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Mar 17, 2007

Three labourers die in mysterious condition

Sasaram, March 17: Three labourers were found dead in mysterious condition last night in Gadwa district of Jharkhand.

Ten labourers allegedly retired to bed after taking food out of which three died in suspicious condition. Two labourers are still in under critical condition.

Initially doctors have suspected to a food poisoning case but foul play is also not ruled out.

However, the administration has refused to make any comments in the case.

http://www.saharasamay.com/samayhtml/articles.aspx?newsid=72002

Govt gropes in dark as Naxalite menace rages on

Shortly after the killing of Jharkhand MP Sunil Mahato by Naxalites on March 4, Union home minister Shivraj Patil admitted to lack of coordination between the Centre and extremism-hit states in counter-operations. But what he did not touch upon is that it is exactly this operational synergy that is the strong point of CPI(Maoist) cadres.

This perfect coordination among the Left-wing extremists, now spread over 182 districts across 16 states, has been touched upon by the intelligence agencies in their recent reports. The Naxalites, whose armoury is replete with weapons looted from the police, are now putting them to good use by organising their guerrilla fighters, by now ace marksmen in the stolen SLRs and INSAS rifles, into six "companies" (nearly 600 cadres).

Not only this, the military precision with which the Naxalite guerrillas operate is best demonstrated by the fact that these 6 companies are scattered across different locations in Abujmarh forests and come together only shortly before a major attack is to be launched.

It is therefore little surprise that the Chattisgarh armed police and SPOs housed in a police outpost in Rani Bodli village of Bijapur were caught unawares when nearly 400 Naxalites, armed with grenades, guns and even gensets to light the surroundings, descended in the early hours of Thursday.

The time of attack was carefully chosen: barring the sentry and personnel deployed for night vigil, the policemen and SPOs were fast asleep in their barracks. Also, the purpose was to inflict maximum casualty on SPOs, armed civilians drafted by the police to counter Naxals, so as to discourage popular uprisings like Salwa Judum.

Naxalites rained bullets and lobbed grenades, killing 55 of the 70 policemen lodged in the outpost. Though the Chattisgarh police claimed to have engaged the Naxalites and liquidated 10-12 of them, most of the attackers were able to retreat into the jungles, that too after blocking their trail with landmines.

Military precision, indeed! Cut to our response. As if the heavy police casualty was not bad enough, it is now learnt that the SOS messages sent to the neighbouring CRPF outposts were of little help as reinforcements arrived much after the Naxalite attackers had retreated. This is hardly surprising as the forces often have to travel on foot, not only because of the dense forest undergrowth but also for fear of landmines.

A helicopter was sent in, but only to evacuate the injured. Mr Patil, while making a statement on the attack in Parliament on Friday, declared the UAVs had been made available to the state government, but what he did not say is that these UAVs were out of use for the last 15-20 days owing to some technical glitches.

In any case, the data collected by UAVs is not being followed up with immediate operations. Naxals, who had their anti-UAV measures like hiding under thicker foliage and keeping their camps mobile, in place even before the Centre inducted them, are going strong given that the UAVs are not supplemented with adequate security manpower or force multipliers like helicopters to airdrop para-military troops for expeditious action on Naxal hideouts mapped by the UAVs.

Nandigram erupts again

The Nandigram SEZ site in CPM-ruled West Bengal became the symbol of anti-reform violence in India last week with the death of 14 people and injuries to over 63 in police firing there. While unofficial figures put the toll at much higher, the killing of a large number of women and children and the images of police brutality against villagers, ostensibly farmers, evoked horror.

West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Mahatma's grandson, "expressed a sense of cold horror" at the incident, Parliament was rocked by the deaths and the CPM, one of the biggest votaries of "pro-poor" rhetoric in politics, got sharply criticised by friends and foes alike.

Political opponents of the CPM claimed that the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee administration had unleashed terror on farmers protesting against the acquisition of their land by the state for the SEZ project.

The CPM claimed Nandigram had become a lawless area with the state administration being kept out of region and said it was high time police was allowed to restore peace in the area. To justify the violence against villagers, the party also claimed 'armed outsiders' and Naxalities had attacked the police which forced them to retaliate.

This explanation, however, did not convince even the party's own allies in West Bengal. With pressure mounting on the government, Mr Bhattacharjee put all SEZ projects on hold in the state. At the Centre, the incident led to call for a re-evaluation of SEZs norms and land acquisition procedures.

All in all Nandigram became a precedent for all that could go wrong with reform initiatives in rural India. The incident could very well redefine the way governments approach land acquisition for SEZs and other developmental projects.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Magazines/The_Sunday_ET/The_Week_That_
Was/Govt_gropes_in_dark_as_Naxalite_menace_rages_on/articleshow/msid-1775341,
curpg-2.cms

Bihar generates zero power at present

Patna, March 16 (IANS) It is official now. Bihar generates no power of its own, State Energy Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav has admitted.

"The state's own power generation is zero at present. We have a demand of 1,500 MW and the state is getting about 800-900 MW from the central pool," said Yadav.

Taking transmission losses into account, the demand-supply gap in Bihar is nearly 600 MW.

According to Yadav, Bihar's two thermal power plants - at Kanti in Muzaffarpur and Barauni in Begusarai district - are under maintenance. The minister said the government was hopeful that both the Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station (MTPS) and the Barauni Thermal Power Station (BTPS) would start functioning to full capacity soon.

He blamed the previous Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) government led by Rabri Devi for not doing anything for generating power following the state's bifurcation in 2000.

"The government has initiated efforts to augment our own power generation capacity, but it is a time consuming process and the state will have to wait for some time before power generation starts," Yadav said Thursday in the state assembly replying to a debate on a cut motion for his department's 2007-08 budget demand.

Official sources in the state energy department told IANS Friday that power generation would start only by the year-end.

The combined installed capacity of the two power plants is 540 MW.

Yadav said the government has initiated a move to set up hydropower generation units in the state. Some private investors are said to have shown keen interest in the project.

Besides, the state's last hope for power lies with the proposed setting up of a nuclear power plant with a 2000 MW capacity.

The poor power situation is evident as power cuts are regular in the state capital even in winter. Most of the 37 district headquarters and small towns remain in darkness as they hardly get four to five hours of power supply in a day.

http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/march/16/india_news/bihar_generates_zero
_power_at_present.html

Private schools not to run in residences

PATNA: Bad news for private schools running in residences of the city. The state government has decided to remove all such schools from their places of existence for having violated the prescribed norms for opening such institutions.

The government admitted in the state legislative council on Friday that eight private schools functioned in the residences of the North and South S K Puri locality alone.

Moreover, five of them had even been granted no-objection certificates (NOCs) for CBSE/ICSE affiliation, it added.

While replying to a question of Jagannath Rai in the council, HRD minister Brishen Patel said that the government has decided to remove all private schools running in residences soon.

Council's acting Chairman Arun Kumar said that all such schools have violated the prescribed norms of the CBSE\ICSE.

They do not have adequate space for classrooms, playgrounds, libraries and laboratories, Kumar said during the government's reply.

He also sought to know how the government issued NOCs to these schools. The CBSE never grants recognition to schools violating the prescribed norms, he added.

Shiv Prasanna Yadav of the JD(U) informed the House that a private school had been running in a multi-storied apartment at Punaichak for the last one year.

He said that there are two gates in the apartment but only one remains open during the school hours.

CPI's Kedar Pandey sought to know whether the government itself follows the prescribed norms prior to granting NOCs to private schools.

Tanvir Hasan suggested the government to conduct inspection of such schools on a regular basis.

The HRD minister said that the Common School System Commission would soon submit its report to the government.

After the receipt of its report, the government would put a check on the mushroom growth of private schools in the state, he added.

Students' union poll: The state government has decided to hold the long-awaited students' union elections in the various universities of the state soon. The Bihar government is working out a strategy to conduct peaceful polls in the universities of Bihar.

Project schools: The government has decided to set up 250 project schools in the state. Replying to a short-notice question of Basudeo Singh of the CPM, HRD minister Brishen Patel said in the council that all the project schools would be upgraded to plus two level.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Cities/Patna/Private_schools_not_to_run_in_
residences/articleshow/1774071.cms

Assam: Separatists' killing of migrants provides pretext for continuing state repression

In a coordinated series of attacks in January, the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) murdered at least 62 migrant workers in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam.

The ULFA bases itself on an exclusivist "anti-immigrant" ideology and has a long record of attacking non-Assamese, especially poor migrants from Bangladesh and from Bihar and other Indian states, who have moved, or whose ancestors moved, to Assam in the hopes of eking out a living.

Between January 5 and 7, the ULFA shot dead some 48 people in eastern and upper Assam. Earlier three people had been killed and more than 20 injured in a string of bomb blasts. The month ended as it began with the ULFA gunning down two workers on January 29.

Most of the victims of these attacks were highly oppressed Bihari migrants or the descendants of Bihari migrants—brick kiln workers, cow herders, petty traders and day labourers. While the ULFA targets the Biharis as "outsiders," much of Assam's Bihari population has in fact lived in the state for three and even four generations.

On January 8 hundreds marched in Bihar and burned effigies of Tarun Gogoi, Assam's chief minister and state Congress Party leader. The protesters demanded that Assam's state government do more to ensure the safety of Bihari workers and their families in Assam.

The ULFA, in the December 20 issue of its organ Freedom, scapegoated migrant workers declaring, "Illegal migrants from the rest of the country have threatened the existence of the state." Similarly its mid-January issue warned: "Again we appeal to those people coming from colonial India to stay away during this conflict period. We also appeal to all concerned, whether Hindi-speaking or not, not to cooperate with the occupational forces to carry on oppression and repression in Asom (Assam) so as to ruin the national liberation struggle."

The ULFA claims that on January 1 and 2 the Bihar regiment of the Indian army killed five ULFA members and demolished the houses of several innocents after receiving information from "Hindi-speaking people."

Following the ULFA's early January killing spree, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid a visit to the state. While there, he declared, "The Government of India is firm in its resolve to work with the people and the state government to ensure that terrorist groups do not succeed in their nefarious designs. There will be no compromise with these groups if they resort to violence."

As a political gesture, Manmohan Singh suggested the government might be open to resuming negotiations with the ULFA: "At the same time, I would like to reiterate that the doors for dialogue are open to all disaffected groups—including the ULFA—which are willing to abjure violence."

Various Indian governments and the ULFA have engaged in on-again/off-again peace talks for years. There has been a marked increase in ULFA attacks since last September, when India's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government cancelled the most recent "truce," having declared that the latest round of negotiations with the ULFA had ended in failure.

Since the latest ULFA atrocities, thousands of Hindi-speaking migrants, primarily from the neighbouring state of Bihar, have fled Assam. Many others have been forced to seek refuge in dilapidated government-run camps.

ULFA—born of separatist reaction

The ULFA was formed in 1979 in the wake of an exclusivist agitation by the All-Assam Student Union (AASU) against Bangladeshi "immigrant" workers. (In fact the state border between Assam and Bangladesh was only erected in 1947, when South Asia's departing British colonial overlords connived with the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League to divide the subcontinent along communal lines into a Muslim Pakistan and a Hindu India.)

At its founding in 1979 as now, the ULFA claims to be waging a "national liberation struggle" of the Assamese against "colonial rulers" in New Delhi.

With several million Hindi speaking people migrating to Assam from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh over the past quarter century, the ULFA has, however, redirected its exclusivist violence, making the Biharis and other Hindi-speakers, not migrants from Bangladeshi, its targets of choice.

The ULFA's virulent campaign against migrants serves simultaneously to divide the Assamese workers from their class brethren in India and to pressure the Indian government to grant Assam some form of political autonomy if not outright independence. Publicly the ULFA declares its aim to be nothing less than full independence for Assam.

Assam, like other states in India's northeast, has for decades suffered under the jackboot of the security forces that New Delhi has dispatched to the region to fight various separatist insurgencies.

Although Assam is rich in minerals, petroleum and forest resources, the state remains largely undeveloped and poverty and unemployment are rampant. Quite simply, the Indian bourgeoisie and a parasitic local elite have siphoned off much of the wealth generated from Assam's resources for themselves.

Indian state repression and economic underdevelopment are the main causes for the growth of separatist sentiment, not just in Assam but across the north-east.

The ULFA draws the bulk of its support from unemployed youth and students, particularly in rural areas where poverty and unemployment are especially severe. Outlawed in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the ULFA operates from camps near or on the other side of India's borders with Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan.

The ULFA's political perspective is geared towards creating a local elite that can exploit the state's resources and labour power for its own enrichment. Thus it utilizes separatism to split the Assamese-speaking working class from those who speak Hindi and pejoratively dubs the latter as "foreigners."

Seizing upon the recent attacks, the ruling Congress-led UPA and Assam state governments have launched yet another anti-ULFA counterinsurgency campaign. "No quarter" will be "given to the ULFA," declared Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, following a meeting with Tarun Gogoi and Indian Army commander J.J. Singh in the neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The government has deployed tens of thousands of personnel from various military and paramilitary forces to step up operations against the ULFA in both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. As in the north-western state of Jammu and Kashmir, such operations invariably result in Indian security forces murdering or detaining innocents, stoking wider resentment that in turn feeds the anti-Indian insurgency.

The Indian elite is keen to stamp out the insurgency in Assam and the northeast so as to implement its "look-east policy"—a dramatic expansion of trade and investment ties with Southeast Asia. New Delhi is especially eager to improve relations with Myanmar (formerly Burma) so as to gain access to the country's large natural gas deposits and so as to counteract China's aggressive courting of the Myanmar military regime.

The Indian government has asked Myanmar's military government to assist it in clamping down on the ULFA. To date, the Myanmar military has taken a noncommittal stand, asking India to provide it with information as to the location of ULFA camps.

Similarly the Indian government has pressured Bhutan to act against the ULFA. In response, the kingdom launched a frontal assault against ULFA cadres encamped in border areas of Bhutan last year.

Indirect talks between the Indian government and ULFA broke down last September when the separatist group demanded the release of five of its jailed leaders as a precondition for entering into direct negotiations with the central government. The Indian government, for its part, refused to extend the ceasefire declared to facilitate the indirect talks unless the ULFA gave a written commitment to hold direct talks.

After the negotiations unravelled, Paresh Barua, leader of the ULFA's military wing, told the BBC: "We wanted the negotiations to continue for a final settlement.... But Delhi has shown its true colours by resuming military operations."

The opposition parties in the state—including the Asom Gana Parishad, the Hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Asom Gana Parisahad (Progressive) and the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF)—have demanded that the central government impose presidential rule in Assam, that is they have called on New Delhi to sack the current state government. This antidemocratic demand is an attempt to exploit mass anger in the state against the ULFA's ethnic killings so as to give the security forces carte blanche to mount a campaign of terror and violence.

The ULFA's exclusivist politics, as manifested in its targeting of poor migrant workers, are deeply reactionary. However it needs to be emphasized that the root cause of the conflict in Assam is the inability of the Indian bourgeoisie and its political representatives to address the region's longstanding socioeconomic problems and its use of draconian repression—murder and mass detentions—to safeguards its venal rule.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/assa-m17.shtml

West Bengal drops low-tax hub plan after protests

KOLKATA (Reuters) - Ruling communists in West Bengal on Saturday dropped plans to build a low-tax industrial hub on farm land, three days after 14 people died in clashes between police and villagers.

The decision to move the project to another location in the state set off celebrations and fresh protests.

The communists and their allies said the special economic zone (SEZ) and industrial hub would no longer be built at Nandigram, 150 km south of Kolkata.

"There has been a lot of bloodshed and the left partners decided in a meeting to shift the SEZ from Nandigram," Left Front chairman Biman Bose told reporters.

India is developing the SEZs tax havens to lure foreign investors and close the gap with China's manufacturing, but many villigers in West Bengal and elsewhere are unhappy with the compensation being offered for their land.

Bose said the process would begin soon to "bring peace back in Nandigram" and police would be withdrawn in phases.

Officers opened fire in Nandigram on Wednesday after farmers and activists attacked them as they tried to enter an area set aside for the park, officials said. Fourteen people -- including at least three women -- died.

Siddiqullah Choudhury, chief of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind, a Muslim group leading the protests, said: "We have taught the government a lesson they will never forget. You cannot play with the lives of innocent villagers."

A Bengali-language TV channel showed people dancing in Nandigram as they waved flags of leading opposition party Trinamul Congress and shouted slogans.

The park was to be built with the help of Indonesian conglomerate the Salim Group.

In another sign of unrest, farmers beat up government officials who were measuring land for an industrial project in Deganga, 60 km north of Kolkata.

In neighbouring Orissa, about 500 villagers marched to protest against a proposed $12 billion steel plant by South Korea's POSCO Co. Ltd., which has also been hit by violence over the purchase of farm land.

Holding bamboo sticks, protesters shouted slogans, saying they would not allow POSCO to start the project, and tore down billboards welcoming the steelmaker, witnesses said.

"The decision to stall the acquisition of farm land for industry will have a ripple effect on similar movements," said Abhirup Sarkar, an economist at the Indian Statistical Institute.

"Wherever landless labourers are in a majority the government will face similar problems," he added.

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-03-
17T213037Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-291351-3.xml

Govt seeks report on delayed POSCO steel project

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government has asked authorities in Orissa for a progress report on a planned $12 billion investment by South Korean steelmaker POSCO Co. Ltd., which has been hit by delays.

The firm has faced stiff opposition from local villagers over acquiring land and has also been unable to secure a lease for an iron ore mine to feed the proposed steel mill.

Senior Orissa officials met on Friday with members of the mining and steel ministries to discuss the project and progress made, including plans for a mining lease, a senior government official, who could not be named, told Reuters.

"We have asked the Orissa government officials to give us more detailed information within 10 days," he said.

The handover of a mining lease to POSCO has become tricky with state-run Kudremukh Iron Ore Co. Ltd. staking a claim in the courts for a mine state officials have suggested should be leased to the Korean firm, the official added.

"Ultimately, the state government has to satisfy the conflicting claims," the official said.

Last month, POSCO said it was unlikely to secure enough land for the complex until September, five months after it had hoped to begin construction.

The steel complex proposed for eastern Orissa state would be India's largest single foreign investment and would be built on land held by both the state administration and local people.

Company officials told Reuters in October they had been able to acquire only 1,135 acres due to the protests.

Last week at least 50 people were injured near the proposed POSCO site during clashes.

In October police arrested 70 people as they protested POSCO's plans in Orissa, saying the proposed plant would displace 20,000 villagers from their homes and farms.

The government says only 500 families would be affected and that thousands of jobs created in a largely poor and undeveloped part of the country.

POSCO, the world's third-largest steelmaker, needs 4,000 acres of land for its Indian venture, which it hoped to have signed for by April. Work was to begin immediately.

Despite the delay, a spokeswoman said earlier the project's first phase would be commissioned by the end of 2010 as planned.

The South Korean steel company signed a contract in 2005 to build the Orissa plant, which eventually should produce 12 million tonnes of steel a year.

Availability of raw materials such as iron and coal and a booming domestic market drew the global steel major to India.

http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/news.asp?id=291215

SC issues notice to Reliance discoms in Orissa

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notices to three Reliance Energy-controlled power distribution companies on a petition by Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission, which had earlier faulted the discoms for failing to repay their creditors.

A Bench headed by Justice BN Agarwal, in a recent order, issued notices to the discoms, Western Electricity Company of Orissa, Southern Electricity Company of Orissa and North Eastern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa, in which Reliance Energy owns 51 per cent stake.

The petitioner had approached the Supreme Court, challenging the order of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, which had quashed showcause notices issued to these discoms by the regulatory commission (OERC).

According to OERC, the Tribunal was not right in interfering with the commission's proceedings at a stage where it had only issued showcause notices.

The notices were issued after prima facie conclusion that the discoms were unable to discharge their functions and perform duties under the Electricity Act, 2003.

It had held that the discoms had failed to pay Grid Corporation of Orissa and others creditors, including NTPC Ltd, for bulk supply of electricity. Besides, the distribution utilities had failed to act as per their business plans.

OERC argued that non-payment of the dues by these discoms meant that they were not in a position to carry on the business and maintain supply of electricity in their respective areas.

The OERC had, in its notice, asked the discoms why their licences should not be suspended and wanted them to file their replies. However, the companies approached the Tribunal, which quashed the notices.

The regulator argued before the Supreme Court that it was not right in construing that the commission's order had the effect of suspending the licences granted to discoms.

"The obligation of respondents is not limited to say that they would pay what they are able to pay... they are not in a position to pay because they are not able to realise the dues from the retail supply consumers.

"This is contrary to the terms on which the distribution and retail supply activities were vested in them and the agreements as Bulk Supply Agreement, Loan Agreement etc, signed by them," OERC stated in its petition filed through counsel KV Mohan.

A consumer, Sharad Chandra Mohanty, had moved the State Commission seeking revocation of the licences granted to discoms for violations.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1085215

7 families ostracised as girls take HSC exam

BALANGIR: Seven families of the Chakotia Bhunjia tribe in Orissa have been ostracised by their community for breaking rules — allowing their daughters to appear for the HSC examination.

Tribals of Sanbahali village in Sunabeda sanctuary ostracised the families after Chandini Chhatria, Jayashri Jhankar and Tribeni Jhankar, who could not succeed in the examination last year, appeared for it again this year.

Another girl Laila Chhatria also appeared along with them. Education is not encouraged among tribals.

It was only a few years ago that some Chakotia Bhunjia boys appeared for the HSC examination for the first
time.

Nowadays, girls are also being sent to school but dropout once they attain puberty, said Kama Chhatria, a tribal.
The community is enraged as some families have allowed their daughters to sit for the examination.

"We have ostracised them because they didn't follow our customs and traditions. They also sent their daughters outside the village to appear for the test, which is against our tradition," said another member Chaitanya Jhankar.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/7_families_ostracised_as_girls_take_
HSC_exam/articleshow/1775514.cms

Five Maoist rebels shot in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: Police shot five Maoists in the forested region of southern Chhattisgarh on Saturday during a gun battle that lasted for two hours, officials said.

The encounter took place in the remote part of Bijapur, 510 km south of the state capital Raipur, where Maoist guerrillas carried out the biggest assault on a police camp on March 15, killing 55 policemen.

"The gun battle between police forces and rebels broke out in the forested Farsegarh area in Bijapur on Saturday afternoon, and five rebels were shot dead," a police officer said, adding "one body was recovered while the ultras carried away four bodies into the forest."

Maoists hold sway in Chhattisgarh's southern area in the hilly and interior Bastar region for at least three decades. It has witnessed a sudden rise in insurgency since June 2005 when thousands of local tribals launched a civil militia movement 'Salwa Judum' against Maoist extremists.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Five_Maoist_rebels_shot_in_Chhattisgarh
/articleshow/1775040.cms

The Chhattisgarh War in India

War has pretty much broken out in Chhattisgarh but everybody is too busy playing ostrich to acknowledge it.

The headlines in every newspaper across India today featured reports of a massacre carried out in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh by a group of naxalites led by the State Military Commission (Maoist). They were reportedly supported by sections of the CPI (Maoist).

Of the 55 individuals (and counting) killed, the majority were tribal youths who were part of a counter insurgency effort. Most of these men were murdered in their sleep and there seems to be some question as to why their calls for reinforcement were not heeded especially when the entire region is undergoing something of a crisis.

The political game is in full swing and events in neighboring West Bengal's Nandigram district have already pushed this atrocity to the second or third story of the day on most TV channels. Nobody should be especially surprised because India's callousness towards her men in uniform should by now be well known.

And by India, I do not only point a finger at the government or the political class. I mean we the ordinary citizens of India. Just look at our armed forces: when it suits our purpose they are the heroes we can't get enough of; otherwise who really cares? In other countries, it would have been a matter of vociferous public debate if defense personnel were routinely committing suicide, indulging in public acts of violence and shooting each other dead over trivial matters. In India, hardly anybody wants to talk about the kind of psychological crisis this points toward. And mind you, we are a nation that relies heavily on our armed forces.

Policemen figure even lower on the totem pole. We can expect a couple of days of posturing, offers of financial rewards and a promise of employment from the government in question but then what?

Where is the outrage that should by rights be fueling a coordinated region wide attack against the kind of scum that carried out this massacre? I'm a generally peaceful person and I don't ever advocate the use of violence lightly. But I'm sick and tired of watching fat cat politicians offer mealy-mouthed excuses and dole out money in lieu of producing actual results. If they were really serious about the naxalite threat then the states of the northeast should be working in tandem.

Rather, they seem bent upon bolstering the naxalite movement by dithering all over the place and creating god-sent (Mao-sent?) opportunities like Nandigram. As of right now, they haven't got the kind of wide spread support that tore Nepal apart but how long will this situation last?

But it important that we not forget that these people would not have won the numbers they have to their cause had it not been for the political set up in the region that has always supported violent rebellion and fostered cultural unrest.

According to Reuters, Last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the insurgency was the gravest threat to India's internal security since independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Does he imagine it sprung up out of nowhere? Not that I completely blame him for his blinkered statements. There are plenty of ordinary citizens who are all too eager to rub their hands in glee at watching the Communist chicken come home to roost and see this as "their problem".

This is not their problem. This is our problem.

We spend so much of our time bickering amongst each other on paltry issues that we have no energy or perspective left when it comes to things that really matter. Look at ULFA. They target civilians as well as men and women in uniform. The Republic of India has been fighting them on their terms for years but refuses still to address the root causes that maintain their support systems in the state. Everything is too little and too late.

In a week's time, this murder of 55 men will hardly be remembered. In six months, you will need to reminded of the incident. In a year, you'll need to ask Google for clarification. But these are real people, fellow citizens who are being mourned in fifty-five different households in Chattisgarh today. Do we hold life so cheap in this country that we cannot even find the time to question why they had to die?

http://desicritics.org/2007/03/16/122744.php

news@jharkhand.org.uk Jharkhand News Network www.jharkhand.org.uk

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