[Reader-list] NAXAL BRUTAL TERROR

Sat Apr 17 16:08:58 IST 2010

Dear All,

A wall was certainly built. It was a wall built out of the paper of  
Forestry Acts and Memoranda of Understanding with Mining Companies.  
They paved the way for many other kinds of walls. These paper walls,  
much more powerful than any wall of bricks or mortar, made people  
homeless in their own space. It was written on the paper walls that   
the dweller in the forest was an intruder. One day, she picked up  
firewood from the ground, the next day she did the same, one day she  
was a forager, the next day she was a thief. The words on the walls  
separated those two days from each other.

Then came the sentries, and the high priests of the words that were  
written on the paper walls. Forest guards came, then paramilitaries  
came, then came police and armed thugs to protect the paper wall. To  
man the watchtowers. To tell the forest dwellers that they must stay  
outside the wall, for their own good. Then came the TV channels and  
the patriots and the NGOs and the experts. They all admired the wall.  
No one said the wall needed to come down. Some tried to improve the  
handwriting on the paper. Some argued about the font size and  
italicization. Others said the papers needed to be copied and  
distributed.

The inhabitants of the forest looked around for a method to rebuild  
their homes that had been broken by the words on the paper walls.  
Some of them tried to fight words with words. Some petitioned. Some  
of them tried to lay seige to the consciences of others. None of this  
worked. Some words were heard, understood, others were dismissed, not  
listened to.

The paper wall grew stronger, deeper, thicker. Their words grew  
louder. The forest spoke. The forest sang. The forest warned. The  
forest cried. The forest whispered. The forest screamed. But the wall  
did not listen. And those who built the wall laughed out loud,  
thinking that paper was cement. That ink was stone. That their word  
was law.

This meant that they (the people of the forest) had to take down some  
of the watchtowers. This meant that when words failed, they found  
their way to guns. It seemed that when the guns spoke, the people  
manning the watchtowers listened. And so, when the guns came to them,  
the forest dwellers did not say no to the guns. They no longer had  
the words with which they could afford to say 'no, we do not need the  
guns'. Perhaps, if those who had built the wall, had listened, the  
guns that came to the people in the forest would have found no use.  
If you hold a gun, you stand in the line of fire. No one wants to be  
in the line of fire for no good reason. Right now.The wall needs to  
be taken down for any conversation to begin again.

Tear the paper that carries the MoUs, and maybe there can be some  
talking. So take the wall down. And the guns may fall silent. Words  
may begin again.  Or try and keep the wall, and invite the war to  
spread its cloak of silence. You don't need more development in the  
forests, perhaps you need less. At least less of the kind that is  
written up in the MoUs.

If the war crosses the forest and comes to the fields, if the war  
comes to the cities, it will be because the paper walls multiplied.  
Then those who wrote the words that made the paper walls rise will  
answer for the war. After all, they did not have to build the paper  
walls in the first place. They could have chosen to listen, when  
there was still time to listen. They might then say that they were  
sorry, but people may have forgotten the meaning of forgiveness by  
then. Guns have a way of making people forget how to speak and to  
listen. If the words you write on the paper walls you build bring  
guns into the conversation, then many other words will eventually die.

Try and listen for a change. Don't always think that your word is  
law.There may still be time.

best

Shuddha

On 17-Apr-10, at 3:59 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote:

> Dear Kshmendra,
>
>
>
> You are right. It is respected state govt. negligence since years that
> allowed to "build" wall and vote-bank politics made this wall  
> thicker and
> thicker and so we are suffering the sins. Just like negligence by  
> WB govt.
> allowing infiltrations of Bangladeshis to increase their vote bank  
> in the
> name of minor appeasement and their sins are suffering whole India,  
> since
> Bangladeshis spread almost all over India.
>
>
>
> Whatever, happened in the past, but it is time to rectify mistakes  
> and govt.
> making/wants to make some sincere efforts but few rationalists like  
> Aundhati
> Roy and few vote seeker politicians comes in between. Even maoist  
> made this
> as their business now and don't want to come out by conversation,  
> so they
> even did not allow infrastructure in their area or destroys if  
> made. So, it
> is time for govt. to take some hard action though it is painful step.
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Bipin
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Kshmendra Kaul [mailto:kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2010 2:51 PM
> To: sarai-list; Bipin Trivedi
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] NAXAL BRUTAL TERROR
>
>
>
>
> Dear Bipin
>
>
>
> You wrote : "Naxal/maoist army cadre has built a wall like (may be not
> physical wall in some areas) periphery and cornered that area where  
> army or
> even police cannot go there easily, so to built all above  
> infrastructure and
> provide facilities to their local people is remote
> possibilities."
>
>
>
> I agree. That is an appropiate description of the situation.
>
>
>
> What needs thinking is:
>
>
>
> 1. Did this "wall" exist when India becamje independent in 1947?  
> No, it did
> not. So what was it that allowed the Maoists/Naxals to build that  
> "wall"?
> Who ceded that space to them? Who allowed their violent-extremist  
> ideology
> to be propagated? Why were people attracted to it? Why did it  
> become an
> 'alternative' for people to adopt instead of subscribing to the  
> Constitution
> of India?
>
>
>
>     This is not a matter of the last 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 years, but a
> culmination of indifferent and/or corrupted governance since 1947.
>
>
>
> 2. If you think the above is a resonable argument then please  
> consider that
> breaking down or bulldozing that "wall" might by itself alone not be a
> solution. If the "root causes" are not addressed then it will be  
> only a
> matter of time that another "wall" comes up, and another, and another.
>
>
>
> 3. Wouldnt you agree that what needs to be done is to ensure that  
> no one
> lays the foundations for more such "walls"?
>
>
>
>     Wouldnt you agree that the route for that is to make available  
> competent
> governance, opportunities and an environment of justice?
>
>
>
> 4. Yes that will be an arduous task since the "walls" are strong  
> but that is
> an impediment of our own making since we allowed the "walls" to  
> come up in
> the first place through neglect and we have to suffer that  
> disadvantage. It
> is a punishment for our own sins.
>
>
>
> Kshmendra
>
>
>
> --- On Sat, 4/17/10, Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in> wrote:
>
>
> From: Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in>
> Subject: [Reader-list] NAXAL BRUTAL TERROR
> To: "sarai-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Saturday, April 17, 2010, 12:30 PM
>
> I believe that it is wrong to say that Naxal or Maoist are trying  
> to protect
> right of poor/tribal. As in case of terrorist or supporter of  
> terrorist
> (sleeper or active cell) are misguided by some terrorists group/wasted
> interest, same way naxal/maoist are acting with misguidance.
>
> Many argues that we should built infrastructure like school,  
> hospitals,
> roads, industries and other amenities in naxal affected districts  
> to provide
> essential amenities and employment. But, actual situation in all such
> district is very strange and different. Naxal/maoist army cadre has  
> built a
> wall like (may be not physical wall in some areas) periphery and  
> cornered
> that area where army or even police cannot go there easily, so to  
> built all
> above infrastructure and provide facilities to their local people  
> is remote
> possibilities. In the case, how can there up-liftment is possible?  
> Is anyone
> who favors them have thought this much extremities adopted by  
> naxals/maoist.
> Government did tried to solve by conversation and requested to  
> allow govt.
> machinery for developing infrastructure, but they boldly denied. If  
> we want
> to make some infrastructural work to provide facilities to people  
> their then
> one has to remove such boundary and freed the area even with the  
> help of
> army then also.
>
> In the news and media air attack news was published. This is also  
> myth,
> there was no plan for air attack, but with the help air-force, aerial
> surveillance or map view is necessary, so that army or police can  
> go ahead
> to capture that area and freed from maoist. Also, please note that  
> most of
> the poor/tribal are not supporting them by heart but they support  
> forcefully
> with gun on their head.
>
> So, looking to above reason it seems that they made business to create
> terror and playing in the hand of some wasted interest may be from  
> outside
> India. So, it is necessary to freed such naxal affected area from  
> their
> terror by any means. So if anyone says that naxal/maoist helping local
> people or tribal is baseless.
>
> Thanks
>
> Bipin
>
>
>
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net