NAXAL/ MAOISTS- 2009 - Indian Social Institute

decades-long exploitation meted out by landlords and moneylenders. Left wing extremists were no wayinvolved in the movement, they said. “When exploitation reached its highest form, administration becameindifferent to plight of tribal and police became party to the crime, tribals of Narayanpatna, whoselivelihood options got squeezed over the years, asserted their rights over their own land,” said PrafullaSamantra, an activist who led the group. It was not only a struggle for occupying lost lands by nativetribals from privileged and manipulative settlers from outside, but also a struggle against all kinds ofinjustice done to tribals in the region after Independence, he said. The committee said alienation of triballand by non-tribals started in 1960s during which government launched several mega developmentalprojects such as Dandakarayan, Indravati Hydroelectric, Hindustan Aeronautic Limited and NationalAluminum Company Limited that deprived the tribals of massive territory. At the same time non-tribalsmoneylenders came to the scene grabbing lands whatever amount left with tribals, it said. Tribals startedgetting organised while challenging liquor vendors and slowly that movement turned into struggle forrestoring lands from moneylenders, said Lingaraj, a member of the committee. Tribals have seized controlover 2000 acres of land in Naryanpatna block and started distributing among landless families, thecommittee said. Mr. Samantra said the State government should be blamed for the present explosivesituation. In 2002 the State government came out with a notification for restoration of lands with tribalpopulation, seven years elapsed but no progress was made on this front, he said. It demandedconstitution of a land commission for facilitating land restoration process faster not only in Narayanpatnabut also in the undivided Koraput district as a whole in a time-bound manner. Other members of thecommittee included Mahendra Parida of Lok Adhikar Manch, Vivekananda Dash, a senior journalist andSatish, a human rights activist. (The Hindu 24/7/09)Man killed in Chhattisgarh for not attending Maoist meet (14)Maoist militants have killed a tribal man for not attending a public meeting organised by them inChhattisgarh's Surguja district, police said on Saturday. The rebels gunned down a Pahari Korva tribemember and assaulted his family members late Friday in Bhutha village in Surguja district, about 500 kmfrom in Raipur. "There is a report that Maoists forced a tribal family to attend their meeting. When they didnot do so, the rebels shot dead the head of the family and beat up others," Director General of PoliceVishwaranjan told reporters Raipur. He added that five-six members of the tribal family were reportedlymissing and a police team led by Surguja Inspector General of Police R.C. Patel had rushed to the spoton Saturday morning to gather exact information. Members of the Pahari Korba tribe live in caves and onhilltops far from other human settlements. The tribe is on the verge of extinction with an estimatedpopulation of just 30,000 left in state. (Hindustan Times 1/8/09)CPM leader among 2 killed by Maoists in Lalgarh (12)LALGARH (West Bengal): A Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader was among two peoplekilled by suspected Maoists in and around this trouble-torn belt of West Midnapore district early onSunday. Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Kuldip Singh said that 15-20 left wing extremistsraided the house of CPM leader Nepal Mahato in Amdanga village of the Lalgarh-headquartered Binpur-IIcommunity block and slit his throat after dragging him out on the road. A large posse of security forcescomprising central paramilitary troopers and West Bengal state police personnel, deployed for the last sixweeks to flush out the rebels from the area, combed Amdanga and adjoining villages and detained AnilMahato - brother of the agitating tribal body People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) leaderChhatradhar Mahato as also five school students. Singh said the rebels killed another person in theBelpahari area under Binpur-I block. Despite the state government launching the massive securityoperation June 18 to free the area from Maoist guerrillas, killings of CPM leaders have been going onunabated. The rebels have also abducted four policemen in the past one week, two of whom still remainuntraced. Lalgarh, about 200 kms west of Kolkata, has been on the boil since November last year when alandmine exploded on the route of the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and two thencentral ministers -- Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada. Alleging police atrocities after the blast, theMaoists, alongside the PCAPA, launched an agitation and made the area a virtual "free zone" by torchingpolice camps and offices of the ruling communists and driving out the civil administration. Maoists areactive in areas under 21 police stations in the state's three western districts - West Midnapore, Bankuraand Purulia. (Times of India 2/8/09)