The Red Menace

[kasthuri]

Indian democracy in a state of emergency

I simply cannot understand Arundhati's logic...holding unconditional talks with Maoists while they smuggle arms from the LTTE? Her arguments remind me of courtroom scenes in movies where the criminal would defend himself by bashing the government and the society. She can make a good actor but not a social activist!!

[archan]

I simply cannot understand Arundhati's logic...

well at least you tried...
Normal people don't quite understand jholawallah logic. You have to be either trained in the RedLips school of fine arts or Binori madarassa.

[Atri]

Indian democracy in a state of emergency

I simply cannot understand Arundhati's logic...

What's there not to understand, hain? It ij simpal onlee...

This is a variant of lahori logic wherein the reality is dismissed as Maya and the quest for searching the true reality is encouraged by advising the seeker not to look with open eyes. Eyes are deceiving, you see.. what you see is not exactly what is happening.. They (eyes) are showing you not what is truth, but what your brain wants you to see.. And brain of Kaangress Govt wants to see an enemy in maoists, just like Fascist BJP walas were seeing enemy in every muslim.

The Jamooriyat in India is safe but Loktantra of Bhaarat is in danger... It is a chakrayuha, a quick sand, wherein you will sink faster if you try to get out... to delay your death, don't do anything.. only then can you have a peaceful death and attain nirvana (moral high ground and posthumous rewards and glory)..

[BENIS] Mullah archanullah, I soch we musht ishtart discussing maosijm, arundhoti-logic at LMU.. It ij the jaroorat of waqt... Laat of bojitive neuj botential.. Jour's frustratingly... [/BENIS]

[sanjaychoudhry]

LTTE training Maoists cadre?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 161813.cms

I had predicted this long back, that Goras have propped up LTTE in the south and Nepal Maoists in the north, and both will be used to pump in arms and training to Indian Maoists (which is also a Gora operation in areas where tribals have been converted). My exact words were: "The skills of the LTTE will be transferred to Indian Maoists sooner or later."

The defeat of LTTE is the best thing to have happened to India -- the pain of the Goras is there for all to see, the way they are now hounding the SL government on "human rights." But whoever in Indian government connived with the Goras' bumping off of Nepal king was an idiot.

Goras have been trying to take control of Burma too to facilitate Christian terrorists of North East, hence Obama's "special engagement" with military junta there. India should not allow this to happen at any cost. They are trying to surround India from all sides. It is very important that the 2.5 billion dollars being sent by the Whites to India for "charity" is stopped at once if India has to survive.

[Anujan]

x-posting

I reread some of Arundhati Roy's writings after Kanchan Gupta's tweets.

Wow !

One might take the position that A-roy is a cynical attention seeking opportunist, who seems to stay in the headlines by making demagogic statements, seeking to rile up the common man. I will take the charitable view: She is a charlatan, with a strong sense of self delusion of being some kind of a thinker. In reality, her arguments are flawed, thinking muddled and suggestions and activities dangerous. Take her perpetual dissension against the political system of India.

As a background:
Any reasonable follower of politics, economy and history will realize that the problem of marrying social justice with individual liberty has never been solved in human history ! Or in other words, The problem of forming a system that accords maximum liberty to individuals to live as they like, while making sure that the less fortunate among the society have been taken care of, has never been satisfactorily solved.

Let us take two aspects: Property rights and taxes.

Libertarians take the extreme view. No taxes, maximum property rights. They have a point. Why should I pay taxes, given that the money I have earned is the result of the fruits of my labor, commensurate with years of hard work and education that I have invested ? Why should there be progressive taxation (people making above 100,000Rs pay 20% people making above 200,000 Rs pay 30% etc), when people who make more, work harder, or are better educated, or are cleverer or work in areas that society values more (doctor, lawyer etc) ? But the weakness with Libertarians is social justice. What of the sick homeless guy ? How will he be taken care of, if nobody pays taxes ? (They talk about charities and as such, relying on *human nature* to achieve social justice. That does not work in practice).

Communists put social justice upfront. Property and means of production have common ownership. Society is classless and egalitarian. But what happens to personal liberty ? Why cant I decide to earn more by working harder, bequeath more to my children so they may live in comfort ?

Let us assume that we adopt an approach in the social justice-personal liberty spectrum and call it our "value" or "our system". Now an overarching but orthogonal consideration is the preservation of "our system" against internal and external threats. This we will call "National security". Given that the social justice-personal liberty question has never been solved in human history, if you add considerations of national security to the mix, the system will definitely have shortcomings.

Now a person who complains, in an opportunistic manner, piecemeal and rag tag about the current socialjustice-personalliberty-nationalsecurity system without offering a genuine well thought out alternative, is a charlatan and is dangerous.

This would be Miss Roy.

Take her protest against Narmada dam for example. Why does she protest ? She ostensibly protests for personal liberty of the tribals, to lead their lives as they feel fit. But what of social justice -- of providing electricity and water to the people who are deprived of it. In other words, if the rich can be taxed of their money, why cant the tribals be taxed of their land ? If that argument sounds fallacious, why not abolish taxes all around and leave the tribals to their fortune without any developmental projects, school or electricity -- after all, taxing me to pay for the comfort of the tribals impinges upon my liberty. This is the muddle headed messy thinking about Social Justice-personal liberty that Miss Roy gets trapped in.

Now let us move to national security and examine her latest statement Justifying Maoists : "If I was (sic) a person who is being dispossessed, whose wife has been raped, who is being pushed off his land and who is being faced with this police force, I would say that I am justified in taking up arms", take up arms against who ? The father and husband who is wearing the uniform and is sworn to obey orders and protect the country ? Do all Maoists have wives who have been raped or is it reasonable to kill a hard working man seeking to put food on his family's table, because he "represents the state" ? The moron Arundhathi Roy does not understand one basic principle - The concept of "Just war" is easy to articulate, but defining "Just" is what humanity has been attempting for generations and failed to different degrees. Arundhathi Roy tries to articulate "Just war" and utterly fails -- and she purports to be a "thinker, activist and writer" in the land of Gandhi !! By justifying the activities of the Maoists, she has proved to be nothing but a demagogue who spreads hatred and incites violence.

For a change, she should start thinking. This would benefit us all. I am astounded that for all her literary success, she turns out to be of such mediocre intelligence. For her sake, I wish that she is a cynical demagogue instead of a dangerous charlatan.

[Rahul M]

anujan, can't all this be said with lesser effort ?

how about this ?

What Muslims were to BJP, Maoists are to Congress:

and brains are to arundhoti roy.

[Anujan]

Rahul M-saar

Had to get it out of my system. Everyone fancies that if they dissent, oppose the government and condemn it in strong terms, they automatically become Noam Chomsky. But can they hold a candle to that man's scientific accomplishments (or even in a hundred years understand what Chomsky hierarchy of languages mean or what Context free grammars are) ? Leave alone match him in his intellect, can they even understand the extent of the man's intellect ?

Instead we have our India's chomsky who thinks that she is comparable to the original chomsky because she wrote a book about sticking a toothbrush in the butt and says that all Maoists are dispossessed, have wives who have been raped and that automatically gives them the license to kill other innocents.

Is this woman for real ?

[Rahul M]

understood. there's only one problem.

For a change, she should start thinking.

after all it would be easier to achieve what she wants by being more intelligent about it. if she understood it she would have done so by now.

This would benefit us all.

not convinced of that. unless you mean it as rhetoric.

forget about the maoists, she justified 26/11 too remember ? said something on the lines of "India deserves this".

[kasthuri]

forget about the maoists, she justified 26/11 too remember ? said something on the lines of "India deserves this".

Oh my God! Did she? I really wish the maoists kidnap her and hold her for a ransom! That would at least keep the government happy if not the maoists...

[sanjaychoudhry]

Alert cops bust rebel convoy
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091026/j ... 658343.jsp

[Rudradev]

x-posting

I reread some of Arundhati Roy's writings after Kanchan Gupta's tweets.

Wow !

One might take the position that A-roy is a cynical attention seeking opportunist, who seems to stay in the headlines by making demagogic statements, seeking to rile up the common man. ...
For a change, she should start thinking. This would benefit us all. I am astounded that for all her literary success, she turns out to be of such mediocre intelligence. For her sake, I wish that she is a cynical demagogue instead of a dangerous charlatan.

That was a superb and precise deconstruction of Arundhoti's position, Anujan. Do you mind if I use, or adapt some of this for a possible video?

[rkirankr]

forget about the maoists, she justified 26/11 too remember ? said something on the lines of "India deserves this".

Oh my God! Did she? I really wish the maoists kidnap her and hold her for a ransom! That would at least keep the government happy if not the maoists...

What would be the benefit for Maoist. The GOI may not exchange any prisoner for her. Chidu may say "roy who?" They have to feed her and listen to her cr@P

[RayC]

Chidambaram slams Maoist sympathisers - India - The Times of India

"The Government of India strongly condemns this unprovoked and heinous attack by the CPI (Maoist) on a public sector security force that was on a routine patrol in an area falling under the jurisdiction of a public sector corporation. What is the motive behind the attack on a police force that provides security to NMDC? What is the message that the CPI (Maoist) intends to convey? These are questions that we would like to put not only to the CPI (Maoist) but also to those who speak on their behalf and chastise the government."

The statement added, "We think that it is time for all right-thinking citizens who believe in democracy and development to condemn the acts of violence perpetrated by the CPI (Maoist)."

more at:

Link

[sinha]

Now a person who complains, in an opportunistic manner, piecemeal and rag tag about the current socialjustice-personalliberty-nationalsecurity system without offering a genuine well thought out alternative, is a charlatan and is dangerous.
This would be Miss Roy.

anujan, this post is piece of art - worth preserving given that I have no background in politics, economy etc etc.

I wish she went back to fiction, at least less trouble.

Cheers

[sanjaychoudhry]

I am astounded that for all her literary success, she turns out to be of such mediocre intelligence.

What literary success? She owes her entire career and fame to one contrived Gora award -- the Booker. It was a set up by the Anglo-Americans to bring her into circulation in the national discourse of India.

She is over-rated and is nothing but an output of the Gora machine which creates jholawalas in India through awards. They tried to do the same with Arvind Adiga but failed.

Another Gora connection I am suspicious of is the Outlook magazine. It has been exclusively publishing her drivel as front-page essays. This, and Wendy Doniger's drivel that Outlook has begun to publish, makes me smell of a Gora connection with Outlook owners through investments.

[Philip]

The Naxal-LTTE connection.

http://www.spot.lk/article6190-12-membe ... eport.html

12 member LTTE group infiltrated India to train Maoists – intelligence report

Indian Union home minister P Chidambaram’s assertion that Naxalites are acquiring arms from abroad is only the tip of the iceberg, as central intelligence agencies have found fresh evidence of joint training camps and meetings conducted by the Red guerrillas with Tamil Tigers in the forests of south and central India.

Does it indicate that Maoists are getting logistic support and training from LTTE? Are the Maoists and the Tamil Tigers brothers in arms? If intelligence documents are to be believed, the answer is yes. Sources said the country’s top intelligence wing has acquired some key information about the dangerous alliance between the Maoists and the Tigers.

In fact, the central intelligence top brass has warned the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Orissa on the alleged intrusion of the Tamil Tigers into Indian territorial waters. According to sources, a well-trained 12-member group of Tamil Tigers has recently sneaked into India to join hands with the Maoists. ‘‘They entered north coastal Andhra via Kerala after splitting into three groups, one of which is suspected to have found a safe haven in Vizianagaram area,’’ sources said. This comes close on the heels of an intelligence alert to the coastal states on the East Coast about a possible LTTE cadre intrusion.

But what is bothering the security agencies is the prowess of Tamil Tigers in triggering explosives and suicide bombing. ‘‘Imagine the expertise of Tigers coupled with the Maoists’ jungle warfare. It will be a deadly combination for the security agencies to tackle with,’’ analysts said.

Will the Maoists stand to gain? ‘‘Of course, the Tigers have made sizable gains in guerrilla warfare fighting Lankan forces and they would pass on the expertise to the Maoists,’’ a security analyst said. Security wings suspect that the Maoists could take the help of Tamil Tigers to prepare them to defend the all-out central forces’ attack codenamed ‘Operation Green Hunt’ on Abujmad, their strategic base and stronghold in the Dandakaranya in Chhattisgarh. With Chidambaram insisting that the operation is aimed at defeating the top Maoist leadership, sources said the focus is on to nab or kill Andhra Maoist leaders, who constitute 80% of Maoist top brass.

‘‘It will be again Andhra commandoes versus top Maoist leaders in Abujmad as and when the central forces corner the area. So, the chances of Maoists relying on Tigers cannot be ruled out,’’ a source said.

Sources also said the Maoists could take the help of LTTE rebels for training their military wing, People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA).

Analysts said LTTE game plan is double-edged. On one hand, it would help the Maoists to take on Indian forces, while on the other it would try to regain the lost ground in Sri Lanka by making South India their new base to fight the Lankan forces in the northern parts of the island nation..

[Hari Seldon]

The overground gandus ('overgandus', in brief(s)) have already begun to expose their shrivelled fangs.

Would be nice to build a public dossier on the overgandus. Lez start with mahasweeta devi - what's her beef with ordinary adivasis and peaceloving innocents anyway? Why defend the maopests so much?

Am glad ARoy is now jumping onto the pro-maopest bandwagon. Her record shows that whatever 'cause' she's supported has lost credibility and steam despite frenzied gora money, props and media attn. Aroy ki Jai Ho(r)!

Oh, but don't count the overgandus out just yet. They will strike back in full farce very soon. The propagandu offensive will be offensive, if nothing. Gora petitions, nobel laurate signatures, fiery press releases and speeches, awards and rewards to cowards etc will rain like Manna Dey from heaven..... O glory be.....hallelujah fallujah! Jai Ho(r) and all that.

[Yagnasri]

Thanks Anujan for a great post.
But the problem is A Roy is a comminist like stalin or Mao. She can not say it openly because she will not get any recognishan in foren white media as an activist. So she has say all the crap and support things in a round about way in which no one can understand. They is a saying in Telugu which is " it the person hearing is a stupid one then automatically the person who is talking is a thinker” So that is how it happens.
So basically these people are terrorists who are supporting a banned organisation openly an providing aid by creating or trying to create public opinion in favour of suh organisation. At least the criminals who are fighting and killing the security forces are facing some serious risk what these peopleare facing other then flash bulbs/studio lighting of leftist media.

[Anujan]

That was a superb and precise deconstruction of Arundhoti's position, Anujan. Do you mind if I use, or adapt some of this for a possible video?

Rudradev-ji

You are welcome to use it however you see fit.

[Hari Seldon]

x-posting

Naxals get arms from abroad - PC

Mr. Chidambaram said the government is practical enough to understand that the Naxals would not lay down arms. . . . “We know now that the weapons are coming through Bangladesh and Myanmar and possibly Nepal. The border is very porous. The Indo-Nepal border is a very porous border.” He said police has not found any weapons with Pakistani marking. . . . Asked if there are any groups from abroad backing the Maoists, the Minister said “I don’t know. It is possible that they get some intellectual support. I hear voices of some human rights group from abroad which say that we have unleashed a war on the Maoists. That is the intellectual support I am referring to.”

Asked if there is any evidence of external help to Maoists, Mr. Chidambaram said it may be at the level of intellectual or ideological level.

“Let me state it in carefully chosen words that if any group abjures violence we are willing to talk to that group about any genuine grievances. This is what the Prime Minister has said, this is what I have said. We have not asked them to anything more. We simply say halt the violence and then we can talk,” he said.

“This is the land where Mahatma Gandhi won us freedom through non-violence. Can you have a greater oppressor than a colonial government?”

The governments, he said, were not engaging the naxalities and in this period of 10 to 12 years, the naxalites have expanded their area of influence and dominance

[vipins]

Rajdhani drivers feared abducted by Maoists

Kolkata, Oct 27 (PTI) Two drivers of the New Delhi- Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express are feared to have been kidnapped by suspected Maoists between Jhargram and Sarna stations of the South Eastern Railway this afternoon.

SER sources here said the news was received at the headquarters around 3.30 pm that some people had stopped the train by waving a red flag between Jhargram and Sarna stations.

"According to the reports, the drivers could not be contacted. There are fears that they have been kidnapped by Maoists," a source said.

All Rajdhani Express trains have two drivers and an assistant.

[Yagnasri]

Has any one seen the our Burkha Datt on NDTV these days. She is trying to middle ground between the Union Governament and the Naxals Only Arnab Goswamy is some what better. I have stoped seeing Sardesai and his wife ( is that lady Sagarikha Ghosh is his wife ? Some on told me that. That makes CNN IBN is a family run new network ) They are too leftist even by Indian media standered.

The over ground naxal Jholawalas are finding it very difficult to jusify killing of the security personal at a PSU unit, beheaddings etc so they are trying to equate Naxals with Bhajarag Dal and BJP.

One more rubbish line is there is so much violence and injustice in the society etc After a long time these people are serious challenged to talk sence and since they only know how to talk non sence they are now in problem.

[Rahul M]

breaking news.

bhubaneswar-delhi rajdhani held hostage by maoists near jhargram, cabin crew abducted. they are demanding release of chtradhar mahato. all passengers forced to disembark and step away from train. central forces not allowed to move towards the train. gun battle going on.

that puts paid to the claims of "mahato not a maoist".

[Rahul Mehta]

Despite all the "excellent posts" made on "booming economy", improving well being of commons, 8.2% growth rate and "Nation on the march" --- inside our own borders, citizens are becoming hostages and trains get "hijacked".

The only good thing is that most citizens will lose whatever sympathy they have for Naxals and so now killing them like roaches will cause less discomfort.

But if IPS, judges, neta in its usual style keeps on killing/looting innocents, then more and more Tribals will become pro-Naxals, and then Naxals will get more recruits. eg I looked at pictures of "criminals" released by GoWB. Some women were in forties and fifties, and did not really look like someone who would do treason as they were charged with. If Govt imprison such innocents, Naxals are bound get recruits from them.

===

Also, disconnect in Indian population is total. The ones in upper 25% believe that everyone in India is doing great, there is no injustice, everyone is making tons of money, everyone is eating good food and hence no one has any valid reason to complaint. And so dont listen to !@#$%^& whiners. And bottom 25% perhaps cant smell good food and so they whine, and whines are ignored as "useless whines", and so they approach Naxals/missionaries or both, who give them weapons, and mess increases. As long as we have this "all Indians are now doing great" false propaganda, I dont think Naxalism will end.

(made some corrections later)

[Rahul M]

although I almost never see eye to eye with mehta sahab, in this case I more or less agree.

unless we find a way to connect the economically backward sections of desh to the booming growth engines (both are true, it's no use saying that only the progress/lack of it is the true story) our problems will only magnify.

regarding the IPS comment, it's way over-simplistic. India's la and order situation as a whole is in dire straits, it's no use singling out the IPS. the pandus on the ground are no paragons of honesty themselves(don't tell me the IPS alone are responsible for that).

As long as we have this "Indians are now doing great" false propaganda,

it's not false, some Indians are doing great, many are doing quite well if not great and in doing so for the first time since independence they are creating opportunities, which, if used properly, can raise a whole nation out of poverty.

[sugriva]

Latest news on Times of India website says that the train drivers have been released and the train has been released. It is not however clear from the website whether the police managed to do it by force or the WB govt agreed to a swap for Mahato. For the sake of India, I hope Mahato was not released.

[Singha]

these unarmed villager morchas are being used as cats paws by the core naxals to spread
the GOI thin and over a wide frontage. these knee jerk reactions of "rushing x central forces the site" achieve nothing. the core armed naxal cadre is meantime conserving their gunpowder and concentrating in their hideouts for the next hit.

they always like to concentrate a 10:1 manpower ratio, strike at night, disappear by dawn and have a network of arms caches all over the place such that he / she can become a peaceful villager by day.

large groups of these armed core maoists need to be brought to battle so that superior
forces can be brought to bear.

"combing operations" after the Nth ambush are again going to have no real impact.

spies, informers, UAV surveillance of deepest tracts, small untethered teams of SF who can quickly call up some form of aerial support (light mortar & LMG/UGL teams) if needed, extensive tracking of cellphones, tapping of all landlines in the infested areas only these can turn the tide.

something also needs done about the WB and Nepal borders - which are equivalent to durand line in porosity.

[rohiths]

A few Maoist websites to track
http://ajadhind.wordpress.com/
http://www.naxalrevolution.blogspot.com/

http://ajadhind.wordpress.com/2009/10/2 ... gnatories/

List of people who signed a petition protesting actions against Maoists
Arundhati Roy, Author and Activist, India
Amit Bhaduri, Professor Emeritus, Center for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU, India
Sandeep Pandey, Social Activist, N.A.P.M., India
Manoranjan Mohanty, Durgabai Deshmukh Professor of Social Development, Council for Social Development, India
Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court Advocate, India
Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India
Colin Gonzalves, Supreme Court Advocate, India
Arvind Kejriwal, Social Activist, India
Arundhati Dhuru, Activist, N.A.P.M., India
Swapna Banerjee-Guha, Department of Geography, University of Mumbai, India
Anand Patwardhan, Film Maker, India
Dipankar Bhattachararya, General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, India
Bernard D’Mello, Associate Editor, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), India
Sumit Sarkar, Retired Professor of History, Delhi University, India
Tanika Sarkar, Professor of History, J.N.U., India
Gautam Navlakha, Consulting Editor, Economic and Political Weekly, India
Madhu Bhaduri, Ex-ambassador
Sumanta Banerjee, Writer, India
Dr. Vandana Shiva, Philosopher, Writer, Environmental Activist, India
M.V. Ramana, Visiting Research Scholar, Program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy; Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, USA
Dipanjan Rai Chaudhari, Retired Professor, Presidency College, India
Amit Bhattacharyya, Professor, Department of History. Jadavpur University, Kolkata
D.N. Jha, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Delhi, India
Paromita Vohra, Devi Pictures
Sunil Shanbag, Theater Director
Saroj Giri, Lecturer in Political Science, Delhi University, India
Hilal Ahmed, Associate Fellow, Center for the Studies of Development of Societies, India
Reetha Balsavar
Sriparna Bandopadhyay, India
Sudeshna Banerjee, Department of History, Jadavpur University, India
Chinmoy Banerjee
Kaushik Banyopadhyay, Student, IIT KGP, India
Pranab Kanti Basu, Department of Economics and Politics, Vishwa Bharati University, India
Harsh Bora, Student, Delhi Law Faculty, India
Kaushik Bose, Reader, Vidyasagar University, India
Anjan Chakrabarti, Professor of Economics, Calcutta University, India
Shitansu Shekhar Chakraborty, Student, IIT Kharagpur, India
Achin Chakraborty, Professor of Economics, Institute of Development Studies, Calcutta University Alipore, India
Rabin Chakraborty
Anand Chakravarty, Retired Professor, Delhi University, India
Uma Chakravarty, Retired Professor, Delhi University, India
Indira Chakravarthi, Public Health Researcher, India
Nandini Chandra, Member of Faculty, Delhi University, India
Navin Chandra, Visiting Senior Fellow, Institude of Human Development, India
Jagadish Chandra, New Socialist Alternative, CWI, India
Pratyush Chandra, Activist, Freelance Journalist, and Researcher, India
Kunal Chattopadhyay, Professor of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, India
Debarshi Das, IIT Guwahati, India
Probal Dasgupta, Linguistic Research Unit, I.S.I., India
Subha Chakraborty Dasgupta, Professor, Jadavpur University, India
Surya Shankar Dash, Independent Filmmaker, India
Ashokankur Datta, Graduate Student, I.S.I. (Planning Unit), India
Amiya Dev, Emiritus Professor of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, India
Soumik Dutta
S. Dutta, Delhi Platform, India
Madhumita Dutta, Green Youth Movement, India, Based in Chennai
Durga Prasad Duvvuri, Independent Management Consultant, India
Ajit Eapen, Mumbai, India
Sampath G, Mumbai, India
Lena Ganesh
M.S. Ganesh
Subhash Gatade, Writer and Social Activisit, India
Pothik Ghosh, Editor, Radical Notes, India
Rajeev Godara, General Secretary, Sampooran Kranti Manch, Haryana (associated with Lok Rajniti Manch), India (Also an Advocatein Punjab and Haryana High Courts)
Abhijit Guha, Vidyasagar University, India
Jacob, South Asia Study Center
Manish Jain, Assistant Professor, Center for Studies of Sociology of Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
Shishir K. Jha, IIT Mumbai, India
Avinash K. Jha, Assistant Professor of Economics, Shri Ram College of Commerce, India
Bodhisattva Kar, Fellow in History, Center for Studies in Social Science, India
Harish Karnick, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur, India
Sumbul Jawed Khan, Biological Sciences and Bio. Eng. Department, IIT Kanpur, India
Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA, India
Ravi Kumar, Editor of Radical Notes and Assistant Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Central University, India
Abhijit Kundu, Faculty, Sociology, University of Delhi
Gauri Lankesh, Editor, Lankesh Patrike, India
Soumik Majumder
Dishery Malakar
Julie Koppel Maldonado
Dr Nandini Manjrekar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Soma Marik
Satyabrata Mitra
Siddhartha Mitra
Tista Mitra, Journalist, India
Najeeb Mubarki, Assistant Editor, Editorial page, Economic Times, India
Dipankar Mukherjee, PDF, Delhi, India
Subhasis Mukhopadhyay, Frontier
Pulin B. Nayak, Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, India
Nalini Nayak, Reader in Economics, PGDAV College, Delhi University, India
Soheb ur Rahman Niazi, Student, Jamia Milia Islamia, India
Rahul Pandey
Jai Pushp, Activist, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, India
Imrana Qadeer, Retired Professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, J.N.U., India
Neshant Quaiser, Associate Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Central University, Department of Sociology, India
Divya Rajagopal
Ramendra, Delhi Shramik Sangathan, India
Ramdas Rao, President, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Bangalore Unit, India
V. Nagendra Rao, Council for Social Development, Hyderabad, India
Shereen Ratnagar, Retired Professor, Center for Historical Studies, JNU, India
Sankar Ray, Columnist
Kirity Roy, MASUM and PACTI, India
Atanu Roy
Anindyo Roy
Dunu Roy, Social Activist, India
Sanjoy Kumar Saha, Reader, CSE department, Jadavpur University, India
Sandeep, Freelance Journalist
Dr. K. Saradamoni, Retired Academic
Madhu Sarin, Social Activist
Satyam, Rahul Foundation and Dayitvbodh, India
Jhuma Sen, Delhi
Samita Sen, Professor, Women’s Studies, Jadavpur University, India
Santanu Sengupta, UDML College of Engineering, India
Ajay Kishor Shaw, Mumbai, India
Dr. Mira Shiva
Jagmohan Singh, Voices for Freedom Punjab, India
Sandeep Singh, Mumbai, India
Harindar Pal Singh Ishar, Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court, India
Preeti Sinha, Editor of Philhal, Patna, India
Oishik Sircar, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, India
K. Sriram
Viviek Sundara, Mumbai, India
Saswati Swetlena, Programme Officer, Governance and Advocacy Unit, National Center for Advocacy Studies, India
Damayanti Talukdar, Kolkata
Divya Trivedi, The Hindu Business Line, India
Satyam Varma, Rahul Foundation
Rahul Varman, Professor, Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, IIT Kanpur, India
Padma Velaskar, Professor, Center for Studies in the Sociology of Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
G. Vijay, Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Hyderabad, India
R.M. Vikas, IIT Kanpur, India

*************

International Signatories

Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, M.I.T., USA
David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, The C.U.N.Y. Graduate Center, USA
Michael Lebowitz, Director, Program in Transformative Practice and Human Development, Centro Internacional Mirana, Venezuela
John Bellamy Foster, Editor of Monthly Review and Professor of Sociology,University of Oregon Eugene,USA
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor and Director of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University, USA
James C. Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Yale University, USA
Michael Watts, Professor of Geography and Development Studies, University of California Berkeley, USA
Mahmood Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Departments of Anthropoogy and Political Science, Columbia University, USA
Mira Nair, Filmmaker, Mirabai Films, USA
Howard Zinn, Historian, Playwright, and Social Activisit, USA
Abha Sur, Women’s Studies, M.I.T., USA
Richard Peet, Professor of Geography, Clark University, USA
Gilbert Achcar, Professor of Development Studies and International Relations, School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London, U.K
Massimo De Angelis, Professor of Political Economy, University of East London, UK
Gyanendra Pandey, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History, Emory University, USA
Brian Stross, Professor of Anthropology, University of Texas Austin, USA
J. Mohan Rao, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
Vinay Lal, Professor of History & Asian American Studies, University of California Los Angeles, USA
James Crotty, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Haluk Gerger, Political Scientist, Activist, Political Prisoner, Turkey
Justin Podur, Journalist, Canada
Hari Kunzru, Novelist, U.K.
Louis Proyect, Columbia University
Biju Mathew, Associate Professor, Rider University, USA
Harsh Kapoor, South Asia Citizens Web
Nicholas De Genova, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Latino Studies, Columbia University, USA
Peter Custers, Academic researcher on militarisation, Netherlands
Radha D’Souza, School of Law, University of Westminster , UK
Gary Aboud, Secretary, Fisherman and Friends of the Sea, Trinidad and Tobago
Mysara Abu-Hashem, Ph.D. Student, American University, USA
Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Professor of English, Montclair University, USA
Nadim Asrar, Ph.D. student, University of Minnesota, USA
Margaret E Sheehan, Attorney at Law, USA
Arpita Banerjee, Lecturer, Whittemore School of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire, USA
Deepankar Basu, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Sharmadip Basu, Syracuse University, USA
Joseph A Belisle
Kim Berry, Professor of Women’s Studies, Humboldt State University, USA
Varuni Bhatia, Assistant Professor, Religous Studies Program, N.Y.U., USA
Anindya Bhattacharya, Faculty, University of York, UK
Sourav Bhattacharya, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Peter J. Bloom, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Sister Maureen Catabian, Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Philippines
Paula Chakravartty, Associate Professor, Department of Communications, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Shefali Chandra, Professor of South Asian History, Washington University at St Louis, USA
Ipsita Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin, USA
Piya Chatterjee, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies, University of California Riverside, USA
Angana Chatterji, Professor, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, USA
Ruchi Chaturvedi, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA
Chitrabhanu Chaudhuri, Ph.D. Student, Department of Mathematics, Northwestern University, USA
Len Cooper,Victorian Branch,Communication Workers Union Australia
Priti Gulati Cox, Artist, USA
Stan Cox, Senior Scientist, The Land Institute, USA
Linda Cullen, Canada
Huma Dar, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, Canada
Koel Das, UCSB, USA
Atreyi Dasgupta, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
Grace de Haro, APDH Human Rights Organization, Argentina
Nandini Dhar, Ph.D. student, University of Texas Austin, U.S.A.
Martin Doornbos, Professor Emeritus, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, Netherlands
Emily Durham-Shapiro, Student, University of Minnesotta, USA
Arindam Dutta, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, MIT, USA
Anne Dwyer, University of Washington, USA
T. Robert Fetter, USA
Kade Finnoff, Doctoral Candidate, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Kaushik Ghosh, University of Texas, Austin, USA
Bishnupriya Ghosh, Professor of English, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Vinay Gidwani, Professor of Geography, Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA
Wendy Glauser, MA candidate, Political Science. York University. Toronto, Canada
Ted Glick, Climate Crisis Coalition, Climate Crisis Coalition and Chesapeake Climate Action Network, USA
Inderpal Grewal, Yale University, USA
Shubhra Gururani, Associate Professor of Anthropology, York University, Canada
Anna L. Gust, University College London, UK
Shalmali Guttal, Focus on the Global South
Arne Harns, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Free University of Berlin, Germany
Amrit Singh Heer, Graduate student, Social and Political Thought, York University, Canada
Helen Hintjens, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands
Robert A Hueckstedt, Professor, University of Virginia, USA
Zeba Imam, Ph.D. student, Texas A&M University, USA
Kajri Jain, University of Toronto, Canada
Dhruv Jain, Graduate student, York University, Canada
Mohamad Junaid, Graduate Student, Department of Anthropology, City University of New York, USA
Louis Kampf, Professor of Literature Emeritus, MIT, USA
Jyotsna Kapur, Associate Professor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA
Emily Kawano, Director, Center for Popular Economics, USA
Nada Khader , Executive Director, WESPAC Foundation
Jesse Knutson, University of Chicago, USA
Peter Lackowski, Writer/Activist, USA
Maire Leadbeater (human rights activist Auckland New Zealand)
Joseph Levine, Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
George Levinger, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
David W. Lewit, Alliance for Democracy, USA
Jinee Lokaneeta, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Drew University, USA
Ania Loomba, Catherine Bryson Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Arthur MacEwan, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
Sanjeev Mahajan
Sunaina Maira, Associate Professor, University of California Davis, USA
Panayiotis “Taki” Manolakos, Writer/Activist, USA
Carlos Marentes, Farmworkers.org, USA
Bill Martin, Professor of Philosophy, DePaul University, USA
Erika Marquez, New York, USA
Thomas Masterson, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, USA
Jim McCorry, Belfast, N. Ireland
Victor Menotti, Executive Director, International Forum on Globalization, USA
James Miehls, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Stephen Miesher, Associate Professor, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Ali Mir, Professor, William Paterson University, USA
Raza Mir, Professor of Management, William Paterson University, USA
Katherine Miranda, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras.
Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute, USA
Roger Moody, Association for Progressive Communication, UK
Agrotosh Mookerji, Statistician and student, UK
Joshua Moufawad-Paul, Ph.D. student, York University, Canada
Sudipto Muhuri
Alan Muller, Executive Director, Green Delaware, USA
Sirisha Naidu, Assistant Professor of Economics, Wright State University, USA
Sakuntala Narsimhan
Sriram Natrajan, Independent Researcher, Thailand
Nandini Nayak, SOAS, University of London, UK
Anuradha Dingwaney Needham, Longman Professor of English, Oberlin College, USA
Ipsita Pal Bhaumik, NIH, USA
Shailja Patel, USA
Saswat Pattanayak, Editor, Radical Notes, USA
Anne Petermann, Global Justice Ecology Project
Kavita Philip, Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA
Mike Alexander Pozo, Political Affairs Magazine
Kaushik Sunder Rajan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California Irvine, USA
Kaveri Rajaraman, Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, USA
K. Ravi Raman, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, UK
Leena Ranade, AID India, USA
Nagesh Rao, Assistant Professor, The College of New Jersey, USA
Ravi Ravishankar, Campaign to Stop Funding Hate, USA
Chandan Reddy, Assistant Professor, University of Washington, USA
Bruce Rich, Attorney, USA
Dr. Andrew Robinson, UK
Rachel Rosen, International Workers of the World and OSSTF, USA
Seth Sandronsky, Journalist, USA
Amit Sarkar, Visiting Fellow, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID/NIH, USA
Bhaskar Sarkar, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Helen Scharber, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Anna Schultz, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology, School of Music, University of Minnesota, USA
Svati Shah, Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Shaheen Shasa, USA
Snehal Shinghavi, Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin, USA
Tyler Shipley, Department of Political Science, York University, Canada
Samira Shirdel, Community Advocate, Chaya: a Resource for South Asian Women, USA
Jon Short, Department of Communications Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
Kuver Sinha, Texas A&M University, USA
Subir Sinha, SOAS, University of London, U.K
Julietta Singh, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA
Preethy Sivakumar, York University, Canada
Ajay Skaria, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota, USA
Stephen C Snyder
Nidhi Srinivas, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Management, The New School, USA
Chukka Srinivas
Poonam Srivastav, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota, USA
Priyanka Srivastava, Ph.D. candidate, University of Cincinnati, USA
Rachel Steiger-Meister, Graduate Student, Wright State University, USA
Raja Swamy, Campaign to Stop Funding Hate, USA
Usha Titikshu, Photojournalist, Nepal
Wendel Trio, Former Chair, European Alliance with Indigenous Peoples
Shivali Tukdeo, University of Illinois, USA
Sandeep Vaidya, India Support Group, Ireland
Rashmi Varma, University of Warwick, U.K
Nalini Visvanathan, Lecturer in Asian American Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
Daphna Whitmore, Secretary, Workers’ Party, New Zealand
T. Wignesan, Editor, Asianists’ Asia, Centre de Recherches, CERPICO and CREA, France
Daphne Wysham, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies, USA

[Sachin]

central forces not allowed to move towards the train. gun battle going on. that puts paid to the claims of "mahato not a maoist".

Checked up news at 9:30PM IST.
1. Train is now released. The engine drivers and passengers are safe.
2. The maoists or sympathisers had put large tree blocks on the rail tracks. The driver would have to stop the train.
3. Central Police forces moved into the area, and before that WB Armed police and naxalites had a small shoot out.

It seems this is also taking a political level. Mamata Banerjee using this as a weapon against her opponents, the commie govt. of West bengal. The whole naxalite issue may get sidelined because of this .

[samuel]

How accurate is this picture?

[brihaspati]

The target is two-fold. First the Left Front gov. Second, that MB should be kept on her toes and dependent on centre until the next assembly elections. But the game is also complex. The thing is the more central authority is needed to sort out "regional problems" - regional power bases are discredited. They are clearing the field for "centralization" - not bad considering that it makes the subsequent task when the "centralizers" vanish before external manipulation - easier.

[Rahul Mehta]

although I almost never see eye to eye with mehta sahab, in this case I more or less agree. unless we find a way to connect the economically backward sections of desh to the booming growth engines (both are true, it's no use saying that only the progress/lack of it is the true story) our problems will only magnify.

AWMTA . In fact, IIRC your name is Arindam and you chose the psydonym "Rahul M" from "Rahul Mehta", right? . Rest of the reply in Neta-Babu thread ....

T(In StrategiC Leadership thread) here is no doubt that social and economic deficiencies in the country has encouraged anti Govt forces to operate with impunity and even with support of those deprived.

Reply in Neta-Babu thread ....

[Rahul M]

mehta sahab, your information is faulty (again) !!

incidentally, the police officer who was released is being investigated for alleged maoist connections. apparently some of his actions have been suspicious.

[Sachin]

incidentally, the police officer who was released is being investigated for alleged maoist connections. apparently some of his actions have been suspicious.

Hmm.. was he a state level officer, or some one from the IPS cadre? Perhaps before CRPF etc. starts their operations they should also check up the attitude of their friends in WB police. If they are also closet maoists/commies at heart, then god bless the CRPF,Cobras etc.

[Aditya_V]

samuel wrote

How accurate is this picture

Pathetically inaccurate, I live in Hyderabad and travel all around. As per that map I should be in Maist control. Similarly, Maoists in Chatisgarh are there only Dantewada etc.

Its 1 random attack in a District and district becomes Naxal affected. That MAP is nothing but Mental Master***** for Jhollawallas and thier foreign backers.

[Sachin]

Pathetically inaccurate, I live in Hyderabad and travel all around. As per that map I should be in Maist control.

This seems to be a TOBE plan for the Maoists and their buddies. In AP Naxalites are now pretty much an extinct species thanks to Grayhounds etc. They may find some comfort in hiding in forest areas close to Orissa etc. Bangalore in no way is a naxalite infested area.

[sanjaychoudhry]

The adbudcted cop seems to be hand in glove with Maoists.

Row at India kidnap officer on TV

Since his release, Atindranath Dutta has appeared on several television shows and police say he is divulging sensitive information.

The officer was in charge of the police station when Maoist rebels stormed Sankrail town and looted the bank.

He was kidnapped and two other policemen were killed in the attack.

But Mr Dutta was freed as part of a negotiated exchange two days later.

The Maoists said they would release him if 14 tribal women from the troubled Lalgarh district were also released on bail.

'Unbecoming'

Mr Dutta refuses to discuss his questioning by police detectives, but has defended his television appearances.

"The media played a major role in my release. So if they want me to tell them what happened in captivity, how can I not oblige them?" he told the BBC.

But his actions have drawn criticism from senior police officers.

"He is clearly violating service conduct rules by speaking on television day and night," Inspector General of Police in West Bengal, Kuldeep Singh said.

"He has divulged all details of the case before the government could start an inquiry. This is most unbecoming of a policeman."

Mr Singh said Mr Dutta would be punished if charges of "dereliction of duty" and "violation of service conduct rules" were proved against him.

"He has asked for some time to join duty, but he is hale and hearty. He is giving TV interviews all day, changing clothes six times a day, so why can't he join duty?" asked the state's chief secretary, Asok Mohan Chakrabarti.

Former army colonel Soumitra Ray has called for a "stiff punishment" for Mr Dutta.

"The way he shook hands with the Maoists and appealed to the government to start talks with the rebels, the way he thanked the Maoists publicly for his release, the way he allowed himself to be carried away by the Maoists without putting any resistance - all this will send very wrong signals unless he is punished," Mr Ray told the BBC.

A preliminary inquiry into the Maoist attack on the Sankrail police station has revealed that the police officer was not in uniform and did not have his service revolver when the attack started, police say .

Mr Dutta's colleagues are also reported to be upset because he did not visit the relatives of two of his colleagues who were killed in the Maoist attack.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8327356.stm

[shaardula]

sachin bangalore is not in the map.
in KA: pavagada, tumkur, malnad region and karavali udupi and up. + raichur parts of bellary and gulbarga seems right. roughly areas of significant (double digit) tribal population. but the map also shows periphery of mysore and mysore no known naxal problem. also chamarajanagar has significant tribal population but no known naxal influence.both the bangalore districts have very little tribal populations to begin with + are urbanized.

[Aditya_V]

Yes the Map is nothing but put together distrcts where Tribals live and call them Naxal controlled. Its nothing but Jhollawalla and Gora Jhollawala backers dreams...

[Rahul M]

samuel wrote

How accurate is this picture

Pathetically inaccurate, I live in Hyderabad and travel all around. As per that map I should be in Maist control. Similarly, Maoists in Chatisgarh are there only Dantewada etc.

Its 1 random attack in a District and district becomes Naxal affected. That MAP is nothing but Mental Master***** for Jhollawallas and thier foreign backers.

pathetic isn't a strong enough word.

for bengal, look at this map :


only the 3 districts at the south-west corner, purulia, bankura and midnapore (all adjacent to jharkhand/orissa) have strong maoist presence.
parts of darjeeling, jalpaiguri, burdwan and south 24-parganas can be called targeted at best. the rest have absolutely nothing to do with maoists.