[Reader-list] Lalgarh --> Another wrong method to fight Naxalism

[Rakesh Iyer]

Another article which just re-states in a way what many here have said on
this forum: 'The state has been reducing the space for democratic protest'.
And sooner or later there will be a day, when every day there will be
blasts, one day by the Jehadis, one day by the Hindutva terrorists, one day
by the Naxalites who will think of targetting at will, one day by some
North-East based organization, one day by local hoodlums and so on, if the
space for dissent is hijacked by the state and not allowed at all.

Do read this.

*CURRENT AFFAIRS*   *guest column*

*Caught Between Two Sickles*

*A democratic protest against gross police brutality becomes a battlefield
for two equally callous foes – Trinamool and the Left*

*APARNA SEN*
*Filmmaker*
 [image: image]

*Frontlines* Aparna Sen (left) and other Swajan activists with Chatradhar
Mahato (right) in Lalgarh
*Photo:* PINTU PRADHAN

THE SWAJAN group, of which I am a member, went to Lalgarh despite pressing
personal commitments simply because we felt that it was incumbent upon us.
Swajan, which means ‘your kin,’ includes poet Joy Goswami, his wife Kaberi
Goswami, Shaonli Mitra, Arpita Ghosh, myself, Kaushik Sen, Professor Bolan
Gangopadhyay and Prasun Bhaumik. Swajan is made up of people from diverse
backgrounds, including writers, theatre personalities and academics. We are
not affiliated with any political group and this is our greatest strength as
it means we do not have any axe to grind. Our politics is entirely
issue-based. Nandigram was the catalyst and we came together after the
atrocities committed there.

There is always a great tussle between the opposition and the ruling party,
but the point is that the state doesn’t belong just to the opposition or the
ruling party. It’s ours. In order to protect democracy, we, as citizens,
must step in. It is important for intellectuals to be involved.

We had been hearing many contradictory reports for a while. The Trinamool
camp says the CPM is concocting everything, while the CPM says the Trinamool
is concocting everything in collusion with the Maoists. We don’t believe
either side. On top of that, the press reports different things. That’s why
we decided to investigate Lalgarh by ourselves.

When we got to Lalgarh, we found the villagers terrorised because they were
caught in the crossfire between the Maoists, the police and the state
administration. It all started with the landmine blast by the Maoists in
November 2008 when they tried to kill the chief minister. As guerrillas do,
the Maoists left the area but the villagers had to bear the brunt of the
state’s anger. There was a lot of police brutality. Pregnant women were
kicked in the stomach and a woman called Chitamoni Murmu lost her eyesight
in the violence. As a result, the villagers formed the People’s Committee
Against Police Brutality (PCAPB). We met their leader, Chatradhar Mahato who
had told us in Kolkata earlier that in 32 years of Left rule, the government
had not done a thing for Lalgarh.

Lalgarh is really backward. There is no sanitation, no schools, no proper
medical centre, not even electricity. In this age of globalisation, you
can’t expect people to be deprived and remain silent. Their demand is for
development. It is well known that wherever there is deprivation, the
Maoists step in. They provide money and medicine and thus insidiously
infiltrate a community. The villagers are very scared because on the one
hand there is the police and on the other hand there are the Maoists. The
villagers had boycotted the police and the Maoists had apparently even
captured some of the police *thanas. *But it’s not very easy to know what
exactly happened because there are so many contradictory reports.

On Sunday, June 21, the day we went to Lalgarh, we heard from the villagers
and from some journalists that some villagers under the jurisdiction of the
Belpahari police *thana,* had been tortured. Women were dragged out of their
homes and stripped. We heard that their *saris* were hoisted up and they
were hit on their private parts. A boy of seven had his bones broken. The
worst account is that the police defecated and urinated in the villagers’
meagre store of drinking water. As a result of all this, the villagers left
home and went to the relief camps. They were very scared and said that they
had dug up the roads and blocked them with trees to stop the police. They
insist that theirs is a peaceful, democratic and legitimate movement against
police brutality and demanded that the police apologise. The police weren’t
even allowing the wounded to be taken to hospital. In fact, while we were
with Chattradhar Mahato, we heard him repeatedly asking on his mobile, “Has
the patient been taken to the hospital?” Everyone was scared to do so
because of the threat of police brutality on the way. They are also scared
of the Maoists and did not dare speak out against them. They insist that
theirs is a separate movement and say that they cannot help it if Maoists
hiding in the forest shoot from there. It’s true that there is a lot of
infiltration of Maoists and other parties in the villages. And it is also
true that the CPM *panchayat* has taken a lot of money. Whatever money comes
from the Centre is stolen by the Panchayat pradhan.

We suggested that the villagers appeal to the Maoists. In fact, if we had
access to the Maoists we would have appealed to both parties to lay down
their arms. We don’t want CPM workers to be killed either. We don’t want the
torture or killing of any human being. Because we have no access to the
Maoists, we appealed to them through the media. We said that if they really
had the welfare of the villagers in mind, they should disarm and come
forward to the discussion table. We are appealing to the state government
also to ask their forces to lay down their arms and hold on at least till
the 14th of July, which is the next date for discussions. But all this is
falling on deaf ears.
 The worst account is that the police defecated and urinated in the scarce
drinking water of the villagers

WE SUGGESTED to the PCAPB that they state categorically in the press that
they have nothing to do with the Maoists, and to also appeal to the Maoists
not to interfere in the movement. But they don’t dare do that because they
are scared of the repercussions.

Swajan has written to P Chidambaram stating that Lalgarh has a long history
of deprivation and police brutality and as a result, people have lost faith
in the state administration. So it is important that a delegation be sent
from the Centre to mediate.
 If a democratic protest movement is silenced, people will not dare to
exercise their right to protest

The government is now saying that Swajan violated Section 144 of the CrPC.
But there was no way of knowing that Section 144 was in place. We had let
the administration know before we set out. Shaonli Mitra even spoke in
advance to Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty. All he said to her was,
“It’s better not to go today. Why don’t you go couple of days later? That’s
my request.” But he didn’t say, “Don’t go,” or say that Section 144 is in
force. There was no public notification either. The police stopped us
several times on the way to check the car and nobody said anything. This
charge of violating Section 144 has definitely been levelled
retrospectively.

The government is also saying we smuggled Maoists in our car. Even assuming
we had got in touch with the Maoists, where would we have hidden one? Our
cars were stopped and checked at every step. The government wants to frame
us somehow or the other and they are trying their best to do so.

It would be very sad if a legitimate democratic protest movement like the
PCAPB is equated with a terrorist group and is therefore quashed. People
will not dare to protest democratically if that happens.

 *From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 27, Dated July 11, 2009*




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