NAXAL/ MAOISTS- 2009 - Indian Social Institute

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Maoist upsurge due to poverty: PM (12)SRINAGAR: Describing Maoist violence as an outcome of poverty in certain tribal regions of the country,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a press conference here on Thursday that the problem needs tobe dealt with by concentrating on economic development of the backward regions besides maintaininglaw and order. The Prime Minister said that development activities are still not reaching the tribals whoremain the poorest of the poor. ‘‘Their poverty has alienated the population from the mainstream,’’ headded. ‘‘Maoist violence, therefore, needs to be tackled holistically. The focus ought to be to end thealienation of the tribal people. But observance of the law of the land would be a pre-condition to anysocial and economic development. The Maoists can’t be taking the law into their hands,’’ the PrimeMinister said at the end of his two-day tour of the Kashmir valley. Singh refused to comment on WestBengal government’s decision to release detained Maoists and their sympathisers from prison to securethe release of a police officer abducted by Maoists last week. ‘‘This is an internal matter of the stategovernment and the Centre can’t comment on it,’’ he said. In reply to a question about railway ministerand Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s reported statement that there were ‘‘no Maoists’’ —she had said there were no Maoists among her supporters who stood in protest during the agitation inSingur and Nandigram — the prime minister Manmohan Singh said: ‘‘The Maoist threat is a reality. Thecentre is duty-bound to deal with it in an effective manner.’’ The Maoists have escalated their attacks instates where they control large swathes of territory in recent months. Scores of security personnel havebeen killed in encounters in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and WestBengal.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Naxal menace as the single biggest hurdlebefore the nation’s progress.(Times of India 30/10/09)Maoists step up violence in West Midnapore and Orissa (12)Midnapor (WB): Suspected Maoist rebels on Sunday killed a former village head in Bhutashole village ofWest Midnapore district. Anil Mahato, who was a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist,became the latest victim in the district hit by Maoist violence. Asoke Mahato, a kin of Anil Mahato, foundhim injured at a nearby school and called police. "We called up the local Salbani police station...theyasked us to bring him to the hospital...He had not been in his house for many days...When he came to hishouse and was taking rest then the attack took place," said Asoke Mahato. Meanwhile, in Orissa, Maoistrebels killed a tribal, suspecting him to be a police informer. About 40 Maoists attacked the Rebanavillage in Keonjhar district on Sunday and killed Sunaram Tudu. The rebels also beat up two others,threatening them not to cooperate with the police. "We received the message about the killing in Rebanavillage. The Special Operation Group and police force in four groups are heading for the spot. We will becarrying out combing operations and investigations in the area too," said Prashant Mohapatra, subdivisionalpolice officer of Ghatgaon area. Last month, suspected Maoists held the Rajdhani express train,which was freed by security forces after a five-hour hostage drama. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hasdescribed Maoists as the biggest internal security challenge since independence, which began fourdecades ago championing the cause of poor peasants in the east, but has now spread to about 20 of 29states. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the government was willing to talk to the Maoistsabout issues such as poverty and corruption that are often blamed for stoking the insurgency, but insistedthe rebels must first stop violence. (Zee News 2/11/09)Maoists killed Saraswati to get support from Christians (12)Bhubaneswar: Maoists might have killed VHP leader Laxamananda Saraswati for securing support of theminority Christians and expand their network in Orissa's Kandhamal district, the Commission probing themurder was informed here on Thursday. "Maoists might have killed Saraswati to get the support ofChristians," former Inspector in-Charge of Kotgarh police station HK Pradhan told Justice SC Mohapatra,probing the killing of Saraswati and the violence thereafter. Noting that the minority community inKandhamal was not accepting Saraswati's campaign against cow slaughter and religious conversion, thefield level officer said many houses were set ablaze and some churches attacked in Kotgarh area a dayafter the killing of Saraswati on August 23, 2008. Though no case relating to conversion was registered atthe police station, Pradhan said seven people were arrested for rioting and arson. "Land dispute betweentribal Kandhas and Pana Dalits added fuel to the riot." he said. He claimed though a riot broke out inKotgarh area, the police were not armed as all weapons were withdrawn from the police station. (Pioneer5/11/09)
Villagers flee war zone as govt battles Maoists (12)Lalgarh: Babulal Mahato hides in paddy fields each night in an eastern <strong>Indian</strong> village as security forcescarry out search operations for Maoist supporters. Along with dozens of villagers in West Bengal, 85-yearoldMahato does the same when the Maoists come to the village. "I am too old, so I hide," said Mahato,his eyes weary after spending many sleepless nights outside. "Many villagers have already left theirhomes and fled, fearing getting caught between the Maoists and police." In Lalgarh, a cluster of 150villages, daily rebel ambushes, police raids and civilians caught in the middle may be a sign of things tocome as the government prepares an offensive against Maoist insurgents. Central and state police inarmoured vehicles scour nearby jungles, a signal of the start of government's bid to stem a growingdecades-long insurgency. After a resounding general election win in May, the Congress party-ledgovernment, no longer dependent on communist parties in its coalition, has decided to take on anestimated 22,000 Maoist rebels who hold sway over swathes of countryside. Operation Green Huntreflects growing concerns that Maoists were becoming too strong after a decades-long insurgency. India'sstrong economic growth of the last few years did little to bring millions of poor villagers and tribals out ofpoverty that helps act as the backbone of Maoist support. In recent months, brazen attacks on passengertrains, attacks on mining companies and the beheading of a policeman have sparked national soulsearching. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has warned Maoist violence was a drain on resources.Politicians and rights activists now debate the planned offensive. Will it stem Maoist influence, or will itjust inflame tensions as villagers get caught in the crossfire? "Local people are at risk of being caught inthe middle of the fighting, killed, wounded, abducted, forced to take sides, and then risk retribution," saidMeenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. Six months ago, Maoists,who say they fight for poor farmers, took control of Lalgarh, a four-hour drive from east India's biggest cityof Kolkata. They drove away government staff, destroyed buildings and forced police to retreat. It was atakeover seen across hundreds of rural districts across a "red corridor" in central and eastern India. "It isnot a question of patrolling anymore. It is a question of engaging them, arresting them and killing them iffired upon," Kuldiep Singh, a senior police official in West Bengal, said. It will be a risky task. In Lalgarh,rebels are playing cat and mouse, firing at police camps in surprise attacks. "The people are with us, weare not backing out, and the government of India will learn a huge lesson if they continue their offensive,"Koteshwar Rao a.k.a. Kishenji, Maoist military commander, said in a rare telephone interview from anundisclosed location. (DNA 6/11/09)Maoists strike during Buddhadeb's visit, kill 3 (12)MIDNAPORE: Maoists struck with impunity killing three youths suspecting them to be police informersand shooting at and injuring a ruling CPI(M) leader as West Bengal Chief Minister BuddhadebBhattacharjee began a tour of the district today to take stock of the situation. Bullet-riddled bodies of threeyouths Lakhi Das, Jayram Mandi and Manoranjan, with hands and legs tied were found on a road inKusbani jungle about 70 km from here, the police said. The Maoists left behind posters claiming the threewere police spies and CPI(M) agents and had been punished. In Kolkata, Home Secretary Ardhendu Sensaid the three victims were Jharkhand Party activists. Shortly after the chief minister arrived for a reviewof the law and order and welfare measures in West Midnapore district where tribals-backed Maoist unresthas been continuing despite anti-Maoist operations by central paramilitary and state police, local CPI(M)leader Subhas Soren, was shot at, at Nandasole, about 75 km from here. Police said Soren, a member ofCPI(M)'s Gopiballavpur district committee, was accosted on the road at around 5:30 pm by suspectedMaoists who shot him below the hip. (Times of India 7/11/09)Organised Left prevented Naxals from forming base in WB: Yechury (12)New Delhi: Naxalism could not form a base in West Bengal for 30 years since its inception due to thepolitical battle waged by the organised Left, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has said."Please rememberthat Naxalbari is a village in West Bengal from where this ultra-Left (Naxal) deviation took place. And for30 years they could not come back to West Bengal only because of the fight we had put up," he toldKaran Thapar on his programme 'Devil's Advocate'. He charged the Trinamool Congress with bringingthem back, saying "they were imported into West Bengal by our political opponents ... in order to be usedagainst us." Yechury said the Trinamool Congress, which was "sitting in the Central government", wantedto fight the Left "using the Maoists and gave them shelter, gave them patronage. They were brought infrom across the border (of the state)". Defending the release of some tribal women in exchange for a
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NAXAL/ MAOISTS- 2009 - Indian Social Institute

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