Bharat Rakshak

BHUBANESWAR: Close on the heels of the mounting unrest on land issues in tribal areas and the emerging situation looking like giving handles to Maoists to wreak havoc, Orissa government has asked officials to expedite implementation of the Central Forest Rights Act.

The government is of the view that distribution of land rights to tribals could muffle the escalating extremism to some extent.

The ceaseless violence in Narayanpatna, Bandhugaon in Koraput district and similar such agitations in other areas are cited as a pointer to the degree of disaffection entrenched deeply in public psyche on the land issue.

Tribals and non-tribals for whom forest is the source of livelihood are both entitled to getting the deeds subject to a maximum area of four hectares. Orissa so far has been able to distribute such deeds to around 28,400 families.

New Delhi: The Maoists are taking a cut from government contracts awarded in their areas of influence, in effect making the taxpayer fund their activities. Security agencies estimate the amount to be between Rs1,400 crore and Rs1,600 crore annually, a substantial portion of which is used for procuring -- and even manufacturing -- arms.

The rebels have institutionalised the system in Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Orissa, states awash with contracts for mining, logging and road works. Contractors for coal mining are made to pay 20-30% of their earnings and for roads 15-20% of the contract amount.

"The percentage of the cut is decided by senior Maoist members and the task of collecting the amount is the district commander's," said a senior Union home ministry official. "We came to know of the rates through the contractors and arrested Maoists. The rebels also charge from truck drivers; depending on the size of the load, the amount is Rs100-150."

Ranchi/Patna Oct 13 (PTI) Maoists set off dynamites in a school and a panchayat office, blasted railway tracks and torched a panel room taking some railmen as hostages besides destroying some mobile phone towers in stepped up violence in Jharkhand and Bihar.

The Maoists resorted to violent protests for the second consecutive day against the Centre's move to launch a crackdown on the banned group during their two-day shutdown which ended today.

Reinforcements have been airdashed to Malewada in Armouri constituency of Gadchiroli district where around 25 polling and police personnel are held up after their return routes were blocked by the Maoists.

Director General of Police (incharge of elections) A N Roy said reinforcements in two helicopters were rushed to Malewada to provide security to the stranded personnel, who had been engaged in an exchange of fire with the naxalites earlier in the day without any damage to either side.

The poll personnel had been fired upon by the naxals near Malewada leading to a brief encounter. Polling had resumed in the area after being suspended for some time.

The state government on Tuesday gave approval for raising 20 additional companies of Jharkhand Jaguar, a specialized force of the state police constituted to tackle the ever-growing Maoist menace in Jharkhand.

As many as 20 companies of the Jharkhand Jaguar are currently deployed in the Maoist-hit areas of the state. Jharkhand is one of the worst Naxal-hit states as Maoists hold sway over 22 of its 24 districts.

The decision to raise additional companies of the specialized police force was approved by the advisory council to Governor K Sankaranarayanan as the state is under the President's rule since January 19.

As the Centre prepares for an all-out offensive against the Maoists next month, the flag-bearers of Red terror are setting their own plans to engage the security forces in a protracted and bloody jungle warfare.

Reports reaching police and intelligence officials suggest that the Maoists are planning surprise attacks, taking advantage of their familiarity with the terrain. Sources said the Maoists are amassing large quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives and raising special guerrilla battalions to attack the police and paramilitary forces.

Sources told The Pioneer that the Maoists recently smuggled in thousands of milk cans in the dense Abujhmad forest in Bastar and are busy converting them into deadly bombs. The police have rarely ventured into the forest, used by the Naxals as their hideout and training and arms manufacturing centre.

Sources said the Naxals have also acquired large quantity of naked wires which can be used to flow in electricity to electrocute security forces. Most alarmingly, the Maoists have also started raising their own heavily armed and specially-trained cadre to take on the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) and Central paramilitary forces.

A top official told The Pioneer that they have received information that to counter the anti-Maoist operations starting next month, the extremists are preparing to launch fierce counter-attacks on the security forces and their special Red commandoes will lead such attacks.

“The Maoists are not going to wait and watch while the security forces take control of their domain. They will be bound to retaliate to keep the morale of their cadre and sympathisers up,” said the official.

Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwaranjan is of the opinion that the Maoists will fan out to newer areas when they are attacked in their strongholds and open new fronts. “It could be a cat and mouse game. We are aware that the Maoists are chalking out their own strategy to take on the forces and they may try to shift their base and engage security forces on their own terms. But we are determined to hunt them down,” he said.

Documents seized from the Maoists show that they have had planned major operations in Dhamtari and Mahasamund areas in Chhattisgarh. Intelligence available with the police shows that the Maoists had carried out survey to loot mines, magazine and police camps.

Sources said that the Naxals are likely to use diversionary tactics in a big way to divert attention of the security forces. This could involve abducting and killing ‘soft’ targets like politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and others.

...

The killing of a BJP MP's son in Bastar and beheading of a sub-inspector in Jharkhand may be part of the same design, he said.

The documents seized from the Maoists show that in Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) alone there are 12 heavily-armed companies, each with 70 to 90 members. These companies have light machine guns, AK-47, Insas rifles and self-loading rifles and mortars.

The documents also show that at present 22 Maoist platoons were working in the Dandakaranya zone and each of their members is armed with modern weapons. Sources said there are 25,000 armed members of the People Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and local militia in the DKSZC.

Sources said the Maoists in the DKSZC have about 150 AK-47s, 700 SLRs, 50 LMGs, and 300 Insas rifles as well as hundreds of mortars. In addition, they have thousands of country-made rifles and small guns and sharp-edged weapons.

The police have learnt there are four factories in the Abujhmad region where the Naxals are manufacturing rifles, guns and grenades. “These factories are located in semi-permanent buildings and yearly produce 5,000 grenades and 4,000 guns. From Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai raw materials are brought in via Raipur. From here, the consignments are taken to Madh through road," the documents said.

The Abujhmad forest will pose a grave challenge to the security forces though the intelligence agencies are understood to have used satellite mapping techniques to scan the entire area for operational preparedness.

Sources said the Naxals are using two persons from Dhanbad to smuggle ammunition in large numbers. Investigations have proved that the Maoists pay anything between Rs 80 and Rs 100 for one bullet.

Sources said there are three to four training camps operating in Abujhmad and nearly 50 militants are trained in each batch. In the first eight months of 2009, as many as 25,000 Maoists were trained in these camps. "In between April and June these members who were trained were used against the police in landmine blasts, ambush and looting of weapons, an arrested Maoist told the police.

The Maoists have access to satellite and man packs sets and solar-powered battery charger systems.

A written directive, issued by the central Politburo of the Maoist outfit, says the entire party and its armed wings need to carry out "tactical counter-offensive and various forms of armed resistance and inflict severe losses to the enemy forces".

"Attacks should be organised with meticulous planning against the State's khaki- and olive-clad terrorist forces, SPOs (special police officers), police informants, and other counter-revolutionaries and enemies of the people."

"These attacks should be carried out in close coordination with, and in support of, the armed resistance of the masses; these should be linked to the seizure of political power and establishment of base areas; it is the combined attacks by all the three wings … and the people at large that can ensure the defeat of the enemy offensive."

The Maoists are also planning to mobilise mass movement and launch a propaganda campaign through their frontal organisation across the country to counter the proposed offensive. "In order to defeat the new offensive by the enemy and to protect the gains of the People's War, it is very essential to rouse the masses throughout the country (to) stand up in support of the struggles in Dandakaranya, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and other places," the Politburo has directed its cadre.

India should build up its response to the Naxal problem taking utmost care against human rights violations and adopt a strategy of taking the local people into confidence, the Human Rights Watch said today.

''We recognise the seriousness of the Naxal insurgency and condemn the attacks on the innocent locals and the police. The Indian state has the responsibility to protect its citizens. Our concern is that it should be done in a manner, consistent with the international human rights laws. It should adopt a strategy that takes people's cooperation,'' said Mr Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch at a press conference here.

He said it should build up its response to the problem taking into consideration the human rights issues and care should be taken in a manner that civilians do not become the unintentional casualties.

watch out - the human rights brigade are here:

India's response to Naxals must avoid rights violations: Human Rights Watch

Ranchi: Jharkhand Police have arrested top Naxal leader Ravi Sharma and his wife B Anuradha from the jungles near Hazaribagh.


Police claim they have evidence of Sharma, who is allegedly a Politburo member of the banned Naxal organisation Communist Party of Indian-Maoist, being involved in many acts of violence in Bihar and Jharkhand recently.


They have also recovered a CD in which Sharma is seen undergoing arms training with other extremists holding an AK-47 rifle. Police also claim to have recovered a pistol, four cartridges, Rs 60,000 in cash, PAN cards, a laptop and bank passbooks.


Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police Pankaj Kamboj revealed that the couple, who are based in Andhra Pradesh, were responsible for the spurt of Naxal violence in Bihar and Jharkhand and were arrested on October 10.


This was a good catch. He is an intellectual and was the mastermind in many of the cases. We have booked him under Unlawful Acts. We have aquired some weapons and Maoist documents," the SP told CNN-IBN.


"Ravi Sharma alias Arjun alias Mahesh alias Ashok and his wife B Anuradha alias Rajitha hail from Andhra and run the Maoist outfit in Bihar and Jharkhand since 1999," he was quoted as saying by PTI.


"The duo, arrested under Ichak police station in the district, has been responsible for the sudden increase in Naxal violence in these two states," said Kamboj.


Police say 50-year-old Sharma is the head of CPI(M) military group and a member of the outfit's Special Area Committee.


His wife Anuradha, left her job with a nationalised bank in Hyderabad in 1988, to join the outfit. She was sent to Bihar in 2007 where Shrma was looking after recruitment as well as training and his wife was heading the women's wing of the outfit.


Sharma is a postgraduate in agriculture and and earlier worked as a scientist with the Pusa Agriculture University in Bihar.


He is the fourth bigh Naxal leader to be arrested in less than an year. On September 21 Kobad Ghandy, one of the founder members of CPI (M) was arrested by the Delhi Police.


The convener of Naxal-backed People's Committee in Lalgarh, Chhatradhar Mahato, was arrested on September 26 in West Bengal. On October 2, Jharkhand CID arrested Naxal commander Chandra Bhushan Yadav from Hooghly station road near SahRead Comment

rkirankr wrote:Tarun Vijay's blog hits the pseudo intellectual sympathizers of Naxalites. Nice Read
http://tarun-vijay.blogspot.com/

‘‘During a revolution, one does not see how many people are killed. Only when the goal is achieved, will this bloodshed end,’’

But that does not justify the China-bashing campaign conducted by a certain section of the Indian media. During the last two-three months, certain sections of the media, both electronic and print, have attempted to create an anti-China hysteria. Cooked-up stories of border violations were flashed up. The campaign reached absurd levels. It was so ferocious that the government had to threaten the journalists indulging in it of legal action.

Battle against Maoists being undermined by intellectuals

By Amulya Ganguli

Lenin described as “useful idiots” those bleeding heart liberals who were soft on the Communists despite the latter’s avowed objective of launching a violent insurrection to overthrow the supposedly rotten bourgeois system.

A similar indulgent, romantic attitude is discernible among Indian intellectuals with regard to the Maoists. The track record of these insurgents in killing hundreds of policemen, blowing up railway stations and transmission towers and uprooting railway lines appear to earn the forgiveness of the city-based intelligentsia because the rebels are believed to stand for the cause of the poor.

Perhaps the most prominent among the supporters of the Maoists is Sahitya Akademi award winner Mahasweta Devi, who is well known in West Bengal for her insightful writings on the tribals and was even mentioned recently as a possible Nobel Prize winner.

There are others like filmmaker Aparna Sen, theatre personality Saoli Mitra and poet Joy Goswami, who are sympathetic towards the Maoists. They may offer proforma condemnation of their violent acts, but by also criticising the state for its harsh response, as Chhattisgarh social activist Binayak Sen did recently, they partly justify the violence of the Maoists. The latter, according to them, are expressing the fury of the impoverished masses against the state, which represents the oppressive bourgeoisie.

However, it isn’t only the intellectuals or civil libertarians or media personalities who are critical of the centre’s, and especially Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s, decision to launch an all-out offensive against the Maoists. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, too, is of the same mind although her focus is only on West Bengal.

Like the others, she also wants the centre to put greater emphasis on a dialogue with them since not all of them are “bad”. The reason for her gentle approach is easy to understand. Since the Maoists had helped her in her campaigns against the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in Singur, Nandigram and elsewhere, she evidently owes them a debt of gratitude. It is the Marxists who are Maoists, she has said. She has also warned that Bengal will burn if Mahasweta Devi is arrested.

If the lenience of the human rights activists is due to an inability to gauge the true purport of the Maoist menace, the Trinamool Congress leader is driven solely by cynical calculations where she is ready to sup with the devil if it can help her rout the Left in West Bengal.

Her tunnel vision makes her impervious to the danger of the Maoists emerging as Frankenstein’s monster to undermine the Indian state, which they regard as neo-imperialist.

If Mamata Banerjee is driven by politics, the writers and academics are of the opinion that unless the core problem of poverty is solved, the Maoists cannot be defeated. So, they want the government to focus on socio-economic development instead of sending in the paramilitary forces.

There is a grain of truth in their view, for the Maoists have evidently exploited the deprivations of the poor, and mainly the tribals, to establish their bases and brainwash them with the Marxist doctrine of a class war.

That they have had a large measure of success is without doubt. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for a ragtag bunch of anarchists, who had splintered into numerous groups after Charu Mazumdar’s death in 1972 to mobilise in the way that they have done.

Today they are said to be present in 231 of the country’s 626 districts while the strength of their armed cadres has doubled to 20,000 men and women in the last five years. What is more worrisome is that they are far better equipped than what the Naxalites were in the late 1960s and early 70s when home-made pipeguns and improvised bombs were their main weapons.

It is, however, fatuous to believe that poverty-elimination should be attempted before any police action because the insurrectionists will simply not allow the government or even the non-government organisations favourably disposed towards them to undertake any kind of sustained development work in the areas under their control.

What is more, even if they have used the lack of development to mobilise cadres, their basic doctrine has nothing to do with material progress, but with the destruction of the bourgeois state. As such, even if there is social and economic progress, the Maoists will not fade away although their capacity to lure the poor in the countryside to their side will be weakened.

Until now, they have been helped not only by the poverty in the tribal areas of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa but also by the failure of the state governments to assess their potential till it was too late. Besides, the initial efforts to counter them with the help of poorly-trained and ill-equipped police personnel were bound to fail. It is only now that the centre is planning to deploy special forces and even use helicopters in the operations against them.

Considering that the army was deployed in the 70s for “area domination” when the Naxalites were much weaker, it is noteworthy that such a step has not been considered. The reason perhaps is that the civil libertarians are much more active than before. In addition, the Argus-eyed television cameras will bring the scenes of military presence to rouse the intellectuals even further. The government, therefore, is evidently playing safe for the present.

Following the completion of polling in three states, security forces have begun moving to the Naxal-affected areas where a major offensive against the ultra-left organisations is being planned from next month.

Government sources said that by early next week, the force deployment would be complete in the six districts selected for the first phase of the operation against the Naxalites.

The six districts are spread over two geographical areas, one along the border of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra and the other around the tri-junction of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.

In addition to the Central forces already stationed in the Naxal-affected states, 15 additional battalions have been summoned for the operation that is expected to be a long-haul process.

Apart from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which has been leading the fight against the Naxalites along with the state police forces, Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have also contributed personnel for the operation.

Sources said five battalions of BSF and two from ITBP have already reached ground zero in Chhattisgarh.

The CRPF also pulled out some of its men from Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states to reinforce its strength in the Naxal-affected regions.

A coordinated armed action against the Naxalite groups, involving all the affected state governments and the Central government, has been in the works for quite a long time now, but had to be held back because of the Assembly elections in the states of Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Maoist groups have stepped up their activity in the last couple of months and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly described Naxalism as the greatest security threat being faced by the country.

Simultaneously with the armed operation, the government also intends to initiate development projects in the Naxal-affected regions, many of which are extremely remote with little or no presence of any official infrastructure.

The government has earmarked Rs 7,300 crore over the next five years just for construction of roads in 34 of the worst affected districts. Of this, Rs 900 crore would be released this year itself.

The postponement of acceptance

Swarn Kumar Anand

The oldest and best-known secret is out — thanks to the diplomatic wrangling over the Goldstone report — but there is relevance for India as human rights wallahs trip the national resolve to end Maoism. A Saturday Special focus

The world’s human rights community is on tenterhooks this Diwali. Reason: standing between them and utter irrelevance is the outcome of a debate now on in Geneva on whether or not the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) should ratify the Richard Goldstone report on the role of Israel in the Gaza conflict.

If UNHRC ratifies the report, a dangerous message will be sent out for freedom-loving people all over the world. So says Israel and its friends in the West. If it does not, then the message will be equally dangerous for freedom-loving people all over the world. No prizes for guessing who says that. Confused? That’s the name of the game in the human rights business. It’s all about which side you are on. ................

Maoists train to face elite forces

The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a specialised paramilitary force raised to take on Maoists, could face stiff resistance from guerrillas of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).

The Maoists have begun imparting specialised training to their cadre in the forests of Bihar’s Gaya and Aurangabad districts.

Armed with sophisticated weapons, instructors from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Nepal are training members of the People’s Liberation for Guerrilla Army, said Amarjeet Advani, 35, a Maoist leader, in Aurangabad to participate in an event commemorating the fifth anniversary of the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre with People’s War.

CoBRA is a specialised unit of the Central Reserve Police Force, one of the best-equipped in the country.

Set up last year with a grant of Rs 1,300 crore from the government, CoBRA members are armed with light mortars, machine guns, rocket launchers, INSAS rifles, FN 35 and Glock pistols, Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns and Carl Gustav recoilless rifles.

Advani said retired personnel of the Indian Army and the central paramilitary force had been hired to train the recruits. “We have weapons like INSAS rifles, AK-47s and self-loading rifles, apart from a big cache of explosives and detonators. Most of these have been snatched from the police.”

The government had recently announced the deployment of one CoBRA company (of 130 soldiers) in Gaya, 100 km south of Patna, to check the growing Maoist influence in the state.

Maoist violence has claimed the lives of more than 200 security personnel this year in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal. Around 700 civilians have also been killed in the same period.

Aurangabad Superintendent of Police N.K. Tiwary said there were no training camps of the Maoists in the district.

The November Offensive

•The offensive will be spread over the next five years
•A special forces school, a special forces unit and an army brigade HQ will be set up near Bilaspur. The Bde HQ will participate in anti-Maoist ops in the future. The army is looking for 1,800 acres of land to set up the infrastructure.
•The IAF is looking for 300 acres for its base
•MHA is sitting on a plan to redeploy the Rashtriya Rifles
•For now, 27 battalions of the Border Security Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police will be moved into Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Maharashtra
•The paramilitary forces will be supported by six Mi-17 IAF choppers
•The helicopters will have on board the IAF's special force, the GARUDS, to secure the chopper and conduct combat search and rescue operations
•The offensive will be in seven phases. Each phase has been marked areawise as Operating Areas (OAs).
•OA-1 involves moving along a north-south axis from Kanker, Chhattisgarh, and on an east-west axis from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and span the Abuj Marh forests used by the Maoists as a training centre and logistics base

brihaspati wrote:^^^he is talking sense. In addition there will be severe limitations imposed from outside.