Joint forces leave behind condoms, booze bottles in School

Sukumar Mahato | tnn

Gohmidanga (West Midnapore):

After months of local opposition, several failed promises and final­ly a court order, the joint forces fi­nally moved out of Gohmidanga High School in Lalgarh on Thurs­day, but left behind a heap of empty liquor bottles, used condoms and broken furniture. 

As a result, the school will re­open only on December 7, after the compound is thoroughly cleaned. Classes have remained suspended since July 1, when the forces moved in by breaking the locks. 

The Calcutta High Court had ordered a week ago that schools occupied by joint forces had to be vacated by December 30. The or­der came after several promises — one by the home secretary in August and another by the chief minister—to hand back occupied schools to the authorities failed to materialise. 

But when the Gohmidanga school was finally vacated on Thursday, teachers and administrative staff were in for a shock. The classroom floors were littered with empty bottles of liquor and used condoms. Blackboards were defaced, benches and chairs were broken and electricity boards damaged. 

"Police came to my residence at Dahijuri and informed that the joint forces would leave the school. But we were shocked to see the school premises so dirty. How would the jawans damage school property like this? It will take us two to three days to clean up the mess. So we've decided to start classes from Monday," said Nimai ChandraPatra, teacher-in-charge of the school. 

"What's worrying us is the electricity bill. Over the past five months that the joint forces were here, the bill amount touched Rs 12,896 in two phases. Though the police have promised to pay the bill, we fear WBSEB would cut power supply due to the high dues," said assistant teacher Utpal Pal.

PCPA spokesperson Asit Mahato said. "The joint forces moved out after the students, guardians and teachers started a movement against the school's occupation.Despite the court order, forces are still occupying 10 schools in the district." 

Local resentment against the occupation of the school had touched such heights that students and guardians had got together to demonstrate in front of the school gates on July 20 and 25. Police lathicharged the mob, allegedly leaving several injured. Villagers later arranged for temporary classes under makeshift tents. 

There were about 250 jawans of CRPF, BSF, SAP as well as women police at the school. On Thursday, they walked to the Chandra police camp 14 km away after loading their goods on lorries.

Source: Times of India, Kolkata Edition, 4 December, 2009 

40th anniversary of the martyrdom of Com. Chandrasekhar Das

Forty years back, in 25 November 1969, Com. Chandrasekhar Das was brutally killed by reactionary elements. He was one of the organizers and leaders of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC).

Today is the 40^th anniversary of the martyrdom of this great communist revolutionary.

Com. Chandrasekhar Das will remain forever as one of the major communist leader-teacher-organizers in the heart of all revolutionaries of India.

Politics of the Belly

Shamita Basu

  

Tribal communities in India have historically existed as parceled out sovereignties. This has strengthened ethnicity and made the tribals more self-conscious and politically competitive. State boundaries have had to be redrawn, leading to the creation of Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.  
However, what makes Lalgarh exceptional is that the local tribals have not demanded the right to self-determination. Nor for that matter have they sought a redrawn map of Bengal, like the Gorkhas in the Hills. The movement in Lalgarh began as a discourse on moral ethnicity when the tribals were attacked by the police last November. The movement has now been linked to that of the Maoists. The line that differentiates the tribal from the Maoist is getting increasingly blurred.
The present scenario in the tribal belt is somewhat reminiscent of British India. The colonial ruler in league with the upper caste landlords and zamindars would forcefully usurp the tribal land and resources and evacuate them from their hearth and home ~ the Rajmahal hills. The process, criminalised by the money-lenders and the sexual exploitation of women, eventually culminated in the Santhal rebellion.
India of the 21st century has not substantially altered the colonial policy. Indeed, the lack of development reflects the colonial mindset. Besides, tribal land and resources have been plundered. The Special Economic Zones have been planned on inalienable tribal land without the distribution of economic benefits.
Economic plight
CIVIL society has been largely indifferent to the economic plight of the tribals. It has even been argued that the governmental model of development might simply misfire, even threaten the subaltern perception of “development”. This view has provided a comfortable escape route for the government.
The question of tribal welfare now occupies the centrestage in Bengal. The gradual loosening of state power has opened up the space for democratisation in the form of discord, protest and rebellion. What used to be a shadow line of the Maoist movement has become more prominent. It is becoming progressively difficult to separate the militia from the tribal population. No wonder the state treads nervously.
The political class generally has tried to link tribal disaffection with that of the Maoist militia. The idea is to run down both in the public perception. The other method, resorted to by the administration, is to invoke such stringent legislation as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to curb what it calls the state of internal terrorism. This is a puerile perception
Maoism historically has its roots in the agrarian and tribal societies in India. Its revival need not be sought in its ideology ~ of the reluctance of the Left radical to join the political mainstream. A close look is necessary to determine what exactly sustains these movements at the popular and grassroot level and why it is able to extract support from the human rights activists and the radical section of civil society.
The obsessive concern with investments in industry is dangerous. Even the West has begun to question what the German sociologist, Ulrich Beck, has called “The Risk Society” ~ a product of the industrial society. “Just as modernisation dissolved the structure of feudal society in the 19th century, modernisation today is dissolving industrial society and a new modernity is coming into being.” By linking up the critique of industrialisation with the cause of the poor and the marginalised, the ideology of the Maoists has been significantly recast.
The contradiction of Indian politics lies in its espousal of a development model that is anachronistic in nature. The paradox of a developing society is that it borrows from a model that has outgrown itself in the West, but is parceled out to the East. Just as under-development in the Third World was once perceived to have been created. The emergence of what can be called the civil society movement in India is largely linked to this new brand of modernity that is beyond the pale of its classical industrial design.
Complex process
THE paradox of this model of development makes both the economic and political solution an extremely complex and elusive process. There may be hope yet if the State jettisons its absolutist stance. It must realise that thoughtless industrialisation can be hazardous for the climate. It can even destroy the natural habitat that had traditionally sheltered man, both physically and psychologically. In this quest for a safe society based on distributive justice and the protection of man’s basic needs, the government must function as a partner of the people. Instead of focusing on markets and breeding consumerism, the government must interact with its impoverished citizens and meet their fundamental needs ~ food, water, medicine and sanitation. Development doesn’t mean only the construction of sprawling industrial townships, multistoried apartments and luxury resorts.
Thus far, the government has not been able to delink development from industrialisation, urbanisation and market-driven resource generation, one that is based on outdated Western models. And if the question of welfare is swept under the carpet by according increased priority to security and terror, the appropriate development model will be relegated. The State can do so at its own peril.
The Maoist ideology is of lesser moment than the material structure that sustains such ideology. What Jean Francois Bayart famously described as “the politics of the belly” sustains Maoism. This happens when the state is impervious to the needs of the subaltern, most importantly his subsistence level. The government has attempted an economic overdrive long after the 19th century industrial development model outlived its utility.
Instead of silencing a people’s movement, the Government of India must be sensitive to the development paradigm. The establishment must reflect on its policies if it wants to silence the subaltern gun.

Source: The Statesman, 16 November 2009

http://thestatesman.in/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=274554
 

Severe State Repression In Lalgarh

Villagers fled their homes in panic as many houses belonging to the Peoples’ Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) activists were allegedly torched, ransacked and looted by the armed CPI-M goons who followed the joint forces, alleged Mr Asit Mahato PCPA spokesman. The CPI-M mobilised a few hundred hired trained gunmen who had been lodged in their party office at Enayetpur in the vicinity from they were taking part in the operation to recover their lost bases, Mr Mahato alleged. In another development, a truck was set ablaze at Patasole forest in Goaltore area by the PCPA men last night. The driver and the cleaner of the Bankura-bound vehicle were severely beaten up.

Road blockades organised by the PCPA by dumping trees on several places in Binpur, Belpahari, Jamboni, Jhargram, Lalgarh and other parts of Jhargram subdivision continued for the second successive day today thus paralysing life and cutting off Jhargram from the rest of the state as the PCPA-called three-day bandh from Thursday was observed.

Source: The Statesman, 14 November 2009

http://thestatesman.in/page.news.php?clid=4&theme=&usrsess=1&id=274365

Normal life paralysed during PCPA's bandh in Jhargram

[People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) supporters were beaten up on 11 November in Jhargram by police and some persons without uniform, allegedly CPM goons while protesting against arrest of innocent villagers. In protest PCPA have called a 72 hours shut down in Jhargram subdivision.] 

Jhargram, Nov 13 : Normal life continued to be paralysed on the second-day of the 72-hour bandh called by the People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) in Jhargram sub-division with all the markets, shops, schools and banks remaining closed today.Jhargram SDO P Ulaganathan here said attendance in government offices was very low. 

Bus services were completely stopped in the area due to the shut down (bandh), he added.

Meanwhile, a truck was put on fire in Sankargeria village under Goaltore police station area, allegedly by PCPA activists, police said.

Three of its occupants were stated to be missing.

Combined forces continued combing in Chuasole, Sarbarisole and Sirishdanga villages and the adjacent forest areas on the second-day today.

PCPA convenor Asit Mahato alleged that CPI(M) activists, moving with the combined forces, put fire on the houses of 25 PCPA supporters in these villages yesterday.

Meanwhile, three CPI(M) supporters were reportedly missing from Burhanpur village under Goaltore police station area.

Party sources alleged that PCPA activists were behind the abduction.

No police confirmation is available as yet.
--UNI

Source: newkerala.com

Union Bank’s silence over Koda deposits raises eyebrows

[Madhu Koda, former chief minister of Jharkhand, India has been accused of a scam involving Rs. 2,500 crores. This reports shows how corporate sector uses mainstream political leaders and state machinery for their interest.]

MUMBAI, 12 NOV: Banking industry is intrigued by Union Bank of India’s silence over Rs 640 crore deposited by former Jharkhand chief minister Mr Madhu Koda’s frontman Mr Manoj Punamia in the bank’s Zaveri Bazaar branch between November 2006 and December 2008 when Mr Koda was CM.
The transactions, according to papers seized by It and Enforcement Directorate revealed the transactions were carried out by Balaji Universal Trade a subsidiary of Balaji Group which the ED is investigating for hawala transfer ~ allegedly in Mr Koda’s name ~ of $110 million abroad probably into a Swiss bank.
Why the bank did not alert Financial Intelligence Unit in Union finance ministry or RBI or any Central agency about such massive turnover in a single account is a mystery.
Under RBI guidelines, banks have a principal officer at their head office who is expected to monitor such transactions and convey them to proper authorities. SNS

Source: The Statesman 13 November, 2009

http://thestatesman.in/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=274240

Police Lathicharged Peaceful Demonstration In Jhargram

Six thousand armed members of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) have reached Jhargram for a demonstration.

Police have also reached the spot in order to stop the demonstration. They have reportedly conducted a lathi charge, following which they used tear gas and finally shot fires in the air.

The incident has created an atmosphere of confusion and unrest in the area. Several people are reported to be wounded. Further details are awaited.

Source: Tara TV 

http://www.taratv.com/west_bengal.php?task=full&newsid=2924