We have just finished two days of court hearings, on the 10^th and 11^th of June.in which  our lawyers cross examined Inspector Jagrit , a senior member of the investigating team. Jagrit was systematically torn to shreds, as our   lawyer took up each document  seized from the house search, asked J to explain how this was of relevance to charges they were making against Binayak, and Jagrit was unable to sustain his bluster. He also went into the technical details of the seizure procedure  to establish that the search was not done properly, documents were not signed by the witnesses, copies were not filed in court , etc. In an impartial court this puts the entire search and seizure into question… but of course this is Chhattisgarh.

The  prosecution now wishes to apply to reexamine one of their own witnesses, which our lawyers will contest, and put the main investigating officer on the stand, and say that they will close their case with that. The next date for the IO is July 19. Seeing the length of time it took Jagrit to give his main deposition and be cross examined (6 months), this should take us into 2011.Then there is the defence to follow, and lastly, the final arguements. ilina

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For the People’s Right to say No to displacement and Tribal Genocide And to demandthe right to live with justice and peace

Raipur / Dantewada
1 December 2009

Dear Friends,

You are aware that the tribals of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh State are continuously facing large-scale displacement from their homes, fields and forests a well as a genocide in the last five years. The first aggressive onslaught was by the state sponsored vigilante group called the Salwa Judum. In the last five months, the people of this region are victims of a war called the Operation Green Hunt. Paramilitary troops along with the state armed police deployed in very large numbers by the Central and the state governments are carrying out operations against the tribals in the name of curbing Maoists and reclaiming territories from them.

In order to build public opinion and to support the tribal people in their demand to stop this displacement and genocide and to reclaim their right to live with justice and peace, several community based and people’s organisations, union and human rights groups from Chhattisgarh and outside are planning a series of activities in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh.

This letter is being sent to you so that you can block the dates between 14 December 2009 and 7 January 2010 and come to Dantewada in support of tribal people. The list of events and dates are as follows:

Padyatra: 14 December to 26 December 2009

A padyatra from Nendra village to Dantewada town via Lingagiri is being organised that will pass through more than 17 villages. This padyatra will be led by Himanshu Kumar of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram and this group of approximately 40 persons will mainly consist of students, journalists and activists from all over the country. The main objective is to restore a sense of confidence amongst the tribals who are living in acute fear due to the onslaught of the security forces. The padyatris will also document the atrocities that the tribals have been subjected to including the situation of hunger, food insecurity, lack of health and educational facilities and other forms of deprivation faced due to the ongoing displacement and war in the region.

Dantewada Satyagrah: 25 December 2009 to 5 January 2010

Tribal people from all over Dantewada and other regions of Chhattisgarh will launch a Satyagrah on 25 December 2009 which will have the upport of tribals from Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, among other states. We are hoping that large groups of people from these states and from all National Networks, unions and organisations working on diverse people’s issues will respond to this call and join in the Satyagrah for some of these days. The objective of the satyagrah is to bring together concerned people from all over the country to demand in one voice an end to displacement of people and to the war that is underway in this region.

A Raipur assistance group set up for the Satyagrah will be headed by Shri Rajendra Sail of the PUCL to help people coming to join the Satyagrah from the North, East and West India as well as from other parts of Chhattigarh. Raipur is situated on the Mumbai-Kolkata route and is well connected by train from most parts of the country. Dantewada is situated 400 kms. from Raipur and direct buses are available between the two towns through the day and night that take about 12 hours each way

People coming from the South can take train or bus from Vishakhapatnam or bus from Hyderabad. The distance is 500 kms. from Hyderabad via Bhadrachalam and takes about 16 hours.

Jan Sunwai: 6-7 January 2010** (the date may be advanced or postponed by a day)*

The Satyagrah will culminate with a Jan Sunwai where tribal residents of this region will share their experiences of the Salwa Judum, Operation Green Hunt and their struggle for justice. This Jan Sunwai will be witnessed by a panel of ex-justices, senior activists from various people’s movements, ex-bureaucrats and policemen, journalists and intellectuals including those from among the tribals.

This letter is a request to you and your group/organisation to begin preparation for your participation in the series of events given above. A more detailed invitation shall be sent to you soon. For more details please contact at the phone numbers provided below.

*We are:*

• Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Chhattisgarh),
• Chhattisgarh Visthapan Virodhi Manch, Chhattigarh Mukti Morcha, Chhattisgarh
• Mukti Morcha – Mazdoor Karyakarta Samiti, Nadi Ghati Morcha, Human Rights
• Law Network (Chhattisgarh), National Alliance of People’s Movements,
• Chhattisgarh Mahila Jagriti Sangathan, Chhattisgarh Bal Shramik Sangathan,
• Gram Sabha Parishad, Tribal Welfare Society, and others (endorsments by other organisations are awaited)

Contact Persons:

Himanshu Kumar: 09425260031
Rajendra Sail: 09826804519
Sudha Bhardwaj: 09926603877
Vijendra: 09406049737

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DANTEWADA(CHHATTISGARH): The authorities call it Operation Green Hunt, going by the conventional wisdom that the Maoists being chased — in Chattisgarh in this case — fight from thick jungles. But many of the victims appear to have nothing to do with the insurgency.

Witness accounts, in one instance among others, show that security forces killed seven people in Goompad village of Konta Block in Dantewada district in the concerted action that began six weeks ago. Two more people were killed from the neighbouring Bandaarpar village the same day.

In Goompad, Madvi Yankaiya (age 50) was hacked to death with an axe, his brother Madvi Joga said. Madvi Bajaar (50), his wife Madvi Subhi

(45), their daughters Madvi Kanama (20) and Madvi Mooti, (8) were killed, as their home was closest to the approaching forces. Also killed were their neighbours, Soyam Subaiya (20) and Soyam Subhi (18). They had been married only for a year.

The Adivasis of Bastar have little or no use for the Roman calendar; so it is hard to calculate the date of the attack, or the exact age of the victims. But surviving witnesses put it around the first week of October — which was the time that Green Hunt commenced. The Dantewada SP said an encounter took place at Goompad on October 1. They produced no bodies of alleged Naxalites at the police station. It was claimed that the villagers carried away the bodies of the dead.

On the day of the attack, most of the villagers fled when they heard gunfire and screams. Few looked back to see what was happening. But they did see that the attackers wore ‘punjaar gadu’, which, translated from Gondi to Hindi, means ‘phoolwale kapde’ — an adivasi way to describe jungle fatigues.

Many villagers left for the Andhra Pradesh border with just the clothes on their backs and a few other items. A few returned after the security forces left to assess the damage. Two homes were burning. And lying before one was 18-month-old Madvi Mukesh, covered in blood, crying next to the remains of his aunt, Madvi Mooti (8).

He was missing three fingers. His mother lay in a pool of blood — as also his maternal grandparents.

The villagers who returned to bury the bodies claim they saw numerous stab wounds on the bodies of most victims. One said Mukesh lost three fingers in an attack with a sharp object on his 20-year old mother. He was spared.Mukesh’s father was in another village that day and would meet his first born again only when they’d crossed the state border to enter Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. More than half the villagers of Goompad are now internally displaced persons (IDPs), living in fear of the AP authorities. They don’t mean to return home. Interestingly, only the villagers of the Dorla tribe fled. The Muria tribals have remained at Goompad.

All the dead are Dorla. Their ‘para’ or section bore the brunt of the assault — the rest had time to escape into the jungle.

At Goompad, villagers claim there are an equal number of Muria and Dorla families. The first Muria family came around 25 years ago. Now the ratio is almost equal. There have been no inter-tribal tensions in this village.

“We go to their festivals, they come to ours,” said one IDP in an undisclosed village in Khammam district.

“What about the Naxalites? Have they done anything to you?” I asked.

“No.”

“Have they done anything good for you?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Sometimes they come and take us for meetings and sometimes they ask us for food when we barely have enough, but they mostly leave us alone.”

Goompad is in the interior. It is off the road, devoid of government services, always seen as a ‘Naxalite supporting’ village by the security forces. Villagers never openly criticise the Naxalites for fear of informers lurking in their midst. But I often speak to them alone. I asked another villager, ‘Have the Naxalites ever beaten anyone here in this village?”

“Once, when a man didn’t want to go to a meeting.”

Union Home minister P Chidambaram may be right when he says Green Hunt is a media creation — for a version of it has been happening in Chhattisgarh over the last four years.

The security forces have indiscriminately killed non-combatants in areas not

under government control. The victims are termed as Naxalites. The press in Chhattisgarh is harassed and reporters imprisoned for talking to villagers, so few are willing to enter these areas. There are reports that villagers were also punished for talking to reporters and outsiders. The pattern persists — the security forces comb an area, claim they killed Naxalites, and villagers speak of atrocities — provided someone listens.

Many have migrated to Andhra Pradesh, Others do not leave Chhattisgarh but retreat further into the jungles. Those who do go to AP tend to return because of harassment from the authorities and the local populace. Their new settlements are often burnt down.

Meanwhile, 315 new families from Chhattisgarh have migrated to AP. Each police station has a list of local tribals. Anyone not on the list is a suspected Naxalite. Intra-village tensions often take place over land — in Maamillavaye village of Khamam district, the resident tribals burnt the settlements of the Chhattisgarh arrivals. They also burnt the settlements of IDPs living for the last four years. Some have been there for over 10 years.

Eventually, a compromise was reached with the help of local activists. The villagers of Maamillavaye promised to rebuild the IDP settlement.

At Kamantome village, also in Khammam, a recent alleged Naxalite encounter saw nine villagers detained for six days. Seven were released without charge. Two, Madvi Hidma and Sodhi Oonga, are still in Warangal jail. Kamantome is a village of the Muria tribe. Most of them have been there for four years — escaping the Salwa Judum-Naxalite conflict. They have neither ration cards nor voter Ids. Each villager possesses two to three acres of land and is in constant dispute with the neighbouring native Muria villagers.

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Dear Mr. Chidambaram, Hon’ble Home Minister of India

cc. Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India

cc. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi

We the undersigned are alarmed at the Government’s adoption of a military solution to the conflict in the tribal belts of central India. Operation Green Hunt will exact a toll in terms of innocent human lives and a long-lasting hatred in the hearts and minds of those who survive. We strongly believe that what is being called the war against Maoists will result in a war against adivasis, even if that is not the intention, because military operations will directly impact all the adivasis in the geographical area.

We stand against violence of all forms, structural and physical, from all sides, whether it is from Maoists, the State, corporate powers or independent citizens and groups, or dispossession, loss of livelihoods and endemic malnutrition. Instead of a paradigm of meaningful and participatory development, India’s recent decades of growth has exacerbated disparities in society. Surely, your government realizes that such uneven development will only intensify the cycle of violence without any promise of real or lasting benefits for the poorest. There is ample evidence around the world, and in history to suggest that uneven development and state sponsored violence leads to a breakdown of democracy – to failed States and “puppet governments.” In Chhattisgarh too, the State- backed Salwa Judum has only added fuel to the ongoing conflict.

We strongly urge you to hold talks with civil society groups that work very closely with the people to understand ground realities better. These groups can provide valuable advice for long lasting peace and justice in the region and should not be dismissed or penalized as “Maoist sympathizers”.

Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (VCA), a Gandhian organization has been working in southern Chhattisgarh for the last two decades on issues of health, education and empowerment of the adivasis. Led by Mr. Himanshu Kumar, VCA has courageously worked for the rehabilitation of villagers made refugees on their own lands by the atrocities of Salwa Judum and by the cyclical violence resulting from it. We urge you to hold talks with Mr. Himanshu Kumar to understand and adopt this alternate paradigm of development.

In the interest of innocent tribal families living in the forests who will surely come in harm’s way through the planned Operation Green Hunt, we demand that:

1. The government retract military operations in Central India with immediate effect.

2. Hold meaningful conversations with adivasi representatives and development workers such as Mr. Himanshu Kumar.

3. Disband Salwa Judum with immediate effect and end covert militarization through arming of civilians as Special Police Officers.

4. Support rehabilitation of refugees and ensure responsible governance so people can return to their homes, pursue their livelihoods and democratically participate in the development process.

5. Initiate action against government functionaries who have perpetrated or promoted extrajudicial violence.

Sign Petition Now

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“Government and Maoist claims to be acting on behalf of India’s poorest people can be undermined by the atrocities by both sides against these very same people,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Local people are at risk of being caught in the middle of the fighting – killed, wounded, abducted, forced to take sides, and then risk retribution.”

On November 4, 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, noting the “systematic exploitation and social and economic abuse” of tribal communities, said that “more could be done; more should be done.” However, he also warned that the threat of violence by the Maoists will be countered with “determination.” The Indian government’s new counter-insurgency measures, “Operation Green Hunt,” has deployed national paramilitary forces, along with state police forces, to end armed resistance by the Maoists, also called Naxalites, and to secure areas that had been under rebel control.

The Maoists claim that they are fighting for the rights of the poorest of the poor in India, particularly tribal groups, Dalits, and landless peasants. The government, while agreeing that there is a desperate need for development in Maoist-dominated areas, says that the Naxalites are blocking government development initiatives and should engage in peaceful advocacy. A key factor in the dispute is access to natural resources, particularly huge mineral deposits in many of the states suffering conflict.

The Naxalites operate in nearly 200 of India’s 600 districts and recruit local villagers to support the combatants, leaving the villagers vulnerable to arrest and torture by government forces. Villagers accuse the Naxalites of forced recruitment, including the recruitment of children, and widespread extortion. The Naxalites attack government installations, including schools, raid police stations and armories, and use landmines and improvised explosive devices. In recent attacks, the Naxalites have hijacked a passenger train, abducted police officials, attacked employees of industry or mining companies, and beheaded police and suspected informers.

“The Maoists have used violence to highlight the government’s failure to address poverty and the harm caused by big infrastructure projects,” Ganguly said. “But their own abusive methods call into question the sincerity of their claims.”

Human Rights Watch and others have documented widespread abuses by Indian government forces, including arbitrary arrests, torture, and unlawful killings, all of them unpunished, during previous operations against Maoists.

In Chhattisgarh, the state government has backed a vigilante movement called the Salwa Judum, leading to killings, rapes, and the forced displacement of tens of thousands of civilians. Human Rights Watch supported a statement on October 30 by Home Minister P. Chidambaram condemning the Salwa Judum, in which he said that the government does not “favor non-state actors like Salwa Judum taking to arms.”

Human Rights Watch urged the government to ensure that Salwa Judum members and state forces responsible for human rights violations are properly prosecuted. Yet with large numbers of paramilitary forces also being deployed, there is reason to be concerned that the abuses will increase.

“While senior officials have been saying the right thing, the real test is what happens on the ground,” Ganguly said. “The government needs to send a strong message to Operation Green Hunt forces that human rights violations will not be tolerated and prosecute those responsible for past abuses.”

Human Rights Watch called on the Indian central government and state governments to protect freedom of expression and to avoid conflating sympathy for concerns expressed by the Maoists with criminal complicity in acts of violence or intimidation. The state government of West Bengal has recently accused some filmmakers, writers, and activists of supporting the Maoists merely because they supported groups protesting police violence.

Human rights activists have repeatedly come under attack or been arbitrarily arrested on unsubstantiated accusations of Naxalite links. Binayak Sen, a physician and human rights activist, was detained from 2007 to 2009 for allegedly acting as a courier for a Naxalite leader in jail, even though Dr. Sen had visited the leader under the supervision of jail authorities. In 2008, Dr. Sen was awarded the prestigious Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights; rights groups, doctors, and ordinary citizens all over the world signed petitions for his release.

While the Supreme Court order to release Dr. Sen on bail in May was a positive step, days earlier, the police surrounded the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, a nongovernmental organization run by the human rights activist Himanshu Kumar in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. Himanshu, who has criticized the Salwa Judum and atrocities by state forces, was given half an hour to move out, and then bulldozers were brought in to destroy the center. The reason given was that the center, which had been there for two decades, was encroaching on protected forest land.

“The government should ensure that those who stand up for human rights are not branded criminal collaborators with the Maoists,” Ganguly said. “This is not how a democracy behaves. Above all, both sides need to understand that a continuing cycle of abuse will not solve the problems faced by India’s most impoverished people.”

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Aruna Roy, a political and social activist, gave up her career in the Indian Administrative Service in 1975 to devote her time to social work and social reform. She has focused her energies on Rajasthan, where she helped establish the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan in 1990, a grass roots peoples organization that works for the empowerment of workers and peasants. In 2000, Ms. Roy won the Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership and for her role in empowering Indian villagers to claim what is rightfully theirs by upholding and exercising the people’s right to information. As Maoist violence continues unabated in the country, Ms. Roy spoke exclusively to Jyoti Malhotra for the Wall Street Journal. Excerpts from the interview.

WSJ: In recent weeks, India’s Maoists rebels have unleashed a reign of terror across the countryside, especially in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, murdering people and damaging public property. As someone who has worked as an activist for many decades in rural India, what is the reason for this sudden violence?

AR: It is now widely accepted that development has not reached people in Chhattisgarh and other parts of the country. The Adivasis, or tribals who live here, are delinked from other parts of the country socially, culturally and politically, they are really like an island. Since Independence, most government officials have treated these areas as punishment postings. Few have wanted to live and work there and those who have gone have not treated the tribals as their equals. It’s been a sort of sahib-servant relationship. Several activists and those in the development sector did work there, but always came under surveillance like Binayak Sen. With Sen, as you know, he was arrested and put behind bars and accused of sympathizing with the Maoists. An important group which reached the tribal areas were the Christian missionaries who set up schools there, followed by Hindu right-wing groups who decided that the tribals must be “saved” from the Christians. These religious tensions usually ended in violence. In the meantime, the tribal belt, which is really the mineral belt of India, became the focus of interest of multinational companies…

WSJ: Tell me the geographical extent of the tribal belt?

AR: It’s huge, from Bihar and Bengal to Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, via Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and parts of Maharashtra. Maoist rebels claim they control 182 districts out of 604 districts in the country. Because of this overwhelming mineral wealth and the desire of the MNCs to tap it, the government, very often, are in hand in glove with these MNCs, and rode roughshod over all democratic norms and principles of political equality and equity to acquire the land. The government tried to use the laws to clear the forests of the tribals who opposed the taking over of their lands. It didn’t work because the law also empowers the tribals to rights over land. When you touch a raw nerve like land, the people rise up. In fact, there is this contradiction today in India, where we talk about the right to property as a fundamental right . But that should also mean that the right to property of the tribals is equally valid and important. So the “persuasion” tried by government and MNCs didn’t work. Alternative employment was offered, but it was so meager that there was an uncomfortable impasse for some time. Meanwhile, there remains no system of governance, no delivery, no sympathy or understanding on the part of the government per se.

WSJ: But there were several infrastructure projects that came up, dams and roads and bridges, surely they were made to help the people?

AR: If you’ve been to any dam site you’ll realize that once dams are constructed, they often don’t benefit the oustees. Often the land gets sold to outsiders. I saw an interesting pamphlet the other day about “Jat land” in Chhatisgarh. Now the Jats are a community in faraway Haryana and Punjab and they’ve been sold land in Chhattisgarh ! It’s illegal because it’s a violation of the rights of tribals who cannot be alienated from their land. So it’s a ‘benami’ transaction (carried out in someone else’s name).

WSJ: How did the Chhatisgarh tribals end up selling their land to the Jats?

AR: The tribals are still not only needy but also very naïve, they don’t know what their rights are, they often make uninformed choices and can be persuaded to mortgage their land and when they cant repay their loans, well, they sell it. In fact, the rest of India has allowed them to remain primitive in their responses. We have not done anything to offer proper opportunities for education or given them a meaningful stake in the mainstream.

WSJ: So how did the Maoists get involved?

AR: This fertile ground offered the Maoists the perfect opportunity because the state was seen as the villain in every way possible. Of course, the state reacted too. With violence it wasn’t going to take things lying down. So they created, at least in Chhattisgarh, the ‘Salwa Judum’ or a people’s army. They armed people, including children, with guns to fight the Maoists. Several people opposed the creation of such a vigilante army, set up and supported by both the Congress and the BJP.

Now an army is mandated to fight an outside, invading force, but how can it fight its own people? The need to seek political and developmental solutions remains on top of the agenda. But the State of Chhatisgarh has become a police state. All those who protested against the ‘Salwa Judum’ were and are being silenced and jailed. So in a situation where the tribals are beaten up by the forest guards, fired upon by policemen and even set upon by the Salwa Judum, what is their recourse without access to democracy ? We have now set up a group called the ‘Citizens for Peace’ and our stand is that all peaceful means must be explored and political negotiations must take place.

WSJ: Home minister P. Chidambaram has said that you should negotiate on behalf of the tribals…

AR: We have offered to come up with new ideas, and help set up a dialogue. But we are clear that we can’t negotiate on behalf of the tribals or with the government. It is the government’s business to negotiate, not ours.

WSJ : So what is your group going to do?

AR: We want to create public opinion that tells both sides of the story. Those of us who live in the big cities know the power of the media and how the media has access only to one kind of thought. But people need to know both sides.

WSJ: Do you think Mr. Chidambaram’s offer to negotiate with the tribals is an acknowledgement that the state has failed?

AR: The government has failed, yes! But the state will fail if the Army and Air Force are used to crackdown against the Maoists. The Air Force is already supposed to have done a survey of the entire area. If the Army and the Air Force do go in, it’s war. That is what we want to avoid. We have openly said that anybody who indulges in violence or kills is a murderer, be it a policeman or a tribal person.

However, I also want to make one thing clear. The law must be fair, there must be good governance and the state must allow independent monitoring teams into the area.

WSJ: Do you think good governance will solve the problem? Isn’t there an ideological underpinning to the Maoist violence?

AR: Good governance may not resolve it, but it will prepare some space for resolution.

WSJ : But you don’t think it’s an ideological struggle ?

AR :The ideological struggle is for the Maoists. For the people it’s different; they are fighting for succor. The people have taken to this ideology because there is no alternative, or they see it as their best alternative. If you give them a better alternative, the people will go there. I would like to quote the Bolivian prime minister Evo Morales here who said, there is the Left and there is the Right, but we are the people.

In our country, the way it often works is that when we vote for a particular political party, the vote is the most reasonable choice from the vast set of negative choices that we face. For the tribals, the truth is that there is no choice, or very little.

WSJ: Are you saying that there is little alternative for the tribals but to follow the Maoists in taking up arms because the government doesn’t exist?

AR: Yes. The truth is that the government doesn’t exist in any of these areas, or hardly. It has only existed to exploit them.

WSJ: So why the violence? Do you think the violence is justified?

AR: These are two separate questions. Violence from either side cannot be justified, but it occurs due to many reasons. It’s a failure of listening to the people. If the state consistently doesn’t listen to the people who are the sovereign, then what results may seem like “irrationality.” Although I don’t think it’s irrational, the fact that the tribal is taking up arms to defend his life, his family, his land. If a man dies fighting for his country against Pakistan he is considered a hero. But if a tribal dies fighting for his land, why don’t we call him a hero? Isn’t it the same thing? As for the violence, we can’t justify it, but we have to understand the circumstances that lead people to choose violence over other means to fight for their lives and livelihood.

WSJ: What about a state like West Bengal which have been run by the Left parties for several decades, why are the Maoists rebelling against them?

AR: There again, MNCs were brought in without consulting the people, which is why they rose up against the Left in Bengal. This has had a direct impact in the elections. Nandigram and Singur, two sites in Bengal where large tracts of land were sought to be given to MNCs are an example of the alienation from people. Truth is, the people who have gone to the “other side,” who became Maoists, were once with the Left, they were supporters of the party. A party which used to consistently listen to the people and were its voice has, somewhere, not listened to them.

WSJ: You say that MNCs grabbed land in the name of development, but several MNCs like the Tatas in Singur in West Bengal, Posco in Orissa are trying to build industry, improve per capita income and socio-economic indicators…?

AR: Let us say that most of the projects grab more land than they need and come in without any democratic process of consultation with people. The government has given large tracts of land to Special Economic Zones and to MNCs in the name of boosting export, but I would like to know whether exports have really gone up. Moreover, they hardly employ local people…We have to ask ourselves, who is benefiting from this industrialization. Who is losing?

WSJ: Aren’t we romanticizing this? After all, industrialization is the way forward…

AR: This is the voice of the people, not a few romantic young people with revolutionary ideals. There is no transparency, that’s the problem. Nobody knows whether the MNC is telling the truth when they demand a certain acreage for developing a project. Or whether the people have really been consulted and whether the government has the people in mind when it agrees to certain terms and conditions. There have been so many betrayals…The breakdown of trust is more or less complete.

Meanwhile, the question also is, what is “development”? If I don’t have food in my belly and my land has been taken away for a big project, is that “development?” How am I going to gauge it? Does 8% or 9% growth every year constitute “development”? Should we measure it by the property we own in the cities or the amount of gold that is bought and sold or whether the people of India have access to food, shelter and health?

And if someone thinks that this 8%-9 % growth is going to take India forward and India’s going to fly, then believe me, it is going to be pulled down by the remaining 80%. That is why this 80% has got to be nurtured, they have to be given rights and access, they need some share in this spectacular growth of ours.

WSJ: And violence…

AR: It is the absolute last resort. When reason has failed, when rationality has failed, when compassion has failed…History teaches us that violence only occurs when everything else has failed. If this is beneficial development, why is there so much violent opposition to it?

WSJ: So this “red corridor” that runs through the heart of India, a state within a state…

AR: I don’t know how “red” it is. But we have to ask ourselves, how to take this forward. I would go the Gandhian way, which is talk to the other side and treat them as equals, negotiate, find out what’s gone wrong. But we can’t send the army in as Home Minister P.Chidambaram is threatening to do. In any case we must talk to the people who are facing the consequences the most.

WSJ: Its interesting that the Congress-led government at the Centre has the same views as all the opposition parties which run the affected states, whether it is the Left in Bengal or the BJP in Chhatisgarh?

AR: Why is that surprising? After all, every political party laying claim to a different ideology has ruled different parts of the country at different times and nothing changed for the tribals. Moreover, the tribal leadership has either not been accepted and promoted, nor have their histories or ideologies become part of the mainstream. Instead, they’ve been forever the subjects or recipients of ideologies evolved by others. One of the biggest failures of independent India has been the failure to give the tribals a place in the national scene.

WSJ: Do you think government programs like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) work in disaffected areas like these?

AR: That’s what the states are claiming. However, programs like the NREGA demand a modicum of peace, you can’t work in the fields if violence is breaking out all around you.

WSJ: On the Right to Information (RTI) Act, with which you’ve been closely associated since its inception 4 years ago, what is the progress so far?

AR: The RTI has become a lifeline for democracy in our country. Despite the failures of various state commissioners or government to implement Section 4. (This mandates the government to publicly disclose as many as 17 bits of information, including its budget, personnel, areas of work, etc.) That’s why today the government can’t touch the RTI without touching the whole of India. Because it’s been used by a variety of people for a variety of reasons, with reasonable success. Sharing information is sharing power and nobody understands this better than the bureaucracy and the politicians, in that order.

But the people are now asking for their, for our share of governance, our share in decision-making, in fact if the tribals of India had had RTI 40 years ago, the situation that we face today wouldn’t have happened. Wherever I travel, people feel the RTI is their Act and they own it. This is a fundamental change from what existed years ago.

Of course, a number of problems remain, of infrastructure, non-delivery, of systems not being in place, information commissioners not being trained, etc. But on the whole, the Act has worked.

WSJ: But despite its success, the government wants to amend it. Why?

AR: The government wants to put all file notings under wrap. Meaning, all discussions, consultations, all reasons for decision-making should become secret. Which means you’ll know nothing about the process, just the end decision.

WSJ: But so far the process has been open?

AR: Yes, so far the process has been open, although they now want to close that. The Department of Personnel & Training which comes under the Prime Minister’s Office, which is responsible for the functioning of the RTI, is now saying that the “consultative process” as well as anything that protects the “candour” of people expressing their opinion, will not be revealed. Behind this move to amend the Act and to kill its spirit, is the bureaucracy.

WSJ: So the government which gave the RTI to the people four years ago is now taking it away?.

AR: Equally horrifying is that all applications which are “frivolous or vexatious” will be disallowed. Now who is going to decide what that is? Possibly, the policeman or the ‘patwari’ (village revenue official) or the ’sarpanch’ (village headman)… Naturally, everything will be “vexatious”…The move undermines the entire Act itself.

WSJ: You’ve been involved with the NREGA on the ground, how well do you think it has worked?

AR: I will say that this is the first rural development service where people know what they are receiving so they can monitor it, where there has been concurrent evaluation, where we know what the losses or gains are. So, every time I read about corruption in the NREGA I am thrilled, not because there is corruption but because for the first time, so many people are protesting against waste of public money. India should be proud.

WSJ: Give me an example…

AR: A women’s group in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, has got 1400,000 rupees ($29,710) as unemployment allowance because they applied for work and didn’t get it. According to the Act, you have to get work in 15 days within five kilometers of your village, and if the government can’t give you work, it has to pay you unemployment allowance…Could you ever think of something like this before?

WSJ: But what about the enormous leakages and lakhs of rupees down the drain…

AR: For the first time, we know where the money has gone, even if its down the drain. We know who’s swindled it and how it has been swindled. In Bhilwara, in Rajasthan, we have just completed a social audit. We used RTI to access public records and bring them out into the public domain, share it with people whose names are on the records and took a public meeting to testify whether their names were rightly or wrongly there.

You see, RTI is a mandatory provision in the NREGA, which means transparency and accountability on the part of government functionaries is now mandatory. That’s how you find out what’s going on, because now the people can’t be refused information. It’s mandatory for every ‘panchayats’ to do a social audit before the next installment of money is released by the government.

WSJ: What is a social audit?

AR: It is an audit where every penny can be tracked, but it goes beyond the money to questions like quality and choice. They are now taking place all over the country. In Andhra Pradesh, they do more than 2 dozen audits every day, and over the last few months they’ve recovered more than 60 million rupees from defaulters…For me, this is democracy at work.

WSJ: Tell me about your Bhilwara social audit?

AR: We were able to get some transparency in the muster rolls, in the labor lists. Then we discovered how money for materials was being wasted. There was this bicycle repair shop that was issuing bills for the supply of cement and materials worth lakhs of rupees. We traced this through VAT, etc, and now the whole lower political system and the lower bureaucracy is up in arms against us. I’ll give you a positive example too. Thirty Bhil tribal families, which have been migrating for several years looking for work in the big cities, for the first time did not migrate last year. Because of the NREGA, they found work in the village.

If there had been a process like this in Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand, in the tribal areas, why should there have been any violence at all? Fifteen years ago, when we talked of social audit, we were told we were Naxalites, but today a social audit is an institutional form of governance.

WSJ: So this is now being replicated all over the country?

AR: Two years ago, an industrial design institute in Pune, Maharashtra, came to us asking us they wanted to look at the tools used by women in the NREGA. In the last 60 years, nobody has taken so much interest in tools used by poor women. What should the ‘gainti’ or the pick-axe be like, can fiber-glass rods be used to reduce its weight, and should it be both-sided or one-sided? What about the ‘tagari,’ or the tray in which the mud is lifted, should it be lighter? If you carry it on your hip, should it be shaped round or should it have a dent?

Now, with one click of the computer mouse you can find out the name of the man or the woman who has got work under NREGA, her job card number, how many days of work they’ve got, how they have been paid, etc. It’s all on the Web site and its open to everyone.

WSJ: Thank you very much.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125723504437924775.html

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To
Shri P Chidambaram
Union Home Minister
New Delhi
28 Oct 2009

Subject: Suggestions for Urgent Action in Tribal Areas

Dear Sri P Chidambaram,

We are deeply concerned over the recent developments in the tribal region of central India. The unfolding para-military offensive in that area, we fear, is bound to worsen the prevailing situation there causing widespread killing of innocent adivasis besides increasing the hardships they are already facing. We are also concerned over the loss of lives of security personnel. It is well known that the adivasis have been subjected to deprivations for centuries and they are now confronted with new problems stemming from the manifold attacks on them from the side of the state in the wake of the recent industrialization drive and the resistance to it spearheaded in many areas by the Maoists.

We believe that the following initiatives should be urgently taken to address the situation which is fast developing into a crisis.

1. As a Gandhian activist working in one of the most affected areas of Chhatisgarh I am well aware that the civil administration was prevented from functioning by the Salwa Judum vigilantes and the security forces as a strategy to force the people to vacate the villages and come to the Salwa Judum Camps; that is why some of the major welfare programmes were abandoned and basic amenities denied to the people in the tribal villages. As a result of this a large proportion of the population became dependent on the naxalites for their survival and protection. Characterising the affected areas as a “liberated zone of the Maoists” was a part of that strategy.

Therefore, we suggest that the civil administration be allowed to resume its functions immediately. I believe that the Maoists have no reasons to deprive the tribal people from the basic amenities available through ration shops under the PDS for the BPL families, Anganwadi programme, schools, health services and National Rural Employment Guarentee Act ( NREGA) which must be resumed .

2. All offensive drives by the paramilitary forces,the SPOs and Salwa Judum vigilantes in the tribal areas should be immediately stopped. Police may function to assist the civil administration in carrying out the much-needed development measures.

3. The Supreme Court order to the Chhatisgarh Government to rehabilitate and compensate all tribal people displaced due to Salwa Judum be implemented forthwith.

4. State should create confidence in the minds of the adivasis by prosecuting all those involved in committing severe atrocities like rape, murder, looting their properties and burning houses. It should be noted that none of the criminals habe been brought to book and justice has been denied to the tribals till date despite the reports of the NHRC and orders of the Supreme court.

In this volatile situation it is imperative for the government to take concrete measures and demonstrate its sincerity of purpose and thereby win people’s confidence in democracy.

We assure you our unstinted support in pursuing these steps.

With warm regards,
Yours sincerely,

( Himanshu Kumar )
vcadantewada@gmail.com
mobile: 91-9425260031
On behalf of the Citizens Initiative for Peace

Members of the Citizens Initiative for Peace include:

Rabi Ray, Rajindar Sachar, Mahasweta Devi, PB Sawant, Rajni Kothari, K G Kannabiran, Ajit Bhattacharjea, Kuldeep Nayar, Mahesh Bhatt, Muchkund Dubey, Prabhash Joshi, B K Roy Burman, D. Bandyopadhyay, B D Sharma, S R Sankaran, Binayak Sen, Amit Bhaduri, Randhir Singh, Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, Annie Raja, Tapan Bose, Sumanta Bannerjee, Sumit Chakravartty, Sujato Bhadra, Teesta Setalvad, Lingaraj, R Ramdas, Manoranjan Mohanty, Ramachandra Guha, Sandeep Pandey, G Haragopal, KB Saxena, Meher Engineer, Harsh Mander, D Narasimha Reddy, Pushkar Raj, Shabnam Hashmi, SC Behar, Bhagabat Prasad Rath, Swadhin Pattanayak, Harivansh, Himanshu Kumar, Praful Samantara, Kavita Srivastava, Saraswati Swain, Rabindranath Sahoo, Madhu Sarin, Nandini Sundar, Ravi Hemadri, S.R. Darapuri, Sudhir Pattnaik, Suhas Borkar, Satya Sivaraman, Apoorvanand, Ajay Dandekar, and many others

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Inspector Francis Induwar was kidnapped and beheaded by Naxalites in Jharkhand recently. Whatever your ideology, is this not cold-blooded murder?

I condemn the beheading. It is absolutely unacceptable. There is no way I can approve of the killing. There are some questions about who has carried it out. If the CPI (Maoist) has carried it out, I condemn their action. Having said this, it is important to remember that the violence of resistance is a consequence, not a cause. We have to see it in the background of state violence.

But Induwar was in a market when he was captured and then later murdered. How can this be consequential violence?

I have already said that I condemn this action. It is murder and has no justification. But the general violence is a consequence of the state violence — both structural and direct. The vast majority of the poor people are kept in poverty because of the state. Today, the state violence and the violence of resistance are locked into a tragic cycle. This cycle needs to be broken. Both forms of violence need to be brought to a halt. We need to halt military engagement and start talking.

Naxalites have never executed a kidnapped police officer before. This seems to be much worse than the normal “tragic cycle” of violence and counter-violence you refer to. Has Naxalite violence reached a new level?

I hope this is an aberration. I would like to believe that this is an aberration. But I also don’t think this kind of brutality is new for either side. I think similar incidents have occurred before.

For the record: Are you associated with the CPI (Maoists) in any way? Do you agree with their demands?

I am a member of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties. That is my only affiliation. I am not a member of any other group. I don’t condemn the Naxal demands for a just society. I am condemning their resort to violence and brutality.

You say state and Naxal violence are equally illegitimate. But state violence has some checks. In your case there is a judicial trial, you finally got bail. But the Naxals killed Inspector Induwar without any semblance of ‘due process’. How can you equate violence by the state and Naxals?

I am not equating anything. I am holding all violence to be illegitimate. I don’t want to get into the business of saying one is worse than the other. But this idea that state violence is more benign is not true. In south Bastar [in Chhattisgarh] lakhs of people have been displaced and hundreds have been killed by state violence. What happened to me is not as bad. Similarly, what happened to Inspector Francis is much worse that what the state has done to me.

You believe that Naxals feed on local grievances against state violence. But in that case why does not a single political party or mass movement support them. Even the LTTE had a mass base. Where is the popular base of Naxals?

This is not my area of expertise. But I don’t agree with you. I don’t think the Naxals could survive as a force if they did not have some local public support.

There is debate currently on whether the government should tackle the Naxals head on, or whether it should facilitate development first. Do you support the argument that development in these impoverished parts will end Naxal violence?

The definitions of development that different classes in society have are different. The kind of development that the ruling classes want is privatisation and widespread displacement. That may not be the idea of development that people living in these areas have. We cannot have a form of development which is a reassertion of the hegemony of a few.

You’ve been out on bail for several months now. How does it feel to be free?

Well, my trial is proceeding in Raipur. One more chargesheet has been filed by the Chhattisgarh government. It is as absurd as the earlier ones. At a personal level, my wife has been diagnosed with cancer, and my life is concentrated on getting her well. I am also in anguish over increasing state-Naxal violence. There doesn’t seem to be any scope for dialogue. It is like watching two locomotives racing towards each other.

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• ‘I have always condemned violence, whatever the justification’ : Interview with Binayak Sen (6)
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Please find attached the third chargesheet ( IInd supplementary charge sheet.) against Dr. binayak Sen filed in the Raipur District court on 1st August. 2009.

It is really disgusting the manner in which the chhattisgarh State police is hounding Binayak.

Dr. Sen and Ilina are both in CMC Vellore, where Ilina is undergoing chemotherapy. Between the first and the second Chemotherapy, Ilina translated this note. She wanted advise as to what should be done. Yesterday was the date of th etrial. They have already started calling witnesses from the IIrd charge Sheet. Canthis Charge sheet be schallenged inthe high court.

Kavita

Ilina’a note:

Finally, I managed to translate the document, which was a depressing experience.The Malti mentioned in the chargesheet as being menetioned in a rupantar doc is our colleague Malti Jadhav, but of course one can keep proving this in court. Prafull Jha did do some translations for us, but he has worked for almost all ngos and nwspapers in raipur at some time or the other. Comrade Kusumlata is from the Gandhian Institute in Varanasi.

once again, you can argue it out however long it takes.I wonder whether we have any legal recourse. Pl apply your minds to this, and I will touch base again after I have recovered from the chemo , in a day or two.

Ilina

Note:This translation pertains to the operative part of the second suppl chargesheet (p 5-13 of the original).

Description of supplementary chargesheet.

The charge sheet against the three accused was filed on the basis of sufficient evidence before the CJM Court at Raipur on 02.08. 07. In accordance with section 173/(8) JF , and in continuation of the investigation, a supplementary charge sheet 50 /(A) /08 was filed after taking due permission on 4.11.2008. Since the investigation was incomplete in some respects , further permission of the court to file supplementary charge sheet was obtained under section 173/(8) JF and supplementary charge sheet 50 /(B)/09 is presented before the honourable court:-

1.State Bank of India. New Shanti Nagar was requested to furnish details of bankers’ cheques, bank drafts, and cheques received by Dr Binayak Sen, Rupantar, Rupantar organization and Rupantar Trust from various states. This has been received. Lakhs of Rupees have have been credited and debited in Corporation Bank, Nav Bharat Complex, Raipur.Money has been taken out from many banks and shown as expenditure and saving .Information was requested from the Income Tax Comissioner, Raipur in this regard, and according to their letter no 2009-19/167/ dtd.4.5.09, it is declared that Dr Binayak Sen is an Income Tax assessee, and on March 31, 2007, an income tax of Rs 1000/ has been deposited. The accounts of Rupantar organization SB /01/9981, Shri Rupantar SB/01/009843, and Shri Rupantar SB/01/00901, have over Rs 40,00,000/ in them. This information has been submitted in supplementary charge Sheet 50/(A) /08, but the IT returns on this reported to be nil. Elina Sen and other members of the family are reported not to have PAN cards. The records of different banks are not receives, and will be submitted separately once received. Apart from this, Dr Binayak Sen has received Rs 5500 from Rupantar as Directr.Dr Binayak Aen’s income from medical work is stated to be Rs 60,000.On 19.05.07, during the search of Dr Binayak Sen’s house, no evidence was found of medical examination room, patient examination table,stethoscope, medicines, BP machine, patient treatment register, and patient visitng time. Dr Binayak Sen is a doctor only in name, the treatment is non existent, and this is only a way of turning Rupantar’s money into income, and using his brains to work together with Narayan Sanyal and others for CPI Maoist and naxalite organizations. This is not clearly stated in the IT returns, which have Dr Binayak Sen’s signature.This paper refers to savings of Rs 10,00,000. The above information is provided by the IT Commissioner, Raipur.

2. Accused Narayan Sanyal is a permanent memer of the polit bureau. This is proved by the magazines seized from Pijush Guha as well as at Kirandul in which Narayan Sanyal’s name is mentioned,and CPI Maoist, banned organization Naxalite beside Dandakaranya agazine pubished by the Central Committee that our central committee has suffered great losses through the arrst of Vijayda alias Narayan Sanyal.Information was also sought from various states regarding declared award on Narayan Sanyal prior to his arrest. In Andhra Pradesh Govt order GOMS no 151 dtd 25.03.06 an award of Rs 12 Lkh Rups is declared for info /arrest of Narayan Sanyal, which has a list of CPI Maoist members, and aards declared on them. It is clear that accused Narayan Sanyal is a leading member of the CPI Maoist, who was given the responsibility of strengthening the organization in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa.

3. Accused Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya ,alias prakash, alias raghu,alias shyam, alias j r sudh, alias j m bhattacharya, was arrested in crime number 143/2007 dtd 18.09.07 under sections 121, 121 (Ka) 124 (ka) 414,467, 468,420,120 () of the IPC ,sections 10 (ka)20,21 of the UAPA, sections 3,4,5, of the Explosives Act, as well as sections 5,and 7 of the Act against anti national literature and communication material, in Thana Buddhaji Colony Patna, and seizures from him included naxal literature,detonator, fuse wire gelatine,laptop,other cpi maoist literature, ans many letters.Shrimati Shoma Sen, was sent email by Shrimati Elina Sen, who runs Rupantar, to Dr Binayak Sen.This is mentioned in the CPU print.Shrimati Soma Sen is a lecturer in Nagpur, and she as admitted in her statement before Hon Court of Shri BS Saluja that her husband was arrested in a naxalite case in Pana and is presently lodged in Hyderabad Central jail in a 15 year old naxalite case.It is clear that Dr Binayak Sen is connected with Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya and his wife Soma Sen and is spreading terror in the state.

4.According to notification no F 4-101/Griha C/07 of the Home department, Govt of Chhattisgarh, and the Chhattisgarh Special Pubic Safety Act 2005(sr 14) year 2006 and 2007 extended on april 11, 2008, CPI Maist, and its six front organizations 0rganizations- Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangh. Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangh, Krantikari adivasi Balak sangh.Krantikari Kisan committee,Mahila Mukti Manch,RPC alias Janatana Sarkar have been banned as illegal organizations for anoher year.A copy of the dvd of Dr Binayak Sen’s CPU was obtained from the honourable Court, and it contains mention of banned organizations like Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Mukti Sangathan,Janatana Sarkar,Dandakaranya Specia zonal Committee, Comrade Meena you struggle n, e are ith you, Appendic 6 CPI Maoist analysis of the situation of Women, Jal Jangal zameen, hamari hai hamaro hai,, and Peoples war. It is clear that DR Binayak Sen is connected to naxalite organizations, and is contributing intellectually to violent activities along wth Narsyan Sanyal.

5.Prafull Jha was arrested in thana DD Nagar in crime no. 14/08 under sections 120 B 121, 121 (Ka) 1222, 124(ka), besides25 Arms Act , sections 3, 6 of Telegraphy Act, besides sections 2(kha)(ga), 8 (i), 2,3.5. of he CG Specia Public Security Act (2005), sections 3, 10(1),(18), (20).(21), of th UAPA, and sections 4 and 5 f the Explosives Act.Apart from Pafull Jha, pistol, walkie talkie, wireless sets were seized in bags from KS Priya , alias Malti. These were seized while being dispatched to some important address conducting naxalite activities.Chargeshhet on the basis of sufficient evidence was presented in this matter before the Honourable Court in Raipur, and the matter is under trial. The name of this dangerous accused Prafull Jha is mentioned in the print of the CPU of Dr Binayak Sen, and it is mentioned that he is paid a sum of Rs 2500, and Malti is paid Rs 1500.Malti has admitted tht she is the wif of Gursa Usendi, alias Vijay, who lives in the forest and works for Naxalites. Dr Binayak Sen is in direct contct with such dangerous Naxalites.Dandakaranya zonal Committee is the name of the premier unit of the CPI (Maoist). Party.

6.Crime number 75/06 was registered in Tikrapara thana under sections of the IPC and UAPA. In this matter, pamphlets were thron into the MLA rest house, and MLAs were threatened that they wuld be blon up.Malti, laias Priya, alias Kumari, wife of Vijay alias Gudsa Usendi have been arreated in this case/ dreaded weapons, pistols, grenades, laptop, amd naxalite literature were seized from her. They have been chargesheeted and the trial is underway at Raipur.The print out of the computer of Dr Binayak Sen shows that he was in contact with these dreaded naxalites since 1999.

7.Naxalite accused Pijush Guha was arrested on 6.5.07 at Ganj Thana.Apart from Rs 49,000 cash and naxal iterature, a cell phone with number 097324-49150 was seized from him. Information regarding applicant and holder of the sim card was reuested from GM, Hutch company, west Bengal. Pijush Guha had admitted to this being his phone.According to documents received from Hutch company, the mobile number 9732449150 beonged to Ajit Biswas, c/0 Balaram Biswas,res of Kulghachi colony,Dakshinpara, PO Kukghachi, dt Nadia. His voter Id card is appended to his pre paid application form. This number does not belong to accused PIjush Guha.It is clear that accused Pijush Guha used this number for secret conversation, and kept changing his mobile number from time to time, This is why the phone that was with him at the time of his arrest was not his on.It is clear that he did this to avoid getting caught and to keep his naxal activities secret.

8.The names of Dr Amita Shrivastava, Shankar Singh, Rupantar mahoba Bazar Sen, Prafull Jha, Mati, absconding naxalite Dr Amita Shrivastava absconding naxalite Shankar Singh re also mentioned, besides mention of establishing janatana sarkar and carrying out peoples’ war in dandakaranya. And spresding terror.

9. Accused Dr Binayak Sen was granted bail by the Hon Supreme Court on 25,05.09.The next daya ttripper was damaged by naxalites at village Gulum kondo 200 metres from Bodra nala on the main road. Naxal pamphlets were distributed at the site which expressed happiness at the release of Dr Bnayak Sen and gave a call for intensifying movement for the release of other comrades. It also proclaimed opposition to imperialism, capitalism , Tata, Essar, Raoghat project and proclaimed long live CPI (Maoist). Copy of the FIR, seizure memo, and photocopy of the naxalite pamphlet is enclosed.

10. Information regarding telephones used by Dr Binayak Sen, or at his residence are as follows: 0771-2422875,244669,2423875,94252-06875,98932-24291, 0771-2100586, 24246609,6540728, Shrimati Elina Sen 9926003877,9926603877,9425206275, Hotel Geetanjali Rly station chowk, 0771-2523969, 2529100, 2510242, Hotel mahindra Kutchery chowk Raipur- 0771 2524470,2524471, Pijush Guhas Kolkata number 033 24163626,031822-0162, 09325580055,09433140168,09732449150. Besides this is not possible to estimate how many phones, including secret phones are held by Rupantar sanstha. It is surprising that Dr Binayak Sen refers to himself as a children’s doctor. Yet he helps and speaks to naxalites on secret hideouts of naxalites through these phones.

11.The airtel mobile number of accused Dr Binayak Sen is 9893224291, and his residence phone number is 0771 2422875. Madhav Sanyal, brother of Narayan Sanyal has phoned on his number and phones to him from dr Binayak Sen numbers are as follows:

1. 919433140168 to 9893224291 dtd 22.01.07

2. 919433140168 to 9893224291 dtd 22.01.07

3. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 30.01.07

4. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 30.01.07

5. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 30.01.07

6. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 30.01.07

7. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 30.01.07

8. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 30.01.07

9. 919433140168 to 9893224291 dtd 03.02.07

10. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 16.03.07

11. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 16.03.07

12. 0771-2422875 to 919433140168 dtd 17.03.07

13. 0771-2422875 to 919433140168 dtd 17.03.07

14. 0771-2422875 to 919433140168 dtd 17.03.07

15 0771-2422875 to 919433140168 dtd 17.03.07

16. 919433140168 to 9893224291 dtd 19.0307

17 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 19.03.07

18. 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 29.03.07

19. 919433140168 to 0771-422875 dtd 29.03.07

20 9893224291 to 919433140168 dtd 29.03.07

21 919433140168 to 0771- 2422875 dtd 29.0307

Dr Vinayak Sen, before his arrest, meets prisoner Narayan Sanyal , then phones his brother four times on 17.3.09. Similarly, he talks to him twice on 19.3.07 and four times on 29.3.07Examination of the jail records shows that on 14.03. 07,17.03.07, and on 29.03.07, the communications lines of the naxalites between Calcutta and Raipur was active. At that tim Dr Vinayak Sen had not been arrested. These call details can be tallied with the records of jail visits.It is clear that Dr Vinayak Sen was directly involved in naxalite activities for many years, and was functioning as a leader and director of the naxalites.

12. In Book 3 of the print out of Dr Vinayak Sen’s computer, pqge 299 mention is made of Bijay, alias on behalf of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Vijay alias Gursa Usendi saying that the police and officers are engaged in a dangerous and violent war against the people .The said Bijay alias Gursa Usendi is the husband of Malti arrested in DD Nagar crime no 14/08 and is the president of the Dandakaranya zonal Committee, who always issues press statements on behalf of naxalites. Such dangerous leaders of naxalites are mentioned in the print out.

13. Print book no.6 of the DVD of the CPU seized from the house of Dr Vinayak Sen, is labelled Rupeanter ADM. In Page 46 it says Malti 1500/- rupees, Uma 1500/- rupees, Vinayak 5000/- rupees, Page no 48 says project director 5500/-rupees, Vinayak, Malti 2000/-rupees and Prafull Jha 2500/-rupees and (Statert Begning at 2200/-). Page no 49 says ( Fixs who will talk to) Prafull, Ghanshyam, Suresh, again in English group ( All so discuss mess Date. 21.05.1999). The above printout makes it clear that Dr Vinayak Sen is directly associated with Prafull Jha Malti, K.S Priya from the year 1999 and he is connected with Vijay alias Gudsa Usendi since 1999.It is clear that Dr. Vinayak Sen in the guise of a doctor was involved with the naxalite organisation at the highest level, and was giving effect to violent and heart rending acts, and strengthening the naxalite movement behind the scenes.

14. Print book no.15 page 252 of the DVD of the CPU seized from the house of Dr Vinayak Sen. His wife writes-

Dear Comrade

I have just received Com Kusumlata’s letter. It is unfortunately not possible for me to attend the drafing committee meeting on march 26 at numbai,……cont.

Please Stay in touch re further developments in this regard.

Ilina Sen

15.It is clear that the DVD of the CPU seized from the house of Dr Vinayak Sen that he sometimes calls himself Maha-Sachiv, Project Director, General Secretary and State Convenor. The amazing fact is that Dr. Vinayak Sen calls himself a children’s doctor. But till today there is no proof of his having treated any child in A-26 Surya Apartments.

16. In the print out of the DVD obtained from Dr Binayak Sen’s CPU, Shankar Singh who is underground and absconding for many years and is an absconding naxalite gives his address as Mahoba Bazar and in page 144 book no 25, says 10th pass alternative school for workers’ children and in book 56 page no 171 , Shankar D 32 SBI Colony, Mahoba Bazar Tatibandh Raipur, and in list of members in serial no. 54< Raipur Rupantar Shri Shankar A 26 Surya Apartment, Katora Talab, Raipur (C G), while he has stated himself as working in Shrimati Elina Sen’s organization Rupantar and staying in the house of Arun Kumar Dubey, in which house Shankar, Amita Shrivastav and Narayan Sanyal used to sty, and where Shankar described himself as a Press Reporter.Dr Vinayak Sen used to visit this house, and has been identified as such.It is clear that Dr Vinayak Sen played an important role in getting houses and jobs for thse dangerous naxalits, getting their bank accounts opened, and in helping them run away.Dr Vinayak Sen workd as a director for Naxalite organizations.Shankar Singh and Amita Shrivastava were his important associates, through whom Dr Vinayak nSen and Naxal leader Narayan Sanyal’s leadership, used to do secret tasks for thr naxal organization. This is why he is underground from Raipur since 2006.

The above sufficient evidence from documents, telephone call details, mobile call details,CPU print, accused Narayan Sanyal,Dr vinayak Sen , accused Pijush Guha all three in coordination hatched criminal conspitracy against state and the nation. They together adopted violent tactics and worked with banned illegal organizations to give shape tojnatana sarkar to establish the state of Dandakaranya through guerrilla warfare at gun point. Presently, the self motivated movment of adivasis since 2005 has been given the name Salwa Judum by citizens.These naxalites are even calling the salwa judum as illegal .Enough vidence has been found that the present accused are naxalites .In this matter, this supplementary chargesheet is presented as charge sheet 50 (B)/09 dated 29,07.09 before the honourable Court, under section 173 (8) J F.

Investigating Officer
BBS Rajput
Additional SP
Dt Raipur (CG)

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As per preliminary reports received from tribes of these villages, in fact these forces reached Vechapal village first to teach them a lesson for opening their mouth a month back about burning& looting of their houses & rape, killing of their fellow villagers. This time these forces captured all the houses of Vechapal village & made holes in the walls to use them as bunkers. Forces stayed in the village for three days. All the tribes of the village hide in the forest during the period. Police forces fired mortar grenade on fleeing tribes killing one boy Modu s/o Bhima. They caught two boys of Ettepad village while they were going to participate in a cock fight at Hurrepal village. They caught two more tribes of Kawadgaon. These forces also caught one women named Somali of village Tinenar & on 11th of August when these forces went back they killed all five people whom they had caught alive and killed them on the way back to the police station. They threw Somali’s dead body
in a stream on the way near Cherli village. Villagers recovered her dead body naked, suspecting rape before she was killed.

We request a national level fact finding team to investigate into this matter & bring out the truth to ensure right to live to these left alone tribals.

Himanshu Kumar
Dantewada- Chhattisgarh
9425260031

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