The Red Menace

[abhishek_sharma]

‘The crux of the Naxal issue is strengthening the thana. Local boys are the best fit’: CRPF Director General K Vijay Kumar

[member_21708]

Prominent Maoist leader held in Chandrapur

In a major breakthrough, the police have arrested a prominent Maoist leader and the member of the Maharashtra State Naxal Committee from Talodhi village near here, police said on Sunday.

Maroti Kurwatkar, who is the second in-command in the state committee and is a Professional Revolutionary (PR), besides being a Political Body member of the Maharashtra State Committee, was nabbed by the elite C-60 and Naxal Cell squad of Chandrapur Police yesterday from Talodi bus stand after a brief chase.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/222 ... rapur.html



Naxalites suspected of pilfering contraceptives

Security forces deployed in the Naxal corridor are now reporting huge seizures of contraceptives and abortion kits from Maoist hideouts and suspect these to have been pilfered from state-run primary health centres and dispensaries.

While the forces have been intermittently coming across stocks of male condoms and contraceptive pills after Naxal raids in various states, a recent operation by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Orrisa’s Koraput district has resulted in seizure of “abortifacient kits” and pregnancy test devices leaving the force and local police puzzled over their source.

An abortifacient kit is used to induce abortion.

The operation in the jungles of Shikhapalli in mid-January resulted in the seizure of 50 male condom pouches, 10 packets of contraceptive pills, an abortifacient kit and a separate packet of emergency contraceptive pills, apart from the regular seizures of ammunition and IEDs.

Security forces like CRPF, ITBP and state police units have earlier reported seizing contraceptive material from Naxal hideouts and have informed the Union Home Ministry of these developments.

“The condoms and contraceptive pills are of ‘Nirodh’ and ‘Mala D’ variety which are distributed either free or at highly subsidised rates by various state governments at their primary health centres. The other emergency pills and abortion kits too can be obtained from health centres,” said a senior official privy to the seizures being reported in anti-Naxal operations.

“While the seizure of these devices and medicines is usual among Maoists as they have women cadre, it is essential to know how are they being procured by the ultras. Till now, they’ve been many incidents of arms and ration looting and pilferage but this is new,” the official said.

Probe on

The official said the latest seizure and others are now in the custody of various state police departments and a probe is on to find the source of their procurement. “There could also be a possibility of Maoists taking the help of their associates to procure these items from health centres or over the counter but nothing has been found conclusively,” the official added.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/223 ... tives.html

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Left

Armed by America

India’s deepening ties with the US have always been a concern for the Left. Its latest worry is New Delhi’s purchase of US military hardware — believing that this may be quid pro quo for the nuclear deal. An article in CPM weekly People’s Democracy specifically discusses the government’s decision to acquire 22 “Apache” Longbow attack helicopters from Boeing. Riding on the back of this sale, it argues, are a wide range of cutting-edge weapons systems.

“These sales, while not monster-sized in themselves, also pave the way for future and potentially much larger sales of US helicopters and weapons, especially missile systems, to India,” the article says.

“There are strong indications that this deal is a precursor to India acquiring other US-made helicopters in an estimated requirement of 700 helicopters over the next decade, as well as a whole range of helicopter-borne missiles and other weapons systems, as also other missiles and weapons from these manufacturers, thus prising open a much larger chunk of the Indian military acquisition market and establishing a solid US presence in India,” the article says.

It claims that the burgeoning US-India strategic relationship and the consequent US push into the Indian military market has been viewed with rising alarm by rival and older India suppliers like Britain, France and Russia.

“Right now, US military suppliers have the wind behind them. The question is whether India will play a fair game, with a level playing field. Even in the Apache deal, a suspicion about this remains. How come that, even though the order is worth over Rs 3000 crore, there has been no mention of offsets? Is an exception being made?” it asks.

Caste and credit

Another article in People’s Democracy focuses on government apathy towards scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes, in the context of the “failure” to fill up vacancies earmarked for these sections, despite the special recruitment drive launched in 2008.

It says that the government itself has admitted that success rate in filling the backlog posts has been less than 30 per cent. “Of a total backlog of 76,137 vacancies in various ministries, departments and public sector enterprises, the government could fill up just 26,472 in an exercise spread over three years,” it says.

Another instance of the UPA’s apathy towards Dalits is reflected in the fact that credit disbursements to Dalit entrepreneurs has dropped by 33.8 per cent this fiscal. “The disbursement of credit to dalit entrepreneurs through 20-odd schemes run by the ministry of social justice has dropped to Rs 1,670 crore between April and October this financial year... When this is the case with the ministry of social justice itself, then what can one expect from the banks,” it asks.

“When credit problems still continue to haunt Dalit entrepreneurs, even more so than other businessmen, when disbursement from many schemes — crafted intentionally to provide credit to Dalit businessmen — is slowing down, how does the government expect the Dalits to make use of its scheme that mandates 4 per cent of all the government procurements from Dalit and tribal vendors...the fledgling attempts by hundreds of Dalit entrepreneurs to overcome deep socio-economic barriers and break into mainstream business are facing a threat due to the UPA government’s unwillingness t provide adequate credit,” it says.

Farming crisis

CPI weekly New Age focuses on agrarian distress and farmers’ suicides. It argues that the anti-farmer attitude of the successive governments has led to a decline in public funding.

“The farmers are caught in (a) pair of scissors, with rising costs of inputs and unremunerative prices of agriculture products. It has been revealed that 40 per cent of cultivators want to leave agriculture and 3.5 per cent of agriculturists join the rank of labour per annum,” the editorial says.

It blames neoliberal policy for this situation, saying that banking credit to agriculture has come down and private lending has gone up. And instead of taking corrective measures, the UPA government is encouraging a new Mahajani credit system by introducing “accredited loan providers” who charge exorbitant rates of interests. “While in the West the subsidies to agriculturists are on rise, in our country, even the minimal subsidies are being curtailed. Subsidies on inputs have been cut drastically. Caught in the web of loans and non-profit-making endeavours, farmers take to the unfortunate path of suicide,” it says.

The editorial says that farmers are increasingly shifting to cash crops, shrinking the cultivated areas for foodgrain and creating a food security threat. Besides, state governments acquired agricultural land to set up SEZs and other public utilities, but in fact, handed the land over to builder mafias, it says.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

[member_21708]

Maoists plan 10th Congress in Chhattisgarh forest

Raipur: Maoists are gearing up to hold their 10th Congress in the densely forested region of Abujhmad, in Naxal-infested Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, according to intelligence inputs received by the state police.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/chhattisg ... 56117.html


Naxals can marry but can’t have kids

Kanker, Chhattisgarh: Naxals in Chhattisgarh are allowed to get married but they are forced by their senior leaders in undergoing vasectomy surgical procedure to prevent them from having children.

This was revealed by Naxals, who surrendered before the police officials here yesterday. Nearly half a dozen of hardcore Maoists, including four women, who are the members of the Bastar Divisional Committee, surrendered at district headquarters.

They were identified as Sunil Kumar Matlam and his wife Jaini alias Jayanti; Ramdas and his wife Panidobir; Susheela; Jaylal and his wife Asmani alias Sanay and Samo Mandvi. They said Naxal leaders, mostly based in Andhra Pradesh, behave rudely with them and punish them for falling in love.

Matlam (31), in an interview to PTI, told that the three Naxals, who surrendered along with their wives, were forced to undergo vasectomy before marriage.

A resident of Fufgaon village in Kanker district, Matlam said that he was only 17 when he was picked up by Naxals from his village and forced to join their rank.

He came in contact with Jayanti, a Naxal commander, and later fell in love with her. When they expressed their wish to get married, the leaders accepted their relationship but did not allow them to start their family.

The Naxal leaders told Matlam that he can tie the knot but only if he agreed to undergo the permanent contraception procedure, the Maoist said, adding that he had no other option but to bow to the diktat.

Matlam said he has now given up arms and joined the social mainstream, and wants to lead a normal life.

Ramdas and Jaylal also had the similar tales to share about their personal life in the Naxal movement.

Matlam said if a Naxal refuses to obey the command, he is tortured and forced to undergo vasectomy for which doctors from West Bengal are called in the jungle.

The Maoist leaders feel once the couples have children they may go back to their villages to raise them and this may weaken the Naxal movement, he said.

Matlam's wife Jayanti said women Naxals are often subjected to harassment and abuse by their seniors.

Jayanti said now that they have joined the national mainstream, it was the Government's responsibility to protect their families and provide rehabilitation.

Kanker Superintendent of Police Rahul Bhagat, who played a key role in the surrender, said he had been receiving reports about forced vasectomy on Naxals.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/chhattisg ... 55932.html

[RamaY]

In the meantime, in our neighborhood ...

Nepal former rebels begin to leave camps

Thousands of former Maoist fighters in Nepal have begun demobilising, five years after they ended their armed revolt.

Politicians agreed that up to 6,500 fighters could join the army. But many more than expected chose this option.

It is thought that about 9,000 opted to enlist. An estimated 17,000-19,000 former rebels are in the camps.

More than 7,000 fighters, confined to camps since 2007, are receiving money to help them return to civilian life.

Several hundred left their camps on Friday in the first set of departures. Depending on their rank, these fighters are entitled to between $6,000 and $11,000 (£3,800-£7,000) to help them return to civilian life.

Why do Nepal's former rebels want to join the army?

When Nepal's ruling Maoist party signed a landmark deal in November allowing former guerrillas to retire, retrain in a new career, or become part of the Nepali army, few predicted that the majority would opt to join their old enemies in the military.

The process of regrouping almost 19,000 former rebels is now drawing to a close and political parties say they have been stunned by the number of Maoist fighters who have opted for the army.

The take-up rate has been so high that it could even derail their plans to integrate up to 6,500 former rebels into a proposed new wing of the army.

"Our background is military in nature. We always wanted to work for the sake of the country by joining the national army," said Sunita Gautam, a former female guerrilla who is one of those now wanting to join the army.

Exactly why she and so many of her comrades are so keen to sign up is a mystery given that most former fighters will not get senior positions in the army and where their mandate is limited to a strictly non-combat role.

The agreement states that former Maoists will become forest guards, disaster management personnel and security forces at industrial units.

[Aditya_V]

'Maoist movement may end up as a bloody civil war'

Swedish author and columnist Jan Myrdal - known for his close interaction with Indian Maoists since the '80s - admits that he is unable to gauge where the radical Left movement, led by CPI (Maoist) chief Ganapathy, is headed for.

The scandinavians seem to be involved in a lot of violent movements in the Indian sub continent from LTTE, to KNPP, to Maists to Hurrirats. It seems the West seems to think these are good levers to pressure policy.

[RamaY]

^ if GoI is any smart it should start propagating these facts. It will educate most of (sic) secular turds.

At the same time focus on developing and empowering the backward regions.

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Left

EU and us

The Left has decried the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union, arguing it will doom the Indian peasantry and the country’s agricultural economy, already in deep distress.

An article in CPM journal People’s Democracy claims the government is facilitating profit maximisation for foreign and Indian big capital while abdicating its constitutional responsibility to provide the basics to all citizens.

“That the EU is in the grips of a severe crisis that is threatening the very existence of the Euro is there for all to see. This FTA with EU is designed to open up the Indian markets for profit-starved European capital and particularly, its highly subsidised agricultural and dairy products to flood Indian markets.

“At a time when government agencies themselves are not paying the farmers the declared minimum support price, forcing them to enter into distress sales, such opening up of our economy will only result in heaping greater agony on our farmers... The result of the FTA with the ASEAN countries has shown how disastrous its impact has been on the producers of cash crops, particularly in Kerala,” it argues.

It says the UPA was seeking foreign capital to ease the burgeoning fiscal deficit. “If the tax concessions given to the corporates and the rich are withdrawn, then the fiscal deficit would simply cease to exist,” it says. The article predicts the government is likely to further slash the already meagre social sector expenditures in the coming budget, in the name of curtailing this growing fiscal deficit.

Water wars

The recently released draft National Water Policy has beeen criticised by the Left. An article in People’s Democracy quotes the farmers’ wing of the CPM, saying it aims to privatise water delivery services and abolish subsidies to the agricultural as well as the domestic sector.

The proposal “would allow the profit-seeking corporate sector to rake in huge profits while millions of Indians will be forced to pay hefty amounts for getting water for cultivation as well as daily domestic use. The peasantry who are already reeling under an acute agrarian crisis and facing a situation of stagnant productivity would be the worst hit,” it quotes the All India Kisan Sabha as saying.

The draft is only pushing forward the ideas dictated by the World Bank, as the concept of collecting user charges to fully recover the costs of operation and administration of water-resource projects, it says. “A World Bank paper in 2005 had suggested privatisation of water supply and minimal role for the government as a service provider of irrigation, water and sanitation services for ‘stimulating competition’ in the water market. The claim that it is a move towards sustainable water management to address climate change concerns is baseless, given the fact that the government has not done enough to replenish groundwater aquifers through water harvesting and other methods, and that there are no controls over corporate exploitation of groundwater resources,” the AIKS says.

The draft policy, it says, calls for the abolition of all forms of water subsidies to the agricultural and domestic sectors on the one hand and on the other argues for subsidies and incentives for the private industry in the name of recycling and reusing treated effluents. “The government is clearly trying to shirk its responsibility as a provider of water to the people including the peasantry,” it argues.

Get real

With not much at stake in the ongoing round of assembly elections, the Left claims that the major political parties are highlighting sundry issues rather than real socio-economic problems faced by the people. All the parties — whether Congress, BJP, SP or BSP — have sidetracked the issue of corruption for obvious reasons, it says. These parties are also silent on price rise, unemployment, growing economic disparities and lack of development, claims the editorial in CPI journal New Age. “Most of these parties are committed to implementation of policies of economic neo-liberalism, the real cause of all economic miseries heaped on the common people,” says the editorial. “Each of them harped on emotional issues that can ensure share in different vote banks based on caste and religious affiliations,” it adds. “The moot point is that, even the poll campaign is not the time for bourgeois politicians to focus on real socio-economic issues,” it says.

[Manny]

The liberal lefties of the west (Canada) and its hypocrisy as usual.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16976822

Canada and China have reached government deals in uranium exports and other sectors, as the two countries deepen trade ties.

Canada said on Thursday it would allow the sale of uranium to China for energy generation.

Canadian businesses also signed deals with Chinese enterprises worth $3bn (£1.9bn) in Beijing.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's delegation is on a four-day visit to China.

The trip is aimed at attracting Chinese investment in Canadian natural resources, as well as shifting the focus of energy sales towards Asia.
Uranium sales

Canada is home to one of the largest producers of uranium, Cameco, and the deal announced on Thursday allows it to sell uranium from its Canadian projects into China.

"This agreement will help Canadian uranium companies to substantially increase exports to China, the world's fastest growing market for these products," Mr Harper's office said in a statement.



I somehow have always loathed Canada. They are almost as bad as Indian lefties. They both have this visceral hatred for the Americans while they have this fondness for the commies of China. Immoral cads.

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Left

Gazing at UP

The Left does not have much at stake in Uttar Pradesh, but it is keenly following the campaign as the results will have a bearing on national politics. “In the case of a hung assembly, post results, the combinations and manipulations that follow for establishing a majority will significantly influence the balance of coalition at the Centre. Hence, it is no surprise that these elections are causing such a campaign flutter,” says an editorial in the CPM weekly People’s Democracy. It says UPA 2, besieged with scandals and landing in fresh controversies, is brazening them out in the hope of a favourable verdict in the elections.

An Indian model

The latest edition of People’s Democracy also carries a draft of the resolution on “some ideological issues” prepared by the CPM. Interestingly, the party has indicated that it is now looking towards Latin America, where the Left forces have registered significant advances in recent times, as a socialist role model for countering capitalism rather than China. As far as bringing socialism in India is concerned, the CPM now believes there has to be an Indian model. In fact, the draft talks about growing inequalities, corruption and unemployment in socialist China and admits that these new problems and disturbing trends are cropping up because of certain imbalances in the economic reforms.

The Tehran angle

An editorial in the CPI journal New Age links the US aggression against Iran with the new wave of mass protests in Middle East and North Africa. Claiming that protesters are using the first anniversary of Arab Spring to reorganise themselves, it says “the despotic rulers in these countries are really in distress (and) they want their patron, the US imperialists, to do something dramatic to divert people’s attention.” About the resolution on Syria in UNSC, which Russia and China vetoed, it says, “Since this failure to enact a Libya in Syria, the Americans and their allies have unleashed a ferocious campaign against Iran that was declared to be a member of ‘axis of evil’ by George Bush.”

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

[anmol]

Protest In Norway Against Indian Embassy - Stop Operation Green Hunt

[13.02.2012, 09:31pm, Mon. GMT]

Norwegian India Solidarity (NIS) supporters led by its leader Mickal and Norwegians students staged a protest demonstration last week in front of the Indian Embassy in Oslo demanding the India must stop ''Operation Green Hunt'' against Maoist rebels. The demonstrators shouted slogans accusing Indian Government behind “so many killed” or “so many missing”. Operation Green Hunt was the name used by the Indian media to describe the Government of India's paramilitary offensive against the Naxalite rebels.


The demonstrators carried pictures in which the Indian Police and military killing civilians.



The demonstrators also demanded immediate inquiry against into the ''Operation Green Hunt''.



The organization 'India Solidarity' was founded in Norway on 7 December 2011.

Something about "Norwegian India Solidarity"(translation) :-

Dear comrades,

The organization 'India Solidarity' was founded in Norway on 7 December 2011. India Solidarity was founded by anti-imperialists from different parts of the country with the purpose of providing information and support to the people's war waged by Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the poor peasants against the Indian ruling class and the central government.
India Solidarity is organized by local chapters. Our primary purpose as the situation is now, is to provide information and focus on the struggles of the people of India. We plan to hold open meetings on people's war and organizing demonstrations against Operation Green Hunt. We is a small organization today, but solidarity work has long traditions in Norway. We want to build a large and broad movement as possible to support the people's struggle in India. We have just begun.
We will, for example, hold a demonstration outside the Indian Embassy in Oslo on 4 February at. 14.00.
LONG LIVE THE DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION OF A NEW TYPE, FOR A NEW ECONOMY, NEW POLITICS AND NEW CULTURE!

http://maoistroad.blogspot.in/2012/01/n ... india.html


Here is their website: http://indiasolidaritet.wordpress.com/
Their Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indiasoli ... 7349548291

[Aditya_V]

Why again Scandinavians are involved with Maoists- somthing really fishy, Debeer's connection perhaps?

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Left

RSS doublespeak

CPM journal People’s Democracy takes off on the arrest of a former RSS worker in the Samjhauta Express blast case. The editorial says that crucial leads on the involvement of the RSS and its affiliates came after investigations that established their role in the attacks in Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif. “These have established the RSS links in creating this web of Hindutva terror,” it asserts. It rubbishes the RSS’s claims that these may be the actions of few “deviant elements”.

“Such claims are nothing original. This is precisely what was said about Nathuram Godse following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Godse’s brother, however, is on record, in a media interview, to say that all brothers in the family were active members of the RSS... The history of the RSS and its methodology of functioning belies such theories of a differentiation between the core and the fringe,” it says.

The editorial says that the RSS often questions the use of the term “Hindu terrorism”, but does not apply the same yardstick to other religions, routinely adopting resolutions to “curb Islamic terrorism with an iron hand”.

“This is not merely an expression of double standards. It reflects the ideological roots of converting the modern secular democratic republic of India into the RSS version of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ based on rabid religious intolerance,” it says.

Striking out

Both CPM and CPI journals carry articles about the all-India general strike planned on February 28 by central trade unions. For the first time, the Congress’s trade union arm, INTUC, and the Sangh Parivar-affiliated BMS will be joining the strike. An editorial in CPI weekly New Age says the strike has “wider political and economic significance.” Although it will be the 14th such strike in the last two decades, the CPI feels it will go a long way in the struggle against the “disastrous course of economic neo-liberalism to which most of the bourgeois political formations are committed.” The article trains its guns at the UPA, accusing it of surrendering to the pressure of “American imperialists and its cohorts”, selling national assets in the garb of disinvestment, attempting to hand over our finance and retail sectors to “international sharks under the garb of allowing FDI in these sectors” and acting against the working class.

Deep sleep

People’s Democracy carries a satirical open letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the context of his recent statement that he was losing sleep over the government’s ballooning subsidy bill.

It wonders why issues like price rise, farmer suicides, corruption and malnutrition are not bothering the finance minister. Referring to the CAG’s calculation of Rs 1.76-lakh crore presumptive loss in 2G spectrum allocation, the article says that only Rs 88,000 crore was needed to provide 35 kg of foodgrains for both APL and BPL populations: “How could you allow all the people to eat food for that staggering amount of Rs 88,000 crores when only few individuals ‘ate’ up Rs 1,76,000 crores in the 2G scam?”

“The very problems that did not affect your sleep have created havoc in their lives and gave them many sleepless nights. It seems they have decided not to rest till they regain their sleep, which they could get only when they eat two square meals a day and are sure of their future,” it concludes.

[Manny]

Why again Scandinavians are involved with Maoists- somthing really fishy, Debeer's connection perhaps?

You kinow..us Indians sometimes get miffed if we are tagged as "South Asian" which includes porkies and Bengla desies and Sri lanka. Hopefully we would not commit the same crime and mix the swedes, the Danish with Norwegians.

Norway is one fked up country. Norway is not Sweden.


Even the Swedish PM commented that Norway is the last Soviet country.

Whale hunting.

More like a Norwegian phenomenon than just a hunt. The entire world protests Norway’s ‘barbaric’ whale hunting, but Norwegians generally view this as very unfair criticism and an insult to their way of life and culture. Most patriotic Norwegian will patiently explain to any hapless foreigner who brings up the subject the various ‘scientific’ facts and the need for the whale hunt. Mention Greenpeace and Sea Shepherds in this context and see the look of hate start appearing in the eyes of the average Norwegian.

Censorship.

The Monty Python movie ‘Life of Brian’, was banned in Norway when it first came out in 1982. It was considered blasphemous at the time. Thye people there believe they are a Christian nation.. so the projection that they are liberal lefists is a freaking facade


Sponsored national media.

The Norwegian

Government gives financial aid to all the newspapers in Norway, called ‘pressestøtte’ (media support). The aim of this aid is to support small newspapers that wouldn’t be able to survive without this financial backing.


Norway is IMO, is one fked up commie country that Arundati Roy club can lurve. Its also a very "Christian evangelical" country. Use your own imagination.

Censorship.

The Monty Python movie ‘Life of Brian’, was banned in Norway when it first came out in 1982. It was considered blasphemous at the time.

[member_21708]

Schoolboy, grandfather killed by Maoists

Ranchi, Feb 25, 2012, (IANS) : Maoist guerrillas killed a schoolboy and his grandfather and set their house on fire in Jharkhand’s Khuti district early Saturday, police said.

According to police, Maoist guerrillas belonging to People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) attacked the house of B.Y. Toppo, situated in Thunku village of Khuti district, around 45 km from Ranchi early Saturday. The rebels killed the two of them and set the house on fire.

The reason for the killing has yet to be ascertained, police said. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/230 ... oists.html

[aniket]

Seeing the horrendous and cowardly acts of the maoists in recent times like killing of people ,not letting the civil administration do their job and killing in cold blood,Why are maoists not called terrorists and their organisations labelled teerrorists and banned.Is it because the civil adminisrtration does not want the involement of the Army ?

[Nihat]

Maoists are terrorists, of the worst kind at that. Today they killed a innocent tribal in orissa right in front of his wife, according to reports the whole village is terrified. What kind of support do these animals expect from the people from the people whom they claim to fight for .

I hope to god that this government and the next one stay the course as far as the anti naxalite ops. Go. We have taken out some very important leaders over the past couple of years and already from the lack of reports these appears to be a lull in the number of force casualties, if goi status long enough, the days of naxals are limited.

[aniket]

Thnx

[Supratik]

Ramchandra Guha on the fall of the Left in WB. One of his better analysis.

http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story.asp ... =FullStory

[vijayk]

http://www.firstpost.com/india/woman-ar ... 28600.html

In a major breakthrough, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a woman architect for being involved in the murder of activist Shehla Masood, said an agency official on Tuesday. Shehla was murdered in Bhopal last August.

The accused, identified as Zahida Pervez, was arrested from Bhopal.

“Pervez is presently in CBI custody and it is believed that she had some personal rivalry with the RTI activist,” said the official.


Pervez had reportedly told the CBI investigators that she had hired a contract killer to get Masood eliminated.

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Left

Tribal policy

As incidents of exploitation of tribals in Andaman and Nicobar and Odisha come to light, the CPM argues these are a reflection of the market having penetrated the tribal areas, and uneven development and poverty being increasingly linked with international tourism.

An article in People’s Democracy says the commercialisation of tribal culture has become more rampant than ever. “It is only likely to increase in the neo-liberal era and is part of a larger process of [the] state’s withdrawal from its social, economic and political responsibilities. Thus, this trend can be combated only if the image being marketed by the tourist companies is demystified through a sustained campaign against the assaults on tribal areas,” it says.

Giving a historical perspective, it says the perception of “tribal culture” as unique is not a creation of the neo-liberal regime as it has its roots in the development strategy of the Nehruvian era when “tribal Panchsheel” was born out of the idea that the uplift of tribal people had to take place through a slow process of their “modernisation” even while their culture had to be preserved. It also observed that“while the cultural and political rights of tribal people were given due importance, their economic rights over land, natural resources and basic services were ignored.”

It also suggests the intrusion of the market through the tourism industry now should also be seen as a neo-liberal state’s policy to dilute the protection accorded to tribal areas under Schedule V of the Constitution.

Left write

The Left is slowly sharpening its attack on Mamata Banerjee after remaining largely silent for the first six months after the regime change in West Bengal. The New Age editorial says the state is in “total chaos” and has become a “hallmark of misgovernance.” “As the ruling party is a one-woman party, the sole responsibility lies on the ‘leader’. Since the change of regime, West Bengal is witnessing one gruesome incident after another,” it notes.

Mr Prime Minister?

An article in People’s Democracy attacks Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his speech at the recently-held Indian Labour Conference. “As usual, he did not have enough time to hear the views of the workers’ representatives,” it says. It slams him for talking about the need for taking a “critical look” at the existing regulatory framework in the labour sector to ascertain whether parts of it were “unnecessarily” affecting employment growth, enterprise and industry without contributing to labour welfare.

“This utter insensitivity to the workers becomes all the more glaring when the prime minister and his government are fully aware that violation of labour laws in our country has become the norm rather than an exception and one of the major demands on which the entire trade union movement of the country has called for [a] joint countrywide general strike was the strict implementation of labour laws,” it says. It added it was the “PMO that pressured the rural development ministry to appeal against the high court order on [the] payment of minimum wages to the NREGA workers on par with the state minimum wages. Probably the PM has yet to come to terms with the Supreme Court judgment upholding the high court order.”

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

[member_21708]

Kishenji’s successor, 4 aides held in Kolkata

Last Updated: Thursday, March 01, 2012, 17:57
Kishenji’s successor, 4 aides held in Kolkata Kolkata: A Maoist leader, said to be the successor of slain rebel chieftain Kishenji, and four of his aides were arrested from various parts of this West Bengal capital in a daylong operation, police said Thursday. A court has sent them to police custody till March 13.

"Rama Krishna alias R.K,, a mechanical engineer and chief of the (banned) Communist Party of India-Maoist's Central Technical Committee who hails from Andhra Pradesh and is known to have succeeded Kishenji and four other Maoists were sent to custody of Kolkata Police till March 13," chief police prosecutor S.C. Gupta said.

R.K. as well as Sukumar Mandal, Bapi Mudi, Sambhu Patra and Dipak Kumar were presented before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S. Bandyopadhyay under tight security.

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Kolkata Police along with Greyhounds, an elite commando force of Andhra Pradesh, nabbed the extremists from various parts of the city. An arms building workshop was busted and blueprints and several key components for building a rocket launcher, explosives, Rs.2.5 lakh and several rounds of live ammunition were seized in the process.

While R.K. and Dipak were arrested from north Kolkata Wednesday morning, Mudi, Patra and Mandal were nabbed from North 24 Parganas' Belghoria late night following leads yielded by interrogation of the duo.

R.K. who supervised Maoist operations in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, took over the reins in West Bengal after Kishenji alias Koteshwar Rao was killed by security forces in a gun battle Nov 14 last year, Gupta said.

An STF officer said R.K., who had led the Maoists in the first-ever direct talks with the government in 2004, and Dipak were prize catches and it was a big setback for the Maoists in West Bengal who are already on the backfoot after Kishenji's death.

His wife Padma, who carried a prize of Rs.2 lakh on her head, was arrested in Odisha's Koraput in 2010.

The Andhra and the Odisha Police have been on the lookout for Rama Krishna who is also the secretary for Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/west-beng ... 61556.html

[Sanku]

^^ I miss Stan's analysis on this. RK getting caught is a big deal.

[member_21708]

Naxals kill tribal, kin over loan default

March 1, 2012
Naxals hounded out a tribal, took away his daughter and later brutally killed him by burying him alive in front of his wife for defaulting on a loan taken by him from a “janata sarkar”, or local government run by Maoists in panchayats, in a Chhattisgarh village.

The brutality on the tribal family by Naxals came to light when the victim’s widow narrated the gory incident before the police in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Bijapur district on Wednesday.

According to her, misfortune befell on Kutem Siku, 58, former sarpanch of Kosnar in Bijapur district, when he borrowed a loan of `50,000 at the interest rate of four per cent from the local janata sarkar to establish a small rice mill in his village in 2003.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels ... efault-128

[Virupaksha]

Ramakrishna was supposed to have been arrested in 2005, but was released on pressure from "higher ups" by congress - just an example of how blessings from the rashtra actually determine the fate of many insurgencies.

http://naxalwatch.blogspot.com/2005/02/ ... ishna.html

This is from 2005.

Greyhounds trap RK; Jana lets him off

Jana was the AP home minister of congress.

[rahuls]

Ramakrishna was supposed to have been arrested in 2005, but was released on pressure from "higher ups" by congress - just an example of how blessings from the rashtra actually determine the fate of many insurgencies.

Is the arrested Ramakrishna the same person who lead naxal talks with AP govt. and who was supposed to have been arrested in 2005 ? IIRC there was another top gun by name RK, correct me if I am wrong.

On a personal note, the arrested RK is my mother-in-law's maternal uncle. Happened to meet my mother-in-law's mom (RK's elder sister) yesterday and the family made sure she didn't know that he was arrested. Apparently the family thought he was dead long back.

[suryag]

Ramana garu might know RK, given he is a mech engr and may be from RECW

[Rony]

More pure Red defeated the less Pure Red in Commie University polls !

Red regains stronghold as All India Students' Association sweeps JNU polls

Ultra-left body All India Students' Association (AISA) swept the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) polls on Saturday winning all four posts in the central panel. The JNU campus reverberated with slogans like 'laal salaam, 'Naxalbari laal salaam', 'Ganga dhaba laal hain, 'Central Library laal hain', 'aaj JNU laal hain', as news of the victory spread.

[member_21708]

2 Maoists killed in attack on CCL project site, police station

Chatra (Jharkhand): Two Maoists were killed and a CISF personnel was injured in an attack in Naxal-hit Chatra district in the early hours today.

After attacking the project site the Maoists attacked a police staion . Reuters

Around 50 Maoists attacked the Central Coal Field project site and torched three dumpers and a pay-loader belonging to the construction company besides firing at CISF personnel on duty, Chatra Superintendent of Police Anup Birtheray said.

The CISF swung into action and retaliated the firing, forcing the ultras to make a hasty retreat, he said, adding a CISF personnel was injured in the incident.

The ultras then attacked the Piparwar police station leading to an encounter with the policemen on duty, Birtheray said, adding two Maoists were killed in the encounter that ended at 3 AM.

The superintendent of police, who was camping at the spot, said a massive combing operation has been launched to track down the ultras involved and the toll could go up.

http://www.firstpost.com/fwire/2-maoist ... 34138.html

[Aditya_V]

More pure Red defeated the less Pure Red in Commie University polls !

Red regains stronghold as All India Students' Association sweeps JNU polls

Ultra-left body All India Students' Association (AISA) swept the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) polls on Saturday winning all four posts in the central panel. The JNU campus reverberated with slogans like 'laal salaam, 'Naxalbari laal salaam', 'Ganga dhaba laal hain, 'Central Library laal hain', 'aaj JNU laal hain', as news of the victory spread.

Do we need this funded by the state anti state pro naxal lobby?

[Virupaksha]

rahuls,

YOu have identified yourselves too close to comfort.

Yes, the RK who led the talks in 2004 & was arrested but let off in 2005 & arrested last week seem to be the same - from previous page.

An STF officer said R.K., who had led the Maoists in the first-ever direct talks with the government in 2004, and Dipak were prize catches and it was a big setback for the Maoists in West Bengal who are already on the backfoot after Kishenji's death.

[abhishek_sharma]

Kolkata fuelling Maoist run in Chhattisgarh: STF

In Bengal Maoist belt, the fight is now between the armed forces

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Left

Swayed by America

The CPM has questioned the UPA’s foreign policy tilt for voting in favour of a UN Security Council resolution moved by the Arab League against Syria.The editorial in CPM journal People’s Democracy calls it a volte face, as India had abstained on a resolution calling for more sanctions against Syria, in October 2011. “The reversal of the stand taken in October 2011 can be directly attributed to the pressure of the United States. This is also becoming apparent with regard to India’s stand on Iran,” it says.

It says that India should have distanced itself from the cynical power game being planned on Syria, after seeing how the Security Council resolution was used by NATO powers and proxies like Qatar against Libya.”The United States wants India to fall in line with its consistent effort to isolate Iran and finally effect a regime change there. The pressure on India to stop buying oil from Iran and abandon its trade and economic ties is relentless,” it says.

It sums up India’s current foreign policy, saying “it is no more an independent policy based on enlightened national interests. It has become vulnerable to the imperialist pressures and geo-political interests of the United States of America.

Choiceless in Gujarat

Titled ‘Ten years after Godhra’, an editorial in CPI weekly New Age focuses on Gujarat. It attacks Narendra Modi but also blames the opposition Congress in the state for its inertia.

Under the garb of “sadbhavana”, Modi is attempting to polarise Hindu votes in view of the assembly elections by the year end, it claims. “He neither expresses remorse on what happened ten years back in the state, nor is he in any mood to abide by ‘Raj Dharma’. He, rather, continues to shield the culprits and communalise the administration and the police,” it says. It alleges that apart from creating hurdles in the judicial process, Modi has used the administration to enact encounters to further terrorise the minority community.

“The most unfortunate part of the Gujarat situation is that the Congress, the main opposition in the state is quite oblivious of this threat that Modi administration poses. The state Congress, which is totally faction-ridden, is paralysed.”

Fighting fit

An article in People’s Democracy looks into the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) acquisition deal, which went to the Rafale fighter from Dassault Aviation of France.

It says while the nitty-gritties of the evaluation process, field trials, lifetime costs and the comparative assessment of the MMRCA contenders were not available in the public domain, it is known that the defence ministry has shared the salient aspects with the two finalists to underline the fairness and transparency of the process.

The larger question, it says, is how India proposes to absorb such new technologies and build indigenous capability. “These acquisitions and the technology transfer leveraged through the offsets clause, should be purposively and strategically conceptualised, planned and executed in a manner such as to ensure Indian firms acquire self-reliant autonomous capability not only in manufacture but also in design-development for the next generation. There is however no sign that this is happening,” it says.”Which firms will obtain how much offsets work for the MMRCA contract? Who will decide this and how?... There is much scope for cronyism in the offsets mechanism,” it says.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

[Hari Seldon]

from twitter.

>>@PTI_News Maoist leader and close associate of late Kishenji, Suchitra Mahato, surrenders.

[Kati]

Let me spill some hot beans if it helps the matters......
for maoists in and near Kolkata, just keep an watch at the
following areas: Picnic Gardens; Shibpur (in Howrah)....

[Kailash]

DNA special: Maoists hound army aspirants

The Maoists are threatening to scuttle a rare Indian Army employment drive in the heart of the Bastar region in Chattisgarh. The rebels are desperate because they fear that such job creation would reduce their clout in a difficult terrain where they have held sway for years now.

A district magistrate of one of these seven Bastar districts, P Anbalagan is overseeing this Army move to recruit members of the tribal population and bring them into the mainstream.

Apparently, the state administration in Raipur is aware that the Maoists have got to know which candidates have been selected in the recruitment drive and are approaching them individually. The hardcore rebels are warning these young aspiring tribals that they would face dire consequences if they accept the Army offer.

Senior officials said over telephone from Raipur that the state government was even willing to provide protection to these tribals so that they are not dissuaded from joining the army by these committed Maoist volunteers. Anbalagan himself told the DNA that the army job opportunity was being considered so “respectable” and “lucrative” by the young men that they might eventually ignore the Maoist threats.

Interestingly, this particular recruitment drive has nothing to do with the role of the “special police officers” who are provided jobs by the state administration and are meant to take on the Maoists. The Army has no role in containing the Maoist menace and those recruited would be deployed for army operations elsewhere.

Unlike Salwa Judum, which was strongly disapproved of by the Supreme Court, these Army recruits won’t be pitted against fellow tribals with a Maoist inclination.

The objective of this particular drive which the Army launched late last year was to absorb more personnel from an often-neglected state like Chhatisgarh. The Army wanted to rectify a prevailing deficiency - that of providing jobs to the Maoist-affected areas of Chhatisgarh. Earlier, even if recruitment was done in this province it was only in areas untouched by extremist violence.

So, the district administrations made public announcements and helped organise a recruitment drive among Class X, XI and XII students and even among those who were pursuing courses in polytechnic institutions. There was a pleasant surprise, said Anbalagan, when thousands turned up for these rallies and a few hundred were selected for the written test.

Realising that such a job creation for tribals would alter the mindset of the local population, Anbalagan himself organised crash courses to help the backward Bastar boys prepare for the written exam. Ultimately, 261 candidates were selected from the entire state, 121 of them from the seven districts of Bastar including dangerous territories like Bijapur, Dantewada, Kanker, Bastar and Narayanpur.

In fact, inspired by the resounding success of the army recruitment drive and the high turn out of the tribal boys, Anbalagan is talking to public sector banks and planning to organise an education loan mela to help wean away the young unemployed population from Maoist influence. He hopes that the tribals selected for Army employment will be able to overcome their fears, pay no heed to the Maoists and take up their new positions once the recruitment formalities are completed.

[Kailash]

Slain Maoist leader Kishenji's aide surrenders

link2

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Left

Asmita politics

An article in CPM journal People’s Democracy says the idea of Gujarati asmita has been used as a rationale to target social and political activists who have led the fight for justice for the Gujarat riot victims. It is also an ideological tool to ensure that the discriminatory attitude of the state government towards Gujarat’s labouring classes and minorities goes unnoticed by the rest of the country, it says.

“Gujarat has become not only a test case for Hindutva, but also a model for corporate capitalism in both agriculture and industry... Rapid industrialisation has made it a destination for migrant labour and has led to a burgeoning of the informal sector working class,” it says. It argues that “Gujarati asmita” is being invoked as a way to make the working class submit willingly to their own exploitation.

Gujarat’s labour class, it says, is comprised of a large number of Muslim self-employed people who have been severely affected by social discrimination, segregation and economic boycotts in the post-riot period. “Sixty per cent of the Muslims live in urban areas, but poverty among Muslims in Gujarat is eight times higher as compared to high-caste Hindus and 50 per cent more than Hindu OBCs, even more than SCs/STs,” it says.

Elections in hindsight

Both People’s Democracy and CPI weekly New Age have editorials on the recent assembly election results. Both flag the “growing discontent amongst the people” about their economic situation, which the Centre and the Congress have been held respnsible for.

The CPM glosses over the fact that the Left did not win a single seat in the five states and focuses on the drubbing that the Congress and the BJP suffered. “The moot question is whether the Congress-led UPA 2 draws any lessons from these results? Unfortunately, it does not appear to do so. In case they do so, it must surely be reflected in the forthcoming budget,” says the editorial in the CPM weekly.

It says that instead of giving “whopping tax concessions” to corporate India and the super-rich, the government should focus on massive public investments to build the much-needed infrastructure which would in turn generate employment and increase the purchasing power of the people. “Unless this is done, the people are bound to electorally continue to reject the Congress and its pretensions of concern for the aam admi,” it says.

The New Age, on the other hand, makes a reference to the Left’s poor performance. “We conducted a good campaign to popularise our stand on various national issues with particular reference to price rise, unemployment, curb on trade union and democratic rights, commercialisation of education and other evils of economic neo-liberalism but it did not cut much ice. Actually the disappointing performance of Left once more calls for introspection on the issues related with elections and struggles,” it says.

Small vision

CPM MP Moinul Hassan, in an article, analyses the welfare schemes for Muslims formulated and revamped on the basis of the Justice Sachar committee report submitted five years ago. He says that the PM’s 15-point programme is in the doldrums, and the scale of government intervention has been too small to make a real difference. “They are incapable of identifying and overcoming the impediments to the Muslim people’s access to educational or economic opportunities. The very important question of access to public services, too, is not being addressed.”

“The institutional structures designed to implement these initiatives lack conviction and even a clear mandate to directly fight out the structured socio-economic discriminations. Also, the positive mindset to address the denial mode encountered by the community is lacking to a great extent,” says Hassan. Though religious minorities, including Muslims, constitute 18.4 per cent of the population, allocation for schemes designed for them is a little over 5 per cent of the total plan allocation, says the article.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

[Nikhil T]

FLASH: Two Italian tourists kidnapped by Maoists in Orissa.

Two Italian tourists were kidnapped by a terrorist group of Maoists on Saturday in the Indian state of Orissa. The kidnappers have put forward 13 demands to the authorities of their country, including the release of their arrested supporters, and an end to punitive operations against them.

This is the first kidnapping of foreign nationals by Maoists. Details of the incident are being investigated. (TASS)

[krisna]

FLASH: Two Italian tourists kidnapped by Maoists in Orissa.

Two Italian tourists were kidnapped by a terrorist group of Maoists on Saturday in the Indian state of Orissa. The kidnappers have put forward 13 demands to the authorities of their country, including the release of their arrested supporters, and an end to punitive operations against them.

This is the first kidnapping of foreign nationals by Maoists. Details of the incident are being investigated. (TASS)

eyetlains kidnapped

Maoists are feared to have kidnapped two Italian tourists near the Kandhamal-Ganjam border in Orissa around Saturday midnight. The two were reportedly taking pictures of tribals in interior areas, which is banned by the state government, when they were abducted.

Officials of the Tumudibandh police station in Kandhamal revealed that foreign tourists had approached them through a local NGO for permission to enter the interior areas, but were told not to go ahead. The police are trying to verify whether the Maoist claims are genuine or not.

The state government had recently sought to restrict the access of foreign tourists and researchers to areas inhabited by particularly vulnerable tribal groups by making permission from the collector concerned mandatory. A violation would lead to criminal cases being filed against errant tourists or the tour operators.

what were these eyetalians doing in maoist infested areas.
Are they christian missionaries/ngos/arms and money peddlers.
something is amiss with these characters.