update 18 2 records of undernourishment, poverty and starvation deaths amongst the Adivasis. And, “Around 90% people of this region still live in villages. Female Introduction literacy is only 24.72%. As per the 1997 census of BPL families, about 72% families are below poverty line live in this region.... Dantewada is the southern-most district of Chhattisgarh. It has More specifically, 49 CD Blocks of KBK districts are regarded as borders with Orissa in the east and Andhra Pradesh in the south. “very backward” and 28 CD Blocks are considered as “backward”. 62% of the district is covered with dense forests mostly inhabited Persistent crop failure, lack of access to the basic service and by the adivasis, who are 79% of the population of the district. entitlements, starvation, malnutrition and migration are the Dantewada produces most of the iron ores of the state. But, it is leading manifestations in the region. (www.mail-archive.com/ [email protected]/msg00103.html) “among the top 10 most backward districts in the country. Only 22 per cent of households in Dantewada have access to More than half of the population of the region are Adivasis. electricity, though the district boasts of the presence of Essar And, under the soil of the KBK and adjoining districts like Steel.... Literacy rate in Dantewada is as low as 30 per cent.” Rayagada, lurk the rich reserves of bauxite—the mother-ore of (Rich Lands Poor People, Is Sustainable Mining Possible? Centre for Aluminium—largely used in the makings of aircraft and cars. Science and Environment, 2008) Aluminium is called a “strategic metal” in modern warfare. The profile of the districts like Bijapur, Bastar, Kanker— Moreover, the imperialist countries like the USA have no bauxite. adjacent to Dantewada (better known as Bastar region of Deposits in Japan and Europe are depleting fast. Hence, the KBK Chhattisgarh)—are almost same: i.e., rich in minerals; inhabited region and adjacent districts have now become hot-famous, but mostly by the adivasis; abysmally poor and underdeveloped not for ‘starvation deaths’ like before. It now ‘boasts’ of bauxite also. These districts are now famous names—not for the Essars for which big multinationals and Indian monopoly houses are or Tatas. They are now famous for the biggest internal investing massively. Right at this moment this rich land is paramilitary onslaught in the history. Thousands of security preparing for bloodbath in the hands of the security forces. This personnel and elite police forces are now combing the jungles may be called as the Orissa chapter of ‘Operation Green Hunt’. for Adivasis branding them naxals or maoists. Adivasis— many Possibly, no-one can forget the adivasi people languishing of those are hunters by nature—are now chased and being under severe condition of undernourishment, semi-starvation hunted indiscriminately both by the security forces and the and ‘unknown’ diseases in the eastern part of Maharashtra butchers of Salwa Judum. Hundreds are either killed or maimed; bordering Chhattisgarh. The districts like Gadchiroli, Amravati, women are raped; children are tortured mercilessly; fingers and Yavatmal, Chandrapur and Bhandara of Vidharva region are tongue of a two-year old child are cut off; thousands of huts have largely adivasi-inhabited and few of which are also ‘infested’ with been torched and razed to the ground; belongings looted; 644 Naxalites “sneaking” from Chhattisgarh. OGH is also going on villages are evacuated; more than 3.5 lakh adivasis have either here fiercely with unprecedented “success”. been displaced or have fled to the nearest states! It is not a war- One may remember also the name of Amlasole, a hamlet of West zone of Iraq or Afghanistan. It is a poor region of Chhattisgarh— Midnapur—once famed for starvation deaths in left-ruled West now a battlefield of the Indian paramilitary forces! The war Bengal. This place is not far enough from Lalgarh where the age- perpetrated is called as ‘Operation Green Hunt’ (OGH). old anguish and sufferings of the Adivasis at the hands of police, One can remember the region commonly named as KBK administration, contractors, businessmen, wood-mafia, and (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) belt of Orissa ‘famous’ for high foresters erupted in November 2008. This place, also called as update 18 3 update 18 4 ‘Jangalmahal’ is another battlefield of the security forces of India. month of July-August of 2009 in several states like Chhattisgarh, Indiscriminate torturing of the Adivasis, sudden combing of the Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa, etc. Within few months it was villages and forests, vandalism during the search-operations, converted into a full-scale war against the people of India, looting and razing of the houses, firing at the protest rallies, particularly against the adivasis. If any one closely follow the killing, beating coupled with arrests are the general norms of the pattern of action of the security forces in this war, it will be Jangalmahal. This is the Bengal-version of OGH. revealed that the war-zones are concentrated in the adivasi- The security forces of India, comprising hundreds of inhabited regions. thousands of paramilitary forces along with scores of police forces But, with whom the war is fought with? What is the real motive are now engaged in a full-blown war in the villages of terrains, behind this operation? It’s now an open secret that the real target hills and jungles of central and eastern India. The operation, of this operation is to clear the resistances made by the people named as “Operation Green Hunt” (or ‘OGH’) is the bigger than (mainly Adivasis) on the path of the so-called industrialisation the biggest of any security operations unleashed in the interior & development in the central and eastern states—particularly of the country. The stated motive of the operation is to nab and in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The Adivasis (along with flush out the ‘maoists’—called as “the gravest internal security the non-adivasis in some places) have waged struggles against threats” by the prime minister. the plunder of the minerals and forest-products; against the The paramilitary operations are teethed with the most destruction of the rivers, waterbodies, forests and environment; sophisticated ammunitions, helicopters, unmanned drones used against the forcible occupation of the lands, jungles and waters in the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, satellite-assisted from the hands of the Adivasis; and against their ouster (or surveillance system along with the most modern weaponries. The displacement). In fact, in many places, the projects declared by war was initiated in the month of July-August of 2009 in the the state governments in the above states have almost come to a southern districts of Chhattisgarh and in the districts of halt due to these resistances waged by the Adivasis. The big- Maharashtra-Karnataka bordering Chhattisgarh. Within a few ticket investments of the foreign mining and industrial months, the operation is escalated across eight states of the companies like Arcelor-Mittal, Posco, Vedanta, Rio-Tinto, BHP eastern and central-eastern India including Jharkhand, Andhra Billiton, De Beurs and Indian monopolies like Tata, Birla, Jindal, Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, and West Bengal. Essars, etc are hit by several roadblocks in these states and many After initiating the joint operations at the Jangalmahal of West of them cannot even begin the initial operations of their projects. Bengal in the month of June of 2009, G K Pillai, the Secretary to Though some of the MNCs and Indian corporates are ready to take the Home Ministry admitted candidly that “Lalgarh” was the ‘watch and see’ policy to make their projects materialised, many “Laboratory” of the Operation Green Hunt to be conducted in of them are restless and are exerting immense pressure on the the states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand etc. governments at the centre and states to clear the obstacles. The government will go for Lalgarh-type operation in various Arcelor-Mittal and Posco are among of those who are threatening states, especially in Chhattisgarh, to deal with one of the country’s to pull out from the race of investments. The foreign and biggest problems. corporate interests behind the OGH were apparent by the anxious “Lalgarh is the laboratory for us and this will be reflected in what statements of foreign and domestic business media and we are going to do in other Naxal-infested areas like mouthpieces representing the interests of imperialist and Chhattisgarh.... (20.08.2009, http://www.zeenews.com/ monopoly capital. These representatives are making valiant news556970.html) ‘chest-beating’ gesture to eliminate the blockades before the The paramilitary offensive was escalated in full swing from the projects. update 18 5 update 18 6 Actually, these war-mongers are shouting that ‘he who are held in several cities of the countries. Eminent personalities of against the government, are actually the maoists’ or are different walks of life have raised the voices of protest against the ‘supporters’ of the maoists or are ‘sympathisers’. In fact, any operation. Moreover these personalities alongwith many form of protest and dissent against government policies is being organisations protested the heinous acts of the administration branded and persecuted as ‘anti-national’ or against ‘national to brand all these protests as ‘maoists’. Several adivasi interests, and all forms of resistance are being termed as organisations in Orissa and Jharkhand have vent their voices of ‘naxalism’ or ‘maoism’. In the same breath, the adivasis who have protest also. We are hoping that these voices will be louder in made resistances in mineral-rich regions are branded as coming days creating enough pressures on the governments. ‘maoists’. And thus the killings, torturing, looting, arson, gang- But, it is required to develop stronger mass-movements in all the rapes of the adivasi people with subsequent arbitrary arrests, cities, particularly in the affected states.