Pro-Naxal intellectuals may get into legal tangle While the CIVIL Society has NO Sympathy with Aboriginal Tribal Landscape Under attack!
N-liability bill to be introduced in LS tomorrow!
Indian Holocaust My Father`s life and Time- 373
N-liability bill to be introduced in LS tomorrow!
Pro-Naxal intellectuals may get into legal tangle While the CIVIL Society has NO Sympathy with Aboriginal Tribal Landscape Under attack!
Those who speak in favour of Maoist guerrillas will face legal action and 10 years imprisonment, the government announced Thursday in a warning to civil society groups who raise voices in favour of Leftwing extremism.
"Any person who commits the offence of supporting such a terrorist organisation (like Communist Party of India (CPI)-Maoist) with inter alia intention to further the activities of such terrorist organisations would be liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or with fine or with both," a home ministry statement said.
The home ministry said the government has noticed that some Maoist leaders were directly contacting certain NGOs and intellectuals to propagate their ideology and "persuade them to take steps (and) support the CPI-Maoist ideology".
"General public are informed to be extremely vigilant of the propaganda of CPI-Maoist and not unwittingly become a victim of such propaganda," the statement warned.
The Leftwing extremist group and all its front organizations have been designated as terrorist organisations by the government.
According to the ministry, the "sole aim" of the CPI-Maoist is to overthrow the Indian state.
It "continues to kill innocent civilians including tribals in cold blood and destroy crucial infrastructure like roads, culverts, school buildings, gram panchayat buildings so as to prevent development from reaching these under-developed areas", the statement added.
Indian Parliament wasted Two Full Days and the hard earned Tax Payers Money with Unparliamentary Proceedings involving Hegemony Politics of Realty Show,Floor Adjustment and Mind control while ECONOMIC Reforms to displace the Black Untouchables continue unabated and as well as the Corporate War against the People of India, launched by by the Extra Constitutional Government of India Incs, MNCs and LPG Mafia to sustain Manusmriti Apartheid Zionist Rule Infinite!
For me , without Government Protection, Sponsorship and Involvement, Maoist or Marxist, Extremist or Terrorist Activities have NO Chance in a Plural society like India. Ethnonationalism Promoted in different parts of the Nation and corporate Friend Maoist Menace, Dealings with Extremist groups, Involvement of security forces have Exposed the TRUTH.
Just see!
Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the Dantewada operation, in which 76 CRPF personnel were massacred by Maoists last month, was planned "thoughtlessly" by top officials of the force there.
"I was heartbroken after Dantewada (where 76 personnel were killed on April 6). I did not lose my nerve. I have no fear of Naxalites. One IG, two DIGs and an SP, thoughtlessly without planning sent 76 troops for recce," Chidambaram said addressing students at a seminar in the Jawaharlal Nehru University here late last night.
He said the setback meant that the country was confronting an adversary who is organised in strength.
Later talking about developmental issues, Chidambaram said, "Dantewada has a police station which has only two policemen. When a policeman does not want to go there, how can you expect a teacher or a BDO to go there."
The Minister said that extreme ideology can be propagated in India. "Speech and propagation is free in a democracy but when they take up arms, the conflict arises."
He said there was no confusion about the aim of the Naxals. "The aim is seizure of political power with armed struggle. That is acceptable under certain conditions. Countries under colonialism took this path. Even India saw armed struggle to overthrow British."
"There are situations when you are agitated or frustrated. I represent a backward constituency. Development has just started pouring in. If everybody has a justified right to take up arms, what will happen to the country?"
He said the debate regarding whether development or police action should take place first in naxal-affected areas is "metaphysical".
"In West Midnapore, police action is needed first. In Gadchiroli, the district has been secured by security forces. Orissa is in mixed stage, we have progressed in Jharkhand. It is a chicken and egg argument" he added.
"Maoists know development is threat to them, so they demolish schools, 71 schools were blown up in 2009, they mine roads, blow up bridges. Villagers are killed in the name of being informers. In 2009, 211 people were killed on this pretext and 362 infrastructure targeted in 2009. So to say Maoists are pro-development is most naive argument."
When asked by a student about the source of arms for the Naxals, the Home Minister said there is a huge bazaar of illegal arms in Mayanmar. He said other sources were country-made weapons and those looted from security forces.
Replying to a question on wrong development policies being responsible for the Naxal situation, Chidambaram said: "Throw us out. Elect another government. Let Ganpati and Kishanji come in power and change the policies. But don't take up arms."
When asked why the government was not using the Sri Lankan strategy, he said "We do not regard Naxals as enemy but adversaries. They have a policy which is wrong. We believe police and central paramilitary force are adequate to secure the areas. Sri Lanka did it but our democratic values are different and I do not think it is right to use the Army and Air Force."
The latest Policy declaration is nothing but EYE washing which would Inject Cromine in the Hearts and Minds of the so called Civil society and Foreign Fund Fed, pay Rolled Intellectuals Eurasian in accordance to GENOME Reports!
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The controversial nuclear liability bill, whose passage is a key step for operationalisation of Indo-US civil nuclear deal, will be introduced in the Lok Sabha tomorrow, the final day of the budget session. The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, which is facing stiff resistance from BJP and Left parties, was included in tomorrow''s revised list of business of the House late at night.
The decision of the government came after Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD leader Lalu Prasad met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal this evening and are understood to have given an assurance about their support on the issue. Subsequently, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs wrote to the Lok Sabha Secretariat conveying the government''s intention of introducing the nuclear liability in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.
Earlier, the government had listed the bill for introduction on March 15 but had to defer it at the last moment after it realised that it did not have the requisite numbers to see its introduction in the Lok Sabha. The bill, providing for compensation in the case of a nuclear accident, pegs the maximum amount of liability on the operator at Rs 500 crore, which is the main issue of contention.
BJP and Left parties have been questioning the cap on compensation to be paid by the operator and have vowed to resist it in its present form. Government had reached out to these parties, trying to convince them that there was no cap and the amount was mentioned only for technical reasons to enable the operator to get insurance cover for a nuclear plant.
However, BJP and Left parties have refused to budge. PTI SKU SPG AKK.
Reaching out to the Naxals from the Left-dominated Jawaharlal Nehru [ Images ] University campus in New Delhi [ Images ], Home Minister P Chidambaram [ Images ] has made a fresh offer for talks to the ultra Left group provided they abjure violence.
"No killings, no demolition of buildings and give me seventy-two hours. Let me get the chief ministers together and tell you time and place. I know you will not give up arms as armed struggle is your ideology, but abjure violence and then we can discuss everything under the sun," Chidambaram said late Wednesday night, while addressing students at a seminar titled "Naxalism: Threat to Democracy and Internal Security", organised by National Students' Union of India [ Images ] (NSUI).
Earlier at the campus, Chidambaram was greeted with slogans and black flags by a group of pro-Naxal students who attacked the government's operations against the ultra Left outfit.
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Defending freedom of speech, the home minister said, "Even extreme ideology can be propagated in India. Speech and propagation is free in a democracy. But when they (Naxals) take up arms against the state or other sections of the people, the conflict arises."
"As long as we are sworn-in to democracy and republican government there is no place for armed liberation struggle in that scenario," he added.
Questioning the Maoists taking up arms, he said, "Show me one country in the world where poverty and injustice were wiped out by arms."
He gave the examples of Malaysia, South Korea and Mauritius where poverty was eliminated through socio-economic measures and not by armed struggle.
Focusing on government's policy to tackle the Naxal menace, Chidambaram said, "We want to provide security, restore administration and then let the development flow. Security forces have been told you can retaliate only when you
are attacked upon."
Maoists want to ensure the tribals were inaccessible and incommunicado (from mainstream) by blowing up buildings, railway tracks and targeting developmental projects.
"Are they trying to create an archaeological museum in the tribal areas by keeping the tribals away from development," he asked.
Pro-Naxal intellectuals may face legal troubles
Government asks people to be vigilant about Maoists propaganda
Supporting Maoists will invite 10 year jail
Pro-Naxal intellectuals may get into legal tangle - Yahoo! India News
6 May 2010 ... Pro-Naxal intellectuals may get into legal tangle ... 1967, any person who commits the offence of supporting such a terrorist organisation ...
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6 May 2010 ... New Delhi, May 2: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday, May 6, warned pro-Naxal intellectuals of legal actions under the Unlawful ...
news.oneindia.in/.../pc-warns-pro-naxal-organisations-of-legal-action.html - 6 hours agoGet more results from the past 24 hoursDantewada attack not to determine govt policy on naxalism: India ...
10 Apr 2010 ... Washington, Apr 10 (PTI) The worst-ever naxal attack in ... university has become a "haven of intellectuals supporting Naxalite violence." ...
indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story?sId=92262&secid=104 - CachedMalhotra wants strong action against 'pro-Naxal' JNU students ...
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly V K Malhotra alleged that the university has become a "haven of intellectuals supporting Naxalite ...
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16 Oct 2009 ... Not only the intellectual are supporting naxals idelogically but now they are participating with them in gruesome violence this is dangerous ...
www.indianexpress.com/...ascientistheldfornaxallinks/529797/ - United States - CachedBJP leader wants strong action against 'pro-Naxal' JNU students ...
10 Apr 2010 ... has become a 'haven of intellectuals supporting Naxalite violence.' ... today demanded strong action against the "pro-Naxal" students in ...
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8 Oct 2009 ... Govt slams activists for supporting Naxal cause ... reason enough for the state to act against a group of left intellectuals in West Bengal, ...
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6 May 2010 ... Pro-Naxal Intellectuals May Face Legal Troubles ... 1967, any person who commits the offence of supporting such a terrorist organisation ...
news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?681210 - 2 hours agoGet more results from the past 24 hoursNaxal leader sets terms for peace talks with govt - India - The ...
10 Feb 2010 ... Even as P Chidambaram met the CMs of naxal-affected states to ... did admit that the Maoists may be losing intellectual support its claim to ...
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7 Apr 2010 ... The media has created a hype by claiming that Naxals are active in the ... on February 19, that intellectual support to the Maoists made the ...
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New Delhi: Leaders cutting across party lines today said the Centre and states should adopt a joint strategy for combating the menace of Naxalism if development has to reach the affected areas. Addressing a forum organised by Jagran Group, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, said that military strategy coupled with development is required for tackling the Maoists.
Jaitley said though initially the BJP felt that Home Minister P Chidambaram's resignation should be sought following the Dantewada incident, it was later felt by all the leaders that since he was taking decisive steps against the ultras, the party would not seek his papers.
Doing so (seeking Chidambaram's resignation), Jaitley said, would have meant a victory for the Naxals.
He further said while development is important in Naxal affected areas, strong military action is also required against them.
Yechury said in order to tackle the Naxal menace, "states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, which are affected by this problem, will have to formulate a joint strategy against it in coordination with the Centre".
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also said that inclusive growth is important to resolve the Naxal issue. Issue of coordination arises only when Maoists are made to think about entering the mainstream," Yechury said.
The CPI(M) leader added, if politicians fail to fulfil the basic needs of the common man, then the youth will naturally take up violence.
"Inclusive growth and all round cooperation is needed for resolving this problem," he said while the addressing the forum.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said the armed struggle movement against Naxals launched by tribals known as Salwa Judum, "will remain the revolution against Maoists. No political party has the power to launch an agitation of this scale against Naxals.
"Only the Bastar tribals had the guts to do this. They have been facing the might of gun toting Naxals armed with only bows and arrows. They will only find the solution to this menace".
Lamenting that since 1970, his state has been a troubled and neglected region, Singh said, "whether it was done due to sheer ignorance or deliberately, this continuous neglect has resulted in Naxalism spreading its tentacles across five states today".
The Chief Minister said when his government assumed charge in 2003, he was saddled with a depleted police force, unmanned police posts and lack of police stations in several sensitive districts.
Singh said though today he has trained police personnel to combat Naxals and the Salwa Judum is also there, yet if democracy has to win, then a joint action plan is required to tackle Maoists.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi said Naxals should be isolated and this can be done only by winning the confidence of the tribals and villagers.
"Security and stability has to be guaranteed to the people. We need to reach out to them and address their concerns and only then people will support us. This will also lead to the isolation of Naxals, who thrive on local support," Marandi said.
Pitching for a joint strategy between the Naxal-hit states and the Centre to solve the issue, he said "if we address the grievances of villagers then this problem would be solved in two years".
PTI
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The CPI (Maoist) continues to kill innocent civilians, including tribals in cold blood and destroy crucial infrastructure like roads, culverts, school buildings, gram panchayat buildings so as to prevent development from reaching under-developed areas, it said.
TODAY - 06 May, 2010
Death sentence for Kasab
Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks has been given the death penalty. Full coverage
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Declaring nationality does not imply citizenship rights
Home Minister P.Chidambaram Thursday clarified that the particulars of 'nationality as declared' in the form being filled by enumerators in the ongoing Census 2011 would not confer any citizenship rights automatically.Seeking to allay the fears of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the national population register, he said: 'The register of citizens is a subset of population register.' He added that the particulars provided to enumerators will be verified.
'Verification is a subsequent process. It will be done when we create a register of citizens. Don't mix it up,' he said, while replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the working of his ministry.
Govt's anti-Maoist policy: Chidambaram's JNU encounter
NDTV Correspondent, Thursday May 6, 2010, New Delhi
"It is a law and order problem with socio-economic problem. The government is willing to relook at the mining contracts. I am the first minister in this government who said abjure violence, don't have to give up weapons...and that we are willing to talk," Chidambaram said while addressing the students.
Jawaharlal Nehru University is said to be home to some of those whom Chidambaram calls 'Maoist sympathizers'. Recently, the home minister has been under attack from the Opposition and sometimes from his own partymen about his Naxal policy.
Outside the auditorium, Chidambaram met with protests from both ends of the spectrum.
Some students, mainly from the Left-backed parties shouted slogans against Operation Green Hunt, and others from the BJP's student wing ABVP protested that the minister was being soft on Maoists.
There were other protesters too, students of the university who just wanted to hear the Home Minister but were not allowed in by the organisers.
"We were not allowed to attend. There are 5000 students at JNU, only a 100 attended this event. Those from the NSUI were allowed in," said a student.
Some of those who did manage to listen to Chidambaram, thought his reasoning on the Naxal menace was sound.
"He said Naxals must abjure violence, the government is willing to talk to them," said an NSUI student.
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Intelligence capabilities better now: Chidmabaram
Home Minister P. Chidambaram Thursday said no major terror attack has taken place in the past one year except the Pune blast in February, and noted that the government's intelligence capabilities have increased significantly.Denying the Pune blast was an intelligence failure, the home minister said that the German Bakery, where the blast occurred, had been provided written advisories by the Maharashtra police but these were taken lightly.
'Intelligence is far better than it was one and a half years back,' he said, replying to a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the functioning of the home ministy.
Chidambaram said the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has cracked the Pune blast case. 'With little more effort, they will be able to apprehend the accused,' he said.
He said the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had not filled vacancies of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers during its six years' rule, resulting in a shortfall.
He said while annual intake of IPS officers has been increased to 150 for the next 10 years, the shortfall is also being made good thorough limited competitive examination for state police and para-military personnel.
Chidambaram said the situation in the northeast had changed dramatically in the last year with several leaders belonging to separatist outfits were under arrest.
He said a large number of insurgent groups had also reached agreements for suspension of action.
'Barring Assam and Manipur, there has been no violence,' he said.
He urged the MPs to travel more to the northeastern states.
Responding to points raised by Mani Shankar Aiyar (Nominated), Chidambaram said he will talk to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about setting up an authority under which directions could be given to state governments on implementation of central schemes.
Admitting that the central government had powers to give directions to states, he said such power should be used judiciously and sparingly.
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After Kasab ruling, rights activists oppose death penalty
Even as many hailed the death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab for 26/11, rights activists said that capital punishment does not solve any problem.Moushumi Basu, secretary of the Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), said: 'In principle, we have always opposed death penalties - so be it Kasab or Koli (accused in the Nithari murder case). Our opinion is the same.
'The state has no right to take a person's life. Many countries have banned death penalty. Death sentences don't offer any solution to any problem,' Basu told IANS.
Kasab, the lone gunman captured during the Mumbai terror attack, was sentenced to death by a special court which ruled that he did not have any right to live.
Kavita Srivastava of the People's Union for Civil Liberties said PUCL had always been against death sentences and Kasab's case was no different.
'Life imprisonment is a very harsh punishment and should be given to someone who has committed a heinous crime. It should have been done in this case too. We are committed in our stand against death penalty,' Srivastava told IANS.
'There are more than 130 countries where death penalty is banned. So why is it not done in India?' she asked.
The last execution in the country took place in August 2004 when then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam dismissed the mercy petition of Dhananjoy Chatterjee who was executed for the rape and murder of a schoolgirl in Kolkata in March 1990.
International rights group Amnesty International had, in association with NGOs, launched a campaign against death penalty after Chatterjee's execution.
In an open letter to Home Minister P. Chidambaram this year, Amnesty sought more information on the issue.
The UN has repeatedly called upon member states that retain the death penalty to be transparent about the application of this punishment, it said.
'The promotion of such a debate constitutes the first and important step towards the establishment of a moratorium on execution and eventual abolition of the death penalty in India,' it added.
India celebrates as Kasab gets the noose
Indians, especially Mumbaikars, were out in the streets celebrating as the country felt vindicated by today's historic judgement. Thousands and lakhs of people were hooked on to the TV for the verdict and when it was finally delivered, they distributed sweets, burst crackers and hoped that he would be hanged real soon.
A man gets ready to burst fire crackers while other members of the Muslim community looks on at a rally to celebrate the special court's award of death sentence to Ajmal Kasab in the 26/11 terror attacks case, in Mumbai on Thursday. PTI
Maoist, 17 others arrested in Goa
A 25-year-old leader of a fringe Orissa-based Maoist group was arrested in Goa along with 17 other people, police said Thursday.'This evening we arrested Shambhu Beck, a resident of Sundargarh district in Orissa. He heads the Naxalite group Maowadi Trishul Manch (also known as Maobadi Trishul Machdu or MTM). He is wanted for crimes ranging from murder, kidnapping, dacoity and various other cases in Orissa under the Arms Act,' Superintendent of Police (CID) Atmaram Deshpande said.
The official also said that 17 other people from Orissa who were working in numerous industrial estates spread across the state were arrested for harbouring Beck.
'We were informed by the Sundargarh district police less than a week ago that Beck was taking shelter in Goa,' Deshpande said.
The official said that the police were not aware why Beck had taken shelter in Goa or whether he had any designs in the tourist state.
'The Orissa police have been informed. They will arrive here shortly to take custody of the accused,' the official said.
Political parties welcome death sentence to Kasab
Political leaders cutting across party lines Thursday welcomed the death penalty given to terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab for the 26/11 attack and said the Pakistani gunmen must be hanged as soon as possible.Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan welcomed the verdict and said: 'I am thankful to the court for taking such a fast decision and that too in a transparent way. Thanks to (Special Prosecutor) Ujjwal Nikam, (police officer) Rakesh Maria, Deven Bharti and the entire team of Mumbai Police.'
'Kasab must be hanged as soon as possible,' Chavan added.
Deputy Chief Minister Chagan Bhujbal said Kasab's 'heinous crime warranted stricter punishment than capital punishment'.
'But he has got what he deserved,' added Bhujbal.
'The way Indian law and judicial system conducted this case was simply outstanding. The decision will be welcomed by all Indians and is a warning to India's enemies,' said Bhujbal.
State Home Minister R.R. Patil said the execution of Kasab's death sentence should also been done through a fast track manner.
'We will try to seek the high court's permission as soon as possible for the same,' Patil said.
Patil said this decision will change terrorists' perception of India being a soft target.
'We will also file an appeal against the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed,' Patil added.
The two Indians, Ansari and Ahmed, were let off by the court for the lack of substantial evidence to prove that information passed on by the duo helped Kasab and his nine associates carry out the horrific November 2008 massacre.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut welcomed the verdict of the special court. 'This was expected and we welcome the move,' he said.
Kasab's lawyer K.P. Pawar though said he has not spoken to his client 'as regards to filing an appeal in the high court as of now'.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vinod Tawde said the special court and Ujjwal Nikam have carried out their job stupendously and should be congratulated.
'Now it is up to the central and state government as to how fast they execute Kasab's death sentence. A common man will hope this does not turn out to be like the case of Afzal Guru,' Tawde said.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's spokesperson Shirish Parker said the punishment was apt. 'We are glad Kasab has been awarded with a death sentence.'
Congress spokesperson Hussain Dalvai said: 'The party is glad that it happened in a fast track court. The verdict is a warning to those terrorists groups who plan to attack India.'
Telangana movement has not lost its edge: Yaskhi
Congress MP Madhu Goud Yaskhi Thursday said the movement for a separate Telangana state carved out of Andhra Pradesh has not lost its edge and has mass support.'Those who think the movement is gone are wrong. They thought so in 1969 as well,' Yaskhi said at a discussion on the Telangana issue here.
Nearly 400 people were killed in police firing during various large-scale agitations to press the demand for a separate Telangana state in 1969.
'There is difference between Telangana and other parts of the state in every field, from education to health and employment. Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema have a medical college in every district, but Telangana region has only one medical college in 10 districts,' Yaskhi said.
'This is a people's movement, not just a students' agitation. People from all communities are supporting it. It is a struggle for our pride and the right of self governance,' he added.
Speaking against the bifurcation of the state, Congress MP from Vijaywada L. Rajagopal said division of the state is not a solution.
'How far you can divide, go deep into the problem and find out if there is a need for division. We have given the facts to the Srikrishna Committee and it appears at least now they are not talking about backwardness,' said Rajagopal.
Drawing parallels with the Khalistan movement, he said that the seeds of the movement were sown during the struggle for a separate state for Punjabi speaking population.
'Seeds of separation were sown in Punjabi minds because of the 10-year long struggle for a separate state. This resulted in the Khalistan movement,' Rajagopal observed.
Strongly objecting to the comparison, Yaskhi said: 'Asking for a smaller state is not asking for a separate country. We will live under the same constitution. Don't compare it with Khalistan'.
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In these times of Operation Green Hunt, inhabitants of Maoist-affected areas like Lalgarh run the risk of being branded Maoists wholesale. Police brutality is but a natural corollary. They can be stopped and searched. The axes, bows and arrows these people have traditionally carried for hunting and protection while going into the jungle to gather petty forest produce can be deemed weapons by policemen seeking an excuse to book them. They can be arrested, locked up and tortured on the merest suspicion.
"It would be easier if the Maoists had horns on their heads. Unfortunately, they don't. So we have to search everyone if we suspect anything," says a police officer in Lalgarh, trying to explain the difficulty of working in such areas. Suspicion can lead to arbitrary arrests. Villagers are so terrified of the police that when there's a blast in their area, they run to the forests almost as a reflex. In December 2009, after a police vehicle was blown up by Maoists in Pirakata, Sunil Mahato, whose house was metres away from the site, fled to the jungle. Police took this to mean he was absconding, and therefore, a prime suspect. Mahato's Catch-22 situation, like that of many like him: he ran away precisely to avoid being beaten up as a suspect. Those caught in the crossfire between the police and Maoists have no control over the actions of either, but are victims of both. The magnitude of the horror they face can be understood only if one zeroes in on individual stories.
"Can you help us? We have no one to turn to," Mahato asks from his cell in West Midnapore jail. He came out of the forests on hearing that his wife Dipali had been picked up by the police in connection with the blast case. "When I heard they got my wife, I rushed back to my empty house. Even my children had been taken to jail. I just lay down on the khatia outside by door and waited for the police," he says. The Salboni police station slapped seven cases against him, including conspiracy against the state and possession of arms and ammunition and explosives. "But I'm not a Maoist," he says, breaking down.
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In the same village lives Namita, whose husband Sachin Mahato is in jail for being a Maoist. She chokes as she narrates how the police picked him up. "My husband is sickly and we always treat him delicately," she says. "But they grabbed him by the hair and shook him. I was pleading with them to stop. But they dragged him away. Our only crime is that we live by the forest." And Sachin says he was hung upside down and beaten till he said he was a Maoist. "They kept asking me if I knew Kishenji," he says. "I can't help it if some of the people who come to my tea shop are Maoists. Don't the police know that if I refuse to serve them, the Maoists will finish me off for being a police stooge."
The reality in such areas is that ordinary people are being brutalised by both sides. Soon after Sunil Mahato's arrest, his cousin Vinod was picked up by the Maoists and shot dead in the forests. "I don't know what happened," says Sunil. "Maybe the Maoists approached him and he refused to join them, fearing police retaliation."
As far as state action is concerned, not one of the cases against suspects like Sunil have resulted in conviction. And to get an idea of how many "suspects" are in custody, consider this: there are 141 men and women held for being Maoists in West Midnapore jail alone.
The police look at it in another way, perhaps with a logic consistent with the fact that they have a job to get done. "There are many categories of Maoists," says an officer at Lalgarh police station. "While it's very difficult to catch the actual squad members, who don't come out of their forests except in the night, it's the villagers on the periphery providing them food, water and shelter who are getting caught."
Examples abound. Take Paro Singh. Her Maoist link is so indirect, it makes little sense that she is serving a jail sentence. She's from a poor tribal family of Belpahari area. After marriage, she came to live in her husband's home—here, people would drop in at night and her husband would hold discussions with them. She never asked questions, only served them food and water. She never understood the implications. Inevitably, their house became a target for police searches. Her husband would go away to hide in the forest whenever that happened. And then one night he disappeared for good. The police would keep demanding to know his whereabouts from Paro, but she had no clue.
One night, policemen hit her on the leg when she tried to run. She fell unconscious. All she remembers of that incident—from the periods she came to—is her daughter screaming and blood gushing out. After being in the jail hospital for a few months, she's now in the prisoners' area. When I spoke to her, her leg was still in plaster. There is no dearth of such stories in Lalgarh, particularly in villages on the edge of the forests.
Reports - Dalit Voice - The Voice of the Persecuted Nationalities ...
According to sources close to the inner circle, the Manuwadis in desperation have decided to back the Telugu Brahmin Kishenji heading the Maoists. ...
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BJP MPs to meet president over CBI's 'misuse'
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Members of Parliament, led by party leader L.K. Advani, will meet President Pratibha Patil Friday to lodge their protest against the 'misuse of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)' by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.The party's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha S.S. Ahluwalia Thursday said here that the party MPs will meet the president to 'protest against misuse of CBI'. He charged the CBI with different yardsticks for leaders belonging to the ruling alliance, those from the opposition, and those who could be 'soft targets' for the government.
He said the CBI had arrested a senior Gujarat police officer in an encounter case days before the golden jubilee celebration of the state and despite the alert about terror threat. 'The officer was not running away,' he said.
Earlier in the day, BJP MPs staged a sit-in in the Parliament House premises against alleged misuse of CBI. Senior leaders of the BJP, including Advani, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley were joined by some of their allies in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue on the Parliament House premises.
The BJP has demanded a discussion on the issue in parliament. The ongoing parliament session will conclude Friday.
Panchayats can counter Maoist menace: PMTimes of India - Apr 24, 2010 This will help us in tackling the challenges such as the Maoist menace." The day saw a strong expression of intent from the PM and panchayat raj minister CP ... 'Panchayat an instrument to counter Maoist menace' Press Trust of India Nuanced Maoist stand with panchayat push Calcutta Telegraph Govt's anti-Maoist policy: Chidambaram's JNU encounterNDTV.com - 14 hours ago Some of those who did manage to listen to Chidambaram, thought his reasoning on the Naxal menace was sound. "He said Naxals must abjure violence, ...  Email this storyMaoist menace: States not backing ChidambaramIBNLive.com - Apr 10, 2010 ... of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to hit out at the Home Minister Nitish suggested to Chidambaram that the Maoist menace demands a holistic policy. ... Video: Congress reiterates its faith in Home Minister Chidambaram Asian News International (ANI)PC's resignation will mean victory for Naxals: BJP Indian Express Cops welcome Naveen meeting on Red rampage in southern distsTimes of India - - May 5, 2010 BHUBANESWAR: Police officers, engaged in the anti-Maoist operations in the state, were thrilled to hear chief minister Naveen Patnaik's decision to convene ... Opposition mocks Chidu's 'inept' handling of Maoist menaceDaily News & Analysis - - Apr 15, 2010 While offering wholehearted support of the BJP in fighting the Naxal menace, they wondered whether the home minister's own party was backing him. ... Video: Development,calibrated action to fight Maoists: Chidambaram Asian News International (ANI)BJP backs PC's anti-Naxal fight, flays Govt IBNLive.com Nepal Seeks 4 Months Extension With UNMIN's Mandate As Maoist Rules To Dampens ...india-server.com - 10 hours ago ... once but several times that Nepal had engulfed in a political crisis due to extremist's impact but this time Maoist is set to create a menace par beyond ... `Revival of NSS will check growing Naxal menace'Times of India - Apr 13, 2010 ... Sashikanth Kujur has strongly advocated for revival of Nagrik Suraksha Samiti (NSS) to check the growing Maoists menace in the Red-dominated area. ... State MPs prepare agenda for Chidambaram meetTimes of India - - Apr 26, 2010 The MPs plan to utilize the meeting to express their views on ways and means to tackle the Maoist menace given that most of them have seen the problem grow ... Maoist Menace: A lesson from the pastOrganiser - Apr 25, 2010 By Dr TH Chowdary THE Naxalites and Maoists who are now in operation in 160 districts of the country (one quarter of the total) have no faith and in no ... Buddhadeb meets PMHindu Business Line - May 4, 2010 NEW DELHI: The issue of adopting a holistic approach involving several states to tackle the Maoist menace is understood to have come up for discussion ... Stay up to date on these results: |
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Swami Asimanand, a suspect in the Malegaon blasts, who ran an ashram in the Dang tribal region of Gujarat, has emerged as the prime suspect in the 2007 Ajmer blast.
The Rajasthan anti-terrorist squad (ATS) is on the hunt for Swami Asimanand aka Jatin Chatterjee for masterminding the blast with the help of Sunil Joshi, an RSS leader, who was shot after the explosion.
The ATS is tracking Asimanand in the tribal regions of Gujarat. He is understood to have been the link between Abhinav Bharat and other right-wing Hindutva organisations.
The Rajasthan ATS is co-ordinating its investigation with its counterparts in Mumbai and Hyderabad and a CBI team.
Sources said the same module was responsible for the blasts in Ajmer, Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad and Malegaon.
The ATS teams from Mumbai and Hyderabad were in Jaipur to interrogate two suspects nabbed by the Rajasthan ATS from Madhya Pradesh.
ATS sources claimed Ram Narayan Kalsangra, a bomb expert, was the brain behind the explosives that claimed three lives at the Ajmer Dargah. Ramji was also a suspect in the Malegaon blasts.
Both Asimanand and Ramji were under the scanner of the probe agencies after their names were revealed by Prasad Purohit, who was arrested for his alleged role in the Malegaon blasts.
Opposition to Maoist strike
The indefinite nationwide strike called by the UCPN (Maoist) took a different turn on its fifth day, Thursday, when people carried out rallies against the strike in several parts of the country.
In Birganj, clashes erupted between Maoist cadres and pro Hindu workers and the locals when they vandalised Maoist shelters. Maoist leaders and cadres were injured. The clashes also broke out between the locals of Kathmandu and the Maoist cadres. In a few places outside the capital, curfew had to be imposed to contain the situation.
Those coming out in the streets against the Maoist strike say their normal lives have been hit hard and want an end to it.
Among others, scarcity of food has affected the people here as all shops are closed and transportation of grocery, which largely comes from outside the valley is blocked. Though major political parties are holding discussions, no consensus has been reached yet to end the political crisis. The Maoists have been demanding a new government under their leadership.
A Maoist spokesperson claimed that the ruling parties had used their cadres against their cadres.
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Civil Society in India
A Necessary Corrective in a Representative Democracy
Patralekha Chatterjee
India is the largest democracy in the world. But without its lively NGO scene, many ills in society would continue unchallenged. Civil society derives its strength from the Gandhian tradition of volunteerism, but today, it expresses itself in many different forms of activism.
It was dark, around midnight. The place - on the outskirts of the Indian capital, New Delhi. There was no house or car or road to be seen - only dark mounds that turned out to be excavated rock when one went near. Next to each mound was a near vertical pit - about 20 meters deep on the average. That was where the rock had been dug out from - the rock that went into making the big houses of the political leaders and bureaucrats and rich citizens of New Delhi.
Stepping carefully around the pits and mounds, four men approached the only source of light to be seen - a small kerosene lantern burning inside a mud and grass hut. There were four residents inside - a couple and their two children, ten and eight. They dug the pits, cut the rock and hauled it to the trucks, all without salary. They were bonded labourers, bonded for life and for generations to the owner of the pit because some ancestor sometime had borrowed money and had been unable to pay it back.
Two of the four men who visited the hut that night in 1985 were from a non-governmental organization called Bandhua Mukti Morcha (Bonded Labour Liberation Front). The other two were journalists brought by the NGO to prove that bonded labour - a form of slavery - did exist right in the nation's capital. After the visit, the men from the NGO went to the police station to lodge a complaint, because bonded labour is illegal in India, and so is child labour in a profession as hazardous as this. The complaints, and the articles written by the journalists after the visit, were part of the NGO campaign to make the government implement the law.
Every day, different NGOs all over India are doing things like this. Sometime it may be taking a sample of water from a well that has been polluted by a nearby factory, getting the water analysed and then filing a "public interest petition" in a court to force the factory to follow anti-pollution laws. Another time, it may be a heated debate with a bureaucrat on why all citizens should have the right to be informed about all government decisions that affect their lives.
Though the term NGO became popular in India only in the 1980s, the voluntary sector has an older tradition. Since independence from the British in 1947, the voluntary sector had a lot of respect in the minds of people - first, because the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi was an active participant; and second because India has always had the tradition of honouring those who have made some sacrifice to help others.
In independent India, the initial role played by the voluntary organizations started by Gandhi and his disciples was to fill in the gaps left by the government in the development process. The volunteers organized handloom weavers in villages to form cooperatives through which they could market their products directly in the cities, and thus get a better price. Similar cooperatives were later set up in areas like marketing of dairy products and fish. In almost all these cases, the volunteers helped in other areas of development - running literacy classes for adults at night, for example.
In the 1980s, however, the groups who were now known as NGOs became more specialized, and the voluntary movement was, in a way, fragmented into three major groups. There were those considered the traditional development NGOs, who went into a village or a group of villages and ran literacy programmes, crËches for children and clinics, encouraged farmers to experiment with new crops and livestock breeds that would bring more money, helped the weavers and other village artisans market their products and so on - in short became almost a part of the community in their chosen area (usually in rural India) and tried to fill all the gaps left in the development process by the government. There are many examples of voluntary organizations of this kind running very successfully in India for the last five decades. Perhaps the most celebrated example would be the treatment centre for leprosy patients run by Baba Amte in central India.
The second group of NGOs were those who researched a particular subject in depth, and then lobbied with the government or with industry or petitioned the courts for improvements in the lives of the citizens, as far as that particular subject was concerned. A well-known example of an NGO of this type is the Centre for Science and Environment. It was a CSE who picked up that sample of well water and then submitted the results of the chemical analysis to a court because the organization had not been able to get the factory to change its polluting practices in any other way.
In the third group were those volunteers who saw themselves more as activists than other NGOs did. Of course, all NGOs undertook a certain amount of activism to get their points across - they petitioned the bureaucrats, they alerted the media whenever they found something wrong and so on. But this third group of NGOs saw activism as their primary means of reaching their goals, because they did not believe they could get the authorities to move in any other way. Perhaps the best-known example of an NGO in this category is the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Campaign), an organisation that opposed the construction of a series of large dams in a large river valley of central India. The members of this NGO believe that large dams worsen water scarcity for the majority of the people in the long run rather than solve the problem, and they oppose the displacement it entails upstream of the dam. When the NBA found that it could not persuade the planners in India to agree to its point of view, the NBA members put up pickets, held demonstrations and tried every other way they could think of to oppose the construction of the first of the big dams. Most of the NBA member went to jail a number of times as a result. Right now, some of them - including celebrated novelist Arundhati Roy - face the prospect of being jailed again, because they criticized the Supreme Court of India when the court's decision on dam construction did not go in their favour.
There is no strict boundary between these three groups of NGOs - in fact, Baba Amte is now an important member of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. And whatever be the category a particular NGO falls into, all of them play an important role in modern India - they hold the politicians accountable to the people.
India is a representative rather than a participatory democracy. Once the elections are over, the politicians who run the federal and state governments do not really need to go back to the electorate for every major decision - there is no tradition of referendums in India, as there is in Switzerland or Denmark. So, in the five years between on election and another, the NGOs - and parts of the media, to some extent - are often the only means available to the citizens to voice their opinions on any decision taken by a government.
In a large developing country like India, there are numerous gaps left by the government in the development process - sometimes by intention, sometimes due to lack of funds, sometimes due to lack of awareness. These are the gaps that many NGOs try to fill in modern India. Some of them may work in areas that the government does not want to get into - like fighting discrimination on the basis of caste. Most Indian politicians do not really want to upset the existing caste hierarchy in his or her constituency, because the politician is dependent for votes on the dominant castes of that particular constituency. In the process, laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of caste are often ignored unless there is an NGO working in the area that is willing to take up the cause of those being discriminated against.
Working in health and education
Then there are many NGOs who work in areas where the government effort proves inadequate. Two well-known examples are the areas of education and healthcare. In the area of education, there are often not enough government-run schools, especially in rural regions. Or there may be schools without adequate facilities, because a particular state government does not have the necessary money. There are many situations where the government runs a co-educational school, but the girls do not go there because their conservative parents (the overwhelming majority) refuse to send their daughters where they may meet boys. Then there are many cases where the government runs a largely-empty school, because most of the boys and girls are out working during school hours. NGOs have played an important role in all these cases - running special classes at night for children whose parents send them out to work, running special classes for girls and so on. By and large, governments have been supportive of such initiatives by NGOs, and the only problem is that there are not enough NGOs to educate all the uneducated people in India. The mammoth NGO called Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad is largely credited for the hundred percent literacy in that state in the south-western corner of India.
In the area of healthcare, too, NGOs play a stellar role in modern India - by supplementing the government effort to provide health care to citizens, and by raising awareness in society about issues like child and maternal malnutrition, which is perhaps more important than adding a few more clinics. Again, in modern India it is the NGOs who have battled social evils in the area of healthcare, like the neglect of the girl child, which can sometimes take the extreme form of female foeticide or infanticide. It is largely through the lobbying by NGOs through the media that many state governments have now passed laws banning sex-determination tests of foetuses, as such tests were often leading to the abortion of female foetuses.
In the last 20 years or so, a very large number of NGOs in India have been active in the area of environmental protection. They have been in the forefront of reforestation campaigns, they have lobbied against deforestation or overuse of pesticides in agriculture, and they have taken polluting industries to task. In this sustained campaign, the NGOs have often been helped by the judiciary whenever the government of the day has proved unresponsive. For this, NGOs in India have almost developed into a fine art a device called public interest litigation, by which any citizen can petition a court to intervene where (s)he feels it is in the public interest for the court to intervene.
Another field in which certain Indian NGOs have been active, especially in urban areas, is in trying to turn the right to shelter into a reality. This is an area where constructive work and activism have intermingled most often, as NGOs such as YUVA and SPARC in cities like Mumbai (Bombay) repeatedly oppose the demolition of hutments even as they try to improve the quality of life in the sprawling slum clusters.
The struggle by NGOs to make governments more accountable to citizens is an ongoing struggle in India. For years now, NGOs have been lobbying for the right to information to become a legal right, and it now appears that the federal Parliament may soon pass a bill to this effect.
The '80s were the hey days of activist journalism in India. NGOs became the media's key allies in exposing injustice and clear violations of rules. Today, human rights reportage has to fight for column space with a myriad other issues and NGOs have to speak louder to be heard by the public but their influence in public affairs is growing. But with that, has come corruption. Several NGOs have come under a cloud because of alleged misappropriation of public funds. The jet-set life-style of some Ngo representatives in the country spurred one keen observer of the NGO in Delhi to quip that today there is a new category of NGOs - "airport NGOs" - who flit from one international airport to another, hopping from one cause to another, all in the name of the poor and grassroots activism.
Apart from this, there are many NGOs in India to represent special interest groups, ranging from the disabled to women to children to the aged to refugees and to people in specific professions. In the course of their work, almost all NGOs come up against an unfeeling or even hostile bureaucracy sometime or the other. It is part of the strength of Indian democracy that the state is by no means the winner in all these confrontations.
Patralekha Chatterjee is an Indian journalist based in New Delhi specialising in development issues.
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D+C Development and Cooperation, P.O. Box, D-60268 Frankfurt, Germany.
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Civil Society, April 2010 Edition
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New Delhi, May 6 -- Among the many traditions of Parliament, there is one in which members gift themselves a salary hike - whenever it has happened - on the last day of a session. May 7 is the last day of the current session and a hike is likely.
This one will be a hefty one, if it comes through, nearly doubling their salary from Rs 45,000 a month to at least a rupee more than Rs 80,000. Why at least Rs 80,001? "Since the salary of a Secretary is Rs 80,000 per month (with allowances).
Our salary should be higher than that even it is by Rs 1,'' said a Congress member who did not want to be named. His logic is simple: since MPs outrank a secretary in the government's Warrant of Precedence (babudom's pecking order), they should get more than them - even if it is just a rupee more.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD's Lalu Prasad met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to press the case for a salary hike on Wednesday but were told wait for the report of a Joint Parliamentary Committee on this.
Nearly 18 months after India's most wounding terror strike, Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kasab was Thursday sent to the gallows for his role in the killing spree that took the lives of 166 people with a special court ruling in a much-awaited judgement that he had forfeited the right to live. Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani gave him death on four counts -- waging war against India, murder, conspiracy to commit murder and indulging in terrorist activities.
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This refers to the report "Maoists kill 9 SOG jawans in Orissa landmine blast" and the Op-Ed article "Troop fatality figures show changing Maoist strategy" (April 5) by Aman Sethi. The Maoists are virtually ruling parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. They indulge in mindless killing and looting while professing that their fight is for the uplift of the underdog and the release of the oppressed from the 'clutches' of the landlords, moneylenders and the police. If not immediately contained, the Maoist movement could lead to a form of civil war.
G.V.S. Lakshmi,
Visakhapatnam
While the dastardly act in Orissa points to the Maoists' growing strength, the government seems to have no blueprint to curb the menace. The Centre passes the blame to the States.
Naxalism is a fallout of poverty, unemployment and regional imbalances. The government and the ultras should come to the negotiating table to address the problems of the poor tribal people.
N. R. Ramachandran,
Udhagamandalam
The brutal killing is a grim reminder that peace and stability cannot be brought to naxal-infested regions easily. Instead of using repressive measures, the government should sort out the problem by calling the Maoists for negotiations.
Shafaque Alam,
New Delhi
The report of the killings is disturbing. It is time to ponder whether the use of police and security forces to fight the Maoists is sufficient. Our declared policy of not using the Army against the Maoists is being taken advantage of. The killing of civilians and security forces in large numbers continues. We must raise a special army battalion to fight the Maoists.
M.K.B. Nambiar,
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/06/stories/2010040655971000.htm**
- Has it ever occurred to you that we gloat over the US getting its Baradar and Haqqani in Pakistan but can't get one stupid Kishenji in our own country? While Kishenji isn't the military supremo of the Maoists, getting him is important to correct the distorted media narrative of LWE menace in this country.
- After Congress in Andhra Pradesh and Shibu Soren in Jharkhand, Nitish Kumar is now trying out the time-tested formula of electoral success with Maoist collusion. The tacit support of Maoists sought by Nitish Kumar is reminiscent of PDP's soft-separatist anti-India stand in Kashmir valley to get the votes of the Jamaitis and of Akalis in Punjab in the 1980s to get electoral patronage of the supporters of the Khalistan movement.
- While anti-Maoist operations in Orissa and West Bengal suffer due to lack of capacity, it is the lack of political will that is stalling anti-Maoist operations in Jharkhand and Bihar. Anti-Maoist operations have been most successful in Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh due to a combination of political will and capacity accretion in the security infrastructure in those states.
- Finally, let us paraphrase JF Kennedy and remember it. We should not be afraid to negotiate with the Maoists, but let us never negotiate out of fear.
- http://pragmatic.nationalinterest.in/2010/02/20/maoist-menace-random-thoughts/
| Manmohan reiterates Naxalism as greatest internal security threat | |
| Maoist menace worries PM | |
| New Delhi, Sep 16, DH News Service: | |
 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday admitted that his government was failing in the battle against Maoist extremism, and said Leftwing violence in the affected states continued to be on the rise.Describing Leftwing extremism as " the gravest internal security threat" to the nation – the second time he has said so in as many years – Singh made "a frank" admission that not much success has been achieved "to contain the menace". Stating that he has been consistently holding Leftwing extremism to be the most serious threat to internal security, Singh said it was a matter of concern that the level of violence in the affected states "continues to rise". Singh's observations were made in his address to the three-day annual meeting of state directors-general of police and inspectors-general of police, organised by the Intelligence Bureau, here. The prime minister said dealing with Leftwing extremism required a nuanced strategy and a holistic approach. It cannot be treated simply as a law and order problem. "Despite its sanguinary nature, the movement manages to retain the support of a section of the tribal communities and the poorest of the poor in many affected areas. It has influence among certain sections of the civil society, the intelligentsia and the youth. It still retains a certain élan. All this adds to the complexity of the problem. I expect you to keep this in mind as you devise newer and better strategies to deal with this problem", Singh said. He referred to the increasing influence of Maoist rebels in vast swathes of the country. According to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, they had presence in 18 of the 28 states and were responsible for 90 per cent of the violence in the country. "I have consistently held that in many ways, Leftwing extremism is, perhaps, the gravest internal security threat our country faces. We have not achieved as much success as we would have liked in containing this menace. It is a matter of concern that despite our efforts, the level of violence in the affected states continues to rise", Singh said in one of the most candid admissions of the government's failure in containing Maoist expansion. While maintaining that levels of violence had come down appreciably in Jammu and Kashmir and was at its lowest level since the beginning of insurgency in the late 1980s, the Prime Minister said there were other worrying signs. In this content, he cautioned that infiltration across the Line of Control and also via other routes such as Nepal, Bangladesh and the sea was going up. "Encounters with armed militants have become more frequent in recent weeks and months," he said. "Secessionist and militant groups within the state are again attempting to make common cause with outside elements and have embarked on a series of protest movements. The intention apparently is to create an impression of widespread turmoil in the state. We must not allow such a situation to develop. It is imperative that these efforts are contained and checked", he said. The situation in the northeastern parts of the country, the Prime Minister warned, was far from satisfactory. He called for creating "a new-age policeman" who would be more professional, better-motivated, suitably empowered, well-trained, one who placed greater emphasis on technology for investigation and other tasks. "Our police forces must operate on the frontiers of modern technology," he said. | |
| Provide basic facilities to tribals to tackle naxalism: Seer | |
| Udupi, May 6, DHNS: | |
Pejawar mutt seer Sri Vishweshatheertha strongly urged that if the State government is really serious to curtail the naxal activities and bring the affected tribal people into the mainstream, it should take all earnest steps to issue land right certificates to those tribal people living in the forest areas. | |
| Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, he said that he had received a lot of complaints from the tribal families living in the forest areas where naxal activities are active. Though the revenue and forest officials have assured to issue land right certificates, no steps have been taken by the government in this regard. The naxalites who are active in these areas have taken this dreary attitude of the government to their advantage and are provoking the local tribal youths against the government. Rather than bullets, what is needed today is providing required facilities to the tribal section to prevent naxal menace, he said. Several tribal families in the deep forest areas still don't have basic facilities like electricity, water, bridges and proper roads. The government and voluntary service organisations should come forward to fulfil their long standing needs to build confidence and faith over the government efforts and take away from joining the naxals. If the basic needs of the tribal section living in the interior forests areas were fulfiled, the naxalites activities in these areas would totally come down. Such efforts would, in the long run, definitely bring changes in the minds of youth to turn away from naxalism, he added. While replying a query on the handbills by the naxalites found yesterday in Sringeri criticising the works of Pejawar seer in the naxal affected areas of Chikmagalur and Shimoga districts, the pontiff said that there was no need for him to get any publicity as he was not contesting any election. Whenever occasion arose, he had jumped voluntarily into social service as in the case of floods and draught. On the contrary, large number of tribal people who were pleased by his works have expressed that they would come in thousands to support him in his fight against SEZ and thermal plant, the seer said. Replying to another query, he said that he was ready to act as mediator in the discussions with the naxalites to bring permanent solution to the existing problems. He has also indicated this to the naxal groups active in the Western Ghat region, he said. The pontiff said that during the current year, he had spent about Rs 15 lakh for providing facilities such as electricity, drinking water and irrigation water facilities in several naxal affected interior villages in Chikmagalur district. Here majority are tribal community people, scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people besides Muslims, Christians and Jain community people who are living there for a long period. An average of Rs 15 lakh for the welfare activities of tribal and other poor sections living in the naxal affected areas is being spent since last three years, he said. | |
|
Previously, the United Nations has supervised Maoist's activities under a 2006 deal that ended a decade-long civil war between the government and the rebel group.
Reportedly, more than 19,000 ex-fighters are waiting to get back in action if UNMIN resumes to take in favor of Nepal government.
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