the vehicle a few metres away from the blast site.
"Had the mine blasted just 15 seconds later there could have been heavy casualties. Only the vehicle was damaged and its window glass was shattered due to the impact of the blast," an officer said.
Soon after the blast the Maoists hiding in the nearby forests opened fire on the police team. The officers also retaliated. The police team was soon joined by a team of EFR jawans who were also returning from the same assignment.
There were however no reports of any injuries or casualties in the gun battle. An officer said "The gun battle could have also taken some lives but luckily there were no civilians on the road at that time".
The mine suspected to have been planted in a pit of the road was triggered by a remote control device. The blast was so serious that under its impact a 10 feet pit developed on the road which was under repair.
The Statesman
posted by Resistance 6/08/2007 08:58:00 AM,
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Undertrials Clash With Police In Bengal Jail
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Saturday 02nd of June 2007 A group of undertrials led by a Maoist leader and a Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) militant clashed with police at a prison in West Bengal Saturday over poor facilities in the jail.
Many of the inmates of Malda Correctional Home in north Bengal got injured in the clash and were admitted in the jail hospital.
The incident occurred after the group of prisoners had a heated exchange with the policemen over the lack of facilities.
Later, the war of words led to a scuffle and the situation turned grave with the police resorting to heavy baton charge to disperse the irate jailbirds.
'It was a minor skirmish between inmates and the jail officials who were demanding some facilities in jail. The situation initially became violent but later it was taken under control after the police used baton and dispersed the disgruntled prisoners,' West Bengal Minister for Social Welfare and Jail Biswanath Chowdhury told IANS.
According to Malda jail sources, tension was brewing since Friday as the inmates had been constantly demanding better facilities for them.
Jail officials said undertrial Maoist leader Animesh Chakraborty and KLO militant Malkhand Singh attacked the police which led to baton charge.
posted by Resistance 6/03/2007 01:56:00 AM,
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Back-to-back Maoist strikes stun Lalgarh, West Bengal
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Midnapore, May 28: Barely 24 hours after they attacked the house of a CPM leader, Maoists killed the father-in-law of another in a raid mounted last night.
Manik Mahato, 68, was shifted to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital with stab wounds, but succumbed to his injuries this morning.
Manik's son-in-law Upen Mahato is a CPM local committee member.
The incident took place at Jamda village in West Midnapore's Lalgarh area. The place is only 2 km from Nera village, where an attack on CPM zonal committee member Sheikh Khaliluddin was foiled on Saturday-Sunday midnight.
Khaliluddin's bodyguards and some 20 villagers with bows and arrows had fought off Maoists.
Shaken by the twin attacks in such a short span, villagers in the Lalgarh area are blaming the police for doing nothing to fight the threat.
"We suspect that it was the same gang that attacked Sheikh Khaliluddin's house on Saturday night. We have reports that there were some local pe-ople, too, with the guerrillas. We are trying to identify them first," West Midnapore superintendent of police R. Rajsekharan said.
CPM district secretariat member Dahareswar Sen ac- cused the Jharkhand Party (Naren) of orchestrating the attacks.
"The party is taking help from Maoists to create terror in the CPM-dominated Belatikri village panchayat area. Bypolls were held there on Sunday."A group of nearly 30 Maoists stormed Upen's house around 11.30 pm last night.
"My mother (Bilasi), father (Chunaram) and father-in-law tried to prevent them from breaking open the door. Some of them fired through the cracks. My mother was hit in the back and my father-in-law in the right palm. As they held themselves against the door, they stuck in a spear through a crack that pierced my father-in-law's chest," said Upen.
The CPM leader said the firing stopped after about half an hour. "When I came out, about five of them chased me. I started running for my life and managed to escape."
When the police finally arrived around 12.30 am on Monday, they were surrounded by angry villagers.
"There have been three attacks on me over the past two years but I haven't been given a bodyguard. Even after the attack at Nera village, there was no additional deployment of police," Upen said.
SP Rajsekharan said that isn't true. "The police rushed to Jamda from Gopalpur as soon as they heard the gunshots. Our men removed the injured people to hospital."
The Telegrap
posted by Resistance 5/29/2007 05:43:00 PM,
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Maoist activities mount in Purulia
Friday, May 25, 2007
Statesman News Service
PURULIA, May 24: The spate of Maoist activities in Purulia and its adjoining areas, especially in the villages, has terrorised the people of the district.
Two armed gangs of Maoist rebels attempted to murder Mr Gobardhan Majhi, CPI-M zonal committee secretary of Balarampur, Purulia; and Mr Manzoor Khan, a member of Purulia district CPI-M committee and a leader of CITU in Balarampur, 50 km from Purulia town, at their respective villages, Padamdih and Rasuldih, about 7 km from Balarampur town.
Mr Manzoor Khan is popular in the area not only as a political leader but also as a sports personality. It is primarily because of his efforts that a local school became the champion in the prestigious All India Subrata Mukherjee Cup football tournament held in New Delhi.
After the attacks, both the politicians fled their villages, sensing danger. Disappointed at not being able to find Mr Gobardhan Majhi, Maoists rebels allegedly tied his relatives and went in search of him. They, however, fled when villagers arrived on the scene on hearing the relatives' screams.
After three days of the incident, many Maoist leaflets were seized by police at Tentalo village of Balarampur. Thousands of leaflets were also found at Raidih, Berada and Baradih villages of Barabazar block in Purulia district last week. In those leaflets, Maoists threatened allegedly corrupt representatives of people, including MPs and MLAs. Maoists also warned against illegal activities like the country liquor trade.
Meanwhile, the CID submitted the chargesheets against Mr Dipanjan Mukhopadhyay, Mrs Kanika Debnath, Mr Pradip Saha and Mr Gaur Narayan Chakraborty, after three years of the murder of Nilmadhab Das, OC of Bandwan, Purulia.
He was brutally killed on 11 October 2003. The chief judicial magistrate of Purulia Court accepted the appeal of Mr Sagar Mondal, the advocate of the four accused and the hearing will be held on 11 June 2007.
However, Mr Ashok Kumar Prasad, SP, Purulia, ruled out the possibility of Maoist being behind the incidents in Balarampur and Barabazar, judging from the style of operation.
A police officer said: "Let us conduct an inquire first, may be others were behind the incidents".
posted by Resistance 5/25/2007 11:08:00 AM,
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