[Reader-list] NAXAL BRUTAL TERROR

Sat Apr 17 16:23:16 IST 2010

Do the roads and the schools justify the violence of the memoranda of  
(mis)understanding ?

How many apologies for schools does it take to justify the presence  
of a CRPF battalion stationed to protect the interests of a mining  
company in a forest that should not be laid waste to the lust of  
Capital?

best,

Shuddha

On 17-Apr-10, at 4:20 PM, Pawan Durani wrote:

> Does this still justify the violence of Naxalites. Havent the
> Naxalites been objecting to roads ...schools....etc ?
>
> On Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 4:08 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
>> 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
>>
>>
>> _________________________________________
>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with  
>> subscribe in the subject header.
>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
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> Critiques & Collaborations
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net