Naxalite Maoist India

Mahendra Karma's Annihilation - CPI Maoist statement

2013-05-29T12:05:00.003+05:30

Elimination of fascist Salwa Judum leader Mahendra Karma: Legitimate response to the inhuman atrocities, brutal murders and endless terror perpetrated on the Adivasis of Bastar!

Attack on top Congress leaders: Inevitable reprisal to the fascist Operation Green Hunt being carried on by the UPA government hand in glove with various state governments!

On May 25, 2013, a detachment of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army conducted a massive attack on the 20 plus vehicles convoy of Congress party which resulted in wiping out of at least 27 Congress leaders, activists and policemen including Mahendra Karma, the bitter enemy of the oppressed people of Bastar and Nand Kumar Patel, president of the Congress’ state unit. It took place when the Congress party leaders were touring in Bastar region as part of their ‘Parivartan Yatra’ program (i.e. March of Change) keeping their eye on forthcoming assembly elections. At least 30 others also were injured in this attack including ex-central minister and veteran Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla. The dog’s death of Mahendra Karma, notorious tyrant, murderer, rapist, robber and maligned as corrupt, in this historic attack has created a festive atmosphere in entire Bastar region. Former state home minister Nand Kumar Patel was also had the history of suppressing the people. It was in his tenure, paramilitary force (CRPF) was deployed in Bastar region for the first time. It was also not hidden from anyone that the former central minister VC Shukla who had been in various portfolios including Home ministry, was also a people’s enemy who had acted as a loyal servant of imperialists, comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie and landlords and had played a key role in formulating and implementing exploitative government policies.

The goal of this attack was mainly to eliminate Mahendra Karma and some other reactionary Congress top leaders as well. However, during this massive attack some innocent people and some lower level Congress party activists who were in fact not our enemies, were also killed and injured caught in the two-hour long gun battle that ensued between our guerrilla forces and the armed police forces. Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of Communist Party of India (Maoist) regrets for this and expresses condolence and sympathy to the families of the bereaved.

Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of Communist Party of India (Maoist) takes absolute responsibility for this attack. We send our revolutionary greetings to the PLGA commanders who led this daring ambush, to the red fighters who contributed in this success, to the people who took part in it by lending active support and to the entire revolutionary masses of Bastar region. This attack has once again proved the historic fact that those fascists who perpetrate violence, atrocities and massacres on the people, will never be forgiven and they would inevitably be punished by the people.

The so-called tribal leader Mahendra Karma was born into a feudal manjhi family. Both his grandfather Masa Karma and father Bodda Manjhi were notorious harassers of the people in their times and were acted as trusted agents of colonial rulers. His family’s entire history is known of inhuman exploitation and oppression of Adivasis. Mahendra Karma’s political life was started in 1975 as a member of AISF while he was studying the law. He was elected as MLA from CPI first in 1978. Later in 1981, when he was denied ticket by CPI, he joined Congress. In 1996, he had gone with a breakaway faction of Madhavrao Scindhia and became member of Indian Parliament as an independent candidate. Later he rejoined the Congress party.

In 1996, a massive movement took place in Bastar demanding the implementation of Sixth Schedule. Though mainly CPI had led that movement, our party – it was CPI (ML) [People’s War] then – also took active part in that movement mobilizing the masses on a large scale. But Mahendra Karma took bitter stand against that movement proving himself as representative of the selfish urban business people, who had come to Bastar as settlers and had accumulated massive wealth. Then only his anti-adivasi and pro-comprador nature was clearly exposed before the people. Since the 1980s, he had strengthened the bonds with big business and capitalist classes in Bastar.

Then in 1999, Karma’s name was exposed in a big scam called ‘Malik Makbuja’. A Lokayukta report revealed that in the period of 1992-96, Mahendra Karma hand in glove with timber black-marketers had made millions of rupees by cheating adivasi people and colluding with revenue and forest officials and the district collector. Though a CBI probe was ordered into this scam, nothing harm was done to the culprits as always happen.

Mahendra Karma was minister of jails in undivided Madhya Pradesh. Later became industries and commerce minister in Ajit Jogi’s government when Chhattisgarh state was carved out of it. At that time a forceful land acquisition took place in Nagarnar for the proposed steel plant by Romelt/NMDC. While the local people refused to give up their lands, Mahendra Karma took stand against the people and in favor of the capitalists. He played a key role in forcibly taking away the lands by suppressing the people with support of brutal police force. The people who lost their lands in Nagarnar received neither compensation nor the employment as government had promised till now. They were forced to disperse.

From the very beginning, Mahendra Karma stood as an arch enemy of the revolutionary movement. The reason is clear – hailed from a typical feudal family and ‘grown up’ as an agent of big business and bourgeois classes. The first Jan Jagaran (‘awareness’) campaign was launched in 1990-91 against the revolutionary movement. The revisionist CPI had participated in that counter-revolutionary campaign. Karma and many of his relatives belonged to the landlord classes had actively participated in it. The second Jan Jagaran campaign was launched in 1997-98 led by Mahendra Karma himself. This was started in Mahendra Karma’s own village Faraspal and its surrounding villages and spread up to Bhairamgarh and Kutru areas. Hundreds of people were tortured and arrested and sent to jails. Many an incidents of looting and setting fire to houses took place. Womenfolk were raped. However, under the leadership of our party and mass organizations people came together and strongly countered this counter-revolutionary onslaught. Within a short time, this campaign was defeated.

Later the revolutionary movement became more consolidated. Anti-feudal struggles were intensified in many areas. Landlords like Podia Patel, the brother of Mahendra Karma, and some close relatives of him were killed as part of mass resistance actions. In many villages the power of feudal forces and bad gentry was thrown out and the process of establishment of People’s Revolutionary Power organs began. The feudal forces including Mahendra Karma were very furious as their lands were redistributed among the poor and landless peasants and the customs like unjustly forcing the people to pay penalties to the landlords were stopped. They opposed the progressive changes like stopping of forced marriages of women, discouraging polygamy etc. also. And at the same time, the revolutionary movement was seemed as a hurdle by the corporate houses like Tatas and Essars who started their attempts to plunder away the natural resources of Bastar region. So, they naturally colluded with the counter-revolutionary elements like Mahendra Karma. They fed him with millions of coffers in order to create conducive atmosphere for their arbitrary depredations. On the other hand, after the emergence of CPI (Maoist) as a country-wide consolidated party as an outcome of the merger between the genuine revolutionary organizations, exploitative ruling classes intensified their counter-revolutionary onslaught in the guidance of the imperialists so as to crush the revolutionary movement. Thus, a brutal attack in connivance with the Congress and the BJP has started in Bastar region namely ‘Salwa Judum’. So many followers and relatives of Mahendra Karma like Soyam Muka, Rambhuvan Kushwaha, Ajay Singh, Vikram Mandavi, Gannu Patel, Madhukarrao, and Gota Chinna etc. emerged as key leaders of Salwa Judum.

One can hardly find any examples in the history to compare the severity of the devastation and barbarity caused by Salwa Judum to the lives of the Bastar people. It killed more than one thousand people in cold blood; torched 640 villages into ashes, robbed thousands of houses; ate or took away chickens, goats, pigs, etc.; forced more than two million people to be displaced; dragged more than 50 thousand people into state-run ‘relief’ camps. Thus the Salwa Judum became anathema to the people. Hundreds of women were gang raped. Many women were murdered after rape. Massacres took place in many places. The atrocities perpetrated on the people and havoc created by the hooligans of Salwa Judum, the police and paramilitary forces, especially the Naga and Mizo battalions crossed all limits. There were several incidents in which people were brutally cut into pieces before being dumped in rivers. Cherli, Kotrapal, Mankeli, Karremarka, Mosla, Munder, Padeda, Paralnar, Pumbad, Gaganpalli... in many villages people were killed en masse. Hundreds of tribal youth were recruited as SPOs and were turned into hardened criminals. Mahendra Karma himself led the attacks on several villages in the name of conducting meetings and marches. Many women were raped by the goons with the direct instigation of Mahendra Karma. He was directly involved in many incidents of burning the villages, torturing and murdering the people. Thus, in the minds of the people of Bastar, Mahendra Karma remained as an inhuman killer, rapist, dacoit and a loyal broker of the big capitalists. In entire Bastar people have been demanding our party and the PLGA for many years that he must be punished. Many of them came forward voluntarily to give active support in this task. There were also a few attempts, but due to petty mistakes and other reasons he was able to escape.

With this action we have taken revenge of over a thousand adivasis who were brutally murdered in the hands of Salwa Judum goons and government armed forces. We also have taken revenge on behalf of those hundreds of mothers and sisters who were subjected to cruelest forms of violence, humiliation and sexual assault. We have taken revenge on behalf of the thousands of Bastarites who lost their homes, cattle, chickens, goats, bald, pottery, clothing, grain, crops ... everything and were forced to live a miserable life in subhuman conditions.

Immediately after this attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh etc. dubbed this as an attack on democracy and democratic values. One wonders whether these pet dogs of exploiter classes have any moral qualification even to take the name of democracy! Of late, on May 17, when eight people including three innocent children were killed by police and paramilitary forces in Edsametta village of Bijapur district, then why did none of these leaders bother to think about ‘democracy’? Between January 20 to 23, when villages named Doddi Tumnar and Pidiya of Bijapur district were attacked by your forces who torched 20 houses and a school house run by the people, did your ‘democracy’ flourish there? Exactly 11 months ago, on the night of June 28, 2012 in Sarkinguda village, 17 adivasis were slaughtered and 13 women were gang raped. Were those incidents a part of your ‘democratic values’? Does your ‘democracy’ only applicable to the mass murderers like Mahendra Karma and ruling class agents like Nand Kumar Patel? Whether the poor adivasis of Bastar, the elderly, children and the women come under the umbrella of your ‘democracy’ or not? Are the massacres of adivasis a part of your ‘democracy’? Do any of those who are shouting loudly against this attack have any answer for these questions?

By the end of 2007, Salwa Judum was defeated by the resistance of the masses. Then in 2009, Congress-led UPA-2 has unleashed a countrywide offensive by name Operation Green Hunt (OGH). The US imperialists are not only giving guidance and help and support, but by deploying their special forces in India they also are actively participating in counter-insurgency operations. They are giving emphasis on killing the Maoist leadership. The Union government has so far sent more than 50 thousand paramilitary forces to Chhattisgarh as part of ongoing OGH, i.e. ‘War on People’. As a result, there has been manifold increase in massacres and destruction. 400 adivasis were killed by central and state armed forces here in Bastar so far since 2009. From mid-2011, Army troops have been creating bases in Bastar region in the name of setting up ‘training schools’. Both Chidambaram and Shinde, the former and present home ministers, including PM Manmohan Singh have been eagerly rendering all support to the Chhattisgarh government and expressing full satisfaction over Raman Singh government’s performance in crushing revolutionary movement. Raman Singh too has been expressing his gratitude on every occasion for Centre’s help. Therefore, in Chhattisgarh, there are no differences between ruling BJP and opposition Congress in terms of policies of suppressing the revolutionary movement. Only due to public pressure, as well as to gain electoral benefits, some of the local leaders of the Congress at times came in condemnation of incidents like Sarkinguda and Edsametta massacres. Their opposition is sham which is nothing more than opportunism. Both Congress and BJP are same in implementing corporate friendly and oppressive policies. The frequent penetration of Greyhounds forces across the Chhattisgarh borders from Andhra Pradesh, and the mass murders it committed first in Kanchal (2008) and recently in Puwwarti (May 16, 2013) are part and parcel of the oppressive policies adopted and implemented by Congress party. That's why we have targeted top leaders of Congress.

Today, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar, Ministers Ramvichar Netam, Kedar Kashyap, Vikram Usendi, Governor Shekhar Dutt, Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil etc.; DGP Ram Niwas, ADG Mukesh Gupta and other senior officials of the police, who are hell-bent on crushing the revolutionary movement of Dandakaranya, are in the big illusion that they are unbeatable. Mahendra Karma also has kept the illusion that Z plus Security and bullet-proof vehicles would save him forever. In the history of the world, Hitler and Mussolini were in the same pride that no one could beat them. In the contemporary history of our country, the fascists like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi also were victims of similar misgivings. But the People are invincible. People only are the makers of the history. Ultimately, a handful of exploiters and a few of their pet dogs will only be thrown in the dustbin of the history.

Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of Communist Party of India (Maoist) calls upon the workers, peasants, students, intellectuals, writers, artists, media persons and all other democrats to demand the governments to stop the OGH immediately; to withdraw all kinds of paramilitary forces from Dandakaranya; to give up the conspiracy of deploying the Army in the name of ‘training’; to put an end to the interference of Air Force; to release all the revolutionary activists and ordinary adivasis languishing in various jails immediately; to scrap the cruel laws like UAPA, CSPSA, MACOCA, AFSPA, etc.; to cancel the all those MoUs signed with the corporate houses with the aim of plundering the natural wealth of the country.

(Gudsa Usendi)

Spokesperson Dandakaranya

Special Zonal Committee CPI (Maoist)

(This is translated and slightly abridged version of Hindi original)

Source : Banned Thought

Anti-Tribal politician Mahendra Karma Dead - Citizens congratulate Maoists

2013-05-25T23:12:00.004+05:30

The assassination of Mahendra Karma , an anti-tribal politician and the face of Salwa Judum has sparked wide spread jubilation and celebration among netizens.

Netizens celebrate assassination of the Monster of Bastar.

Given below is a small sample of comments that have appeared online from ordinary citizens celebrating the death of Mahendra Karma.

Keep Fighting Keep Fighting About time the Exploited and Abused peoples of India wake up and do Justice because the Corrupt Upper class will Never ever allow any.. I Salute these people

ss (india) At least now the naxals are on the right track.

Prince (Patna)This is something which I found better done at part of Naxal, as instead of killing the innocent common men, they have rightfully started attacking the corrupt politicians....the real meance and reason behid our sorrow. Anyone who today attacks the politicians of this naiton is unofficially declared real national hero.

manoj jha (nowhere) Good, Naxalite instead of targeting CRPF perosnnel settle there score with political class and let political class get the message what you reap is what you sow.

zen world (Delhi) I wonder how Maoists have eventually recognized the right people!

Vettrivel Tamil (Tamilnadu) First time i am noticing one thing 99 percent of the people feel happy one corrupted politician has been killed.. I feel sad how much these congressmen have tortured the tribals. so that they were forced to attack the corrupted politicians. My heart goes to all the Tribal people Brutalised and oppressed by congress politicians.

Raj (Bangalore) Good news. Well done Maoists. Eliminate all these corrupt politicians. Death to the landlords and capitalists! Long live communism! Long live the working class!

Prince (Patna) Well Done! Some burdens over this country is reduced.

john.s (kolkata) politicians getting killed is a happy news . whichever way it comes

Deepak (Bangalore) Even though anyone's killing should be condemned in the strongest of words but this is a good lesson to the political class who dont care for the common peoples suffering!. They will understand only when the problem comes to their doorsteps!. In that sense I welcome this move of naxalites to target the political class!

Vineet (Trichy)The Maoists seem to be on the right track! For a change they're choosing their targets carefully and being effective at it! This should soften the hatred of the common people; as long as they don't harbour dreams of coming to power.

Amit (Ranchi) Some one is saying very sad news!! How?? First time they recognized whom to attack and kill and they successfully did it. Hope they will continue with this tactics and stop killing common people and CRPF guys!!

sourav0612 Roy (Dubai) At last God gave them the proper targets, only 2 is not enough there are thousands of such goons..nyway very good job done.. Perhaps this is the only way left to wipe out those b@$t@rd$.... They will never bring Jan lok pal.. neither they will do any good for 125Cr.. I salute those brave men

K.parameshwar (Mysore) For once the maoists have done a good job. It is in national interest. Hats off to them..

Hushar_manus (Mumbai) Dear Naxalites - ' Why don't you target bigger white collar day light robbers like Kalmadi, A Raja, Bansal and others..." I am sure people of this country will appreciate your actions what they could not do the same in last 50 years to this bl00dy Congress...

Notes Of A Madman (HINDU Republic Of INDIA) For the first time in these 50 Years, Maoist did something GOOD in their life. Hail it.

deva (pune) naxlaite please go to delhi, lot many congressi will be there..they are looting motherland left right and center.not supporting of killing but dont mind if these congressi will be cleaned

das (bangalore) Its not an attack on democracy but attack on corrupt criminal politicians. Maoists should get rid of all corrupt politicians. They are on the right track.

Rakesh Goel (Lucknow) I think that the people in general would not care much if netas are killed. The naxalites should not target the policemen but the real culprits who are destroying the country.

Santa Singh (Patiala) Forget Kejriwal, we all should join the Maoist. Great service to the nation. Moji aap aage badho, hum kapde samhalte hai.

Prathiba the (New Delhi) Indian People. You have the right to live in India. India is your country. Eliminate the corrupted terrorists from the earth.

Prathiba the (New Delhi) People woke up. Good. Let the people take action against the terrorist group like Salwa Judum!! Notorious Congress Killer gang should be eliminated.

Deba (Bangalore) well.. i would say good riddence. I read some of the comments posted here and most of the people are happy that these congress guys got killed, i am sure most of the nation will be happy today. But some are blaming the Maoists. Let me tell you about my experience that i had. I am sure most of the people who are commenting over here do not even know who the maoists are. Do you think that they are the mafia, goondas?? You are wrong. I have visited maoists stronghold in Odisha, Andhra. I have actually spoken to them, i have seen their way of life. The maoists are actually tribals, they are the poorest of the poor people of india. These tribals have lived a simple life based on forests for time immemorial. But suddenly, after independence when the govt, the politicians were supposed to work towards the betterment of these people, they were forgotten. Before independence the naxals, maoists were a part of the freedom struggle, They were a part of the govt till about the 70s when they decided to part ways, they were just not able to take the dirty politics and the corruption that had crept into the govt. even today, if you visit the villages of these tribals you will be amazed to see the conditions in which they live. Electricity is not there, their houses are made of sticks and mud, one kick and the entire house falls apart. and they live in those houses amongst tigers, elephants, bears. when they go to sleep in the night, they do not know if they will be alive the next morning or will they see their loved ones the next morning. That is the reality. the govt. employees, the police and now the soldiers are all bent on exploiting them to the fullest. A juniro engineer comes to the village to give approval for a tube well and sanction funds, to do that he will demand Rs.30000 as bribe and also will demand sex with the women folks of the villages. Tell me in all probability if you are a self respecting man in such a situation what will you do? What is wrong in picking up an axe, knife and killing that junior engineer? What is the harm in killing a police officer who exploits you and your family? The truth is far removed from what the corrupt congress govt. is trying to potray. Chidambaram is the biggest terrorist of this country, he alone is responsible for killing many tribals, infact so many that you can term it as genocide, and it is happening right infront of our eyes. Do not blame the maoists, naxals without knowing as to what is their motivation. One man can be wrong, even two, three can be wrong, but not lakhs and lakhs. There has to be fire for smoke to come out.

vivek (bbsr) Blow up all those greedy politician. Only then they will fear to enter into ruling. Hats off naxalist. I think this is what all the public really wished in their mind to these politician.

nicks (india) Dear maoists, please put one more name in your diary to eliminate... Its Mr. Sharad Pawar... Kindly do d needful as soon as possible... Thanking you, True Indian

shailendra (delhi) Kill the corrupt congresis intea of innocent ccrpf jawans

Dhirendra Singh (mumbai)After a long time such a good news is coming out..well done naxalites, Please do not target innocent peoples instead continue to do such kind of great job by eliminating greedy and corrupt looters (so called leaders).

Dhirendra Singh (mumbai)A good job indeed by naxalites..wash out them...'A BIG CHANGE IN CHHATTISGARH'. Jogi must also have been killed....

Anjaan (USA) replies to jyotirmoyYou mo**er fu**er, have you ever asked yourself why these poor aboriginal people have taken up arms .....?? ....... these are brave people that do not accept the current corrupt system of looting the nation in the name of democracy ...... they can not wait another 100 years for social justice ...... the Indian army need to learn from these brave people ...... stop taking instructions from political leadership .........

All the above comments are taken from the below article published on the TOI.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Congress-leader-VC-Shukla-critically-injured-in-Maoist-ambush-one-killed/articleshow/20263979.cms

Update : 29/05/2013

There has been a flood of positive responses from the general public to the assassination of political leaders in Chhattisgarh. Government controlled media outlets have now embarked on a campaign to stifle public opinion. The comments section in newly published articles are no longer open ,as a reader has pointed out...

Anand : I find it most amazing that the comments section is closed on almost all articles dealing with this naxal act barely withen an our of the posting. There is a definitely a tilt towards the ruling elite in the First post policy.

Let me first mention that I am absolutely aganist any such acts of murder no matter what the reason may be. They should be condemned with the strongest words possible.
But still the fact remains that all govts irrespective of their political affliations are to be blamed for this.

They have to realise that the Indian public has for too long tolerated their corrupt ways. One the day a backlash is going to happen.

Today it is in the form of naxal actions, but if the politicians do not change their ways it will definitely spread to the rest of the country. Police or military action aganist naxals is not going to be the solution but will soon become a part of the problem.

The only solution is that govt. policy must change. Corruption must stop. Economic benefits must be made available to the poorer section of the society.

This is a country which has a amazingly vast chasm between the rich and poor - between the all powerful political elite and the common man.

The politicians are completely out of touch with reality at the grass roots levels. They are living in a dream world of their own making. And until they accept the reality of the Indian masses such incidents will continue.

Let's pray they come to their senses soon and avoid plunging this great country into the destructive cauldron of a revolution.

Source : http://www.firstpost.com/india/chhattisgarh-attack-live-post-mortem-report-shows-multiple-bullet-wounds-on-karmas-body-815801.html

The Viet Cong - Declassified - Documentary

2013-05-25T22:56:00.000+05:30

Jungle warfare was perfected by the North Vietnamese. From their hidden tunnel cities, the Viet Cong launched operations that were terrifying in their ingenuity, savagery, and persistence. The 10-day battle for the place that came to be known as Hamburger Hill was perhaps the classic conflict of the Vietnam War.

Piecing together newly disclosed stories from both sides, we learn how American commanders made the mistake of fighting this battle as they had fought WWII. The North Vietnamese, employing a very different set of strategies, built a massive warren of tunnels and then faded into Laos when the battle turned against them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78ZULKffdP4

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.