commentary

Notes on a Dying People and children without via­ble livelihoods, minimal medical help or basic education, often without food, clothes and shelter, dragged into police custody and flogged, Sumit Sarkar, Tanika Sarkar mostly for unknown offences. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) The political movement that came ost-election West Bengal is, indeed, is unknown in this area and no state ven- up from among the people of a gloomy, even alarming place. ture for ensuring survival ever developed, Lalgarh in November 2008 cried PWith the first ever defeat of the let alone plans for development. The land- Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) scape of bleak wretchedness is dominated out for help and support from the after decades of virtually one-party rule, by the bizarre splendour of the party of- civil and democratic society – for leftists all over India had hoped to see the fices of the CPI(M) and the houses of l­ocal basic human rights, for a right to beginnings of a new and democratic polit- party leaders: appa­rently “whole­timers” all decisions about what belongs ical culture. Especially after Singur, on a pay of Rs 1,500/a month and without Nandigram and multiple other movements any other ostensi­ble means of livelihood. to them alone: their water, of resistance have shown how much popu- The media does not talk of the peaceful land and forest. The movement lar defiance can accomplish even against resistance that tribals had built up in an negotiated with the intransigent the combined might of an entrenched open and democratic manner over the last Left Front administration of state power, multinational corporates and six months or so which got little attention an autocratic party. Instead, we now see a from opposition parties, or from Kolkata- West Bengal for months, politics of reprisals: CPI(M) political prac- based middle class groups or “civil so­ciety” without much success. Their tice seems to have left an indelible mark groups as they call themselves these days. peaceful movement now lies in on all organised politics in the state. Of course, there are many notable excep- tatters, because of the violent There are many outcries against Maoist tions: the Lalgarh Sanhati Mancha, a and Trinamool (Congress) violence. Even group of cultural and political activists intervention by the Maoists who though they do sometimes exaggerate the has given them all the help it could and have done incalculable harm scale of retaliatory violence, basing them- has tried its best to mobilise a wider and to both the objectives as also to selves on highly selective and dramatised influential support base for them. By and the people of Lalgarh and by the media reports, the larger point they make large, however, public attention has not is more or less justified: the precious time been forthcoming. There have not been armed retaliation from the centre for thinking about and acting on demo- any non-govermental organisations (NGOs) and state governments. cratic alternatives may just be frittered working there, nor groups of local activ- away in this manner. At the same time, ists trying to ensure livelihoods, protection there is the opposite danger of swinging from intimidation, basic human rights. In over to the other extreme in this mood of this regard, they are worse off than even disenchantment: of forgetting the imme- Chhattisgarh or Madhya Pradesh tribals. diate past, about state and party terror Bengali newspapers and television and, above all, about the way in which or- c­hannels have written about and shown dinary and poor villagers live in West Bengal, some scenes of indiscriminate torture and especially in the tribal belt. flogging that the central and state forces We refer to Lalgarh, a place much in now engage in. National media blanks it news these days and destined to be the out altogether. centre of attention as the site of sensational When public response to their desperate media reportage on police and paramili- predicament came at last, it came as vio- tary troops on march through jungles. lent condemnation – often grossly unin- What the reports do not show is the abject formed – after Maoists started presenting poverty of villagers, their prolonged themselves as the real face of the move- e­fforts to seek help from all possible quar- ment. We think that both the opposition ters before the Maoists built themselves a and the civil society groups have to answer base within their movement, and the the unanswerable now. In this hopeless sit- crude and brutal police and cadre intimi- uation which has continued for decades Sumit Sarkar ([email protected]) dation they face on an everyday basis. even as they turned in vain from one party and Tanika Sarkar are historians of They are not the happy, uninhibited trib- to another, asking for some relief, what modern India. als of B­engali movies, but men and women would we have liked them to do? To keep

10 june 27, 2009 vol xliv nos 26 & 27 EPW Economic & Political Weekly commentary on dying? Obviously, that is so, that would dignity among the wretched of the earth e­xperience and experiment that came up have been the decent thing for them to do are the enemies of the state. West Bengal from among the people of Lalgarh who – to be seen only in ways we like to see will be no exception. Its record in human have, for decades, cried out to everybody them, and not be heard. rights violations is among the worst in the for help and support and who conducted a country as is its record for the utter neglect peaceful struggle for basic human rights, Harm Done by Maoists of tribal belts. In fact, the moment the for a right to all decisions about what be- Maoists have done incalculable harm to CPI(M) was assured of central government longs to them alone: their water, land and the movement. Their activities and inten- help, they began a campaign about Trina- forest. They and other mediators patiently tions are shrouded in mystery, their secret mool Congress links with Maoists, hoping negotiated with the administrative autho­ terror operations express total indiffer- to kill two birds with one stone. rities and the process dragged on for seven ence to human lives, their arms deals lead But the matter has gone well beyond months as the administration would not them, inevitably, into shady transactions West Bengal. The prime minister has al- cede an inch. Nor would the state autho­ with rich and corrupt power brokers at ways been absolutely frank in saying that rities try and work for minimal improve- different levels. The typical pattern of he considers Maoism the greatest internal ment of the tribal quality of life, even after their activities is curious. They come into danger: not poverty, social injustice or the the peaceful agitation started and went on an already strong and open mass move- absolute levels of deprivation among cer- peacefully. Now, their aspirations for basic ment, they engage in a killing spree, dis- tain categories of people which create a protection from intimidation, torture, crediting the movement, and then they space for Maoism. He has also said recen­tly livelihood, lie in ashes. leave, after giving the state authorities a that the mineral-rich areas of the country In March 2009, a friend from Kolkata splendid excuse for crushing it. One should be opened up to multinational in- was visiting us. Since he is a leading mem- wonders how and why the so-called leader vestment on the easiest of terms and that ber of the Sanhati Mancha, we asked him Bikas could arrange the entire media – press, he wants a climate of investment that to describe the movement. Even as he cele­ state and national TV channels – to gather brooks no obstacles to it. Many of the brated the richness of the movement in around him as he claimed to represent the marked areas are the tribal belts. And the interview, he told us that he was deeply Janasadharaner Samiti and not have any wherever the poor and the dispossessed worried about the isolation of Lalgarh state forces to be around as he spoke. stake out claims to livelihood, land and from mainstream politics, about the dangers It is also curious that even though dignity, the climate for investment is en- of a Maoist infiltration. Janasadharaner Chhatradhar Mahato, the Samiti leader, dangered. Lalgarh is, therefore, only the Samiti is a loose federation of local elected has disowned all violent action, the forces beginning of a national mission: our bodies and anyone could join, but without and administration swear they will arrest land, our coastline, our water, forest and any party banner. No electoral party ven- him. It is very clear that it is a democratic agricultural resources and our poor people tured forth as they had nothing to gain. po­pular upsurge that is the real target and are but the playthings of the corporate Maoists, therefore, may have a free field Maoists are an invaluable resource for the world. The Indian State has learnt from for their operations, he feared, even state for they help branding it as Maoist. Sri Lanka. though the movement from its inception State terror and Maoist terror seem to be Times are very strange. Left Front crit- had been remarkably open and peaceful. strangely interdependent, both working ics of the Congress and of Manmohan We transcribe the interview below. for the same results: the brutal end to a Singh in particular, who a few days back Interview with activist Sumit Chowdhury democratic popular struggle. were thundering out revenge on him for in Delhi, early March 2009. We also need to remember that until his defiance over the nuclear deal, calling last week the West Bengal had not yet him “Mr Unclean”, politicians who wanted Question (Q): Describe the locale of banned the Communist Party of India to topple the United Progressive Alliance Lalgarh: (Maoist), even though the Maoists make (UPA) at any cost, are now on their bended Answer (A): Lalgarh is in West Medinipur, no secret of their commitment to violence: knees, asking for the maximum number of located in a block on the borders of so such politics does enjoy a legalised ex- troops to march against and destroy the West Bengal and Jharkhand, adjacent to istence in the state which, then, has little poorest people of Bengal. The Bengal Kata Pahari. It is a part of the so-called moral right to act surprised at what they admini­strative personnel have summarily “J­angalkhand” which includes parts of do. More­over, when the ban comes into dismissed the Samiti and even Maoist B­an­kura, Kamapurulia and West force, as it surely will now, it is quite clear pleas for a dialogue, for addressing the M­edinipur: so-called because it is heavily that the real victims targeted by the state b­asic problems of the people of this area. forested and hilly, populated largely by would be civil and human rights groups: the more committed, democratic and open Destruction of Possibilities Subscription Numbers they are like the Asso­ciation for Protection Before a hundred years of silence descends Subscribers are requested to note their Subscription­ of Democratic Rights (APDR), the more on this area, let us recall that what the Numbers mentioned on the wrappers and quote they are at risk. The incarceration of state and the Maoists have brought about these numbers when corresponding with the B­inayak Sen has taught us that people who on Lalgarh was not the only story. There circulation department.­ want to instill a sense of human rights and were other possibilities, a rich poli­tical

Economic & Political Weekly EPW june 27, 2009 vol xliv nos 26 & 27 11 commentary tribals, especially Santhals, but also some p­ublicly without the police noticing what People’s Movement or Janaganer Andolan. Mundas, Shabars and Lodhas. Most of was going on. It is even more surprising There is quite a lot of popular support for them are b­elow the poverty line. They live b­ecause the whole area had been combed Maoists at Lalgarh and Bankura-Purulia, by gathering tendu leaves and other forest very thoroughly and had been under heavy where they are seen as pro-poor. But local produce. They also work as labourers police surveillance for a week before­ the people generally have not joined in any migrating to other parts of Bengal. Lalgarh blast, and that particular locality is a CPI(M) violent activities. grows only one crop, which is paddy. The stronghold. The blast remains a mystery. land is mostly rocky with hardly any Four constables were badly injured in the Q: What Happened after the Blasts? irrigation. Forests are government property, blast though nobody died. Instantly, the po- A: From 4 November 2008, a huge police leased out to Bengali and Marwari lice and the party, without any investiga- contingent under the superintendent of contractors. All local landlords are Bengali. tion, alleged that this was a Maoist conspir- police, West Medinipur, raided Chhotopeliya Amlashol, notorious for starvation deaths acy and that plans had been hatched at village, where a local Muslim CPI(M) in West Bengal which largely go unreported, Kata Pahari under Shashadhar Mahato, a activist, a labour contractor by profession is in the adjacent block of Belpahari. known Maoist in Jangalkhand. (Sub­ (Reza ul-Karim) was spending the night. There is very little social stratification sequently, Maoists have claimed to be the The police mistakenly tried to arrest him among tribals, although Mahatos enjoy a authors of the blast, not the Samiti. The as a Maoist. Santhal women came out to high status within their communities. Samiti leader denounced the blast and protest the arrest and the police went on Both men and women are equally present disowned­ all violent action.) the rampage, beating up the women very in all occupations. Very few primary badly and injuring 11 of them. Chitamoni schools exist in the entire area, and a Q: Tell Us Something about the Maoist Murmu lost both her eyes as a result of handful of tribal students have graduated, Operations in That Area: the flogging, and a pregnant woman was against great odds. These graduates pro- A: Lalgarh itself has had no record of viciously assaulted. Two schoolboys, 11 vide leadership in the movement. They are M­aoist violence, but in adjoining Purulia and 14 years old, were returning from a unemployed, especially because West and Bankura some CPI(M) functionaries jatra show nearby. They too were beaten Bengal hardly fills up the scheduled tribe have been killed and police stations up and a local headmaster was flogged quota. Public hospitals barely exist in the a­ttacked since the mid-1990s. Party cad- and arrested. entire area. People suffer from very poor res and police attacks as retaliation had Such indiscriminate police aggression health and they are prey to constant and been far more frequent and comprehen- is a routine affair in the tribal belt since many diseases. They are seriously mal- sive. The government alleges that Maoists the early 1990s, even though no incident nourished, often at starvation levels. come and go from the Jharkhand forests. of Maoist violence has occurred at Lalgarh. Shashadhar Mahato, a Maoist, comes from However, this time, on 5 November, about Q: Why are Police Atrocities Mentioned by Lalgarh but his brother Chhatradhar, who eight to 10,000 people from 50 villages Tribals so Often and with such Anger? has no connection with the Maoists, has gathered at Doloipur Chowk at Katapahari, A: In the name of suppressing Maoists in emerged as a spokesman of the present and formed the Polishi Santrosh Birodhi the locality, there have been from the early 1990s large-scale and indiscriminate arrests and arbitrary and frequent flog- JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY gings of local people. More than 1,500 New Delhi-110067 people at present languish in police c­ustody without trial. Advt. No. RC/39/2009 Dated : 17/06/2009

Q: How did the Present Movement Start? Faculty Positions at the Jawaharlal Nehru University A: On 2 November 2008, the Union Steel Minister, Paswan, and West Bengal Chief A number of faculty positions, at the level of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor are available in various Centres/Special Centres Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, went and Schools of the University. to inaugurate a steel plant at Salboni, the first industrial venture in the area. The tri- Candidates with good academic record, teaching/research experience bals are distrustful of it and see it as an and working in related areas of research are encouraged to apply. encroachment on their lands and forests. University also solicits applications from candidates with research interests When the ministers were on their way that are interdisciplinary. back, a landmine blast occurred at Kalai­ For more details see JNU website: www.jnu.ac.in or contact Section mundi, fairly close to Medinipur town. Officer, Recruitment Cell, JNU, New Delhi-110067. Room No. 131, A­ccording to the local people, the blast Administrative Block, E-mail: [email protected] happened half an hour after the convoy had passed through. It is amazing how Deputy Registrar (Academic/Recruitment) landmines could have been set up so

12 june 27, 2009 vol xliv nos 26 & 27 EPW Economic & Political Weekly commentary

Janasadharener Committee (the People’s From the first week of January, a new no plans to secede from the state of West Committee against Police Violence), and six-point demand charter was added to Bengal. The local Bengali population in decided to blockade all roads leading to the first one. These points were much the area consists mostly of schoolteachers, Lalgarh. Roads were dug up and trees broader in nature. They affirmed tribal employees in government offices, and pet- felled, and within a couple of days the rights to water, land and forests (jal, jangal, ty traders. On the whole, they are sympa- blockade spread to all of Jangalkhand, jami) in the entire area. The Kanshabati thetic to the movement. The movement, and even to the tribal areas in North Bengal, river flows through this area but since the therefore, is not narrowly tribal, but is Bankura, and Purulia. Tribals came up government “owns” the river, the commu- based on an alternative development par- with a 13-point charter of demands, the nity cannot use the water resources: for in- adigm that encompasses an entire region. chief of which was that the SP must come stance, they cannot dig canals to irrigate to Lalgarh, publicly apologise and do sit- their lands. Also, much of the water has Q: What Are the Characteristic Forms of ups as penance for his misbehaviour, while been diverted to dams associated with the the Movement? constables who were active in the raids Kanshabati project, which had been set up A: Each decision related to the movement must rub their noses in the dirt. against tribal opinion. is taken collectively at gatherings that are Tribals now claim community-based 15-20,000 large. Tribals gather from dis- Q: If Raids Like this Have Been Common for rights to all forest produce which had been tant villages at an appointed central place. the Last 15 Years, Why Is It That There Was alienated by the colonial Forest Act of These are open meetings and no party Such a Reaction This Time? 1870. The UPA government had passed an banners are allowed, although occasion- A: Because, in the last few years, rural act giving individual land-purchase rights ally members of opposition parties have West Bengal has been in a state of great to tribals in tribal localities. However, the attended them without banners. Local turmoil: Singur and Nandigram apart, community as a whole was not given any mass organisations are also not allowed to there have been rural uprisings against collective rights, which is what the tribals bring their banners. The only banner that corruption in the public distribution sys- actually wanted. Communities also assert is allowed is that of the Lalgarh Andolan tem which have been extremely wide- their collective rights to agricultural land. Sanhati Mancha, because this represents spread across several districts. A new cul- Tribals are resentful of ghorar dimer the movement. ture of resistance is now very visible, en- unnayan or “non-sensical/mare’s-egg deve­ The movement now encompasses more couraging organised responses to atroci- lopment”. They do not want industries, than 200 villages, and involves more than ties by party cadres and the police, which roads or power plants to be built in the one lakh people. Village committees have have been ceased to be accepted as nor- areas inhabited by their communities. been set up through open deliberations mal and routine features of everyday life. They explain that roads will enable more reached in mass meetings in Bankura- frequent police raids, and projected Coca- Purulia-West Medinipur. Districts have Q: How Did the Movement Progress? Cola and power plants will be a waste of separate loose coordinations that include A: The movement spread and the blockade energy, since they have no use for such local committees without, however, continued for 32 days. It was lifted after things. Since they do not have irrigation embra­cing a highly centralised structure. the administration – the district magi­ facilities, they do not need power. Indus- The entire movement has a single strate, subdivisional officer and block tries are not going to give them employ- spokesperson, Chhatradhar Mahato. He develop­ment officers – began to negotiate. ment, but will take away their land has no political affiliations and comes Initially, the administration accepted all and livelihood. from a family of local cultivators. He is a their demands except the sit-ups. A written Instead, they want a different form of graduate of the Vidyasagar University in agreement was drawn up, but till now development whose terms they have for- West Medinipur. He was elected as the none of the terms have been implement- mulated. They want schools, supply of leader at the Doloipur Chowk meeting. At ed. The movement now continues in the drinking water, primary health centres. that meeting, 45 village committees came form of a social boycott of the police and They also assert their cultural identity, together to elect him. There are other the administration. Administrative and which is denied to them. Santhali, they committees that function separately, but police personnel are denied entrance to say, should be the medium of instruction they have a loose form of coordination villages; local shops do not sell goods to up to high school levels in their area, and with all others. Different committees have them; barbers and washermen withhold Santhali programmes should be intro- different names: the Balarampur Commit- their ser­vices. These are traditional village duced on the radio and TV networks. They tee of Purulia is called adivasi-mulavasi penalties against social offenders, as well want the further development of the (rooted) Janasadharener Committee. Each as Gandhian modes of protest. Eight po- Alch­iki script for Santhali language. Up to is constituted in an open meeting of about lice camps were set up in the Lalgarh area, now, the Santhali script uses the Bengali 15,000 people. At these meetings, even but villagers came and broke them up. language, but the Alchiki script has been outsiders can have their say, and be a part However, there was no incidence of vio- slowly developing for the last hundred of the final decision-making process. lence against persons in the process. The years, and Santhals identify with it. There are frequent rallies that are police now remain virtually confined to They also want autonomous hill council o­rganised by the committees. These are the thana buildings. administrative units, but so far they have colourful and festive affairs, brandishing

Economic & Political Weekly EPW june 27, 2009 vol xliv nos 26 & 27 13 commentary traditional Santhal weapons like bows, meetings. Committee meetings where I therefore reminiscent of “the people de- a­rrows and spears, and there is also much have participated in as an observer consist cide” s­logans of the Zapatistas in Mexico. beating of Santhal drums and blowing of mainly of the initiative of younger people, On a day to day basis, villagers on the horns. People dressed in their best dance though older people are also present. streets greet each other with hool-johar all the way to the meeting: women ululate, Young people are mostly graduates but (Long live revolution). dance, wear green saris and flowers, and they live in their villages. Committee- *** carry stacks of earthen pots on their heads. level women activists, in contrast, are We have not visited Lalgarh ourselves. At the meeting areas, sugar cane juice, uneducated. At Purulia, some of these However, we checked the points raised in toys, snacks, tea and balloons are sold. women are health workers, with local the course of the interview with other Children and even babies are brought in NGOs and anganwadis. acti­vists from Kolkata who had visited La- by their parents. lgarh during the movement or had gone Q: What Else Struck You in the Movement? there as part of enquiry teams and had Q: Do Women Merely Attend Them, or Do A: I found two kinds of posters on the investi­gated both local conditions and the They Have a Political Voice? mud walls of most village houses. One culture of protest. They confirm all these A: Each committee has to have an equal would be printed containing the 13-point points without any reservation. A distin- number of men and women. At times, it charter of demands. These are signed by guished professor of anthropology, who has been sympathetic outsiders who have PSBGSC. Others are handwritten, contain- has written extensively on Paschim Medi­ insisted that women should come up on ing slogans such as: Adivasi Hool Chalu nipur on the basis of his ethnographic the makeshift stages on the meetings and Aachhe or “the tribal uprising continues”. work, also talked at length about the address them. Women then came up and At the same time, a formal call for a hool s­ubhuman state of existence among the spoke, although somewhat shyly. In the has not been given, though the threat of a tribals, the decades of total neglect by all internal meetings of the committees, vast tribal uprising is held out. Let us re- political groups, the squandering of pan- outsiders are not allowed. I was allowed call the celebrated anti-colonial Santhal chayat and local welfare resources by the to attend a few as an observer, and I hool of the mid-19th century. Hand­ CPI(M) and the self-enrichment of cadres. found that even though women hesitate written posters are signed just by He also talked about the atrocious police in the open meetings, they are extremely “J­anasadharan” or “masses at large”. No and cadre intimidation and brutalities vocal in the village-based committee organisational names are used. This is that are a part of their everyday lives.

THE K R CAMA ORIENTAL INSTITUTE 136, Bombay Samachar Marg, Opp Lion Gate, Fort, MUMBAI – 400 023 Tel No 22843893 E-mail [email protected]

Mrs Avabai B Wadia Research Fellowships

Applications are invited for the Mrs Avabai B Wadia Research Fellowships. Research Fellowships will be offered to researchers in the area of Oriental Studies in the fields of philosophy/religions/culture/history. Applicants must be graduates from a recognised University. The Research Fellowships will be offered to researchers for a maximum period of two years, subject to their making satisfactory progress and sending six-monthly progress reports. Research Fellows will be paid a monthly stipend of Rs.10,000/- during the duration of the project plus an annual amount of Rs.5000/- for contingencies. The scholar/s should be resident in India while conducting the research. Applications will have to be made in the Application Form available at the Institute. Completed Application Forms should be sent to the K R Cama Oriental Institute marked “Mrs Avabai B Wadia Research Fellowships” within one month of the release of this advertisement.

14 june 27, 2009 vol xliv nos 26 & 27 EPW Economic & Political Weekly