Naxalite Maoist India

3D Printed Guns - News & Documentary

2013-05-13T20:37:00.000+05:30

3D printed guns have been in the news last week. According to an announcement made online last week, a handgun entirely printed from a 3D printer was fired successfully multiple times. Named as the Liberator plastic pistol , the entire gun was printed in plastic, with the only metal part being the firing pin.

According to the BBC, designs for the Liberator plastic pistol have been downloaded more than 100,000 times already — before the U.S. government ordered that the designs be taken down for fear they may violate arms-exporting laws.

Still, the designs are out there, accessible through sites such as The Pirate Bay. “Makers,” or hobbyists, with their own 3D printers, such as the MakerBot Replicator 2 ($2,199) and 3DSystems CubeX ($2,499), are presumably still free to print it and whatever else they want.

Watch 3D printed gun documentary trailer :

Watch the Full Documentery on 3d printed guns
to know more :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DconsfGsXyA

While this technology could be a game changer , it currently faces cost and reliability issues.

Random Quote from the Documentary

"There's this Fukuyamaist idea that history had ended after the Cold War and that if we could just tweak neoliberal democracy, everything's going to be fine forever; that somehow, this is like the final political form. I mean, this is ridiculous. And you can see it. There's no evidence of a political program anymore - in the world; in America. There aren't genuine politics. There's the media telling you that Barack Obama versus Mitt Romney is the epic clash of ideology when we both know they're globalist neoliberals. I mean, they both exist to preserve the interests of this relatively autonomous class of Goldman Sachs bankers."

- Cody W.

Government wants to Bomb/Strafe Maoists from the Air.

2013-05-13T20:02:00.001+05:30

The Indian Air Force which is providing air support to the State Police Forces and Central Paramilitaries in operations against the CPI(Maoist) has had many close shaves and suffered some casualties. While helicopters have been damaged by gun fire , no helicopter has still been completely destroyed.

Some people in the establishment believe that the increasing role of the Air Force in Anti-Maoist operations will sooner than later lead to the first helicopter being shot and destroyed completely. This could happen within the next few weeks/months and once that happens the IAF which has been reluctantly dragged into this Anti-people campaign will ground it's entire fleet , so before they take a hit the government BABU's want the IAF to do it's dirty work and go all out against the Maoists...

The single biggest reason why the CPI(Maoist) has not been successful in taking down a helicopter so far is that it lacks the high caliber weapons in it's arsenal that is required to inflict a fatal shot.

Syria: rebels 'shoot down helicopter'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRdVWmP1xMM
700 American Helicopters Shot Down By Viet-Cong In 1 Week

VIETNAM (February, 1971) In one of the biggest American military failures ever, more than 700 helicopters were shot down by the North Vietnamese as the U.S. and their ARVN allies tried to close down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos by attacking it.

A crashed Indian Helicopter

Army nixes govt plan to hit naxals from air

The home ministry wanted to deploy helicopter gunships to carry out surgical air strikes at Maoist camps in the hard-to-reach jungles of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand but has been told to shove the controversial plan ~~up it's ass~~ back into the deep freezer.

The home ministry plan was part of the ambitious proposal for the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to deploy all available resources of the central government to scale up the battle against Maoists in their core areas.

The note – which also proposed deployment of 30,000 personnel of the army’s anti-insurgency force, Rashtriya Rifles – was sent to the CCS in early August last year.

As reported by HT in January, the home ministry couldn’t muster support for induction of Rashtriya Rifles at the meeting of the committee of secretaries that scrutinised the proposals for the CCS. The panel of secretaries, however, cleared other non-controversial aspects of the home ministry plan.

At these meetings, Army chief General Bikram Singh strongly advised against “quick fix solutions” to the battles that would need to be fought in the heart of India for many years.

Defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma pointed to a host of negative implications of air strikes including “considerable collateral damage”.

Former home minister, P Chidambaram was the first to go public with the demand for aerial attacks after Maoists massacred 76 security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district in April 2010.

But he backed out after strident opposition to the plan, settling for choppers to provide logistics support and carry out rescue missions.

Behind the scenes, the home ministry not only worked to pump in funds for development in the Maoist heartland but also to raise the level of manpower, weaponry and logistics support to reclaim the over 70,000 sq km of territory where Maoists often have the last word.

The deployment of RR battalions and attack helicopters – the latter were extensively used by the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka in the late eighties – quietly resurfaced in the home ministry’s wish-list drawn last year.

At the heart of this plan was the argument that the government stop dealing with Maoists with kid gloves. Home secretary RK Singh was clear that the Centre should deploy its full might and commit every available resource to the anti-Maoist theatre.

The view gained strength after Maoists shot an Indian Air Force chopper on a rescue mission this January in Sukma district close to the spot where 76 personnel were ambushed two years earlier.

The Maoists had already shown their brutal face a week earlier when they placed a 1.5 kg explosive inside a CRPF jawan killed in an ambush in Jharkhand's Latehar district.

Government sources said the home ministry had agreed to withdraw the twin proposal from the CCS note “at this stage” in view of the reservations.

But there is a strong view at the home ministry – articulated by home secretary Singh last year – that the State needs to use its “coercive power” as and when required and deployments should not only cater to the present situation but also futuristic situations”.

Source :

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/1036158.aspx

COPTERS ON MAOISTS’ HIT LIST: INTEL REPORT

Specific inputs with the Centre suggest Maoists are actively video-graphing helicopters during landing and take-off in Naxal-hit areas with an intention to attack them.

Latest intelligence reports indicated incidents of video-graphing Kistaram, Golapalli and Chintalnar in Sukma and Parmer in Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh. Following the inputs, the Union Home Ministry has advised the Naxal-affected States to keep an area of about 2 km around the helipads as a safe zone and to ensure that the site is sanitised by the ground troops effectively.

The Ministry has shot off the letter after a brazen incident was reported when an Indian Air Force helicopter (MI 17) — while attempting to land at Timlewada camp of Chhattisgarh Armed Police under Chintagufa police station — was fired upon by the cadre of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), forcing the pilot to land at an undesignated place on January 18 this year.

The chopper was requisitioned to retrieve two injured State police personnel who were hit by the ultras during an anti-Naxal operation in the area. Six IAF personnel including two pilots, two Garuda commandoes and two technicians had reportedly left the chopper along with a loaded Light Machine Gun and an injured constable of the police wireless.

The 150 battalion of the CRPF and 201 CoBRA battalion played a crucial role in rescue of the injured State police personnel including the wireless operator and located the grounded chopper. The IAF team took cover inside the 150 battalion camp.

A senior CRPF official said the Maoists want to demoralise the security forces by targeting the choppers and restrain them from using air logistics. Attack on high-value targets like choppers also leads to maximum media coverage.

The recent Home Ministry communication was sent to Principal Secretaries (Home) and Directors General of Police of Naxal-affected States including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The advisory was also sent to Nodal Officers (Naxal matters) of these States and Directors General of Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force and Director (Air) of Defence Ministry, PK Gupta.

Source :
http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/sunday-pioneer/nation/copters-on-maoists-hit-list-intel-report.html

Maoism in India - According to Jairam Ramesh

2013-03-26T11:41:00.000+05:30

Public Lecture by Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Rural Development titled 21st century Maoism in India delivered on 22 January 2013 at Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, New Delhi.

One can see some prominent Maoist sympathisers in the audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5qurRzZs5w

Related news :

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283683

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/vivianfernandes/1878/64251/jairam-rameshs-catechism-on-maoism.html

CIA on Mobile Security and Data

2013-03-26T11:27:00.001+05:30

Are you are aware of the fact that somebody can know where you are at all times because you carry a mobile device, even if that mobile device is turned off ?

In fact based on the sensors in a smartphone, someone can be identified (with 100 percent accuracy) by the way they walk — implying that someone could be identified even when carrying someone else's phone.

Well now you know... If you want to know more go through the video and links below :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUPd2uMiXXg

The CIA's chief technology officer outlined the agency's endless appetite for data in a far-ranging speech on Wednesday. Speaking before a crowd of tech geeks at GigaOM's Structure:Data conference in New York City, CTO Ira "Gus" Hunt said that the world is increasingly awash in information from text messages, tweets, and videos -- and that the agency wants all of it.

"The value of any piece of information is only known when you can connect it with something else that arrives at a future point in time," Hunt said. "Since you can't connect dots you don't have, it drives us into a mode of, we fundamentally try to collect everything and hang onto it forever."

More ....

http://www.businessinsider.com/cia-presentation-on-big-data-2013-3?op=1

http://leaksource.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/cias-chief-tech-officer-on-big-data-we-try-to-collect-everything-and-hang-onto-it-forever/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093796/Emily-Bunting-Leigh-Van-Bryan-UK-tourists-arrested-destroy-America-Twitter-jokes.html

Maoist leader Sudarshan survives assasination attempt

2013-03-26T11:13:00.001+05:30

An attempt by the Andhra Pradesh police to abduct and murder senior Maoist leader, Sudarshan alias Srinivas in a fake encounter failed last week. The bullet meant for his brain ended up in his leg, and ridiculous stories have appeared in the media about this failed fake encounter, clearly the AP Police deserve an oscar for best screen play..

Top Maoist leader Sudarshan held

One of the Maoists freed in exchange for the 2011 release of Odisha collector R. Vineel Krishna has been held in Andhra after a day’s dramatic chase that saw him first jump off a police van and play a lunatic.

Sriramula Srinivas alias Sudarshan, 55, is also a key accused in the 2003 assassination attempt on former chief minister and Telugu Desam boss Chandrababu Naidu and in the murder of a state home minister, A. Madhav Reddy, three years earlier. Both attacks were landmine blasts.

Sudarshan, a native of Andhra’s Nalgonda district, is a central committee member of the CPI (Maoist) and said to be eighth in the hierarchy. He is also secretary of the rebels’ Andhra-Odisha Border Committee, blamed for the abduction of IAS officer and Malkangiri collector Krishna.

Sudarshan carried a bounty of Rs 20 lakh on his head, said A.V. Ranganath, the SP of Khammam, the district near the Odisha border where the chase began on Friday night and ended last evening.

Sudarshan was travelling in a Bolero with family members when the vehicle was intercepted and the rebel caught on Friday night on the basis of information that he had crossed over from Odisha for treatment.

Sudarshan was asked to get off the Bolero and made to sit in the solitary police van, with the SUV asked to follow on.

The Maoist was being brought to a police station in nearby Wyra town, around 245km from Hyderabad, when he jumped off the running vehicle and ran into a patch of maize fields along the road. The cops fired on him, injuring him in the leg, but he still managed to scamper away, police sources said.

In the melee, the Bolero also sped away and vanished into jungles near the spot. The vehicle had Sudarshan wife’s Vimala, also a senior rebel leader with a Rs 6-lakh bounty on her head, and their two daughters, the sources said.

Sudarshan spent the night in the fields, by when the police had intensified the search for him and circulated his photos in Wyra town and surrounding villages. The Maoist emerged from the fields yesterday morning, and pretending to be a mad man, threw stones at villagers to prevent them from getting close to him, the sources said.

However, the theatrics of disguise ended when some of the villagers tipped off the police last evening. Sudarshan also hurled stones at the police team that went to arrest him outside Wyra town but was eventually pinned down.

His bullet wound was nursed and he was brought under heavy security to Khammam town where a magistrate remanded him in judicial custody for two weeks. Police sources said he was likely to be brought to Hyderabad and lodged in the high-security central jail.

Sudarshan was arrested in Odisha after 38 Greyhounds — Andhra’s crack anti-rebel force — were killed in 2008 while crossing a reservoir at Balimela in Malkangiri. He was freed along with four others in exchange for the release of then collector Krishna in 2011. The rebel faces over 40 cases in Andhra and Odisha.

Andhra officers said many senior rebel leaders had crossed over to border towns in Andhra in recent months for treatment.

Source :

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130325/jsp/nation/story_16712147.jsp

Maoists in Jharkhand - Feeding the wrong Wolf

2013-01-26T23:08:00.000+05:30

http://i.imgur.com/CXlS1uA.jpg

Extracted & defused: 2kg bomb from Latehar jawan’s body

Death of a boy ‘forced’ to lift bomb-body

Rebels own belly bomb

Splinter groups battle Maoists, troops cash in

Looks, like some Maoist leaders have been watching too many Hollywood movies ?

Two hollywood movies The Dark Knight (2009) and the Hurt Locker(2009) both feature body bombs.

Condemn the Arrest of 13 Members of Peoples Democratic Republic Party

2012-10-21T20:57:00.002+05:30

The arrested activists from a Kundrathur school, shout slogans while being taken to the Vellore Central Prison.

The Tamil Nadu Q Branch police have arrested 13 members of Peoples Democratic Republic Party on October 6, 2012 in Kundrathur near Chennai city. They were discussing peacefully some party matters in a school building after getting due permission from the school Principal. Since the children of some of the members were studying in the school, the principal willingly permitted them to assemble and discuss in his school premises. They are now arrested and remanded to judicial custody in Vellore central prison. A case under section Cr.L.A 17 (1) is registered against them.

The police have said that they all belong to a banned political outfit and had assembled there secretly and planning some conspiracy. But only three of them, Durai Singavelu, Bhaskar and Palani were members of the Maoist party. They too left that party due to some political differences four years back and were openly functioning. Last year they declared a political outfit under the name ‘Peoples Democratic Republic Party’ and continued to function openly. They have a Face Book account in the same name and their party organ ‘Puthiya Porali’ is also openly distributed.

The other people arrested on that day with them are well educated and are working in various institutions. One is an Asst. Professor in International Tamil Institute, and another is an electronics engineer. The only woman arrested is the wife of Durai Singavelu. Their organization is not at all a secret one and they were functioning perfectly legally.

The police have said that they were planning to participate in the 2014 parliamentary elections and were discussing about organizing trade union branches in the nearby factories. One national newspaper has also reported that they were not taking part in any arms training and at the time of arrest they were only discussing some ideological matters. We wonder how such activities can be branded as conspiracy and illegal. The Constitution of India has made it a fundamental right for every citizen to assemble, organize and float a political outfit to propagate its policies. We firmly believe that by arresting these 13 people, the Tamil Nadu Q Branch police have violated their constitutional rights. It is to be remembered that last month the Q Branch arrested in a similar manner one Satish and a DMK party functionary Muralidharan near Chennai Anna Library and remanded them.

Arresting people who are functioning legally and openly and branding them as extremists has no place in constitutional governance. This is done with a view to threaten people against organizing themselves. We strongly condemn this act of the Tamil Nadu police and demand that Durai Singavelu and the 12 others arrested should be released immediately and the case against them should be withdrawn.

Signatories:

Prof. A. Marx, Peoples Union for Human Rights, Chennai.

G. Sugumaran, Federation for Peoples Rights, Puducherry.

S.V.Rajadurai (K.Manoharan), Veteran Human Rights activist, Coonoor.

Prof.P. Kalvimani, Movement for the Protection of Trbal Irulas, Tindivanam.

Advocate Rajini, Peoples Union for Human Rights, Madurai.

Source : http://peoplesrights.in

News Media Version of the arrests of these political activists :

Secret Naxal meet to contest LS elections?
http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article1289880.ece

Savarna's burn tribal villages to Ashes in Orissa

2012-10-21T20:48:00.003+05:30

For more videos visit : http://indiaunheard.videovolunteers.org/

Link to Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP7ZC5K6SMo

On the morning of 15th June 2012, with any prior notice, the Forest Department broke into the houses of 18 tribal families. They used force to drive the families out before setting their homes on fire. When the men, women and children of the community tried protesting and pleading with the officials, they were threatened with consequences. In the end there wan't much they could do. They ran with their lives and behind them, their homes and belongings -- ration cards, school books, clothes, rations - were being reduced to ash.

The people of the Kiri Kasai Dorho tribal village in District Sundargarh, Odisha had been living in the region for over four generations. They used to live up the hill slope before but were forced to move downhill because years and years of the state's promises of electricity, health centers and schools never materialized. They couldn't move too far away because they rely on the forests for their livelihood.

This grievous violation would pass as yet another unheard atrocity committed by the state against the tribals. But IndiaUnheard Community Correspondent Amita Rahil Tuti, a tribal and an activist, came over from the neighboring state of Jharkhand to document the violation and the anguished voices of the people.

In 2006, the Indian government passed the long due Forest Rights Act after much deliberation, as a measure to recognize and protect the life, livelihood, rights and identity of one of the most marginalized and remote communities in the country, the forest dwelling tribals. Amita calls the Act a 'paper tiger'.

"It has been six years since the Act was passed," she says. "The officials and the government seem to be ignorant about it. Or they don't mind showing a complete disregard to the constitution. The displacement of the adivasi population continues to happen at an alarming rate while the authorities have washed their hand off any accountability."

"Adivasi communities, some who have been living off the land for over four to five generations, are not recognized as villages. Development never comes towards us. We have to cross the jungles and walk many kilometers towards it. We have no schools, no electricity. If you visit the settlements you would think that even time has given up."

"The community of Kiri Kasai Dorho demands their right to live on the land on which their forefather had built his house. They want the land to be legally registered in their name. They want action and compensation from the government for the Forest Department's heinous act."

"The community has already lost all it ever had. Now they have nothing to hold on to and save themselves from exile and oblivion but their resolve and belief in their struggle for recognition and rights."

Call To Action: Amita asks you to call the Sundergarh District Officer Roopa Roshan Sahu on 06622272225 and demand

1) That the incident be investigated and strict disciplinary action be taken against the Ranger Tejraj Naik who threatened and bullied the community in Kiri Kasai Dorho village.

2) That compensation be given to the villagers who lost their homes and belonging in the fire started by the Forest Department.

3) That the land rights of the community be legally recognized.

CRPF Terror Raj over Tribals of Jharkhand

2012-10-21T20:32:00.000+05:30

Link to Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QflmfeFO1HY

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is one of the largest forces of the Central Armed Police Forces. When deployed in the state of Jharkhand about two years ago, the CRPF's primary role was to contain insurgency. However, India Unheard Community Correspondent Kamal Purthy's video tells a different story.

Salihatu village, West Singhbhum lives in fear as many of their youth are arbitrarily jailed, threatened and tortured as suspected Naxalites. These suspicions criminalize shop keepers based on flimsy excuses like large groups gather around the shop regularly or their presence at local community gatherings.

Relook strategy of Maoist movement in India - Maoist leader C M Noor Zulfikar

2012-10-21T20:24:00.000+05:30

Maoist cadre at an undisclosed location in India.

Relook strategy of Maoist movement

Progressive thinkers have stressed for a relook into the present strategies of the Maoist movement to make it more effective in the present Indian context. On Saturday, Maoist leader C M Noor Zulfikar alias Sridhar’s book ‘India’s Revolution and the Maoist Movement’ in Kannada was launched by human rights activist Nagari Babaiah, progressive thinker G Ramakrishna and others at Kannada Sahitya Parishat.

Prof Babaiah said, “The likes of Bhagat Singh will take birth again and again. This system has taken the lives of nearly 4,000 people who struggled for the oppressed. Of them, 20 are from Karnataka. What if they were alive to take the movement forward?” he asked.

He said very few martyrs managed to convert information into knowledge, knowledge to wisdom and wisdom to living. G Ramakrishna, editor of Hosathu newspaper, said it was important for activists to understand the nuances in the Indian context.

Source : http://newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/article1308650.ece

Draft Vision Document of India Against Corruption IAC's New political party...

2012-10-21T19:53:00.000+05:30

This draft vision statement is being released by IAC for public discussion.

The final version will be released on 26th November, 2012.

Your comments, feedback and criticisms are welcome and may be sent to

A119, Koshambi,
Ghaziabad, UP—201010.

or by Email: janlokpal.kranti@gmail.com

Download the document at the link below :

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/popup/2012/10/IAC_vision.pdf

Alternate link :
https://sites.google.com/site/naxalrevolution/IAC_vision1

Criticism of IAC's vision document
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/grassroot-politics-down-in-the-weeds/article3985350.ece

The text from the pdf file is posted below :

QUEST FOR SWARAJ

From Subjecthood to Citizenship

The promise of Swaraj beckons the future of India

It challenges us to recover the true spirit of Swaraj. It invites us to redeem an old pledge. Swaraj was never merely liberation from the colonial rule. Swaraj promised nothing short of self-rule: people's control over their destiny, power to decide on matters concerning their well-being, to direct the apparatus of power and hold rulers accountable. Swaraj is about rule by the people, not by netas or babus.

Sixty-five years after Independence, the promise of Swaraj is yet to be redeemed. Democracy has been reduced to a tiresome routine that involves electing the rulers once in five years, while being subject to indifference and indignity at the hands of politicians and bureaucrats in between. Political parties are not mechanisms for finding and airing people's voices; all of them have become election machines. These machines are designed to catch voters and use them as fodders to convert money into power and power back into more money. At best these parties hold out an illusory promise of “Good Governance”, but that is no substitute for self-government. The very idea of Swaraj is receding from our collective consciousness.

India's future asks this question to all of us: shall we allow the idea of Swaraj to disappear, to disintegrate, to dissolve from our collective consciousness? Or, are we audacious enough to re-imagine, re-integrate and re-build the idea of Swaraj for our time?

From Popular Protest to People's Power …

This audacity marked the origin of popular protest in our country against massive corruption in high places. The Janlokpal movement began as an expression of popular anger born out of the helplessness and frustration of ordinary citizens in the face of corrupt and unresponsive regimes. Soon the movement became a symbol of people's power against the political establishment.

A wide-spread anger with the visible corruption of politicians and the bureaucrats led to identification of the root cause of corruption. It was not long before corruption embedded in policies and the corruption inherent in the system was identified. It's victim, the ordinary citizen, is not free of the taint of corruption either.

Gradually protest against corruption sought new tools; opposition was accompanied by a search for alternatives. An agitation that began with remedying an institution has evolved into a movement that has taken up the challenge of reforming the entire system.

This moment offers an opportunity for this movement to look back at its own roots and also to look ahead to its future direction. The Janlokpal movement draws its inspirations, ideas and icons from our freedom struggle. It belongs to the tradition of patriotism which saw the 'world as one family'. It has drawn its sustenance from people's struggles for popular control over natural resources in the post-colonial era. Thus it has to build upon traditions of popular struggle as well as constructive work. The quest for Swaraj for the last person defines the ideological horizon for this movement.

… and now on to transformative politics

This journey has brought us today to the doorsteps of mainstream politics, for politics is the centre stage of the present system, the stage where the system is made and unmade. Over the years, this stage has lost its sheen and has become the site for an unbridled pursuit of narrow self-interest. This puts off and scares the best elements in our society, who decide to stay away from politics. This sets off a vicious cycle: corruption drives good citizen out of politics; their absence in turn makes the political arena worse than before.

Someone has to break this vicious cycle and accept the challenge of stepping on to this stage. The experience of Janlokpal movement has taught us that we cannot make any big or enduring change in the system if we turn our back to politics. If politics serves as a shield for all that is unholy in our public life, an attempt to cleanse the system must begin with politics. Someone must stand up to this unholy nexus and build politics of selfless service to the country.

We are not giving up the movement and the path of struggle in order to enter politics, narrowly construed as the game of winning elections and acquiring power. Rather, we enter politics as one more step in our struggle. We do not enter politics to acquire and exercise power; we do so to dismantle monopolies of power and return this power back to the people. It is our firm conviction that movements for social transformation must combine popular struggles and constructive work with electoral politics.

Politics is not an optional activity. If politics is about maintaining or changing the given balance of power, then it is not

confined to what the states and governments do; all the spheres of our life – administration, police, judiciary, economy, society and even family – are implicated in politics. We have only two options: either we determine the course of politics or allow politics to determine the course of our life. Those who wish to shape the course of history in the light of their ideals do not have an option except for politics.

The idea of Swaraj: our worldview

The idea of swaraj is the cornerstone of our politics. We envision a world where every country, every province, every village and every locality enjoys freedom within its own sphere, where every individual and community can decide on matters concerning their well-being, where demos rules over the governmental apparatus, where community is its own government. We dream of a world without coercion or violence among state, community and individual, where different faiths and cultures live in harmony, where happiness of one is not secured at the cost of unhappiness of another, where each person and community can lay claim to only as much as may be available to everyone else and to future generations, where the relationships between and among nations and between humans and nature are marked by mutual respect and friendliness. We look forward to a state of affairs where each person and society gets to understand, introspect and redefine oneself.
Such a vision presupposes basic transformation in the prevailing system.

It would entail:

Ü That people hold the reigns to government and administration, that central government may control only minimum necessary powers and resources, that maximum possible decisions are taken at the level of village or neighbourhood, that people's voice must trump in-between elections too and that public opinion and popular legitimacy must have supreme respect;

Ü That economic and developmental policies must suit our context and needs, that what people need must be determined by them, not by experts and officials, that our development must not imitate models from outside, that instead our path of development must be guided by pursuit of equality and the needs of our last person, that we must seek a sustainable balance of development with nature and environment, that we must prevent the growth of monopolies, that we must not allow the logic of capital, market mechanisms and profit motivation to be the sole drivers of our economy;

Ü That all social hierarchies based on accident of birth must go, that gender and caste inequalities must be attacked forthwith, that affirmative action is needed for those social groups who have suffered from discrimination and disadvantage, that all religions and sect enjoy equal respect and none may be allowed to dominate others, that the interests and rights of the minorities get special protection; and,

Ü That swaraj in ideas and cultures be pursued, that everyone should receive equal opportunities for quality and relevant education, that linguistic diversities be preserved, that unequal treatment of languages must come to an end, that indigenous and peoples knowledge be respected and preserved, so that we can stand on our feet while we learn from the world.

Swaraj as peoples self governance: our policy vision

This vision needs to be translated into specific policies after extensive and informed discussion. Embracing politics entails taking a position on all the major questions of our time. At the same time politics also mandates a duty to listen to all sides and to set up a dialogue with everyone concerned. We accept this responsibility in all humility. We shall take up all the major contested issues in the country and provide a platform for informed and open-minded dialogue with the people and especially, with the younger generation. Here we have identified a few of these issues and indicated our initial position, subject to dialogue and debate.

1.There should be an independent, powerful and effective Janlokpal at the Centre and Janlokayuktas at the States to deal with corruption. There should be an effective mechanism for bringing back the black money deposited abroad.

2.There should be broad-ranging electoral reforms, including reforms to eliminate the role of money and muscle-power, to provide the right to reject and to institute the accountability of representatives through the right to recall.

3.The locus of decision-making should be shifted to, or proximate to the people. As far as possible, power and the resources required to execute that power, must be transferred to the village or ward level. Only those powers should be left for upper tiers that cannot possibly be exercised by local communities. People must be consulted directly on key national decisions. Citizens must be consulted on any decision that affects their life or livelihood.

4. Broad-ranging and fundamental administrative, police and judicial reforms need to be initiated so that the interface of the common citizen with public functionaries is not marked by bribes, delays and indignity. All public functionaries should be made accountable to the people.

5.The right of local communities to land, forests, water and all natural resources in their area must be recognized. The state must not acquire land barring exceptional circumstances. Private monopolies in natural resources must be not be permitted.

6. The state must provide free, equal and quality school education to all children. The powers and resources of executing this responsibility must be transferred to the gram sabha. Inequality in educational opportunities between the rich and poor, the urban and the rural or government and private schools, must be eliminated. No student must miss out on higher education for want of resources. Education for-profit must not be permitted. Education must impart knowledge, skills for employment, self-confidence and focus on creating a good human being.

7.The state must take the responsibility of universal health-care. Public hospitals must be equipped to provide complete and free treatment of every kind of disease. The local gram sabha or ward sabha must have the power and resources to run a local hospital. Alternative medical systems and local health traditions must get their due along with allopathy.

8.The future of the country continues to be tied with having a future for village India. Therefore, the distribution of national resources must be proportionate to the population between urban and rural India. Plans for rural development must be made by those who live in rural India and not in the capital cities. All public facilities and functionaries must be under the effective control of the gram sabhas.

9.India's future must have room for agriculture and farmers. This requires that farmers should be able to earn reasonable profit on agricultural yield. Employment opportunities apart from agriculture must also be available in the villages. These objectives mandate transfer of significant p r o p o r t i o n o f n a t i o n a l r e s o u r c e s t o l o c a l communities for this purpose, so that they can make their own plans and remunerative prices do not lead to price rise in foodgrains.

10.The state must accept responsibility for full employment, and appropriate wages for all work. We believe society needs to take care of the elderly, destitute and disabled amongst us and the government to commit adequate powers and resources to the gram sabhas to execute this effectively. Safety-nets are also needed for the interests of unorganized labour.

11.There need to be effective mechanisms in place to stop female foeticide and violence against women. Girls in rural areas must be provided special opportunities to study. The prior approval of the women of the local community be taken before any liquor outlet is allowed to be set up anywhere. One- third of seats in Parliament and legislative assemblies must be reserved for women.

12. There must be effective mechanisms to stop caste- based violence and harassment. Educationally disadvantaged communities must get special opportunities. The system of reservations for Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs must be supplemented by affirmative action for the poor and other disadvantaged communities. In order to ensure that the real benefits of reservations flow to the deserving, those persons, families and communities within the reserved categories who have hitherto not benefitted from reservations must get priority over the well-off. There should be special provisions f o r t h e e x t r e m e l y d i s a d v a n t a g e d D a l i t s ( Mahadalits), the most backward OBCs, particularly vulnerable adivasis and NT/DNT nomadic communities.

13. Effective mechanisms should be in place to protect t h e M u s l i m c o m m u n i t y f r o m s u s p i c i o n , indifference, backwardness and discrimination. It should be ensured that Muslims, especially backward Muslims (pasmanda) enjoy equal opportunity in education and employment. Management of waqfs should be handed over from the government to local communities.

Movement rather than a party: our organizational vision

We need an organization to implement these dreams and policies – an organization that would look like a political party, but not behave like one, a party that belongs to the people and not its leaders. The image of the political party is at its worst today—most of them being victims of individual control, the tyranny of their high-command and specific families. It is virtually impossible for the common citizen, especially women to make their way into these hierarchies in a straightforward manner. The rank and file of the party usually has no role to play in formulating the policies of the party. While these parties accumulate wealth and muscle-power in the name of elections, often even their own workers, let alone ordinary citizens, have no clue of the income or expenditure of these huge sums. In order to distance ourselves from this routine image of the political party, we have a number of special provisions for members of our party.

1.Any citizen of this country should be able to bring a complaint of corruption or the violation of its code of conduct against any member of the party. This will be investigated by the Ombudsman, a Lokpal of the party, comprising retired judges, fully independent of the party leadership. The party will have to abide by its decision.

2. Candidates for elections will be chosen not by the party leadership, but by the party workers at the local level, in an open convention, with participation of local people. The candidate thus will be chosen by the people.

3. The organ i z a t i o n w i l l m a i n t a i n c o m p l e t e transparency in its income and expenditure statements, making public unaudited statement of all sources of donations and expenditures.

4. There will be one-third reservation for women at all levels of party functionaries as well as candidates.

5. Students and young people are expected to play the principal role in the party and so, there would be no need for separate student and youth wings of the organization.

6. The party will be built bottom-up, with all 'top' party officials and committees being elected by those at the 'bottom' and will be accountable to them.

7. No person will serve more than two terms in one position.

8. All complaints about inner-party elections, as well as functioning, will be referred to a committee specially constituted to look into it. This committee will oversee the redressal of grievances as well as maintenance of inner-party discipline.

9. The party will maintain a special relationship with like-minded social movements and will respect their independent identity. All members of the latter will be considered to be Associate members of the party and will have voting rights in the process of selecting candidates for elections.

10. As a rule, the party will respect difference of opinion amongst its members, apart from a minimum ideological consistency. The associated movements and organizations will be free to adhere to their constitutions and carry on their policies and programmes independently as well.

Politics as ethics: our code of conduct

Politics as we know it carries the risk of moral lapse, of the gulf between words and deeds, of long-term principles being compromised for the sake of short- term success. It is hard to guarantee otherwise. Yet, with a constant self-awareness on these questions and maintaining continuous and open discussion on these issues, the movement can perhaps keep its ethical profile different. We have devised a code of conduct for members of the party, by which they can be assessed and investigated by the ombudsman as indicated earlier. Any member of the public or a party worker is empowered to bring a complaint about any office- bearer or candidate on the following grounds:

1. An involvement in any kind of corruption (including the giving or receiving bribes and tax- evasion)
2. An organized use of violence in political work or having a criminal record or image.
3. Involvement in any action or organization that spreads untouchability, caste or communal hatred.
4. Any kind of exploitation or ill—treatment of women; a reputation of having a poor moral
character.
5. Drug or alcohol addiction leading to being a social nuisance.
6. Non-declaration or false declaration of assets and income.

There will be additional provisions for elected representatives (equivalent or upwards of Zila Parishad members, including MLAs and MPs). These will also be under the purview of the Lokpal of the party for purposes of investigation.

1.The representative will not use any of the usual t r a p p i n g s a v a i l a b l e t o g o v e r n m e n t functionaries—cars with red lights or sirens, unnecessary security etc.

2.The party will decide which part of the income and perks of the office would be availed to live an ordinary middle-class existence.

3.The representative shall not utilize any discretionary privilege(like MP's quotas) or use symbols of institutionalized corruption like the MPLAD Scheme.

And finally, ours and yours

The quest for Swaraj demands action, it demands sacrifice. The resolve to preserve the idea of Swaraj demands integrity, industry and inner strength. What goes by the name of a party is for us an organization embodying these virtues.

Politics is not merely a duty of despair, but the determination of turning the ideal into the real. Politics is about discovering the light of hope in the heart of darkness. Politics is the bridge that connects knowledge to social reality. Politics is about shaping ideas, building public cultures and indeed, creating a people. Not for us though, a politics that begins with elections and ends with state power. For us, politics is as much about struggle and creativity. Not for us, a politics limited to the external world. For us, politics is as much about an encounter with the inner world-- our homes, our minds, indeed our inner selves.

Politics is our yugdharma, the imperative of our contemporary. We have stepped into politics to protect and promote the endangered dharma of politics. We have entered politics with a dream and a resolve for a better world, a better country, a better society and indeed a better self.

'We' includes you as well. We, the People, shall fight. We shall win!

India will soon become Asia's Greece ?

2012-09-20T12:29:00.002+05:30

It's seems like Chidambaram has emerged as a one man army fighting the Maoists. After having caused substantial damage to the Maoist movement as the Home Minister and plotting the assassination of many of it's leaders, he has now moved on to become the Finance Minister where his immediate priority is to prevent the collapse of the Indian economy.

A further deterioration in economic indicators over the next few years will definitely benefit the Maoists unless Chidu thinks he can save this sinking ship ?

The question remains how much control does Chidambaram have and what tools he will use in trying to prevent the collapse of the Indian economy ? Will he succeed or fail ?

We live in interesting times...

India, Greece GDP Growth rate comparisons.

Policy hurdles may make India Asia’s Greece:
Aditya Puri, MD- CEO, HDFC Bank

India will miss its best opportunity to fish in troubled international waters and faces the spectre of becoming Asia's Greece if coal, fiscal deficit and land acquisition issues are not fixed, said the chief executive of the nation's most valuable bank.

Permitting FDI in retail and insurance would help the economy on the margins, but not take India back to 8% economic growth rate; politicians burying differences and parliamentarians getting their act together will, he said. "FDI in retail and insurance is not the big-bang reform," Aditya Puri, CEO of HDFC Bank, told ET in an interview.

"If you tell me one Walmart coming into India will solve your agriculture problems and issues about cold chain, production, irrigation and distribution, then you must be living in a cuckoo land." Puri joins the chorus of corporate giants such as Kumar Mangalam Birla and Adi Godrej, who are demanding that politicians address national issues which are dragging the economy down. Legislation has been stalled by the Opposition over the Coalgate scandal.

"They should address the fiscal deficit problem, resolve the coal issue, introduce transparent and clear policies on land acquisition, mining rights and other environmental issues, and bring in accountability of the government and public sector," Puri said.

Sounding a note of caution, he said, "If you continue living like this, we will have problems like Greece...If you carry on like this, you are headed towards disaster." "The whole world has problems they don't know how to fix. By God's grace, we know how to fix the problem, we're just not doing it."

Source :

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-09-17/news/33902794_1_aditya-puri-land-acquisition-fiscal-deficit

Related News Articles :

Run, Chidu, run: Only weeks left to rake in the moolah
http://www.firstpost.com/economy/run-chidu-run-only-weeks-left-to-rake-in-the-moolah-460944.html

Government should bring in transparent policies & accountability: Aditya Puri, HDFC Bank
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-09-17/news/33902484_1_aditya-puri-fiscal-deficit-hdfc-bank

Challenges for Parlimentary Left in India - Praful Bidwai

2012-09-20T12:05:00.000+05:30

It seems like Bidwai has taken a tip or two from SYRIZA's success in Greece.

Challenges for the Left in India

By PRAFUL BIDWAI

The Left parties can reverse their decline and strengthen themselves only through candid self-criticism and by returning to mass work.

MEMBERS OF THE CPI(M) and activists protesting in Mangalore on August 27 against corruption in the city's corporation. The Left's presence in mass movements and grass-roots mobilisations on people's livelihood issues, while still substantial, has decreased.

THE mainstream Indian Left, which has contributed richly to the nation’s social and political life for over 80 years, today finds itself in crisis and decline. The Left – the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the CPI (ML-Liberation) and other smaller parties – successfully withstood the collapse of the Soviet Union and the global and domestic onslaught of neoliberalism and even grew in strength for almost two decades. This was a remarkable achievement given that many communist parties elsewhere in the world disintegrated.

However, the Indian Left has suffered numerous setbacks and reverses in recent years. These manifest themselves not only in its reduced parliamentary strength (down from 61 to 24 seats in the Lok Sabha), an electoral rout in West Bengal after 34 years, and a narrow defeat in Kerala, but, more importantly, in its declining national influence, prestige, moral-political authority, internal morale, and ability to forge a radical alternative to bourgeois politics, besides some weakening of Left unity.

Put starkly, the Left faces a number of crises and challenges: an ideological-programmatic crisis, a crisis in defining its policies vis-a-vis the state and ruling classes and in formulating political mobilisation strategies, and an organisational crisis, including factionalism and alienation of cadres.

The Left’s presence in mass movements and grass-roots mobilisations on people’s livelihood issues, while still substantial, has decreased. It is not taking up with enough vigour and tenacity burning issues such as gross income and wealth inequalities, which have reached obscene proportions in India, or the grave agrarian crisis, which has led to 250,000 farmers’ suicides. Its influence within the progressive intelligentsia is also on the wane.

Regrettably, this is happening just when global capitalism is in deep crisis, neoliberalism has proved utterly bankrupt, and popular disenchantment with the Indian state is at its peak. It is of the utmost importance for the health of Indian democracy that the Left resolves its crises and rejuvenates itself.

After all, it is the only current in mainstream politics which has a deep commitment to India’s underprivileged and an agenda of egalitarian social transformation. As this column has argued for two decades, if the Left did not exist in India, we would have to reinvent it. This must be done on a firmly Marxist foundation.

Many of these issues were discussed between top Left party leaders, eminent progressive intellectuals and civil society activists at a seminar organised by the Council for Social Development in New Delhi on August 8, which this writer coordinated. Although no overarching consensus emerged, this was the first dialogue of its kind, which all the 120 participants welcomed, not least because it highlighted the challenges facing the Left in a constructive, non-sectarian manner.

I also visited Kerala in mid-August to deliver the C. Achutha Menon Birth Centenary Lecture and met a good cross section of Left leaders, cadres and scholars in Thrissur, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram with whom I discussed the state of the Left.

What follows is partially based on these two rounds of discussion, besides my own political orientation and analysis. In part, it is also a somewhat expansive wish list, albeit from a well-wisher.

Consider a few propositions.

Ideologically, the Left is the sole consistent opponent of neoliberal policies in India’s mainstream political spectrum. This opposition must be reflected more adequately than it currently is in its own policies and practices, especially at the State level. More crucially, the Left must recognise and emphasise the cardinal truth that the neoliberal state is fundamentally authoritarian and must necessarily dispossess people and suppress or limit their social, economic and civil-political rights.

Opposing neoliberalism effectively thus also means fighting the Indian state, which is becoming increasingly repressive, and defending the citizen’s fundamental rights and liberties. This poses two dilemmas for the Left. How can it play a dual role as a party of governance (if only in a few States) and as a national party of opposition without the risk of being seen as part of the Indian establishment and partly losing consistency or credibility? Second, how can the Left achieve a balance between parliamentary politics and the politics of mass mobilisation to further its cause, which goes beyond capturing provincial power?

Resolving these dilemmas demands creative theorising and imaginative praxis. The Left can rise to these and the other challenges it faces only if it enunciates a distinctly emancipatory vision of social transformation based on Marxism, offers a cogent alternative to neoliberal economic and retrograde social policies, fights for an egalitarian income policy and income and wealth redistribution through higher taxes on the rich, devises innovative political mobilisation strategies, and widens its appeal by participating in struggles on issues that deeply concern working people.

To do this, the Left needs to update its analysis of Indian society and evolve a contemporary vision of development and relate this to its political programmes and policies. It must also develop a sharp analysis of the causes of the setbacks it has recently suffered, including through the social and economic policies pursued by its State governments, and its deficiencies in providing alternative perspectives and creating a pole of attraction for the classes and social groups it seeks to represent.

This calls for a number of changes, including a shift away from a literal belief in the inevitable development of the productive forces and the idea of a “two-stage” revolution. This is itself rooted in the axiom that India is some kind of semi-feudal semi-colonial society, rather than a capitalist one, even if it is a backward, poverty-stricken capitalist society that incorporates oppressive forms of gender and caste hierarchy and social exploitation, classically associated with pre-modern societies, into the bourgeois economic and social relations that prevail today.

This is not an academic distinction. Different characterisations of the state and the ruling class lead to divergent priorities, strategies and social coalitions. The central task before the Left is to oppose and weaken Indian capitalism and the neoliberal state while empowering working people to make inroads into, and eventually take over, governance structures to radicalise them along socialist lines.

This means combining a range of transitional demands based on a comprehensive charter of rights, which reflect mass aspirations for a life with human dignity, with a transformative politics and relating day-to-day mass struggles to that larger long-term goal.

Equally necessary is a rejection of the presumed inevitability and intrinsic desirability of industrialisation, especially along the classical Western pattern, which can lead to slippage into an “industrialisation at any cost” position.

This approach was at least partly responsible for the land acquisition and industrial promotion policies followed in West Bengal by the Left Front since 2006, which led to the Singur and Nandigram disasters and to the neglect of vital social agendas, reflected in the State’s slipping or stagnant human development indices.

Closely tied up with this is the dominant view of nature and natural resources as externalities rather than as something central or pivotal to an alternative radical perspective which makes a clean break with GDPism and incorporates environmental protection into development and social transformation agendas.

The Left has to “green” itself and address issues such as climate change and defence of the commons (common property resources) not just in global terms, which emphasise differential North-South responsibilities. It must do so domestically, too, in ways that conventional thinking simply cannot do and acknowledge that ecologically India’s growth trajectory is profoundly unsound. These issues must become organic to the Left’s emancipatory development vision.

True, the Left has shed its obsession with “development” of the productive forces counterposed to environmental protection, which was evident in its support for the Silent Valley project in the 1970s and its suspicion of the radical environmental movements of the 1980s and 1990s.

The Left does recognise neoliberal capitalism’s depredations and plunder of natural resources. But it has still not made ecology a central component of the development model it advocates. Even after Fukushima, the growing popular opposition to nuclear energy worldwide – inherently accident-prone and fraught with radiation and intractable problems of storing wastes that remain hazardous for thousands of years – and the emergence of safe, climate-friendly and cost-effective renewable alternatives, the Left still maintains a largely ambivalent position on nuclear power.

The Left has a unique opportunity to bring ecology centre stage amidst the explosion of grass-roots mobilisations in virtually every Indian State against destructive irrigation, power and industrial projects and on the issue of control over land, water, minerals and other natural resources. It must participate wholeheartedly in these and take on board their concerns to broaden its own agendas.

Above all, the Left should include these issues in a charter of people’s rights to the fulfilment of their basic needs and aspirations, including equitable provision of food, water, employment and social security, universal good-quality health care, education, energy and other public services.

Besides outlining such programmatic perspectives and strategies as an integral part of a humane politics which empowers working people, the Left can greatly gain in credibility and popular acceptance by developing sector-wise alternatives on issues such as land, water and shelter rights, equitable access to energy sources, sustainable agriculture, rural job generation, urban development, ecologically sound housing, transportation, neighbourhood schools, culture, and egalitarian education and skill-generation programmes.

Equally important are issues such as pensions for the old, special programmes for unorganised workers, and affirmative action in favour of underprivileged, dispossessed and marginalised groups, including single-women-led households and homeless people, besides religious and ethnic minorities.

Central to such a comprehensive charter or grand agenda would be a programme of combating gender discrimination and fighting for women’s rights, which goes beyond equal wages or 33 per cent political reservation and which recognises that patriarchy is a critical and integral component of the entire system of social oppression on which Indian capitalism is based. Fighting patriarchy cannot be left to the future; it must be integrated into the Left’s core agenda.

No less important are the “old” issues of caste, religion, ethnicity, tribal identity and regionalism, which the Left has self-confessedly neglected, and certainly not theorised to generate a multifaceted understanding of Indian reality. Some of these issues have been muddied by identity politics and its emotive appeal. But that makes it all the more pressing for the Left to address them in both theory and practice.

Of critical importance here would be a sustained, continuous dialogue between the Left parties and radical/progressive scholars and social activists devoted to expanding people’s rights and entitlements to a humane existence. A substantial base of knowledge, analysis and insight exists among the latter, from which the Left stands to gain handsomely through such interaction.

Among the “emerging” issues the Left must grapple with are the new authoritarian and communal structures growing within the Indian state as it evolves an Islamophobic “counterterrorism” strategy and deludes itself that “left-wing extremism is India’s greatest internal security threat” and then uses a militarist approach to deal with it.

Militarisation of state and governance in India’s tribal heartland, where the bulk of the country’s mineral and forest resources are located, is a great menace to democracy, perhaps greater than the crises in Kashmir or the north-eastern region were at their peak. Closely connected with militarism is nuclearism, or the government’s growing addiction to nuclear weapons and its tight embrace of nuclear deterrence, a doctrine India rightly described for half a century as “morally repugnant” and strategically irrational.

The Left must resolutely oppose militarism and actively return to the principled nuclear disarmament agenda it adopted after the Pokhran-II tests in 1998 but which it did not quite pursue during the 2005-08 debate on the United States-India nuclear deal.

Another battle the Left has to wage is over the belligerent and chauvinist nationalism growing in India, based on hubris and domination and on a perverse notion of Indian exceptionalism, which deeply influences our ultra-individualist middle-class elite. This nationalism is located in a Hobbesian world view where might always prevails and nations forever compete fiercely; they never cooperate.

The Left will not find it easy to radically transform its theoretical framework, analysis of strategic issues and its political practices given the indifferent or poor culture of internal (and external) debate that prevails in its organisation. Underpinning this is the doctrine of democratic centralism, interpreted along Stalinist lines, which stifles free debate. There has also been an erosion of the quality of discussion in party forums in relation to the 1950s or even the late 1970s.

If the Left wants to overcome its decline, it will have to reaffirm a firmly Marxist orientation but rethink the political framework, or paradigm, within which it works. It will have to swallow the bitter pill of painfully candid self-criticism and admission of strategic errors, theoretical inadequacies and flawed practices through open and free debate. Without such debate, there can be no course correction and stemming of the Left’s decline.

One last word: “Beyond the Obvious” will go beyond the visible range in these pages. But it will continue to fight in other forums for the ideas and causes it has championed since 1993.

Source :

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20120921291811800.htm

Prakash Jha blackmailed to include Anti-Maoist Propaganda in Chakravyuh

2012-09-20T11:47:00.003+05:30

It is reliably learnt that the Indian Censor Board has refused to clear the film Chakravyuh for taking a pro-maoist stance and has threatened to block it's release unless the director Prakash Jha in-corporates the Government's Anti-Maoist Propaganda in the film.

Given the prevailing political turmoil in the country and growing disillusionment with parliamentary forms of democracy, the Home Ministry fears that a sympathetic portrayal of the CPI(Maoist) cadre and leaders in the film Chakravyuh could inspire thousands of urban and rural youth to join the armed insurrection.

With no option left, the director of the film Chakravyuh has started re-shooting several parts of the film. Let's hope he is able to resist the pressure from the censor board.

Chakravyuh shoot not yet over

Just about a month to go before the release of film - Chakravyuh, director Prakash Jha along with cast members Arjun Rampal and Esha Gupta are headed back to Bhopal. Sources say that Jha would be filming in Bhopal next week for some much needed 'patch work', just ahead of scheduled release on October 24.

Sources say that the 'patch work' is considered significant for Jha's new film which seeks to explore the Naxal problem. The film has already run into trouble with the censors over a song and its intentional resemblance to real-life characters and incidents.

Chakravyuh is scheduled for an international release on October 24. Only a few cast and crew are expected to return for filming next week, with the schedule limited to Bhopal.

Source : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-16/bhopal/33879853_1_chakravyuh-prakash-jha-esha-gupta

Chakravyuh Poster

Savarna's LOL and make mockery of Tribal Rights in Orissa

2012-09-10T00:02:00.000+05:30

While the CMAS is doing commendable work clawing back tribal lands one inch, one acre at a time in Orissa , the Savarna's with one stroke of the pen have made a laughing stock of these avarna's.

Sabar Tribals protesting against Savarna Colonizers.

Sabar tribe, who lost their tribal status in government documents demanded status back

BHUBANESWAR: People belonging to the Sabar tribe, who have lost their tribal status after being errorneouly spelt as 'Saara' in government documents have demanded the status back.

They alleged that since there is restriction on sale and purchase of land from tribals, the state government officials have intentionally mentioned them as 'Saara' which is a general caste so that land can be bought from these tribals.

But this error has deprived them of their constitutional right as a tribal community, said Madhaba Chandra Dehuri, state president of Nilamadhab Adivasi Sabar Sangh. "While father belongs to 'Sabar' community, how can his son become a 'Saara'. Nowhere in any document there was a mention of Saara caste, but all of a sudden in different land documents they mentioned the caste to favour a few moneyed people.

Hundreds of innocent people have been paying the price for a spelling mistake in record rights," said secretary of the Sangha Prafulla Kumar Nayak. The people of the community have submitted several memoranda to the Governor and chief minister demanding immediate correction in the land right records, which has been causing immense problems to them.

Source : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-21/bhubaneswar/33304122_1_tribal-status-sabar-tribe-saara

This is not a new phenomenon... but is an accelerating trend all over India.

Tribals lose common utility area
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2328642.ece

Mehngai - A song from the movie Chakravyuh

2012-09-09T23:36:00.002+05:30

Link to video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbK81CusAOM

Chakravyuh song in censor trouble

Prakash Jha's upcoming political thriller Chakravyuh starring Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Esha Gupta, Manoj Bajpayee, Kabir Bedi and Anjali Patil seems to have run into censor trouble. The reason being a song that has lyrics which go 'Tata, Birla, Ambani Aur Bata, Sab Ne Hai Desh Ko Kaata', sung by Kailash Kher and picturised on Abhay Deol.

Apparently, the members of the Censor Board did not pass the song because they felt it was a personal attack on the country's industrialists and intended to defame them. In fact just last week, the track was rejected by the examining committee and later the review committee once again rejected the track citing the same reason.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Prakash Jha argues that though the song contains the names of the industrialists, they have been used to represent a certain mindset and not target any of them.

However, it was only post the makers agreed to put a disclaimer stating that the names have been used symbolically and are not meant to cause any harm or disrespect to any individual or brand, did the censors pass the song.

Chakravyuh releases this Dusshera on October 24.

Source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Chakravyuh-song-in-censor-trouble/Article1-926026.aspx

Lawyers fighting cases of accused Maoists face Harrasment

2012-09-09T23:28:00.000+05:30

Lawyers who represent terror suspects often end up being seriously harassed, discovers Sonia Sarkar

Backlash: Lawyer Anjali Waghmare, whose house was attacked after she took up the case of Ajmal Kasab, the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack

Director Anurag Kashyap’s forthcoming film Shahid, which tells the story of slain lawyer Shahid Azmi, is set to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival next month. Around the same time, Azmi’s lawyer brother Khalid will be fighting for justice for him before the Bombay High Court.

Shahid Azmi was shot dead by three gunmen in his chamber in a Mumbai suburb in 2010 — two years after he took up the case of 26/11 co-accused Fahim Ansari. He had also represented many Muslim boys accused of being involved in the Ghatkopar blasts (2003), Malegaon blasts (2006) and Mumbai’s 7/11 (2006). That’s not all. Azmi had taken up the cases of 64 suspected operatives of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) involved in the Ahmedabad terror strikes in 2008.

“Four months before his death, he told me that there would be attempts to murder him. But he continued to fight for the accused,” says his brother Khalid Azmi.

Shahid Azmi is not the only one who has suffered — in his case with fatal consequences — for having chosen to defend terror suspects. In fact, such is the backlash against them — from society, from fundamentalist groups and even from the police — that getting a lawyer to represent those allegedly linked to terrorist and Maoist activities is becoming more and more difficult.

Take the case of Abdul Shakeel Pasha, who was arrested in Delhi in 2010 on charges of alleged links to Maoists. He languished in a Surat jail for three months before senior advocate Kirit Panwala came to his rescue.

“Before Panwala, four lawyers refused to take up the case,” says Pasha, who runs a non government organisation called Haq in Delhi. Though he got bail six months after his arrest, his case is still on.

Section 304 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lays down that the state shall provide legal aid to the accused in certain cases. But experts point out that in most cases, the legal aid provided to terror suspects is perfunctory. “Often, lawyers don’t take the trouble of meeting the accused in jail. They barely investigate the case and the accused do not get a fair representation in court,” says Bilaspur-based senior advocate Sudha Bharadwaj.

Of course, one reason for the lack of interest in representing these undertrials is that the state pays a pittance to defence lawyers — a sum of Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000. “If the government can pay Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh to a public prosecutor, why can’t this be paid to a lawyer who represents the accused,” asks senior advocate Colin Gonsalves of Human Rights Law Network, a lawyers’ collective that takes up human rights cases.

However, the few who do try to defend terror suspects to the best of their abilities complain that the environment is not at all conducive for them to work freely.

“Our photographs and identity cards are taken away by the police before we are allowed to meet the accused. We are treated like criminals,” says Bharadwaj.

A Human Rights Watch report titled The ‘Anti Nationals’ on the detention and torture of terrorism suspects in India released in February this year too states that when lawyers met suspects in jail “police in some cases unlawfully remained within earshot, making it difficult for the detainees to reveal abuse or seek counsel.”

In Chhattisgarh, where there are many Maoist-related cases, lawyers represent ing the accused are often harassed by the police. In 2009, one tribal lawyer, Alban Toppo, was allegedly beaten up by the police for taking up the case of human rights activist Kopa Kunjam who was arrested on murder charges.

Another senior Chhattisgarh lawyer, Amarnath Pandey, has been charged with sedition and 12 other criminal cases since 2000. Pandey had taken up a fake encounter case. “The state targets such lawyers as they don’t want the voice of the accused to be heard in court,” he alleges.

However, Chhattisgarh government spokesperson Baijendra Kumar denies these charges. “The state has no reason to target lawyers. If any illegal action is being taken against them, the state is answerable to the court.”

But charges of discrimination against lawyers who defend terror suspects are too numerous to be dismissed outright. Cuttack’s Pratima Das, who represented many villagers with alleged “Maoists” links, was arrested on charges of sedition and attempt to murder in 2008. She was acquitted only after having spent two years in jail. She has now filed a petition in Cuttack High Court, demanding a compensation of Rs 20 lakh from the state.

Harassment of such defence lawyers is common in Kashmir too. When senior advocates Miyan Abdul Qayoom and G.N. Shaheen took up the cases of young boys arrested on charges of stone pelting in 2010, both were arrested under the Public Safety Act and had to spend almost nine months in jail.

It is not state bodies alone that tend to make things tough for these lawyers. Often, they face flak from their own fraternity as well. Senior Lucknow lawyers Mohammed Shoaib and A.M. Faridi faced the wrath of their colleagues when they took up the cases of several of those accused in serial blasts in Lucknow and Faizabad in 2007. Earlier, various bar associations across UP had passed a resolution that no lawyer would defend the accused in terrorism cases.

“Lawyers called me ‘a terrorist’ and started beating me up. My clothes were ripped off and I was paraded in the court campus in my undergarments,” says Shoaib, recalling the treatment meted out to him in 2008 in a Lucknow court complex. Two years later, the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh apologised to him in writing.

When lawyers defy such bans, they are attacked by political parties too. After 26/11, the Mumbai Metropolitan Magistrate Bar Association passed a resolution not to defend 26/11 accused Ajmal Kasab. Despite that, Anjali Waghmare took up his case, following which her house was allegedly attacked by Shiv Sainiks.

Again, in 2010 the Mumbai High Court ordered the Maharashtra State Legal Aid Services Authority to appoint criminal Lawyers Amin Solkar and Farhana Shah for Kasab. Shah was promptly labelled “anti-national” — even though he had been appointed by the court. “Many lawyers have asked me to leave the case but I didn’t because I saw Kasab as just another client,” says Shah, who is also the defence counsel for the accused in the Mumbai blasts of 1993.

A laudable sentiment. But if lawyers continue to be harassed for carrying out their professional duty, how many will have the resilience to defend terror suspects?

Is the government listening?

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120829/jsp/opinion/story_15910815.jsp#.UEzXHY3iaBp

Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi Arrested for Cartoons on Parliamentary Democracy

2012-09-09T23:04:00.002+05:30

The arrest of cartoonist Asim Trivedi today marks a new low in the undeclared emergency prevalent in large parts of India.

Given below are his cartoons which portrays nothing more than the general opinion that the middle class holds about the institutions of parliamentary democracy.

Source : http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/indian-cartoonist-aseem-trivedi/

Neutrality Quote- Desmond Tutu

2012-09-01T23:36:00.002+05:30

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” - Bishop Desmond Tutu

Wartorn -1861-2010 - Documentary on PTSD

2012-09-01T23:28:00.001+05:30

HBO Documentary Films: Wartorn 1861 - 2010 Trailer

Link to Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvIrpyzpcR4

With suicide rates among active military servicemen and veterans currently on the rise, the HBO special WARTORN 1861-2010 brings urgent attention to the invisible wounds of war.

Drawing on personal stories of American soldiers whose lives and psyches were torn asunder by the horrors of battle and PTSD, the documentary chronicles the lingering effects of combat stress and post-traumatic stress on military personnel and their families throughout American history, from the Civil War through today's conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

War Torn - Full Documentary

Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tTNAv1Un8A

Know more about the Documentary

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/wartorn-1861-2010/index.html

Treatment of Psychological Wounds - PTSD

2012-09-01T23:20:00.000+05:30

In 2010, Open Magazine carried an article about The Lady Naxals of Dandakaranya. The article had a paragraph which reveals that some of the Maoist cadre/supporters have deep untreated psychological wounds.

A night before arriving at the camp, we have halted at an Adivasi hut along with the Maoist squad. Under the influence of mahua, or maybe in spite of the intoxicant, the Adivasi begins to cry after some time as he forces a few morsels of rice down his throat.

“Why are you crying?” Maoist squad leader Samayya asks him in Gondi.

“I feel like crying,” he replies.

Wounds can be physical or psychological, the adivasi in the above paragraph could have deep untreated psychological wounds and the crying could be a symptom.

A manual on PTSD is posted below for the benefit of Human Rights Activists and Social Workers who interact with war combatants and people suffering from mass trauma.

Related Article :

Suicides killing more Indian soldiers than wars

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A booklet from The National Institute of Mental Health for the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD can be downloaded at the link below :

https://sites.google.com/site/naxalrevolution/nimh_ptsd_booklet.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

The contents of the above pdf file are reproduced below :

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A manual published by the National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

PTSD can lead to permanent brain damage and impairment of higher cognitive functions like memory .

Contents

What is post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD?
Who gets PTSD?
What are the symptoms of PTSD?
Do children react differently than adults?
How is PTSD detected?
Why do some people get PTSD and other people do not?
How is PTSD treated?
Psychotherapy
Medications
Other medications
Treatment after mass trauma
What efforts are under way to improve the detection and treatment of PTSD?
How can I help a friend or relative who has PTSD?
How can I help myself?
Where can I go for help?
What if I or someone I know is in crisis?
Citations

What is post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD?

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event.

When in danger, it’s natural to feel afraid. This fear trig gers many split-second changes in the body to prepare to defend against the danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. But in PTSD, this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger.

Who gets PTSD?

Anyone can get PTSD at any age. This includes war veterans and survivors of physical and sexual assault, abuse, accidents, disasters, and many other serious events.

Not everyone with PTSD has been through a dangerous event. Some people get PTSD after a friend or family member experiences danger or is harmed. The sud den, unexpected death of a loved one can also cause PTSD.

What are the symptoms of PTSD?

PTSD can cause many symptoms. These symptoms can be grouped into three categories:

1. Re-experiencing symptoms:

• Flashbacks—reliving the trauma over and over, including physical symptoms like a racing heart or sweating

• Bad dreams

• Frightening thoughts.

Re-experiencing symptoms may cause problems in a person’s everyday routine. They can start from the person’s own thoughts and feelings. Words, objects, or situations that are reminders of the event can also trigger re-experiencing.

2. Avoidance symptoms:

• Staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the experience

• Feeling emotionally numb

• Feeling strong guilt, depression, or worry

• Losing interest in activities that were enjoyable in the past

• Having trouble remembering the dangerous event.

Things that remind a person of the traumatic event can trigger avoidance symptoms. These symptoms may cause a person to change his or her personal routine. For example, after a bad car accident, a person who usually drives may avoid driving or riding in a car.

3. Hyperarousal symptoms:

• Being easily startled

• Feeling tense or “on edge”

• Having difficulty sleeping, and/or having angry outbursts.

Hyperarousal symptoms are usually constant, instead of being triggered by things that remind one of the traumatic event. They can make the person feel stressed and angry. These symptoms may make it hard to do daily tasks, such as sleeping, eating, or concentrating.

It’s natural to have some of these symptoms after a dangerous event. Sometimes people have very serious symptoms that go away after a few weeks. This is called acute stress disorder, or ASD. When the symptoms last more than a few weeks and become an ongoing problem, they might be PTSD. Some people with PTSD don’t show any symptoms for weeks or months.

Do children react differently than adults?

Children and teens can have extreme reactions to trauma, but their symptoms may not be the same as adults. In very young children, these symptoms can include:

• Bedwetting, when they’d learned how to use the toilet before

• Forgetting how or being unable to talk

• Acting out the scary event during playtime

• Being unusually clingy with a parent or other adult.

Older children and teens usually show symptoms more like those seen in adults. They may also develop disruptive, disre spectful, or destructive behaviors. Older children and teens may feel guilty for not preventing injury or deaths. They may also
have thoughts of revenge. For more information, see the NIMH booklets on helping children cope with violence and disasters.

How is PTSD detected?

A doctor who has experience helping people with mental illnesses, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist, can diagnose PTSD. The diagnosis is made after the doctor talks with the person who has symptoms of PTSD.

To be diagnosed with PTSD, a person must have all of the following for at least 1 month:

• At least one re-experiencing symptom

• At least three avoidance symptoms

• At least two hyperarousal symptoms

• Symptoms that make it hard to go about daily life, go to school or work, be with friends, and take care of important tasks.

Why do some people get PTSD and other people do not?

It is important to remember that not everyone who lives through a dangerous event gets PTSD. In fact, most will not get the disorder.

Many factors play a part in whether a person will get PTSD. Some of these are risk factors that make a person more likely to get PTSD. Other factors, called resilience factors, can help reduce the risk of the disorder. Some of these risk and resilience factors are present before the trauma and others become important during and after a traumatic event.

Risk factors for PTSD include:

• Living through dangerous events and traumas

• Having a history of mental illness

• Getting hurt

• Seeing people hurt or killed

• Feeling horror, helplessness, or extreme fear

• Having little or no social support after the event

• Dealing with extra stress after the event, such as loss of a loved one, pain and injury, or loss of a job or home.

Resilience factors that may reduce the risk of PTSD include:

• Seeking out support from other people, such as friends and family

• Finding a support group after a traumatic event

• Feeling good about one’s own actions in the face of danger

• Having a coping strategy, or a way of getting through the bad event and learning from it

• Being able to act and respond effectively despite feeling fear.

Researchers are studying the importance of various risk and resilience factors. With more study, it may be possible someday to predict who is likely to get PTSD and prevent it.

How is PTSD treated ?

The main treatments for people with PTSD are psychotherapy (“talk” therapy), medications, or both. Everyone is different, so a treatment that works for one per son may not work for another. It is important for anyone with PTSD to be treated
by a mental health care provider who is experienced with PTSD. Some people with
PTSD need to try different treatments to find what works for their symptoms.

If someone with PTSD is going through an ongoing trauma, such as being in an abusive relationship, both of the problems need to be treated. Other ongoing prob lems can include panic disorder, depression, substance abuse, and feeling suicidal.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is “talk” therapy. It involves talking with a mental health professional to treat a mental illness. Psychotherapy can occur one- on-one or in a group. Talk therapy treatment for PTSD usually lasts 6 to 12 weeks, but can take more time. Research shows that support from family and friends can be an important part of therapy.

Many types of psychotherapy can help people with PTSD. Some types target the symptoms of PTSD directly. Other therapies focus on social, family, or job-related problems. The doctor or therapist may combine different therapies depending on each person’s needs.

One helpful therapy is called cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT. There are several parts to CBT, including:

• Exposure therapy. This therapy helps people face and control their fear. It exposes them to the trauma they experienced in a safe way. It uses mental imagery, writing, or visits to the place where the event happened. The therapist uses these tools to help people with PTSD cope with their feelings.

• Cognitive restructuring. This therapy helps people make sense of the bad memories. Sometimes people remember the event differently than how it hap pened. They may feel guilt or shame about what is not their fault. The therapist helps people with PTSD look at what happened in a realistic way.

• Stress inoculation training. This therapy tries to reduce PTSD symptoms by teaching a person how to reduce anxiety. Like cognitive restructuring, this treat ment helps people look at their memories in a healthy way.

Other types of treatment can also help people with PTSD. People with PTSD should talk about all treatment options with their therapist.

How Talk Therapies Help People Overcome PTSD

Talk therapies teach people helpful ways to react to frightening events that trigger their PTSD
symptoms. Based on this general goal, different types of therapy may:

• Teach about trauma and its effects.

• Use relaxation and anger control skills.

• Provide tips for better sleep, diet, and exercise habits.

• Help people identify and deal with guilt, shame, and other feelings about the event.

• Focus on changing how people react to their PTSD symptoms. For example, therapy helps
people visit places and people that are reminders of the trauma.

Medications

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two medications for treating adults with PTSD:

• sertraline (Zoloft)

• paroxetine (Paxil)

Both of these medications are antidepressants, which are also used to treat depression. They may help control PTSD symptoms such as sadness, worry,
anger, and feeling numb inside. Taking these medications may make it easier to go through psychotherapy.

Sometimes people taking these medications have side effects. The effects can be annoying, but they usually go away. However, medications affect everyone differently. Any side effects or unusual reactions should be reported to a doctor immediately.

The most common side effects of antidepressants like sertraline and paroxetine are:

• Headache, which usually goes away within a few days.

• Nausea (feeling sick to your stomach), which usually goes away within a few days.

• Sleeplessness or drowsiness, which may occur during the first few weeks but then goes away. Sometimes the medication dose needs to be reduced or the time of day it is taken needs to be adjusted to help lessen these side effects.
• Agitation (feeling jittery).

• Sexual problems, which can affect both men and women, including reduced sex drive, and problems having and enjoying sex.

FDA Warning on Antidepressants

Despite the relative safety and popularity of SSRIs and other antidepressants, some studies have suggested that they may have unintentional effects on some people, especially adolescents and young adults. In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a thorough review
of published and unpublished controlled clinical trials of antidepressants that involved nearly
4,400 children and adolescents. The review revealed that 4 percent of those taking antidepres sants thought about or attempted suicide (although no suicides occurred), compared to 2 percent of those receiving placebos.

This information prompted the FDA, in 2005, to adopt a “black box” warning label on all antide
pressant medications to alert the public about the potential increased risk of suicidal thinking
or attempts in children and adolescents taking antidepressants. In 2007, the FDA proposed that makers of all antidepressant medications extend the warning to include young adults up through age 24. A “black box” warning is the most serious type of warning on prescription drug labeling.

The warning emphasizes that patients of all ages taking antidepressants should be closely monitored, especially during the initial weeks of treatment. Possible side effects to look for are worsening depression, suicidal thinking or behavior, or any unusual changes in behavior such as sleeplessness, agitation, or withdrawal from normal social situations. The warning adds that families and caregivers should also be told of the need for close monitoring and report any
changes to the physician. The latest information from the FDA can be found on their Web site at www.fda.gov.

Results of a comprehensive review of pediatric trials conducted between 1988 and 2006 sug gested that the benefits of antidepressant medications likely outweigh their risks to children and adolescents with major depression and anxiety disorders.4 The study was funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Other medications

Doctors may also prescribe other types of medications, such as the ones listed below. There is little information on how well these work for people with PTSD.

1. Benzodiazepines. These medications may be given to help people relax and sleep. People who take benzodiaz
epines may have memory problems or become dependent on the medication.5

2. Antipsychotics. These medications are usually given to people with other mental disorders, like schizophrenia. People who take antipsychotics may gain weight and have a higher chance of getting heart disease and diabetes.

3. Other antidepressants. Like sertraline and paroxetine, the antidepressants fluoxetine (Prozac) and citalopram (Celexa) can help people with PTSD feel less tense or sad. For people with PTSD who also have other anxiety disorders or depression, antidepressants may be useful in reducing symptoms of these co occurring illnesses.

Treatment after mass trauma

Sometimes large numbers of people are affected by the same event. For example,
a lot of people needed help after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Most people will have some PTSD symptoms in the first few weeks after events like these. This is a normal and expected response to serious trauma, and for most people, symptoms generally lessen with time. Most people can be helped with basic support, such as:

• Getting to a safe place

• Seeing a doctor if injured

• Getting food and water

• Contacting loved ones or friends

• Learning what is being done to help.

But some people do not get better on their own. A study of Hurricane Katrina survivors found that, over time, more people were having problems with PTSD, depression, and related mental disorders.This pattern is unlike the recovery from other natural disasters, where the number of people who have mental health prob lems gradually lessens. As communities try to rebuild after a mass trauma, people

may experience ongoing stress from loss of jobs and schools, and trouble paying bills, finding housing, and getting health care. This delay in community recovery may in turn delay recovery from PTSD.

In the first couple weeks after a mass trauma, brief versions of CBT may be helpful to some people who are having severe distress.7 Sometimes other treatments are used, but their effectiveness is not known. For example, there is growing interest in an approach called psychological first aid. The goal of this approach is to make people feel safe and secure, connect people to health care and other resources, and reduce stress reactions.8 There are guides for carrying out the treatment, but experts do not know yet if it helps prevent or treat PTSD.

In single-session psychological debriefing, another type of mass trauma treatment, survivors talk about the event and express their feelings one-on-one or in a group. Studies show that it is not likely to reduce distress or the risk for PTSD, and may actually increase distress and risk.9

Mass Trauma Affects Hospitals and Other Providers

Hospitals, health care systems, and health care providers are also affected by a mass trauma. The number of people who need immediate physical and psychological help may be too much for health systems to handle. Some patients may not find help when they need it because hospitals do not have enough staff or supplies. In some cases, health care providers themselves may be struggling to recover as well.

NIMH scientists are working on this problem. For example, research ers are testing how to give CBT and other treatments using the phone and the Internet. In one study, people with PTSD met with a therapist to learn about the disorder, made a list of things that trigger their symptoms, and learned basic ways to reduce stress. After this meeting, the participants could visit a Web site with more infor mation about PTSD. Participants could keep a log of their symptoms and practice coping skills. Overall, the researchers found the Internet-based treatment helped reduce symptoms of PTSD and depression.10 These effects lasted after treatment ended.

Researchers will carry out more studies to find out if other such approaches to therapy can be helpful after mass trauma.

What efforts are under way to improve the detection and treatment of PTSD?

Researchers have learned a lot in the last decade about fear, stress, and PTSD. Scientists are also learning about how people form memories. This is important because creating very powerful fear-related memories seems to be a major part of PTSD. Researchers are also exploring how people can create “safety” memories to replace the bad memories that form after a trauma. NIMH’s goal in supporting this research is to improve treatment and find ways to prevent the disorder.

PTSD research also includes the following examples:

• Using powerful new research methods, such as brain imaging and the study of genes, to find out more about what leads to PTSD, when it happens, and who is most at risk.
• Trying to understand why some people get PTSD and others do not. Knowing this can help health care profes sionals predict who might get PTSD and provide early treatment.
• Focusing on ways to examine pre-trauma, trauma, and post-trauma risk and resilience factors all at once.
• Looking for treatments that reduce the impact traumatic memories have on our emotions.
• Improving the way people are screened for PTSD, given early treatment, and tracked after a mass trauma.
• Developing new approaches in self-testing and screening to help people know when it’s time to call a doctor.
• Testing ways to help family doctors detect and treat PTSD or refer people with
PTSD to mental health specialists.

For more information on PTSD research, please see NIMH’s PTSD Research Fact Sheet (online at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic stress-disorder-research-fact-sheet.shtml) or the PTSD Clinical Trials Web site page at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/trials/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd. shtml.

How can I help a friend or relative who has PTSD?

If you know someone who has PTSD, it affects you too. The first and most important thing you can do to help a friend or relative is to help him or her get the right diagnosis and treatment. You may need to make an appointment for your friend or relative and go with him or her to see the doctor. Encourage him or her to stay in treatment, or to seek differ
ent treatment if his or her symptoms don’t get better after 6 to 8 weeks.

To help a friend or relative, you can:

• Offer emotional support, understanding, patience, and encouragement.

• Learn about PTSD so you can understand what your friend or relative is experiencing.

• Talk to your friend or relative, and listen carefully.

• Listen to feelings your friend or relative expresses and be understanding of situations that may trigger PTSD symptoms.

• Invite your friend or relative out for positive distractions such as walks, outings, and other activities.

• Remind your friend or relative that, with time and treatment, he or she can get better.

Never ignore comments about your friend or relative harming him or herself, and report such comments to your friend’s or relative’s therapist or doctor.

How can I help myself?

It may be very hard to take that first step to help yourself. It is important to realize that although it may take some time, with treatment, you can get better.

To help yourself:

• Talk to your doctor about treatment options.

• Engage in mild activity or exercise to help reduce stress.

• Set realistic goals for yourself.

• Break up large tasks into small ones, set some priorities, and do what you can as you can.

• Try to spend time with other people and confide in a trusted friend or relative. Tell others about things that may trigger symptoms.

• Expect your symptoms to improve gradually, not immediately.

• Identify and seek out comforting situations, places, and people.

Where can I go for help?

If you are unsure where to go for help, ask your family doctor. Others who can help are listed below.

Mental health resources

• Mental health specialists, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, or mental health counselors

• Health maintenance organizations

• Community mental health centers

• Hospital psychiatry departments and outpatient clinics

• Mental health programs at universities or medical schools

• State hospital outpatient clinics

• Family services, social agencies, or clergy

• Peer support groups

• Private clinics and facilities

• Employee assistance programs

• Local medical and/or psychiatric societies.

You can also check the phone book under “mental health,” “health,” “social ser vices,” “hotlines,” or “physicians” for phone numbers and addresses. An emer gency room doctor can also provide temporary help and can tell you where and how to get further help.

What if I or someone I know is in crisis?

If you are thinking about harming yourself, or know someone who is, tell someone who can help immediately:

• Call your doctor.

• Call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room to get immediate help or ask a friend or family member to help you do these things.
• Call the toll-free, 24-hour hotline of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at
1–800–273–TALK (1–800–273–8255); TTY: 1–800–799–4TTY (4889) to talk to a trained counselor.
• Make sure you or the suicidal person is not left alone.

Citations

1. Hamblen J. PTSD in Children and Adolescents: A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet. http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_children.html. Accessed Veterans Administration Web site on February 10, 2006.

2. Brewin CR, Andrews B, Valentine JD. Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in
trauma-exposed adults. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2000 Oct;68(5):748-66.

3. Charney DS. Psychobiological mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability: implications for successful
adaptation to extreme stress. Am J Psychiatry. 2004 Feb;161(2):195-216.

4. Bridge JA, Iyengar S, Salary CB, Barbe RP, Birmaher B, Pincus HA, Ren L, Brent DA. Clinical response and risk for reported suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in pediatric antidepressant treatment, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007;
297(15): 1683-1696.

5. PTSD Pharmacotherapy: VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines. http://www.oqp.med.va.gov/cpg/PTSD/ G/Interv_Sum508.pdf. Accessed on June 8, 2007.

6. Kessler RC, Galea S, Gruber MJ, Sampson NA, Ursano RJ, Wessely S. Trends in mental illness and
suicidality after Hurricane Katrina. Mol Psychiatry. 2008 Apr;13(4):374-84. Epub 2008 Jan 8.

7. Foa EB, Cahill SP, Boscarino JA, Hobfoll SE, Lahad M, McNally RJ, Solomon Z. Social, psychological, and psychiatric interventions following terrorist attacks: recommendations for practice and research. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2005 Oct;30(10):1806-17.

8. Watson PJ, Shalev AY. Assessment and treatment of adult acute responses to traumatic stress
following mass traumatic events. CNS Spectr. 2005 Feb;10(2):123-31.

9. Rose S, Bisson J, Churchill R, Wessely S. Psychological debriefing for preventing post traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2002 (2):CD000560.

10. Litz BT, Engel CC, Bryant RA, Papa A. A Randomized, Controlled Proof-of-Concept Trial of an Internet Based, Therapist-Assisted Self-Management Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2007 Nov;164(11):1676-84.

For more information on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Visit the National Library of Medicine’s: MedlinePlus:
http://medlineplus.gov

En Español:
http://medlineplus.gov/spanish

For information on clinical trials for PTSD:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/trials/index.shtml

National Library of Medicine Clinical Trials Database:
http://clinicaltrials.gov

Information from NIMH is available in multiple formats. You can browse online, download documents in PDF, and order paper brochures through the mail.
If you would like to have NIMH publications, you can order them online at:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov.

For the most up-to-date information on this topic, please check the NIMH Web site at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov.

Basaguda encounter - Fact finding Committee's Report and Video

2012-09-01T22:21:00.000+05:30

Link to Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QJa3-HdUwE

Detailed Report of the Fact Finding Committee -
http://www.countercurrents.org/crdo100712.htm

Brief Summary

An all-India fact-finding team of rights activists belonging to the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO) visited the area in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh where 17 adivasis died as a result of firing by CRPF forces on the night of June 28, 2012. The team visited the villages of Sarkeguda, Kottaguda and Rajpenta on July 6 and 7 and elicited information about the events.

About 60 adivasis of these three villages assembled from around 8 pm on June 28 in an open area between Sarkeguda and Kottaguda. Such meetings where decisions have to be taken collectively are usually held during the night since adivasis are busy with work most of the day.

While the meeting was going on, a large contingent of CRPF personnel and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, a specialised anti-naxalite guerilla unit of the CRPF) commandos numbering well over a hundred, cordoned off the area. According to the villagers, at about 10 pm there was gunfire without any warning.

It was clear to the fact-finding team that a peaceful gathering of adivasis, none of whom carried any firearms, was surrounded by the CRPF and without any warning fired upon indiscriminately. As a result of this firing, 17 adivasis died. It was plain slaughter that night near Sarkeguda.

At the end of the day we left the villages and the villagers with the killer forces around them. Not only in Basaguda, many and many villages of central India are now surrounded with these killer forces, paramilitary force, with clear assignment of committing murder. This attitude of Indian state needs to be condemned from every quarters.

Chakravyuh - Trailer of Film on Naxalites

2012-08-24T23:40:00.001+05:30

Eros International presents a Prakash Jha Productions' film Chakravyuh. Watch the exclusive Theatrical Trailer of Prakash Jha's next film Chakravyuh, starring Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Manoj Bajpayee, Esha Gupta, Anjali Patil and Om Puri.

Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnamEA8iLGY

Chakravyuh is releasing on 24th Oct, 2012.

Produced by: Prakash Jha
Co Produced by: Sunil Lulla
Directed by: Prakash Jha
Screenplay by: Anjum Rajabali, Prakash Jha and Sagar Pandya

Operation Green Hunt and Cobra Propaganda Videos

2012-08-24T23:30:00.001+05:30

Several propaganda videos about the COBRA battalions, their training and operations have appeared on-line over the last few weeks. Two of them are posted below.

Embedded with commandos of Operation Green Hunt

Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1GTbmbQc5g

It's only recently that the Indian government has started to appreciate the scale and complexity of the Naxal problem. More than Pakistan, its Naxal guerillas who keep the government on the edge these days -- because following on Mao's footsteps, these rebels want to overthrow the Indian government - and they are pretty serious about the task.

Till recently considered as mare security nuisance, (who occasionally indulged in violence) Naxals over the last five years have grown dramatically in numbers and strength-- and so have the killings.

After many security personnel were butchered across the nation -- the government decided to crack the whip and launch 'Operation Green Hunt' as a decisive push against the left wing ultras. 'Inside the Red Bastion' takes a rare peek into how anti -- naxal operations are conducted by the Indian Government in the dense and dangerous forests of Dantewada in Central India. How men, machinery and training is woefully short to tackle the Naxals, who are getting better by the day -- in handling weapons and war strategy.

Headlines Today (in a first for a TV channel) managed to embed itself with a crack team of commandos and venture into the Chhattisgarh forests -- the same area where hundreds of security force personnel have been butchered in the past months (Infact the team itself missed being attacked by a whisker)

The documentary compares the training of security forces and Naxlas, exposes the terrain advantage that the Naxals have and suggests what India can do to win this war within -- a war its fighting against its own peole.

Interview with N C Asthana - IG CRPF Cobra

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main53.asp?filename=Ne010912Muslims.asp

COBRA Battalion

Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldeufc024rk

Special Show of COBRA's Operation X-95. COBRA (Acronym for Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) is a specialized unit of the CRPF created to counter the Naxalite problem in India.

This specialized CRPF unit is one of the only units of the Central Armed Police Forces in the country who are specifically trained in guerilla warfare. This elite fighting unit has been trained to track, hunt and eliminate small Naxalite groups.

Cobra has been set up with a grant of 1300 crore (13 billion) rupees from the Central government. They have been armed as a regular infantry platoon with INSAS rifles, AK rifles, X-95, Browning Hi-Power and Glock pistols, Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns and Carl Gustav recoilless rifle..

Sabyasachi Panda's Letter and CPI Maoist Politburo Response

2012-08-13T23:05:00.002+05:30

The full letter containing Sabyasachi Panda's accusations against the CPI(Maoist) leadership is not available on-line but some extracts have been reported in the news media. This criticism is presented below along with the press release issued by the CPI(Maoist) expelling him.

Extracts from Sabyasachi Panda's Letter

Panda, 43, wrote two letters on June 1 to CPI(Maoist) general secretary Muppala Laxaman Rao alias Ganapathy, politburo members Prashant Bose alias Sumit, Narayan Sanyal alias Vijay, and other Maoist cadres. It is not clear if they reached their intended recipients.

“As I have not got proper democracy to discuss or write the political opinion... and as there is no scope for an immediate solution of our long-standing problems, I would like to write this,” Panda said in the letters, running into 39 pages and accessed by The Indian Express. Excerpts:

Replication
“People in Bihar may need one armed organisation in their struggle to face armed gangs of landlords. But for riot-affected people of Orissa or for the people of Lalgarh, we should not copy the form of organisation and form of struggle mechanically as per our subjective wishes... One democratic revolution cannot end all types of small and big exploitations from any society.”

Senseless violence
“When everybody is carrying mobiles in hand, we can’t influence people by blasting towers everyday. From 2000 up to now I have been witnessing so many unnecessary annihilations in Orissa... We can stamp anybody as an informer and kill him with our gunpowder without responsibility to convince the people for our action! This is our revolutionary birthright.

“...Jagabandhu Majhi [BJD MLA] was annihilated in 2011 by Chhattisgarh comrades. He was a person who had been moving in a wheelchair, a handicapped person. He had been threatened by our people for two years. Out of fear, he contacted me and wanted to surrender. Simply he was killed... Just after the unification of the erstwhile People’s War and the MCC, the comrades of the erstwhile MCC annihilated five or six villagers in Jujumara [Orissa]. The cause of annihilation was just like our all-time formal statements that they are informers.

“In 2009, when politburo member Basavraj [Namballa Keshava Rao] visited our area, he made some comments on other politburo members such as Kishenji. ‘He is not doing anything, not killing a single policeman, and giving statements’. As if killing police is the one and only job for a revolutionary.”

No alternative policies
“Yes, we have to fight against exploitation, but what is your special policy for a new democratic government in tribal areas? Your Janatana Sarkar is not the tribal autonomy body [nor is it] government by traditional tribal rules, even partially. You are destroying tribal culture for your selfishness. You have no alternative agricultural, industrial, medical and educational policies.”

No democracy
“Leaders think [of themselves] as masters and cadres have no courage to oppose the leaders’ mistakes... The policy in practice is to suppress or eliminate the opposing voice by force, either inside the party or outside in society. In a meeting of the Basdhara and Ghumsar divisional committees, central committee member Bhaskar [alias Modem Balakrishna] in the presence of member Chetan suspended member Chalapati saying that “in a communist party, for faults of a party member, we may suspend, expel and if needed can kill him/her(marne ki saaja bhi de sakte). Even innocent people may be killed sometimes for revolution...

“Only yes-men and good boys/girls of leaders are promoted. In the name of promotion, a type of feudal democracy, similar to that of the fascist RSS, prevailed in this party.”

Rules & theories
“Now it has become a common rule to issue blades to all boys and girls for shaving [their private parts]. Dandakaranya cadres have accepted this as a party rule, just like using only Lifebuoy and Rin soaps, Timex watches and Action shoes.... And it is also said that in the place for bathing, all should bathe without [wearing] clothes. What is the relation of a revolution to such stupid theories?

“...Oriya cadres are dissuaded from taking sugar in their food with the advice that it would cause diabetes. You can take as much mirchi and tamarind as you like, but are not allowed to mix sugar in your tamarind water, and you can’t eat onion as a substitute... If we use Margo soap for squad members instead of Lifebuoy, central committee members such as Basavraj will comment on us.”

No accounting
“Financial anarchy is a common trend in the party. AOB [Andhra-Orissa border] cadre Binoy accumulated money from various sources before he surrendered. In the party there is no fair accounting system. So many Dandankaranya cadres and main-force activists are expending money as per their wish and giving a round account... ‘Rs 10,000 we have done expenditures’. Bengal comrade Ashok did not give accounts of Rs 15 lakh. All these are symptoms of wrong trends that we are promoting from above.

Partiality
“Our AOB leaders always tried to treat the Orissa committee as subordinates. They never want to develop one independent Orissa revolutionary struggle... Commanders of Dandakaranya and Andhra-Orissa Border are giving regular irrelevant interviews as they wish. In 2009, a resolution was adopted that without a decision I should not give any interview.”

Minority policy
“As per the new theory of central committee members, Christianity is the main obstacle before building a revolutionary organisation. Central committee member Manoj said Christianity is an organised religion... and so for any organised revolutionary work it will become an obstacle... Left sectarian friends of AOB distributed a leaflet against Christianity in Srikakulam... Later, AOB cadres and squads who were Christian were removed from that area... When Christian people organised around us, politburo members such as Basabraj started advising us to write in circulars and pamphlets that ‘Christianity is not the solution to people’s problems’.”

Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/if-we-use-margo-instead-of-lifebuoy-they-will-comment/987854/0

Other Accusations by Sabyasachi Panda

In an audio message issued late on Sunday night the senior Maoist leader said the party's decision to expel him comes seven months after he and his supporters had severed all ties with it, and a month after he had announced the formation of a new outfit called the Odisha Maovadi Party (OMP).

The CPI-Maoist party had, in a four-page press release on Friday, announced the expulsion of Sabyasachi Panda for indulging in opportunism, anti-party activities and for being a 'renegade'. The 16-page letter, addressed to the party general secretary Ganapathy, also dismissed the serious allegations brought by Panda against the party leadership.

In a 5-minute long audio message Panda has accused the party of following anti-tribal, anti-minorities and anti-people policies and condemned the party's growing dependence on the politics of eliminating individuals without any justifiable reasons. He has blamed a section of the party's leadership, especially those from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, for the 'degeneration' that has set in within the party. He has specifically named party's central committee member Modem Balkrishna alias Manoj for conspiring against him and trying to impose a number of unacceptable decisions on the Odisha party cadres.

"They have killed activists and workers from the SUCI, CITU, CPI-ML and even ordinary people without any justifiable reasons. I have been critical of their politics of murder and acts that spreads terror. We were not willing to play slaves to a party that denies internal democracy and works against the interests of the people," the audio message said.

Panda has also alleged that the Maoist leaders are collecting huge amount of money from corporates who are displacing the local people for their industries despite a party decision not to seek funds from such private operators. "It was the anti-people and sectarian politics of the party that had forced us to go for a rethink and we finally decided to move away from the party," he said in the message, adding he had decided to expose the wrongdoings in the party in November 2011 after he was placed under 'party arrest' for about three months on the basis of false charges by intolerant and narrow-minded leaders.

Panda has ruled out any possibility of any kind of armed conflict with the CPI-Maoist factions opposed to him and said he and his associates will continue with their work for the poor and oppressed people in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal districts where they have been serving the poor and oppressed people since 1995.

Panda has dismissed allegations that he had leaked the content of his long letter to the central committee members of the party and said the police had intercepted it while it was on its way from Kolkata to a jailed party leader.

In his message Panda has said the CPI-Maoist party is moving along a self-destructive path and that it would perish unless it reviews its anti-people policies, admits its mistakes and takes corrective action. "We would welcome it even if we are no longer a part of the party," he said.

Significantly, Sabyasachi Panda has not given any indication at all about the possibility of his surrender or return to mainstream politics, something that has been the subject of wide speculations ever since reports of his differences with top CPI-Maoists appeared in the media.

Source : http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/expelled-maoist-leader-sabyasachi-panda-warns-party-leadership-through-audio-message-254152

Press statement of CPI(Maoist) on Sabyasachi Panda is given below

Sabyasachi Panda, the secretary of our Odisha State Organizing Committee released a 16-page letter addressed to the General Secretary of our party, Comrade Ganapathy to the media on 14-07-2012. In cahoots with the ruling classes he spit venom on the CPI (Maoist) and the revolutionary movement led by it and hurled several baseless, sham allegations and fabricated lies. He released this letter with the evil intention of liquidating the party and the revolutionary movement, discarded the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and left the vanguard party of the proletariat. He openly declared that he is completely disassociating himself from the People’s War line and revolutionary practice and exposed his modern revisionist face. In the most abominable, crooked and conspiratorial manner he betrayed the party and revolution and the great cause of the toiling masses, particularly of the oppressed masses of Odisha and proved himself to be a renegade.

Sabyasachi Panda worked for some period in the CPI (M) and later in the CPI (ML)-Liberation. He was influenced by the revolutionary movement and joined the erstwhile CPI (ML) [PU] in 1998 leaving the right opportunist Liberation party. Due to the merger of parties he continued to work in the erstwhile CPI (ML) [PW] and latter in CPI (Maoist). He worked as a member of the AOBSZC between 2003 and 2005, as a member of Odisha State Organizing Committee from 2005 and as its secretary since 2008. In his 15 year long practice, though he worked in a revolutionary party he failed to transform himself into a genuine proletarian revolutionary and had been criticized several times by his colleagues, cadres and the CC comrades for his anti-revolutionary opportunist political views, stands and practice. Even in the state level Special Plenum held in December last year, when he was criticized he accepted only some of his mistakes that too for namesake and escaped answering some of them. This coward ran away leaving the revolutionary movement instead of sincerely realizing and rectifying his mistakes like a true proletarian revolutionary.

His 16-page letter is full of rotten lies, distortions and twisting of facts and there is not an iota of truth in them whatsoever. They were hurled with the most awful intention of liquidation and destruction of revolutionary movement in Odisha and damaging the image of our party that is serving as a ray of hope for the toiling masses and renowned for dedication to a great cause, the cause of liberation of our country and selfless unparalleled sacrifices. It is an open secret that he hurled them with the evil and appalling intention of fulfilling his selfish political motives that serve the ruling classes. Ruling classes bring to the fore people like Panda to gain legitimacy for the foul propaganda they carry on about the revolutionary movement and such phenomena occur frequently in history. The enemy has been hurling such fabricated lies on several of our leaders like comrades Charu Mazumdar and Kanhai Chatterji, on our party and the revolutionary movement ever since the launch of the revolutionary movement by keeping opportunists like Panda in the front.

Before going into the allegations made by Panda and the reasons behind them, we want to clearly state the fact that our party conducts meetings, plenums and conferences in order to correct and improve our practice and to advance with higher tasks. It realizes its mistakes and corrects them through criticism – self-criticism, reviews and rectification campaigns taken up specifically. This is a continuous process. Panda’s evil intentions can be gauged from the fact that in spite of knowing all these things he placed before the people his 16-pages of sham allegations. The actual fact is that he decided to leave the party as he was not ready to rectify himself in such a process.

The list of Mr. Panda’s filthy and foul-smelling allegations is long enough, some of the allegations he hurled prominently are as follows :

1. Violence for no reason and killings of innocent persons has become the norm for the Maoists; cadres are being ordered to kill innocent and unarmed policemen indiscriminately
2. There is domination of Telugu and Koya comrades in the Party.
3. Adivasis are exploited the most by the Maoists, they are made to cook and carry luggage; cadre are not allowed to meet their families even during festivals; Adivasi women are being exploited sexually by the Maoists
4. Ganapathy wants to establish a dictatorship based on terror and fear.

State suppresses people fighting for their rights with all kinds of weapons available with it. And if that fight is for the liberation of the people i.e., for the political power of the toiling masses, the state suppresses it most severely. Its police, paramilitary and military carry on this offensive from the front while all its other components participate most cruelly in the offensive in a planned, coordinated and conspiratorial manner. So it becomes absolutely necessary for people to resort to armed struggle.

Anybody who knows ABC of Marxism would know about this fundamental and primary principle about revolutionary violence. Nobody would think that Panda did not know about this party line when he left the right opportunist CPI (ML)-Liberation party, accepted the line of the revolutionary party and joined the party and when he accepted the line of the Unity Congress. However as Panda wanted to disassociate himself from the party, he is spitting venom that Maoists resort to violence for no reason and that they are killing innocent people. He is trying to show that he is opposing all this so that the Indian state takes a benevolent attitude towards him. Class enemies like Laxmananand and Jagbandhu, government armed forces and officers who carry on the state repression and participate in it, who severely torture the people, destroy their lives in all aspects and resort to killings, are suddenly being perceived as innocents by Panda. He is displaying more faith than the master to kowtow before the ruling classes and is surpassing the enemy foul propaganda in uttering lies.

Panda is resorting to the age-old cheap ‘divide and rule’ tactic of the British colonialists and the Indian ruling classes who are retracing their steps by making the allegation that Telugu and Koya comrades are dominating in Odisha. The revolutionary movement led by CPI (Maoist) follows the path of Protracted People’s War and builds the revolutionary movement to finally seize political power all over the country by spreading from smaller areas to vaster areas, isolated areas to all over the country, and by developing from a small force to a mighty force. From the beginning with a strategic outlook it deploys its forces in various areas accordingly and carries on the work. It develops local mass base, develops party and army and establishes area-wise political power. By following this line, it brings a change in the strength of forces, finally surrounds the cities and captures political power all over the country. Keeping this in view, every member of our party must be prepared to go to any part of the country to work. Moreover, as internationalists communists must be prepared to go any country or area and work shoulder to shoulder with the people there for their liberation.

The entire history of Indian revolution indicates that revolutionary movement spread to various parts of the country due to the determined and revolutionary efforts of comrades who left their areas and states and went to other areas and states to work. Such comrades learnt the languages, respected the cultures of the people there and integrated themselves with them. The movements built in new areas are proof of this collective effort of comrades. Due to his narrow-minded regionalism not just today, but Panda could never accept the fact that comrades from other states are coming and working in Odisha.

Instead of appreciating the selflessness of those comrades he continuously and conspiratorially tried to create a divide between them and the Odiya comrades by resorting to factionist methods. Panda displayed narrow-minded regional chauvinism towards comrades from other states who came to work in Odisha according to the needs of the movement and behaved in a domineering, undemocratic and sectarian manner with them. The fact is Odiya people and the Odiya comrades have happily welcomed and accepted the fact that comrades from Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are coming to work for them and with them. We hope that those handful of cadres who are with Panda would rethink about the People’s War path, see through the lie and expose him by realizing his conspiracies.

Nothing could be more deceiving than Panda shedding crocodile tears like the ruling class butchers and hurling accusations about the ‘exploitation of Adivasis’ by the Maoists even while discarding the aim of liberating the Adivasis as part of people’s revolutionary movement. For Panda who never participated in collective works while he was in the party, the striving of Adivasi comrades for revolution by bringing out their energy to the full voluntarily and with the highest level of revolutionary consciousness is looking like ‘exploitation by Maoists’ after he wore the glasses of the ruling classes. And, who are Maoists? Who are Adivasis? Are not all the Adivasi comrades inside the party Maoists?

We are not at all surprised that the individual labor necessary in the daily life of a revolutionary movement, the collective labor necessary in military, technical, production-development, welfare and other fields and the various kinds of labor that people do in the course of people’s movements looks like ‘exploitation by Maoists’ to this brand new opportunist who left the revolution and became an apologist for the ruling classes. In a proletarian party everybody does one’s own work as part of daily life. Everybody participates in collective works and carries luggage too. Patients, physically weak persons and those with special responsibilities are extended help by other comrades. A people’s army itself means that apart from participating in war it does its works like cooking and carrying luggage that are an integral part of it on its own.

Everybody must inevitably do all these works as part of People’s War with no discrimination based on nationality, gender, region etc. This has happened in all the guerilla zones in our country and is still continuing. In fact, the culture in a Maoist party is a democratic, socialist culture that does not discriminate between man and woman, literate and illiterate and cadres and leaders. This is one of the major factors in attracting a huge number of Adivasis towards our party. It is this kind of culture that our party strives to spread among millions of people.

The allegation that Maoists are raping and sexually harassing women in the party/Adivasi women has been hurled repeatedly by the state. In what other manner can we expect the newly turned renegade to attack the Maoists than in the heinous manner of the ruling classes? The answer given by our party several times in the past is the answer to this allegation now too. But the best answer to this allegation is being given by the hundreds of women comrades who are joining the party, the thousands-lakhs of members in revolutionary women’s organizations along with the women in our movement areas and the hundreds of women martyrs who had laid down their lives for the liberation of the toiling people in the past 45 years since Naxalbari.

Since communist party was formed in India in 1925 till now, in the more than 90 years of Indian communist movement’s history, it is not an exaggeration to say that never before had the communist party integrated itself with the people, their culture and all the aspects relating to people’s lives as in the past 25 years. Not only had our party integrated but it is also holding aloft all the progressive elements in the political and cultural lives of the people, imbibing them, developing them and revolutionizing them. The revolutionary masses would anyway not believe the allegation by Panda who worked as a state secretary that party is not allowing activists to go home even for festivals. This is just another instance of an opportunistic attack by him to make those who are not familiar with the realities of the revolutionary movement to believe that the revolutionary party is so horrible as to not send activists home even for festivals.

The allegation that Ganapathy wants to establish a dictatorship based on terror and fear is so ridiculous that it in fact does not even deserve an explanation. CPI (Maoist) is not at all any bourgeois party. Its immediate aim is to overthrow the present semi-colonial, semi-feudal system in our country and establish new democratic revolutionary rule, i.e., the democratic dictatorship of four classes – workers, peasants, petty-bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie under the leadership of the proletariat and based on worker-peasant unity. Its ultimate goal is the establishment of socialism and communism. Panda is fully aware of this. Panda is making false allegation on comrade Ganapathy and our party with the selfish motive of gaining a place through compromise in the dictatorship of the comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie and the land lords that are in collusion with the imperialists and carrying on an unprecedented despotic rule wearing the mask of parliamentary democracy.

In reality, it was Panda who was trying to establish his dictatorship inside Odisha. After seeing the reviews and decisions made in the Special Plenum he realized that the party cadres are no longer prepared to accept his domination. They criticized his bureaucratic behavior and his undemocratic and sectarian attitude towards comrades from other states. Realizing that he can no longer carry on his bureaucratic methods, this opportunist decided to quit the party and doubled his preparations for the same since then.

In fact, Panda stopped contacting the Odisha state in-charge CC comrade since the completion of the state level Special Plenum. Since then, for nearly half a year he went on spitting venom on the party in interviews and statements. This created political and organizational problems in the party and caused severe damage to the Odisha movement as he was taking stands that were against the decisions of the Special Plenum, party’s political line and policies. He resorted to downright opportunistic methods during the arrest of Italian tourists under his leadership. He declared a one-sided seize-fire for the entire state of Odisha. But in fact, it was not correct on his part to declare so when two different state border party committees are working in considerable parts of Odisha and its borders and he had no right to dictate terms to the other two party committees. He not only openly criticized AOB comrades for arresting a MLA and killing a SI after he had declared his one-sided seize fire but even went to the extent of saying that it had become a fashion for AOB comrades to kill.

Keeping aside the reviews made by the entire party under Odisha SOC, he declared that the annihilations of class enemies Laxmananda and Jagbandhu were not correct. He began a malicious campaign by giving statements in the name of comrade Nikhil, trying to create divide between comrades hailing from various communities and states. It is not a coincidence that when stories were being published continuously in the media about Panda leaving the party and forming a new group, Panda who always stays in touch with the media did not release any explanation. It is clear as the day that since the completion of the Special Plenum, Panda had been planning to desert the party and resorted to all these opportunistic methods and liquidationist activities. Finally he quit the party as a culmination of his degeneration.

Panda took a right opportunist stand regarding some political issues that came to the fore in the course of the Odisha movement and finally degraded into a revisionist who rejects the line of Protracted People’s War. His sectarian, bureaucratic, ultra-democratic, factionist attitudes, careerism, craving for name and fame and organizational indiscipline caused severe damage to the Odisha party and the movement. He sought an easy life and was not hard-working. This opportunist utilized the situation where Odisha party and the State Organizing Committee that were in the course of consolidating faced severe losses and the enemy offensive was seriously concentrated on the CC, to carry on his disruptionist activities.

The root for all this lies in his spilling over individualism which keeps the individual at the centre. Apart from this, there has been a considerable change in the counter-revolutionary war carried on by the Indian ruling classes with the full support of the imperialists, particularly US imperialists since mid-2009 in the name of Operation Green Hunt. Panda’s degeneration and betrayal must be seen in the context of the country-wide, multi-pronged massive military offensive that is being carried out on our movement since then. Party suffered serious losses all over the country in this offensive. Even Odisha state where class struggle is still weak had to bear the brunt and it suffered serious losses from end-2010.

The offensive is bound to intensify in this state too. The reason for the intensification of this massive offensive is the MNC and our country’s comprador corporate interests that want to crush every organization and the people that prove a hurdle to their plunder of natural resources and raw materials in backward countries like India. As the financial crisis that is engulfing the world economy intensifies, the offensive on the revolutionary party, its leadership, movement and the oppressed and toiling masses would also be intensified in proportion by them in order to come out of it. In such a backdrop, to lead the revolutionary movement is like walking a sword’s edge for any leader of the revolutionary party.

Any true party leader would strive to utilize the excellent revolutionary material conditions in the country and the world to politically prepare the people, to develop the People’s War and turn the tide in favor of the revolution. It requires commitment towards revolutionary ideology, tremendous grit, courageous decision-making, mobilizing the party, people’s army and the people in a unified way, and sacrificing nature to fulfill this task. It requires a steely will to transform oneself and the party according to the needs and tasks of the revolution. Those who do not display these qualities either fail to give leadership to the revolution or lose their capacity to lead. Some among them run away like cowards from the battlefield or join the enemy ranks.

These opportunists and renegades take the side of the ruling classes and resort to all kinds of allegations to cover up the fact. There have been such renegades not only in our party history but also in the revolutions of various countries in the past and Panda would not be the last one.

Keeping all these things in view, our Central Committee began putting special efforts to rectify him by placing all allegations on Panda in front of him in a political manner and giving him a chance to rectify. But since the completion of the state level Special Plenum, he cut his contacts with the CC in-charge comrade and went on attacking our party, movement and the leadership openly and in a series. As a culmination of all this, he released this letter to the media and proved himself to be a renegade. So our CC is expelling Sabyasachi Panda from the party and declaring the fact to our party comrades in Odisha, the entire revolutionary masses and the revolutionary camp in our country.

We are appealing to the Odisha comrades, mass organizations of Odisha and the revolutionary- democratic masses to condemn Panda’s enemy-like opportunistic stand towards our party, movement and leadership and the pro-ruling class, anti-people stands taken by him and to completely reject him and his rotten modern revisionist politics and his allegations.

History has proven several times that renegades such as Panda who boast about themselves as the heroes of revolution and who are focused as such by the ruling classes would be relegated to the dustbin and that the true revolutionary party, its leaders and the revolutionary masses led by it would advance en-route for victory in the midst of great storms and whirlwinds with undaunted courage and bravery. It is people who are makers of history and not sham revolutionaries like Panda. Our party is fully confident that the revolutionary masses of Odisha would certainly reject traitors like Panda who try to be in the limelight in the name of Odisha and immerse themselves in the service of the ruling classes to their heart’s content and that the Odisha comrades and the vast toiling masses would follow the revolutionary path under the leadership of the CPI (Maoist).

Anand

PBM, Central Regional Bureau Secretary
For Central Committee, CPI (Maoist)

Source : http://www.bannedthought.net/