the movement of india may - june 2010 october...

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October-December 2009The Movement of India May - June 2010

The

Movementof India

Bi-Monthly

Rs. 20

Vol. 5, Issue 1

July - 2010News Magazine of National Alliance of People’s Movements

?? Who Is

Afraid Of

Caste Census

Who Is

Afraid Of

Caste Census

Bhopal VerdictA Mockery of Justice

POSCO and TATAPeople’s Resistance in OrissaInterview with Prafulla Samantara

People’s Audit of SEZs l Independent People’s Tribunal on Land Acquisition and Green Hunt l

People’s Politics in Nepal lAm I a Maoist? l

Tributes: Ashish Mandloi and Acharya Ramamurti l

October-December 2009

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The Movement of India May - June 2010

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Editorial Team

S.R. Darapuri

Joe Athialy

Madhuresh Kumar

Mukta Srivastava

C. Balakrishnan

Clifton D’Rozario

Siddharth Narrain

Rahul Pandey

Manish Jain

Adithya

T.K. Dayanand Doddatti

Advisory Team

Medha Patkar

Aruna Roy

Sister Celia

S.G. Vombatkere

Gabriele Dietrich

S.R. Suniti

Sandeep Pandey

U.R. Ananthamurthy

Trilochan Sastry

Ajit Sahi

Neelabh Mishra

Resistances in Orissa:Interview with Prafulla Samantara 5

Who is Afraid of Caste Census? 11

People’s Politics in Nepal 14

The People’s Audit of SEZs 17

Independent People’s Tribunal onResource Grab and Operation Green Hunt 22

A Statement on Maoist Violence

Am I a Maoist?

POSCO Project Facsheet

The Bhopal Verdict

Cost of Protesting Peacefully in Orissa

A Tribute to Ashish Mandloi 37

A Tribute to Acharya Ramamurti 38

News & Notes from People’s Movements 39

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- Editorial Team

The judgment on Bhopal

gas tragedy came a weekbefore we were going to theprint. It has once againexposed the weakness ofIndia’s legal-political systemin regulating industries andmaking them accountable tothe people. The people are,as expected, outraged at thegross injustice, as expressedin NAPM’s statementpublished in this issue. Thisoutrage has found echoamong sections ofmainstream media andpoliticians too, and we hopethat the accused will bebrought to book and tens ofthousands of affected peoplewill receive duerehabilitation.

The government’sresponse to the rural peoplein Orissa who are non-violently protesting forcedacquisition of their lands formining projects of POSCO,Tata, Vedanta and other

corporates, has beenunfortunate too. Equally sadhas been the recent warningissued by Home Minstry tointellectuals and citizens whooppose the government’soffensive against adivasis inthe name of anti-Maoistoperation.

We present a factsheetof key events connected withPOSCO project and a first-hand account of impact onpeople of Dhinkia,Gobindapur and Nuagaonvillages after facing attackfrom security forces.

The tragic events inOrissa make the interview ofPrafulla Samantara verytopical. This interview is apart of MOI’s initiative todocument opinions andreflections of senior activist-leaders. Ashok Chowdhuryand Medha Patkar wereinterviewed in the previousissue. Another unique sectionin MOI, besides interviews ofactivists, is the record ofimportant news and notesacross the country connectedwith people’s issues. The‘interviews’ and ‘news &notes’ are our efforts tochronicle the history ofordinary people and people’smovements in India.

The demand for castecensus has again brought thedebate on caste basedoppression to the fore. Thearticle by Darapuri gives ahistorical perspective of castecensus and explains whysections of higher castes, whohave usurped fruits of

development, have opposedit.

Kaveri Rajaraman’sarticle on Nepal is a firsthand account of the ongoingchurnings of people’s politicsin the Himalayan neighbour.

We pay tributes toAshish Mandloi andAcharya Rammurthi.Ashish-bhai was a keyactivist and a pillar in theNarmada Bachao Andolansince his early youth. Hisuntimely death is a big lossto the narmada movementand activists everywhere.Acharya Rammurthi was aveteran Sarvodayi leaderwhose death has left behinda grand legacy of Gandhianpolitical thought andeducational activism.

This issue also containsreports from two crucialcitizen’s events held recentlyin Delhi – the People’sNational Audit of SEZs andIndependent People’sTribunal against forced landacquisition, displacementand war on people in India’stribal and farming regions.The Movement of India issteadily stabilizing its editingand production processes.Now the bigger challenge forus is to increase subscriptionbase and distribution.Towards this end we requestyou, the readers, to spreadword about MOI and help usmake new subscribers.

Please send us yourcomments on the articlespublished and yoursuggestions for improving thequality of MOI.

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Madhuresh : Could you

please explain the nature ofsocial movements whichemerged in Orissa in the postemergency and postliberalisation period? Also tellus about the key actors in thesemovements and how nature ofthese movements have changedover the years. Do also explainhow the character of state itselfhas undergone change, if at all.

Prafulla Samantara : Afterthe Emergency, themonopoly of the Congressended and there was a

political change. However,the alternative whichdemocratic process came outwith was not up to thepeople’s mandate. Manyyoung people sacrificed theirlives during the Emergencyin the movement led byJayprakash Narayan and inOrissa by an ideal man likeNavakrishna Choudhury. Inthe period of 1977-80, therewere no social movements assuch though there had beenstudents movements. In1980s when Congress cameback, a very forceful students

movement took place inOrissa against corruption.People like us who were notstudents also courted arrestwith the student leaders. Inthe 1980s a people’smovements against forceddisplacement took place inwestern Orissa inGandhamardan Hills. Thismovement can be called themother of all people’smovements against bauxitemining and industrializationin Orissa. This forcefulmovement against a publicsector corporation saw


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participation of all sections ofsociety including womencontinued for five years. Asimilar movement took placein Baliapal and in northerncoastal Orissa against theproposed missile range ofMinistry of Defence.

These two movementsbecame very successful inOrissa. Even after aninvestment of over threehundred crores, BALCO hadto withdraw fromGandhamardan hills.Similarly, the defence projectby the government also hadto be withdrawn because ofthe strong resistance. Theopposition, also led by BijuPatnaik, supported thesedemocratic movements notbecause they werecommitted to the cause but inlieu of the guarantee thatthey would get people’ssupport in the next elections.During 1995 to 2000movements against TATAand the private sectorcompanies took place inGopalpur, Chilka and otherplaces. The same people whowere in the opposition wereseen neither supporting thecompanies nor the displaced.Occasionally, they took upissues of better packages etcunlike the people whoopposed the projectsvehemently and without anycompromise. They wereforced to take up the causebecause of the votes and notout of a sense of right andwrong especially when in1990s tribal movementsstarted. For example, the

resistance against UtkalAluminium in Kashipur thatstarted in 1994 and is still on.

You can see thatsuccessive governments ofBiju Patnaik, J B Pattnaik, ornow of Naveen Patnaik,whether in power or inopposition have supportedthe companies and never themovements. Why is it so,because their stand onpolitics of development inglobalisation era stand incontrast with what peoplethink. Though there wasresistance when the publicsector came up, the publicsector did not deal by bribingthe people or any politicalparty. But, corporate bodiesare able to bribe the politicalparties.

All these things that thelocal politicians are engagingin are how the politics ofdevelopment functions postliberalisation. This is veryimportant. And now it isgoing on everywhere inKalinganagar, Jagatsinghpuranti-posco movement,Niyamgiri or anti-VedantaUniversity. So, politicalparties are not in the scenefor consistent resistance.Ruling Left parties even fromother states have come tosupport the people’s causewhen there is repression bythe police or by the stategovernment or by anycorporate goons. But onprinciple they are not withthese movements becausethey are not prepared tooppose industrialisation evenby the private sector, the

corporate bodies and theforeign investments. Theychoose what to support orwhat not to support. Even thesmall radical political partieswhich come forward insupport are not clearlyagainst the corporates orliberalisation, this isinteresting, since there is alack of clarity in principles asfar as mining, big investmentsor big industries areconcerned. However, afterthe Kalinganagar massacrewhere 14 people were shotdead by the police somepolitical parties, including theLeft came forward againstthe government.

So we can say thatduring post-independenceperiod there was no pressureon political parties becausemuch of industries were inpublic sector and they havetheir own role. But, onprinciple the struggle was notagainst the corporate bodiesor the public sector but it wasagainst the wrong decision ofindustrialisation — againstwrong planning andimplementation. Today thestruggle is against thei n d i s c r i m i n a t eindustrialisation with foreigni n v e s t m e n t s , p r i v a t einvestments and corporatebodies that are plunderingthe resources by taking awaythe right to livelihood andright to resources of thepeople. Today, the politicalparties, be it Congress, BJP orthe local ruling party BJD,are with the World Bank andwith liberalisation and

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globalisation and hence wecan say that their politics isagainst the people.

Now, the new socialprocesses are emerging.Before 1990s people’smovements were dependenton political parties. InBaliapal, even Biju Patnaik,the leader of the oppositionon principle was notopposing the missile range,but, his party’s MLAs likeGadadhar Giri led themovement vehemently untilhis death and Biju Patnaikhad to give in as people’ssupport was with themovement againstdisplacement. Similarly, inthat movement radical forcessuch as erstwhile naxaliteslike Gananath Patra joinedthese movements. My pointis there was opposition by theleaders to the movement butthe majority of the people inthe political party wereinvolved with it because thepeople’s mandate wasagainst displacement. So,ultimately this compelled theparty leaders to support themovements. This was alsobecause there was nopressure since it was all inpublic sector or the defenceministry under thegovernment of India,similarly in Gandhamardanalso.

But after liberalisationall political parties whichwere with the people’smovement do not dare tooppose the corporatesbecause of many reasons:party policies, the corporate

interest and their ownvested-interests withcorporates. Hence, people nomore depend on the politicalparties. This is the emergenceof social forces. The peoplethemselves raise their voices,the local leadership cometogether and create their ownway of democratic resistance,whether the other forces aregoing to be with them or not.That is the achievement.

Why are democraticand progressive forcesopposing liberalisation andprivatization? Ultimatelythese people are inspired tojoin these forces for the samereasons. And they challengethe political parties – withoutyou we can lead themovement. Thesemovements have positiveexperiences. TATA wasousted from Chilka and BijuPatnaik was forced towithdraw his stand. TATAwas even forced to leaveGopalpur. Kashipur is stillresisting though there was

repression and 3 people wereshot dead in 2000. Peoplehave their own way ofstruggle. Even the oppositionparties are with thecompany. So, social processand people’s politics camethrough force andmovements began to have astructure of people’s power.The people’s power to discussresources, polity, enemies,and alternatives. Ultimatelywhen people struggle toprotect the forest they alsodemand the rights of thetribals over their resources.And also when they opposethe land acquisition theydemand that right to landmust be entitled andagriculture must be restored.

So, post 1990 on one hand wehave this kind ofconsciousness coming in andon the other rise of BJP inthe state. How do we seethese developments?

The rise of BJP isbecause of a political


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vaccum. In early 1990sCongress gave way to JantaDal but subsequentlyCongress saw a rapid declineand its leadership becamecorrupt, demoralised andsuffered from factions andinfighting. BJP capitalised onthis and saw its fortunesgrowing. Suddenly, whenBiju Patnaik’s sonNaveenPatnaik came in theState and Vajpayeegovernment was formed atCentre and they cametogether and communalpolarisation took place. BJPtook advantage of thispolarization and also BijuJanata Dal took advantage oftheir support. But, the root ofthe BJP is RSS which took fulladvantage of the coalitiongovernment. Now, RSS isstronger than BJP becausethere is a leadership vacuumin the Party. The same hashappened in the Left partiesas well their leadership hasbecome weaker and theyhave failed to organise thestudents or workers or showa viable alternative politically,for which they are payingdearly. The Congress hasadapted the Right undertotally capitalistic ideology.Since the BJP is also capitalist,there is a competitionbetween two capitalistparties.

So, with this emergence ofRSS as a force has there beenany convergence with therising people’s forces in thelivelihood struggles or socialmovements?

So far the RSS has notdealt with any people’smovement or social issues. InKandhamal they tookadvantage of the raging issueof the tribal communityversus the dalits, in order tostrengthen the communalforces. But, they do not standfor the causes of adivasis,their right to livelihood, rightto resources, right to forests,they do not raise thesequestions. They raise issueson how the dalits areexploiting adivasis. Manyadivasis and dalits haveconverted to Christianity. Inorder to divide the adivasisand Christians they areraising issues of how dalitsare exploiting the adivasis inKandhamal but not in otherdistricts. The RSS takes

advantage of such issues tofuel their communal agenda.But, they are not with otherthe social forces.

Today in Orissa almost inevery part there is movementagainst rabidindustrialisaion going onJagsinghpur (anti-POSCO),Kalinganagar (anti-Tata),Kashipur (anti-UtkalAlumina), Niyamgiri (anti-Vedanat) and most recentbeing in Narayanpatna(reclaiming land by adivasisand dalits). So, has there beeneffort made to evolvealliances of movements orwhat kind of formation canwe say has taken place inpost-emergency period?

Here we have to talkabout post 1990s since priorto that we only had thesetwo movements of Baliapaland Gandhamardan therewas no other big socialmovement. There was someresentment againstdisplacement due to theHirakund dam, a couple oftimes people also raisedvoices against displacementbut not in an organisedmanner. However, after the1990s what we areexperiencing is an anti-TATAmovement, anti-POSCOmovement, and the anti-Vedanta Movement. I thinkthat various local leadershave emerged to lead theseautonomous movementswhere we do not intervene.But, I can say that we as apart of NAPM (NationalAlliance of People’s

The rise of BJP isbecause of a politicalvaccum. In early 1990sCongress gave way toJanta Dal butsubsequently Congresssaw a rapid decline andits leadership becamecorrupt, demoralisedand suffered fromfactions and infighting.

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Movements) there are manymovements which we cancall as our movements. Forexample, the lower Sukhtalanti-dam movement or inMaliparbat, Koraput. Theresistance in Niyamgiri, theAnti-Vedanta movementsstarted with a few supporterslike us but gradually manyforces joined in and wewelcomed them. The Anti-POSCO movement isbasically led by the people inCPI, though CPI as a partywas not completely with themovement earlier. Howeverlater party was forced toalign with the movementbecause the people and theleadership both belong to theCPI. They are determined notto accept anything exceptousting POSCO from there.Initially CPI was not againstPOSCO but, later on theyaccepted the people’smovement’s mandate: NoPOSCO. People like us, whobelieve in the anti-displacement and anti-imperialism stand cometogether to join thesemovements. We have analliance with some left partiessuch as the CPI (ML)Liberation and CPI(ML)New democracy. Theseparties also gathered theirsupport to come togetherwith these movements.

Is there a name to thiscoalition?

We have not named itbut in course of time we willhave our own process. Wealso work there as a part ofNAPM. We try to evolve a

process of alliance and co-operation in order to joinmovements that are againstdisplacement, againstimperialism and againstglobalisation. We areworking together .Sometimes, we do not haveother forces with us but weas NAPM provide all thesupport that we can . So, wework as a co-ordinator andco-ordinate other forces.

So, apart from the challengesof the state or the politicalparties not being with themovements, what are theother challenges that theyface at this moment?

One big challenge islack of support of politicalforces and a vacuum ofalternative politics. In ourstate Congress and BJP is inopposition, but Congress is inpower in Centre and BJP wasonce with BJD in previousgovernment. CPI and CPI(M)have their own limitationsbecause of many factors.CPI(M) has its own factorbecause of Singur andNandigram in West Bengal.They are not prepared to

come forward to be withtheses movements thoughthey are not opposing norsupporting, sometimes,earlier they gave support.They come forward alsowith anti-POSCOmovements or many othermovements. But, still we alsofeel that there is lack ofpeople’s political forces andthat is the real challenge.

How do you see the successof movements in Nandigramand Singur in theneighbouring state of WestBengal in recent timesthough?

They have the politicalsupport of TrinamoolCongress. People initiated theresistance, the mainopposition party, TrinamoolCongress took advantage ofthe movement. It became apolitical force with peopleand they could channelisethis. So, the government feltthe pressure and thecorporates like TATA wereforced to withdraw.However, in Orissa they arenot mining in Kashipur forlast 15-16 years and TATA


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was forced to withdraw fromGopalpur and Chilka. InKalinganagar 14 peoplewere shot dead in 2006. TheTATA’s will not be allowedto enter. Similarly, in POSCOall these industrial forceslashed out against thepeople’s movements.Activists like Medha Patkarand B D Sharma were notallowed to enter the villages.Even today things have notchanged much and thepeople’s struggle is still onand no land has beenacquired. In Niyamgiri,though the plant was builtand even the Supreme Courtallowed mining, the peoplehave managed to resist it.The people have taken up thechallenge to stall Vedantafrom mining. In Keonjharmining has been on for thelast 60 years. Areas wherethere is mining it’s verydifficult to continue thestruggle. In Keonjhar thehigher and the middle classare welcoming the steel

plants. But People are notprepared to accept it. Theysay they do not want anyfurther displacement. Peopleare resisting and the struggleis on against the Mittalsthere. So, till now thegovernment and thecompanies have not been ableto acquire any land. Thoughthe struggle is on it is difficultto predict what the futurelooks like. In the last 15 yearsno bauxite mining has takenplace.

And you see there is space formovements to keep thestruggle alive.

One movement then isan inspiration to anothermovement. That is why wecan say that theGandhamardan BachaoAndolan is the mother of allpeople’s movements againstdisplacement in Orissa. It isa successful movement. Atthat time opposing defenceproject, opposing the publicsector like Sterlite, nobodycould say that thesemovements are anti-nationalor anti-development. Butwith the entry of thecorporate sector thingschanged. The same people ofthe ruling or opposition partyare saying that thesemovements are anti-development, anti-nationalprocess. This politics ofdevelopment is manipulated,managed and controlled bythe corporates. The people donot accept this definition ofdevelopment.

Do you see the space formovements reducing or arethe people opening it?

In Orissa, wherepolitical leadership is verymuch anti-people, it has alsobeen corrupt at least for thelast 50 years. The poor peopletake part in movement andare leading it, which I thinkis a development for politicalinternalisation in future too.There will be social andpolitical movements, as soonthe people realise that thepolitical forces are with thecorporates and thesedevelopment policies areanti-people. Ordinary peoplemust engage with alternativepeoples politics, thenpeople’s political process willalso emerge. Most of themovements are active in thetribal areas. In tribal areaswhere leadership was absentearlier, it is slowly emergingfrom amongst the people.They have their own rightover their resources and theyclaim it. That is why we cansay that these movements arealso opening up the gates forpolitical and social forces.

So, we are in a hopefulsituation in the future. Thankyou!

Madhuresh Kumar is NAPMactivist and editorial member ofThe Movement of India. MoIgratefully acknowledges thecontributions of PrakritiPrajapati and Shazia Nigar intranscribing the [email protected]

Most of the movements

are active in the tribal

areas. The leadership is

slowly emerging from

amongst the people. They

have their own right over

their resources and they

claim it. That is why we

can say that these

movements are also

opening up the gates for

political and social forces.

l

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The Indian government

had to succumb to thepolitical pressure to agree forCaste Census at the end ofthe last budget session of theParliament. It was demandedoverwhelmingly by almost allthe political parties which itfound difficult to put aside.The Supreme Court of Indiaand some High Courts had offand on asked for the basis ofthe quantum of reservationfor Other Backward Classes(OBCs) which thegovernment could notprovide on account ofabsence of proper populationdata for these classes.Attempts were made by someStates to ascertain thepopulation figure for OBCsbut it was contested by theopponents of reservation.Kaka Kalelkar and MandalCommission had evolved

criteria for ascertaining thepopulation of OBCs. NationalBackward ClassesCommission was instituted toascertain the list of the Castesto be classified under thiscategory for reservation inCentral Governmentappointments. Similarly StateBackward Commissionswere also instituted toprepare such lists forreservation in State levelappointments. It is a fact thatCentral and State lists differin content.

At the national levelthe population of OBCs hasbeen accepted as 52% of theIndian population andreservation to the extent of27% has been made for themin Central Government posts.This was the outcome of theimplementation of MandalCommission Report in 1990.The matter went to the

Supreme Court of India andit was held to beconstitutionally valid. Thematter again came up beforethe apex Court when theCentral Government decidedto give reservation to OBCsin Higher Education and

The announcement for Caste

count during 2011 Census

has given rise to a big row

among its supporters and

opponents. One of the major

objections against the Caste

Census is that it will give

impetus to perpetuation of

Caste divisions in society. The

other objection is regarding

the operational difficulty in

ascertaining the correctness

of the caste claimed by a

person as there is no such

final list available with the

Census authorities.


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Technical Institutions. Thequestion regarding the basisof the quantum ofreservation was again raisedby the Court. The Courtagain directed the CentralGovernment to come up withreliable figures of OBCspopulation but theGovernment lacked suchdata.

Apart from the abovethere has been a regulardemand from variousorganizations and politicalparties especially those withpredominance of BackwardClasses for Caste basedCensus but it was brushedaside by the ruling party, beit BJP or Congress. Thisdemand was also raisedduring 2001 Census and thethen NDA government didnot entertain the request. Butthis time the pressure was sohigh that Congressgovernment could not affordto put it aside and had to

agree to the Caste countduring 2011 Census.

The announcement forCaste count during 2011Census has given rise to a bigrow among its supportersand opponents. One of the

major objections against theCaste Census is that it willgive impetus to perpetuationof Caste divisions in society.The other objection isregarding the operationaldifficulty in ascertaining thecorrectness of the casteclaimed by a person as thereis no such final list availablewith the Census authorities.

It is true that the lastCaste based Census wasconducted in 1931 by thethen British authorities andthen it was discontinued. Inpost-independence period noattempt was made to go forCaste count as thegovernment was notprepared to take up thiswork. No doubt CasteCensus is done regularly toascertain the population ofScheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes to set theirquota of reservation inservices and politicalreservation in Parliament

and State Assemblies whichis invariably in proportion totheir population. The 52%figure of OBC population hasbeen arrived at on the basisof their population in 1931Census which is disputed by

both the OBCs and the highercastes. So now it has becomenecessary to ascertain afreshthe population figure of theOBCs and 2011 Census is themost appropriate occasionfor it.

Now let us take up thefirst objection to CasteCensus regarding impetus tocaste division and itsperpetuation. It will be quiteapt to recall the observationsmade by Sir J H Hutton whowas the CensusCommissioner during 1931Census. In Chapter XII,‘Caste, Tribe and Race’ in thesection titled ‘The Return ofCaste’ he observed, “Acertain amount of criticismhas been directed at theCensus for taking any note atall of caste. It has been allegedthat the mere act of labelingpersons as belonging to acaste tends to perpetuate thesystem. It is, however,difficult to see why the

record of a fact that actuallyexists should lend to stabilizethat existence. It is just as easyto argue and with at least asmuch truth, that it isimpossible to get rid of anyinstitution by ignoring its

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existence like a proverbialostrich.” This observationmade by Hutton holds goodagainst the arguments putforth by the opponents ofCaste Census.

As regards operationalproblems in Caste count,Hutton also talks of thepractical problems evolved.“Experience at this Censushas shown very clearly thedifficulty of getting a correctreturn of castes and likewisethe difficulty of interpretingit for Census purposes,” hesays. Hutton writes abouthow people used the Censusto move up the social order,as a vehicle for what thelatter-day sociologists call‘Sanskritisation.’

No doubt similardifficulties may arise duringthis Census also but it will beof the opposite nature.During 1931 Census it was ascramble for up-gradation ofone’s Caste but this time itmay be ‘Desanskritisation.’i.e. down-grading of Caste.In the post Mandal quota eravarious castes may scramblefor downgrading their castesto get into the OBC list. The

struggle of the Gujjarsfor inclusion in the ScheduledTribes list is a recent exampleof the ensuing trend.Similarly land owning JatCaste of Uttar Pradesh hasbeen included in State OBClist by BJP for politicalreasons.

The opponents of theCaste census tend to give theimpression that the caste hasceased to exist and Censuswill make it raise its headagain. But if you look at thematrimonial advertisementsin the newspapers andinternet sites you will find thatnot only caste but sub-casteis most important formatrimony. It fullydemolishes the above premiseof the opponents of CasteCensus. In fact Caste isthriving but kicking. It is asocial reality whichdetermines one’s social statusand the limits of the socialrelations and alsoopportunities foradvancement in the life of anindividual.

After independence wehave adopted a system ofplanned development which

requires acorrect dataof ourpopulationand theextent ofs o c i a l ,educationala n de c o n o m i cbackwardness.It is a factthat inIndia class

and caste are almostcongruent. The Castes whichare socially andeducationally backward areinvariably economicallybackward also. Thus forproper planning, the strengthof target groups must beknown correctly which canbe ascertained through Castebased Census only.

Actually higher Castesare allergic to the CasteCensus because it will exposetheir low numbers and theshare of development andnational wealth they haveusurped at the cost of lowerCastes. Their fear is furtheraccentuated by the probablehigh number of OBCs whoare bound to demand agreater share in services andbenefits of development. Thatis why higher Castes areafraid of Caste Census.

S R Darapuri is retired IPSofficer, Vice President of PUCL-U.P., and editorial member ofThe Movement of India. Heworks on Dalit and otherhuman rights issues in [email protected] l


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This international worker’s

day, May 1st, 2010, sawmassive, energetic marchesand rallies of hundreds ofthousands of people allacross Nepal, from the largercities such as Kathmanduand Pokhara to each ofNepal’s smaller, semi-ruralcities. Organized by theUnited Communist Party ofNepal (Maoist), the rallieswere a jubilant celebration ofMay Day, but alsoconstituted the beginning ofan indefinite nation-widestrike and set ofmobilizations called for bythe party as part of a finalpush for a re-entry intolegitimate parliamentarypower.

The UCPN (Maoist)emerged as the largest singleparty to be voted in by theNepali electorate in the 2008

constituent assembly (CA)elections. The process ofdrawing up the constitutionwas, therefore, executed bya coalition led by the UCPN(Maoist) and its Chairman,Pushpa Kamal Dahal a.k.a.Prachanda. The electoralsuccess of the Maoists bothalarmed and surprised theNepali elite and theirpolitical representatives, aswell as the Indiangovernment, who had infact helped broker a peaceprocess between the Maoistsand a seven-party politicalparty alliance that paved theway for the establishment ofdemocracy and elections.This mutual distrust came toa head over the issue of theintegration of personnel ofthe People’s LiberationArmy, whose armedstruggle served as thebackbone of power for the

party, with the Nepali Army.When Prachanda attemptedto dismiss the chief of staff ofthe Nepali Army for opposinggreater civilian control of thearmy, his decision wasoverturned by the President.Many parliamentary allies ofthe Maoists, including theCommunist Party of Nepal(United Marxist Leninist),also known as UML, desertedthe coalition over these issues,leading to Prachanda’sresignation from power. Anew coalition primarily led bythe Nepali Congress (NC) andUML came into power, led byMadhav Kumar Nepal, aman who has twice lostconstituent elections.

The May Daymobilization and theindefinite national strike thatfollowed, accompanied bymore massive marches andrallies, were a show of the

The dividing line between

those who supported the strike

and rally and those who did

not was largely based on

class, but there was more

nuance than this. Among the

urban poor, it seemed to me

that those who supported the

strike were employed workers

or contract workers, who did

not own the means of their

survival, who didn’t speak

English

15


strength of the UCPN(Maoist), as part of a pushfor the resignation ofMadhav Kumar Nepal andthe formation of a newnational unity governmentunder the leadership of theMaoist party. The mostimportant issue at stake forthe support base of the Maoistparty are the inclusion of landredistribution, rights forworkers, women, dalits,janjatis, and variousmarginalized communities,into the constitution.Another key issue is thequestion of federalism in thenew republic, and the linesalong which states would becarved, with several ethno-linguistic groups expectingthe Maoists to provide adegree of majority-basedautonomy and statehood.The biggest issue for the PLAcadre is the question of theirfate, and how many of itscombatants will be integratedinto the state army or placedin other governmentpositions.

On the streets, therallies and marches wereremarkable, for their size,their spiritedness, and thejuxtaposition of great joy andgreat discipline. People wererunning out of houses andworkplaces in every street tojoin each neighborhood’scontingent to the centralmarch, and as we moved,joining another group, thenanother, then another, theboys jumping and shouting,not enough women at first,but then some animated

groups of women joining,one hotel sweeper firmly andcheerfully grabbing myhand, taking me along, soonenough we were in a thickprocession as far as the eyecould see, containing anestimated 300,000 people.Groups of young boys weresinging Nepali songs, otherswere dancing, other werestaging theater to the soundsof chants, such as “Mao-vadiZindabad!”, “OpposeMadhav Kumar Nepal” and“Puppet governments -return to India!”, until theriver of people poured into acentral field, where the rallybegan.

Again, the key featureof the rally that impressedme was the level ofirreverence of the people. Thecrowd was clearly enjoyingthe entire rally, its applausewas not dutiful. Theycheered heartily whenspeakers struck a chord ofresonance – and many of thespeeches were not solemn,but funny. During themusical performances, manypeople stood up and dancedto the general cheering ofothers. The speakersincluded representatives ofthe All-Nepal Federation ofTrade Unions, Nepal DalitMukti Morcha, YoungCommunist League (YCL),and the Akhil Nepal MahilaSangh (Krantikari) – thelatter being the only femalespeaker. Prachandaemphasized the peaceful,organized nature of the rally,and the party’s issues with

the current Nepali puppetgovernment. He called forpeople’s solidarity betweenIndia and Nepal against theirgovernments.

The next day, a nationalindefinite strike began thatlasted for six days. Everysingle shop was shuttereddown, with the soleexception of medical stores.The streets were populatedby laughing, chatteringchildren playing cricket. Nocars, no trucks, notransportation of goods. Itwas almost as stunning in itsplacid beauty as theexhilarated march the daybefore. Street vendors andfruit sellers continued asnormal. I was impressed bythe exceptions allowed forthe bandh, which alsoincluded a 6-8 pm break forall purchasing of essentials. Itmust be noted that the bandhwas enforced by the threat ofvandalism by YCL cadre,because shopkeepers weretypically not supportive ofthe strike which led to loss ofbusiness. However, the partywas extremely disciplinedabout preventinginterpersonal violence, notjust within their cadre, butalso preventing their marchesfrom being infiltrated byanyone they felt would causedisruptions. YCL cadre heldhands around the perimeterof each march, letting inthose whom they felt theycould trust. The May 6march is now being called thelargest demonstration inKathmandu’s history, which


16


one observer said took 3hours to pass her by!

The dividing linebetween those whosupported the strike and rallyand those who did not waslargely based on class, butthere was more nuance thanthis. Among the urban poor,it seemed to me that thosewho supported the strikewere employed workers orcontract workers, who didnot own the means of theirsurvival, who didn’t speakEnglish, while those whowere against the strike wereof course the elite, but also thepetty bourgeois, who ownedsmall shops, people whowere lower clerical workers,those who spoke bits ofEnglish.

The strike changed a lotof people’s opinions aboutthe strike, with the partylosing some support from itsbase. Some street vendorsand informal sector workerswho needed their dailybusiness more than they feltthey needed the character ofthe state to change weredisillusioned, as were thosewho were too poor to affordthe rising prices of essentialgoods. After five days,backed by UML and NCcadre, as well as Hindutva

groups, some people beganvandalizing YCL camps, andbeating cadre. A day later,the YCL began respondingwith the same kind ofviolence, coinciding with alarge set of “peace rallies”held by the businesscommunity across thecountry, calling for an end tothe strike. This led the partyto call off the strike.

No explicit structureexists for systemic feedbackand internal democracy ofthe party, except forinformation filtering up thecentral hierarchy, necessaryfor the Maoists to maintainpopularity. But electionsremain the major enforcer ofdemocracy in the party, andto that end it seems to mevital that the party beretained within thedemocratic apparatus, witha move towards greaterparticipatory democracy andresponsiveness to theoppressed peoples of Nepal.

Following the decision,which was taken withoutconsulting the cadre, anotherrally to explain the decisionto the base was held in thesame location as May 1, withabout one-third the numberof attendees, bringing themobilization full circle.Prachanda spoke, this time torapt attention, of the party’sdual responsibility ofsafeguarding theconstitutional process andkeeping the peace, and of thesacrifices of the oppressedcommunities in joining thestrike for an inclusiveconstitution that would

deliver rights to the laborersand farmers, adivasis, dalits,janjatis, women, Muslims,and ethnic minorities.Although the representationof women, dalits, janjatis,and ethnic minorities in theparty leadership is to mymind inexcusably miniscule,the party has done more tosuccessfully improve livingconditions and promoteelectoral candidates fromthese groups than any othermulti-ethnic party.

There is no doubt thatthe massive numbers ofpeople participating in theserallies are here with agenuine aspiration forchange, for equity, fordemocracy, for the newconstitution around whichthis demonstration isultimately organized, and thehope for a peace maintainedby justice and not byrepression.

The hope is that theseevents will live up to thegenuine aspirations andsupport of the people, andthat the party that hasorganized around theiraspirations this far, with fitsand starts, will either deliveror be made by the people todeliver.

Kaveri Rajaraman is an activistand a biologist. She hopes towork with mass movementsthat address injustices andpower structures controllingpeople and ecosystems, with afocus on class [email protected]

l

The massive numbers of

people participating in

these rallies are here with

a genuine aspiration for

change, for equity, for

democracy.

17


This was the final National

Level Audit of SEZs,

following a series of people’s

audits conducted in several

states across the country. The

first people’s audit on SEZs

was conducted in

Maharashtra on September

15th, 2009. This was followed

by similar audits in Tamil

Nadu, Karnataka, Goa,

Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh

over the past few months.

This final audit was an

attempt to consolidate the

results of the state level audit

processes.

After the Special

Economic Zones Act was

passed in the Parliament in

June 2005, over 714 proposals

for setting up SEZs have been

granted approvals in various

parts of the country.

Maharashtra and Andhra

Pradesh have the largest

number of approved SEZs in

the country. Large number of

SEZs have been granted

approval in Tamil Nadu,

Goa, Gujarat, Orissa and

West Bengal as well. Nearly

five years since the

enforcement of the Act, it is

highly imperative that the

country revisit the policy and

evaluate it. It is with this aim

in mind, that mass-based

organizations along with

academics and advocacy

institutions came together to

conduct people’s audits of

SEZs in various states.

In the audit process,

people affected by the SEZ

Projects and related land

acquisition, submitted their

testimonies and depositions

to an eminent panel of social

scientists, economists, retired

bureaucrats, journalists and

independent researchers

who critically examined

issues emerging from SEZs.

The issues ranged from land

acquisition, displacement,

environmental impact,

compensation to

employment generation,

livelihood loss and labour

rights as well as those related

to the development

paradigm and economic

growth.

The People’s panelcomprised Kuldip Nayar,Devaki Jain, Adm. (Retd.)Ramdas, K. B. Saxena, MeherEngineer, Ashish Kothari,Advocate Vrinda Grover andRahul Bose. The panel spent2-days hearing testimonies ofpeople and activists from the

Promises of employment to local people have almost never materialized, either at all, or in the

numbers that were promised. Figures provided by the government or developers on this have

often been found to be significantly exaggerated.


18


states of Maharashtra,Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,Gujarat, Goa, Tamil Nadu,Orissa and the NorthernRegion. The panel’sobservation was unanimousin declaring that “SEZs

across the country have

entailed serious violations of

the constitution, laws and

procedures laid down by the

government itself, and of the

people...”

The audit was jointlyorganised by the NationalAlliance of People’sMovements (NAPM); theNational Campaign forPeople’s Right to Information(NCPRI); Tata Institute ofSocial Sciences (TISS); andNational Centre forAdvocacy Studies (NCAS) asthe core group oforganizations and jointlyorganized with state levelgroups includingJagtikikaran Virodhi KritiSamiti (JVKS), Maharashtra;Andhra Pradesh DalitaSamakhya (APDS); Anti-KSEZ Farmers’ Committee,Kadali Network, PrajaUdhyama Aikya Vedika,Dalita Bahujana BhooParirakshana Samiti, CoastalCorridor Praja HakkulaParirakshana Samiti inKakinada; KrushibhoomiSamrakshana Samiti (KBSS),Karnataka; KaraavaliKarnataka JanaabhivrudhiVedike (KKJV), Karnataka;Sirappu PorulaadharaMandalam Edirippu Iyaikam(SPMEI), Tamil Nadu; SEZ

Virodhi Manch, Goa;POSCO Pratirodh SangramSamiti, Orissa; SEZ VirdodhiManch, West Bengal;Machimar AdhikarSangharsh Sangathan(MASS), Gujarat; MatruBhoomi Raksha SangharshSamiti, Una, HimachalPradesh; India Centre forHuman Rights and Law(ICHRLN); and the DelhiSolidarity Group (DSG).

Preliminary Observations

by the National Panel:

t SEZs across the countryhave entailed seriousviolations of the constitution,laws, and procedures laiddown by the governmentitself, and of peoples’ rights.This includes:t Several have taken overirrigated lands, despite apolicy statement that this willnot be allowed.t Most have entailedforcible acquisition of land,using the Land AcquisitionAct where the State hasintervened on behalf of thedeveloper, or strong-armtactics where the developerhas carried out acquisitiondirectly.t Many have violatedenvironmental laws, such asthe Forest Conservation Act,the Forest Rights Act, and theCRZ and EIA notifications ofthe Environment ProtectionAct.t Many have obtainedapproval by providing falseor misleading information,

e.g. misrepresentation of thepurpose for which the SEZ isproposed, the legal status oflands involved, the extent oflocal community rights anddependence on the area.t Most have involvedviolations of constitutionalguarantees for adivasis orother disprivileged sections;this includes alienation ofsupposedly non-alienablelands, taking back of landsgiven to landless, and manyothers.t Promises of employmentto local people have almostnever materialized, either atall, or in the numbers thatwere promised. Figuresprovided by the governmentor developers on this haveoften been found to besignificantly exaggerated.Even where someemployment has beengenerated, it is veryminimally to local people,and is often in extremelyexploitative and poorworking conditions, withparticularly terrible effects onwomen. At the same time,considerable local livelihoodloss (of farming, forest-based,fishery-based, and localindustrial jobs) has takenplace, with no estimateavailable with thegovernment.t The State has doneeverything possible to helpprivate developers biddingfor SEZs: easy passagethrough the permissionstage, intervening to acquire

19


lands when local people haveresisted (using the LandAcquisition Act or moredraconian state level laws),providing lands previouslyacquired for other purposes,providing developersadministrative and policehelp, intimidating orimprisoning people whoobject or protest, allowingofficials to take leave to workfor the developers, distortingcensus figures andfabricating land records tobenefit developers, providinginfrastructure createdthrough public funds and forpublic purpose, and in otherways colluding withdevelopers. Political partieshave mostly played atypically opportunistic role,siding with affectedcommunities before electionsand then abandoning them.Even the judiciary has oftenfailed the victims of thisprocess, siding with the Stateor with developers, notexercising due diligence inunquestioningly acceptingfigures and arguments givenby them, and not upholdingthe constitutional rights ofpeople.t Almost all lands takenby SEZs are those on whichlocal communities aredependent. Tens ofthousands of acres of fertilerainfed or irrigated lands,wetlands, pastures, forests,and coastal stretches havebeen taken over. Even the so-called ‘wastelands’ thatgovernments claim have

been used, are crucialcommon property resourcesfor the poor. There is noestimate of the number ofpeople who have thus beendispossessed and deprived,but it would run into severalmillion.t These are also lands thatare crucial for ecologicalsecurity and wildlife/biodiversity. Many of theSEZs for instance are incoastal areas, and entaildestruction or alteration ofmangroves, mudflats, creeks,and beaches that areecologically fragile andimportant.t Environmental andlabour laws or procedures,already inadequate, havebeen further weakened forSEZs. An example is themodification of the CRZnotification to allow SEZs in‘No Development Zones’ ofCRZIII.t Landless people whowere assigned lands underland reforms legislation, havebeen deprived once again by‘resuming’ these lands, instates that have mandatedthis in the name of ‘publicpurpose’.t In most cases, there is aserious lack of informationwith affected populations;very little advance notice isgiven, and even then, verylittle information is providedon the extent, rationale, andother aspects of the proposedSEZ. Even RTI applicationshave routinely beenfrustrated by wilful delays

and inadequate information.There is therefore no time forpeople to prepare a response,provide informed objections,or in other ways ensure theirrights to a fair hearing.t Due to lack of knowledgeof the implications, farmersat many sites have alsoaccepted compensation; onlysubsequently have theyrealized the implications oflosing their lands or theextent to which they havebeen duped. It isunderstandable that theyhave in many casessubsequently demandedtheir lands back, or bettercompensation in tune withthe full value of their land asrealized by the developer orgovernment agency that isacting as intermediary. Any‘agreement’ where free andinformed consent has notbeen ensured, where theagreement has been reachedunder fraud, duress, orcoercion, is not acceptable.t All SEZs entaildispossession anddisplacement not only ofcommunities directly withinthe boundaries, but also insurrounding areas, e.g.through excessivewithdrawal of water,breakage of economic ties,loss of access to resources,pollution, and so on.t While rationalized in thename of export-orientedproduction, most SEZs seemto be more about real estatespeculation, as is clear fromthe size of the lands being


20


acquired (far more thanrequired for the industry perse), the kinds of companiesthat are acquiring them orpartnering with thedevelopers, the growinginterest of real estatecompanies (Indian andforeign), the connectionbetween land acquisitionand the stock values of theacquiring companies, and soon.t The governance of SEZsis completely contrary to theconstitution, and opposed tothe stated aim of thegovernment to enhancedecentralization. Itconcentrates enormouspower in the hands of anunaccountable, tinyadministrative body, andleaves no space for thepowers and functions ofpanchayats or urban wardsto be carried out. The SEZAct even subverts thesovereign functions of theState, e.g. by giving judicialpowers to a designated courtset up by the centralgovernment, for adjudicationon civil disputes as alsoprosecution of a schedule ofoffences that has been leftunspecified in the Act. TheAct even extends theprotection normally given topublic servants, to all those inthe SEZ authority, whichwould include people fromprivate corporations.t There is no clarity on evenwhether the purely financialobjectives of SEZs are beingmet, since cost-benefit

analyses are not carried out.Evidence from several ofthem suggests huge lossesthat the government isincurring, in terms of taxesand duties foregone, as aresult of the violation orsidestepping of the Customsand Income Tax Acts. TheCAG has even questionedwhether the exports objectiveis being met, since producefrom SEZs are often beingsold inside India.t Most SEZs have facedand are increasingly facingresistance and protest; inmany cases this has meant acomplete or partial failure toacquire land, or awithdrawal of the developerfrom the project. While somemovements have been forbetter compensation andrelief packages, very manyhave been in the nature ofoutright opposition, withfarmers or fishers orpastoralists unwilling totrade their land/water basedsecurity for money.Unfortunately, the responseof governments to peacefulprotests has beenintimidation and repression.t At its root, the SEZphenomenon is an outcomeof the model of‘development’, with itscurrent epitome in financialglobalisation model thatIndia has adopted. Thismodel treats nature and localcommunities as raw materialor labour, to be exploited andabused in the raw pursuit ofprofits, and justifies itself

using outmoded and falseindicators like percentage ofeconomic growth. It dependson increasing exportsregardless of consequences. Itincreasingly privatizes publicassets, and the SEZphenomenon is a classicexample of how the‘commons’ are being enclosedfor private profit.t Various official agencieshave raised serious doubtsabout the wisdom andvalidity of the SEZ approach;these include the FinanceMinistry, Labour Ministry, aCommittee set up by theRural Development Ministry,the CAG, the RBI, and theParliamentary StandingCommittee on Commerce.t While the routineobfuscation by thegovernment is disturbing,there is a tacit, convenient,and sometimes open collusionof much of the media inpropagating the false claimsand image of SEZs.

Conclusion: India’s currentSEZ policy and practice aref u n d a m e n t a l l yunconstitutional, anti-people,ecologically destructive,financially reckless, andunsustainable; it is a thinlydisguised attempt at makingavailable huge areas of land forreal estate speculation by bothIndian and foreign companies.It holds little benefit for the poorpeople of the country, and onlyincreases the growing inequitiesbetween the rich and the poor.It runs completely

21


contradictory to thegovernment’s statedcommitment to ‘sustainable andequitable development’.

It is also clear thatpeople, so far protestingdemocratically and peacefully,are losing patience. Non-responsiveness and repressionby the state is a recipe forpossible violence and publicdisruption in the future. If thishappens, it will only be the Statewhich is to blame.

Recommendations

m The SEZ Act should beimmediately repealed.m All consideration ofpending applications shouldbe stopped forthwith.m All SEZs given approvalso far should be reviewedthrough a participatorypublic process. Where localcommunity consent is notobtained, they should bewithdrawn. Where they areto continue, they should besubject to all environmental,labour, tax and other laws,converting them to normalindustrial estates, and takingback the excess lands.m Farmers, fishers, and localcommunities who have beendisplaced should be urgently

rehabilitated back into theareas they were displacedfrom, with clear tenurialright (esp. community rights)to the land, within a year.m Farmers, fishers, andother local communities whohave been deprived of theirlands and resources shouldbe given back their landsand/or access to resources,as far as possible in theiroriginal state, with cleartenurial rights (especiallycommunity rights) to theland and/or resources,within a year.m Developers must be madeto remedy the ecologicaldamage, and health hazards,created by their activities.m A full investigation, withpublic involvement andtransparency, should beconducted into allegations ofmalpractice, illegality, andmisbehaviour on part ofcorporations, agencies, andofficials; and appropriatepunishments given to thosefound guilty.m In place of SEZs, thegovernment must facilitatethe security of livelihoods ofcommunities living off theland, helping them enhance

agricultural, forestry,fisheries, rural industries, orother means of livelihoods.Several initiatives ofdecentralised economic andpolitical democracy(including on people’seconomic zones, sustainableagriculture, rural industries,renewable energy, and soon), that are being led bycommunities and civil societyorganizations, should besupported and encouraged.m The State’s power ofeminent domain over landand natural resources shouldbe brought in line with themandatory consent of localcommunities; this wouldinclude the replacement ofthe Land Acquisition Act orother such laws of the centreand the states with laws thatare more democratic.We were greatly inspired bythe voices, knowledge andresolve of the people fromlocal communities who gavetestimonies at the NationalAudit. This provides hopethat change can be peacefullybrought about for a moreequitable and sustainableIndia. [email protected]

l


22


Central India is home to the

Adivasis and Dalits, India’sfirst people. It is also home tothe richest concentration ofnatural resources in thecountry. Today, as powerfulIndian and globalcorporations race each otherto gain control of the land,water, forest and mineralwealth of the region, thisnatural wealth has become acurse to these indigenous butmarginalised communities.What comes betweencorporate greed and naturalresources are the tribalsasserting their customaryrights, right to life andlivelihood, as well as theirconstitutional rights over thesame natural resources.Corrupt corporations,joining hands with corrupt

states, are helping destroyIndia’s vibrant naturalheritage and mineral wealth.Human rights abuses bypolice, paramilitary forcesand state-sponsored militiaare spreading in the name ofOperation Green Hunt,which seems to make it a waragainst the very citizens itpromises to protect.

Citizens and civil rightsgroups who have voicedconcerns against OperationGreen Hunt are beinglabelled as ‘Naxalsympathizers’ and are beingarrested. Journalists are beingblocked from entering theimpacted areas to investigatethese brutalities. A virtualinformation blockadeprevents information fromcoming out of states likeChhattisgarh which are

The Independent People’sTribunal took place from9th to 11th April, 2010, atthe Constitution Club,New Delhi. This wasorganized by a collectiveof civil society groups,social movements,activists, academics andconcerned citizens in thecountry under the bannerof Citizens AgainstForced Displacement andWar on People.

bearing the brunt ofOperation Green Hunt. Ourcountry needs to know thetruth about such a massivewar against our own people.It is in this context that anIndependent People’sTribunal (IPT) on these issueswas organised by several

23


individuals and groups,inviting a panel of eminentjurists, administrative servicepersonnel, social scientistsand writers. TheIndependent People’s Jurycomprised Hon’ble (Retd)Justice P. B. Sawant, Justice(Retd) H. Suresh, Dr. V.Mohini Giri, Professor YashPal, Dr. P. M. Bhargava andretired IPS officer Dr. K. S.Subramanian. The people’sjury heard testimonies fromthe affected people, socialactivists and experts workingin these areas.

The jury heard thetestimonies of a large numberof witnesses over three daysfrom the States ofChhattisgarh, Jharkhand,West Bengal and Orissa aswell as some expertwitnesses on landacquisition, mining andhuman rights violations ofOperation Green Hunt.Abhay Sahu, a leader of theAnti-POSCO movement,Lingaraj Azad, a tribal rightsactivist, in Niyamgiri, Orissa,Ajit Bhattacharjea, ajournalist, GladsonDungdung, a tribal rightsactivist, and Radha KrishnaMunda of the JharkhandJungle Bachao Andolan weresome of the activists whoshared their experiences.Arundhati Roy too made apresentation and raisedcertain poignant questions.

Interim observations of theJury:

Tribal communities

represent a substantial and

important proportion of Indian

population and heritage. Not even

ten countries in the world have

more people than we have tribals

in India. Not only are they crucial

components of the country’s

human biodiversity, but they are

also an important source of

social, political and economic

wisdom that would be currently

relevant and can give India an

edge. In addition, they understand

the language of Nature better

than anyone else, and have been

the most successful custodian of

our environment, including

forests. There is also a great deal

to learn from them in areas as

diverse as art, culture, resource

management, waste

management, medicine and

metallurgy. They have been also

far more humane and committed

to universally accepted values

than our urban society.

It is clear that the country

has been witnessing gross

violation of the rights of the poor,

particularly tribal rights, which

have reached unprecedented

levels since the new economic

policies of the 90’s. The 5 th

Schedule rights of the tribals, in

particular the Panchayat

Extension to Scheduled Areas

(PESA) Act and the Forest

Rights Act have been grossly

violated. These violations have

now gone to the extent where

fully tribal villages have been

declared to be non-tribal. The

entire executive and judicial

administration appear to have

been totally apathetic to their

plight.

The development model

which has been adopted and

which is sharply embodied in the

new economic policies of

liberalization, privatization and

globalization, have led in recent

years to a huge drive by the state

to transfer resources, particularly

land and forests which are critical

for the livelihood and the survival

of the tribal people, to

corporations for exploitation of

mineral resources, SEZs and

other industries most of which

have been enormously

destructive to the environment.

These industries have critically

polluted water bodies, land, trees,

plants, and have had a

devastating impact on the health

and livelihoods of the people. The

consultation with the Gram

Sabhas required by the PESA


24


Act has been rendered a farce

as has the process of

Environment Impact Assessment

of these industries. This has

resulted in leaving the tribals in a

state of acute malnutrition and

hunger which has pushed them

to the very brink of survival.

It could well be the

severest indictment of the State

in the history of democracy

anywhere, on account of the

sheer number of people (tribals)

affected and the diabolic nature

of the atrocities committed on

them by the State, especially the

police, leave aside the enormous

and irreversible damage to the

environment. It is also a glaring

example of corruption – financial,

intellectual and moral –

sponsored and/or abetted by the

State, that characterizes today’s

India, cutting across all party

lines.

Peaceful resistance

movements of tribal communities

against their forced displacement

and the corporate grab of their

resources is being sought to be

violently crushed by the use of

police and security forces and

State and corporate funded and

armed militias.

The state violence has

been accentuated by Operation

Green Hunt in which a huge

number of paramilitary forces are

being used mostly on the tribals.

The militarization of the State has

reached a level where schools

are occupied by security forces.

Even peaceful activists

opposing these violent actions of

the State against the tribals are

being targeted by the State and

victimized. This has led to a total

alienation of the people from the

State as well as their loss of faith

in the government and the

security forces.

The Government – both at

the Centre and in the States –

must realize that its above-

mentioned actions, combined with

total apathy, could very well be

sowing the seeds of a violent

revolution demanding justice and

rule of law that would engulf the

entire country. We should not

forget the French, Russian and

American history, leave aside our

own.

Recommendations

1. Stop Operation Green Hunt

and start a dialogue with the

local people.

2. Immediately stop all

compulsory acquisition of

agricultural or forest land and

the forced displacement of the

tribal people.

3. Declare the details of all

MOUs, industrial and

infrastructural projects

proposed in these areas and

freeze all MOUs and leases for

non-agricultural use of such

land, which the Home Minister

has proposed.

4. Rehabilitate the tribals

forcibly displaced back to their

land and forests.

5. Stop all environmentally

destructive industries as well as

those on land acquired without

the consent of the Gram Sabhas

in these areas.

6. Withdraw the paramilitary

and police forces from schools

and health centres which must

be effectuated with adequate

teachers and infrastructure.

7. Stop victimizing dissenters

and those who question the

actions of the State.

8. Replace the model of

development which is

environmentally destructive,

iniquitous and not suitable for

the country by a different model

which is participatory, gives

importance to agriculture and

the rural sector, and respects

equity and the environment.

9. It must be ensured that all

development, especially use of

land and natural resources, is

with the consent and

participation of the Tribal

communities as guaranteed by

the Constitution. Credible

Citizen’s Commissions must be

constituted to monitor and

ensure this.

10. Constitute an Empowered

Citizen’s Commission to

investigate and recommend

action against persons

responsible for human rights

violations of the tribal

communities. This Commission

must also be empowered to

ensure that tribals receive the

benefit of the government

schemes exist for them.

[email protected]

The tribals are being

targeted by the State and

victimized. This has led to

a total alienation of the

people from the State as

well as their loss of faith

in the government and

the security forces.

l

25


EKTA (Committee for

Communal Amity), Mumbaihereby strongly condemnsthe lethal attack by theMaoist insurgents yesterdayafternoon on a private bus at

A group of SPOs elected to travel by a bus full of civilian

passengers, plying through an area known to be prone to

armed assaults by the Maoists, despite the fact they are

engaged in an open war with the insurgents. This is a

statement issued by a citizen’s organization condemning both

Maoist violence and state’s response. At the end is the state’s

public warning that reflects its anti-democratic posture.

Issued on 18th May 2010, a day

after brutal Maoist attack on a

bus carrying unarmed civilians

Chingavaram on theDantewada-Sukhma road inChhattisgarh in an overlysuccessful bid to kill a groupof traveling armed SpecialPolice Officers (SPOSs) -

adivasi youths recruited tobattle Maoist insurgency inthe state, with the fullknowledge that the bus wascarrying also a large numberof unarmed civilianpassengers taking no part inthe ongoing armed conflictsbetween the insurgents andthe state. This is morallyutterly repulsive. We also, onthis note, strongly disapprovethe brutal summaryexecutions of unarmedcivilians, including adivasisand other sections of the poorand marginalized, by theMaoists tagging them as“informer”.

At the same time, wealso take note of the fact thata large group of SPOs, maybearound 20, elected to travelby a bus full of civilianpassengers, plying throughan area known to be proneto mine blasts and otherforms of armed assaults bythe Maoists, despite the factthey are engaged in an openand no holds barred warwith the insurgents, killingeach other at the firstavailable opportunity. Thisamounts to virtually holdingthe civilian passengers ashelpless hostage and trying touse them as human shield fortheir own safety. It is also justunacceptable.

While on this orgy ofgory violence, the reflexivecry of Sri Chidambaram inthe wake of these tragicmurders for more of the same(failed measures), asking for


26


an “expanded mandate” i.e.permission to use air strikesagainst the insurgentsoperating in an area withdeep forest covers andsheltering for ages largenumber of adivasiinhabitants is alsounacceptably disturbing. Sois his vituperative verbalassault on civil society groupscommitted to upholddemocratic values andnorms so as to cover up hisown dismal performance asthe Union Home Minister.

The fact that thedetailed recommendationsmade by a body ofrecognised experts appointedby no less than the PlanningCommission of India to tackleMaoist insurgency have gonecompletely unheeded despitepersistent failures of the triedand tested repressivemeasures deserves closeattention. On this note, we

also strongly condemnOdisha government’s armedassaults on unarmed civilianresistors protesting againstproposed mega projects bythe Posco, and also Tata,Vedanta etc., overriding allecological, social, and alsolegal, considerations. It seemsthat the state is bent uponsending the message, inunison with the insurgents,that in Indian democracypeaceful protests have noreasonable chance of beingheard and the only way outis armed banditry.

At the end, we againappeal to the warring partiesto immediately come to thenegotiating table and eschewblood spilling violence.Obviously the “democratic”state has a greaterresponsibility and just cannotafford to emulate a band ofarmed outlaws. The sate mustalso immediately have an

authentic and thoughtfulrelook at the “strategy” beingpursued hitherto by it andmake serious attempts toinitiate inclusive andparticipatory development tobetter the lot of themarginalised adivasipopulations, in particular –the main constituency of theinsurgents, to cut them offfrom their principal supportbase. Mindless armed actionwill only bring in moretragedies it its wake. Aninternal disturbance fuelledby an overpowering sense ofalienation felt by a significantsection of the populationborn out of desperate povertyand cruel oppressions cannotbe and must not be tackledthe way a war is wagedagainst a clearly identifieduniformed external enemy.

Contact: Sukla Sen, EKTA,Mumbai.

Tuesday May 6 2010, Ministry of Home Affairs Press Release

It has come to the notice of the Government that some Maoist leaders have been directly contacting

certain NGOs/intellectuals to propagate their ideology and persuade them to take steps as wouldprovide support to the CPI (Maoist) ideology. It is brought to the notice of the general public thatunder Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, any person who commits theoffence of supporting such a terrorist organization with inter alia intention to further the activitiesof such terrorist organizations would be liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term notexceeding ten years or with fine or with both. General public are informed to be extremely vigilant ofthe propaganda of CPI (Maoist) and not unwittingly become a victim of such propaganda.This isbeing issued in public interest so that the general public are aware that the Communist Party ofIndia (Maoist) and all its formations and front organizations are terrorist organizations whose soleaim is armed overthrow of the Indian State and that they have no place in India’s parliamentarydemocracy. CPI (Maoist) continues to kill innocent civilians including tribals in cold blood anddestroy crucial infrastructure like roads, culverts, school buildings, gram panchayat buildings, etc.so as to prevent development from reaching these under-developed areas.

Government Asks People to Be Vigilant of CPI (Maoist) Propaganda

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27


IIIII appeared in public life through

my human rights works, writings

and speeches. However, I

reached to a larger audience

when I got a chance to appear in

CNN-IBN and NDTV-24×7

debates on the issue of Naxalism

last year. After these debates, I

got immense positive and

negative responses from across

the country. I was upset for

sometime precisely because of

the most negative responses I got

from some youth. They ruthlessly

questioned me about whether I

get money from Pakistan, Nepal

or China for speaking against the

Indian State. I responded to a few

of them with detailed

explanations, but many believe P

Chidambaram’s theory of this side

or that side; therefore they are

not ready to accept my rational

arguments.

Meanwhile, I continued

my work of raising the genuine

issues of the marginalized people

of India. Amidst, the so-called

operation green hunt (OGH) was

also launched in the state of

Jharkhand in the name of

cleansing the Maoists. I

passionately attempted to bring

out the truth of the OGH,

intention of the state behind the

OGH and sufferings of the

villagers caused by the OGH. As

a result, so-called educated

people intensified personal

attacks against me. There are

also some e-groups where they

attempted to coin me as a Maoist

sympathizer and supporter.

Finally, they have portrayed me

as a Maoist Ideologue. I just

laugh, laugh and laugh. Precisely,

because how can a person

suddenly become a Maoist

ideologue without having an in-

depth study on Maoism? I have

never read about Maoism.

I deliberately do not read

about any ideology because I

know that Maoists teach the

Adivasis about Maoism,

Gandhians preach them about

Gandhism, and Marxists ask them

to walk on Marxism; but no one

bothers about Adivasism, which

is the best ‘ism’ among these,

which perhaps leads to a just and

equitable society. I have been

raising questions about how the

Indian State has deliberately

destroyed the Adivasism. The

Adivasi religion was not

recognized by the Indian

constitution, traditional self-

governance was neglected,

culture was destroyed, lands

were grabbed and our resources

were snatched in the name of

development. But what do we

get out of it? Should we still keep

quiet? Are we not the citizens of

this country who need to be

treated equally? Do they care

about our sufferings?

I’m one of those

unfortunate persons, who have

lost everything for the so-called

development of the nation and am

struggling for survival even today.

When I was just one year old, my

family was displaced. Our 20

acres of fertile land was taken

away from us in the name of

development. Our ancestral land

was submerged in a Dam which

came up at Chinda River near

Simdega town in 1980. We lost

our house, agricultural land and

garden but we were paid merely

Rs. 11,000 as compensation.

When the whole village protested

against it they were sent to

A human rights activist from Jharkhand Gladson Dungdung, talks

about his own experiences with development and how his demands

for constitutional justice has often resulted in people asking whether

he is a Maoist.


28


Hazaribagh Jail. Can a family of

6 members ensure food, clothing,

shelter, education and health

facilities and rebuild their whole

life with Rs. 11000?

After displacement, we

had no choice but to proceed

towards the dense forest for

livelihood. We settled down in the

forest after buying a small patch

of land. We used to collect

flowers, fruits and firewood to

sustain our family. We had

sufficient livestock, which

supported our economy.

The state suppression

continued with us. When we were

living in the forest, my father was

booked under many cases filed

by the forest department (the

biggest landlord of the country)

alleging him as an encroacher and

woodcutter. There was no school

building in our village - therefore

we used to study under the trees,

and when there was rain our

school was closed. But my father

taught us to fight for justice.

Though he was struggling to

sustain our family, he never

stopped his fight for the

community.

Unfortunately, on 20 June

1990, my parents were brutally

murdered while they were going

to Simdega civil court to attend a

case, and 4 kids were orphaned.

Can anyone imagine how we

suffered afterwards? The worst

thing is the culprits were not

brought to justice. Can anyone tell

us why the Indian State, who

snatched our resource in the

name of development, did not

deliver justice to us? Why there

is no electricity in my village even

today? Why my people do not get

water for their field whose lands

were taken for the irrigation

projects? Why there is no

electricity in those houses who

have given their land for the

power project? And why people

are still living in small mud houses

whose lands were taken for the

steel plants?

It seems that the Adivasis

are only born to suffer.After a

long struggle, we all got back to

life but my pain and sufferings did

not end here. When I was

working as a state programme

officer in a project funded by the

European Commission, a senior

government officer and an editor

of a newspaper (both from the

upper caste) questioned my

credentials saying that being an

Adivasi, how could I have gotten

into such a prestigious position?

Similarly, when my friend had

taken me to meet a newly wedded

couple of upper caste in Ranchi,

I was not allowed to meet them

saying that being an Adivasi if I

meet the couple, they might

become unauspicious and their

whole life would be at stake.

However, when I joined

another firm, I was totally

undermined and not given the

position which I highly deserved.

I was racially discriminated

against, economically exploited

and mentally disturbed. Can

anyone tell me why I should not

fight for justice? Can those so-

called supporters of the unjust

development process, who have

not given even one inch of land

for the so-called national interest,

and coin me as the Maoist

ideologue, sympathizer and

supporter, respond to me: why

should I shut up my mouth and

stop writing against injustice,

inequality and discrimination?

I have lost everything in

the name of development and

now I have nothing more to lose,

therefore I’m determined to fight

for my own people because I do

not want them to be trapped in

the name of development. I have

taken the democratic path of

struggle, which the Indian

Constitution guarantees through

Article 19. A pen, mouth and mind

are my weapons.

I’m neither a Maoist nor a

Gandhian but I’m an Adivasi who

is determined to fight for his own

people, whom the Indian State

has alienated and dispossessed

from resources and is continually

doing it in the name of

development, national security

and national interest even today.

Gladson Dungdung is a

Human Rights Activist and

Writer from Jharkhand.

[email protected]

When we were living in the

forest, my father was booked

under many cases filed by the

forest department (the biggest

landlord of the country)

alleging him as an encroacher

and woodcutter. There was no

school building in our village

- therefore we used to study

under the trees, and when there

was rain our school was closed.

But my father taught us to

always fight for justice.

l

29


WWWWWhat is the Posco Project?

On June 22, 2005, the Stateof Orissa signed amemorandum ofunderstanding with thePohang Steel Company(POSCO) of South Korea.The MoU envisaged Rs.52,000 crores of investmentby Posco, making this thelargest FDI project in India.Posco committed to buildinga steel plant with 12 milliontonnes capacity, a captiveport at Jatadhari – 7 km fromthe Paradip port, anintegrated township andwater supply infrastructurefrom the Jobra and NarajBarrage in Cuttack. Theproject is supposed to createan employment of 45,000.

Supporters of the projectoften trumpet these figuresas if they justify the project.But what is the truth? Whatis the Government of Orissagiving Posco?Posco is being granted theresources of the State and itspeople practically for free.These are some of the thingsthat Posco has beenpromised:Iron Ore: 600 million tonnesof ore given to Posco at Rs.130 per tonne, whereas themarket rate is more than Rs.2600 per tonne; Subtractingextraction cost and royalty,the company is earning aminimum profit of Rs.96,000 crores – simply as agift from the Government ofOrissa.Water: 12,000 to 15,000 crore

liters from river Mahanadi,affecting drinking watersupply of Cuttack andirrigation to four districts.Land: 4004 acres (for plant),2000 acres (for township) ,13000 acres (for mines), 25acres (for office atBhubaneshwar); Total: Almost20,000 acres, not includingland for railways, roads andmines.Coal: Captive coal mines willbe granted to Posco, the firsttime any private company istaking control of coal mines;The amount of coal that willbe extracted is unknown.

The Orissa governmentclaims that this will be‘repaid’ in the form of theenormous tax revenues thatwill accrue to the Central andState governments throughPosco’s “investment”, but thesame government is pushingfor Posco to be granted SEZstatus – which will essentially

eliminate tax revenue fromthe project entirely!

What will be the otherimpacts?Displacement:At least 11 villages in KujagTehsil belonging to threepanchayats, Dhinkia,Nuagaon and Gobindpur,will be directly displaced bythe steel plant (displacementby mine expansion,township, port etc. will beeven more). The governmentclaims that of these villagesonly 471 families will beaffected, but this is becausethey only count the areaunder private title. Thegovernment land (more than1200 hectares) is assumed tobe free for use by Posco –whereas the reality is that,this land is under betel leafcultivation, used for pasture,firewood, cashew, forestproduce etc. and is a crucial

This factsheet about POSCO’s mega steel project in Orissa and

chronology of certain important events has been compiled by several

activists working in and outside Orissa to expose the unjust

industrial project that will displace people and harm the environment

for private profits.


30


component of the livelihoodof people there. In this case abig chunk of the land is yetto be regularized under theScehdueld Tribe and OtherFoest Dwellers (ForestRights) Act, 2006. It is ourestimate that at least 4,000families – a population of30,000 – will be directlyaffected by the plant alone,the majority of whom willreceive no rehabilitationwhatsoever. The port atJatadhari, in turn, is likely todisplace another 20,000people.

Eight GramPanchayats with more than50 villages within a 10 kmradius of Khandadhar Hillson the Sundergarh andKeonjhar border will bedirectly and indirectlyaffected by the miningactivity to be spread overmore than 6000 hectares.These Panchayats include –Talbahali, Kuliphose,Phuljar, Haldikudai,Saskekla, Bhotuda, Khutengaand Kouida.

As per the governmentand company (as mentionedin the MoU) the plant willcreate 13,000 jobs directlyand 35,000 “indirectly.” Butsuch estimates have failed tomaterialise in the case ofevery such project. Further,the loss of livelihoods willprobably be much more thanthe gains.

Water and Environment:The project will draw such alarge amount of water fromthe rivers of the area that it is

likely to affect the drinkingwater supply of cities ofCuttack and Bhubaneshwarand the irrigation of thesurrounding districts. Inaddition, the building of theport will disturb the drainageof the Jatadhari river, raisingthe risk of floods and siltationof the river. The damage tothe coastline forests will likelyincrease the risk of cyclonedamage. The area of thesteel plant includes areasused for pisciculture, fishing,paddy, coconut, betel,cashew, pineapple and othercrops. Additionally, the areahas 2.8 lakh trees. All this willbe lost.

The proposed miningarea Khandadhar hill rangeis a part of the Eastern Ghatsand extends from Suakanthiin Keonjhar to Bonai inSundergarh. The hill range ismore popularly known for itsforests and two enormouswaterfalls, one on theKeonjhar side in Bansapaland the other, taller one,almost 244 metres, inLohanipada Block, Bonaitehsil of Sundergarh District.Emerging from a perennialstream, Karapani Nala, thewaterfall on the Sundergarhsides feeds into the Brahmaniriver less than 5 kms away.These will be entirelydestroyed and polluted bythe iron ore mining activity.

Exports and NaturalResource Base:The government is allowingPosco to remove 600 milliontonnes of ore for use for the

plant, of which 30% will be“exchanged” throughexport. A further 400 milliontonnes will be removed forthe use of Posco’s SouthKorean factory. This is a totalof 1 billion tonnes of iron ore- roughly 15% of thecountry’s entire proven ironore reserves (6.9 billiontonnes), and close to 60% ofOrissa’s reserves, all to behanded over to a singlecorporation for a pittance.The private company hasbeen given preferentialtreatment over other Publicsector companies like KIOCL.Despite the existence of aPublic Sector Port (ParadipPort) within 12 kms, thecompany has asked for acaptive port. The decision toallow the captive port seemsto have been made onconsiderations that do notinclude maximizing existinginfrastructure.

A Chronology ofEvents

August 2004 – Posco andBHP Billiton of Australia,jointly approached theOrissa government with aproposal to set up a 10 milliontonne per annum capacitysteel plant in the state.April 2005 – MoU called offas Ministry of Commerce nothappy with the iron orelinkages in the project.22nd June 2005 – Signing ofthe MoU between the OrissaGovernment and POSCO asa fresh proposal is workedout for the project.

31


July 2005 – The threePanchyats that were to beaffected in Kujang Block inJagatsinghpur, came togetherunder one umbrellaorganization called POSCOKshatigrasth SangarshSamiti (PKEM) to oppose theproject.January 2006 – a split assome key members of PKEMstarted speaking in favour ofthe project. The oppositionhowever, continued underthe banner of POSCOPratirodh Sangram Samiti(PPSS) under the presidentship of Abhay Sahu, the statecommittee member whocomes from the area close toDhinkia).January 2006 – 2007 – PPSSmobilization, picketing,rallies and blockading of thearea to prevent forcedacquisition.January 3 2007 – KIOCLfiled a writ petition in theOrissa High Court to makenull and void the unilateraldecision of the stategovernment favoring Poscofor mining lease inKhandadhar.

14th February 2007 – KIOCLfiles writ petition in the HCof Orissa issue stay order onthe recommendation of thestate government, which hasfavored Posco in issuing “NoObjection” and favorablyrecommending the proposalfor PL.February 2007 – Police andlocal administration startedraising rows with the localson barricades set up in theproposed plant and port area.Not a single official surveycould be carried out in thearea.March 2007 – Announce-ment for an EnvironmentClearance Public Hearing forthe project.15th March 2007 – A farcicalpublic hearing forenvironment clearance heldat Kujang, 20 kilometers fromthe plant as hundreds ofheavily armed policeprevented people fromentering. The PPSSboycotted the hearing.May 2007 – Activists andNGOs send memoranda tothe Ministry of Environmentand Forests raising the

violations of Public Hearingprocedures.21st June 2007 – MoEF grantsEnvironment Clearance tothe plant and Port.11th November 2007 – 500people guarding the entrypoints of the area day andnight. They started acommunity kitchen.14 th November 2007 –Supreme Court’s CentrallyEmpowered Committeerecommends linking andjoint environmentassessment of all threecomponents of mining, steelplant and captive port.29th November 2007 – BJDand company hired Goondasfrom the nearby areas threwbombs at the protesters’ tentat Balitutha. Within fewhours the police enteredNuagaon village, erectedroad blockade at Balituthaand established a camp at thesame site where theprotesters were sitting for thelast 2 months, barricaded theroad and the policeestablishing check point nearTrilochanpur, with twoplatoons staying in a camp inthe Trilochanpur school. l16


32


platoons of armed policewere stationed in the areaincluding 3 women platoonsand occupied all the schoolsand public places of the area.4 th December 2008 - thePolice requisitioned l5 moreplatoons. Late in the night of4th December 144 wasclamped 2 kilometers aroundBalitutha.January to March 2008 –News Reports on GroundBreaking Ceremony byPOSCO at the plant and portsite to be held on 1st April2008.23rd March 2008 –Resolutions Passed by theDhinkia Panchayat for

Recognition of Forestindividual and CommunityRights in the area under theForest Rights Act 2006.1st April 2008 – MassiveRally by PPSS, villages andsupporters from acrossOrissa; Breaking of 4 monthold police barricades and thearea is reclaimed by PPSS;resolve to continue protestsstrengthened on the day ofOrissa Utkal Diwas.20th June 2008 - People in thearea under the banner ofPPSS start digging out themouth of River Jatadhari asgovernment did not do it andlarge area of agriculturallands was under waterbecause of this.21st June 2008 - When thevillagers were returning afterfinishing the dredging workfaced an attack from thePOsco goons supported by afew pro-posco villagers inGovindapur village. DulaMandal was killed in thebomb attack. Dhruba Sahaniwas critically injured who isyet to recover. But Abhayajidid not allow people toretaliate , rather the attackerswere held in hostage for two

Eight Gram Panchayats with

more than 50 villages within

a 10 km radius of

Khandadhar Hills on the

Sundergarh and Keonjhar

border will be directly and

indirectly affected by the

mining activity to be spread

over more than 6000

hectares. These Panchayats

include Talbahali, Kuliphose,

Phuljar, Haldikudai,

Saskekla, Bhotuda, Khutenga

and Kouida.

As per the government

and company (as mentioned

in the MoU) the plant will

create 13,000 jobs directly

and 35,000 “indirectly.” But

such estimates have failed to

materialise in the case of

every such project. Further,

the loss of livelihoods will

probably be much more than

the gains.

days and then handed overto police unhurt.8th August 2008 – TheSupreme Court of IndiaGrants clearance to theproject and asks the Ministryof Environment and Foreststo take an appropriatedecision on the matter as alarge number of trees arelikely to be felled on this.30th August 2008 - TheForest Department officialstried to enter Nolia Sahi andNuagaon to conduct theforest survey. They werestopped by the people andwere forced to return. A 24hour check post has beenrevived.4th September 2008 - A rallywas held in the area by PPSSopposing this move.12th October 2008 – AbhaySahu, President of PPSS isarrested and put in judicialcustody.13 th October 2008 –Additional police forcedeployed in the name of lawand order situation.13 th October 2008 – PPSSintensified its struggle on theground.

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33


The National Alliance of

People’s Movements isshocked and enraged at therecent judgment on Bhopalthat not only comes 26 yearstoo late but also makes acomplete mockery of theconcept of justice and thevalue of human lives.

The Government ofIndia can undo this grossinjustice only if it pressesmore severe charges on theaccused and brings WarrenAnderson and others tobook. In addition, the

Government must live up tothe promise it made to thevictims and their supportersacross the world in 2008 bysetting up an EmpoweredCommission on Bhopal tolook into relief andrehabilitation.

This judgment is aninsult to those who died andcontinue to die, and rubs salton the unhealed wounds ofthose who survived andstruggled in the face ofunsurmountable odds for allthese years. The public

outrage over the verdict fromall sections of the society isnothing but an expression ofdisgust with a deeply rottenpolitical class which seemsincapable of doing anythingexcept shedding crocodiletears.

Despite being inpositions of power andresponsibility at the Centreand in Madhya Pradesh allthe Political parties cuttingacross party lines, whether itis Indian National Congress,Bharatiya Janta party or any


34


other, have always preferredto ignore the demands of thesurvivors for justice bybringing a fair trial on UCIC,Dow Chemicals (presentowner) and others involved.Instead of working towardsthe prosecution of WarrenAnderson, the Indiangovernment in factpressurized CBI to go soft onthe Corporation and dilutethe charges. The result of thiseffort is now for the entireworld to see in form of theBhopal Verdict which wouldperhaps only be rememberedfor how a country wascompromised for pettyinterests.

It is a shame that ourgovernment continues tobaulk under pressure fromthe US government andtirelessly works towardsshielding the interests of UScorporations as is evidentfrom the Civil NuclearLiability Bill in its currentform. Perhaps ourGovernment will do better bylearning from the handlingby US government itself ofunfolding tragedy in the Gulfof Mexico due to massive oilspillage leading to death of 11US citizens and irreparableenvironmental damages. Webelieve Corporate SocialResponsibility is not the wayforward but insteadcorporate accountability is.Corporations, however bigthey are, cannot muddle withpeople’s rights and destroythe natural resource base on

which people’s lives aredependent. It is time that theGoI, in consultation withpeople and theirorganisations, enact a newlaw making the corporationsliable for the damages theyincur on people andenvironment and send astrong message that people’slives and justice areparamount.

We endorse thedemand of the Bhopal gasdisaster survivors and urgethe Prime Minister to:• Create a SpecialProsecution Cell in the CBIfor timely action onextradition of foreignaccused and collection ofevidence against the foreignaccused.• Direct CBI to move onextradition of authorizedrepresentative of UCC andresend extradition request forWarren Anderson.• Direct CBI to follow theassets of Union CarbideEastern Inc. to ensure thatthe representatives of theaccused corporation facecriminal trial.• Direct CBI to takeaction on illegal trading ofUCC technology in India.• Direct CBI to take legalaction so that summonsissued against DowChemical, USA can bedelivered.• Set up the EmpoweredCommission on Bhopal tolook into all aspects of the

disaster including relief andrehabilitation.

We are also concernedat the seeming collusion ofthe judiciary with theGovernment that amountedto reducing the charges in theBhopal Case, at theinordinate delay in deliveringthe judgment and finallyfailure in delivering justice.We need to remember thatthe role of the BhopalMemorial Hospital Trust,headed by Justice Ahmediwho delivered the judgementin 1996 absolving UCC fromcriminal liability, has timeand again come undercriticism for discriminationagainst the gas victims andfinancial mismanagement.We demand a thorough andimpartial inquiry into thismatter.

We would like toremind that even today weare sitting at the verge ofmany potentially Bhopal-likedisasters at Koodankulam,Jaitapur, Haripur, Nayacharand other such chemical andnuclear hubs all across thecountry. The GoI must standby the stricterimplementation ofEnvironment Protection Actto monitor various projects inthe country.No More Bhopal ! Salute to

the indomitable spirit of

struggle of Bhopalis...

National Alliance of People’sMovements (NAPM)[email protected]

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PPPPPartho Sarathi Ray met the

villagers who faced attack bysecurity forces for peacefullyprotesting the attempt toforcibly takeover their landsfor POSCO project…

The situation in the threevillages of Dhinkia,Gobindapur and Nuagaon isgrim. Three days after the15th May assault by policeforces on the peacefulassembly of villagers inBalitutha, nearly everyhousehold in these threevillages have people who areinjured and traumatized.And because since 15th Mayall the exit points from thevillages, through Balituthaand Trilochanpur have beensealed by the police, nearly noone has received medicaltreatment for their wounds.With festering wounds andfractured limbs, manypeople, including the elderly,are suffering their ordealsilently in the confines of theirhomes.

Balitutha, where thepolice assault took place onthe 15 th, is a scene ofdestruction. The police,exhibiting a disturbing sign ofwreaking vengeance, notonly burnt down theshamiana under which thedharna was being held forthe past five months, but alsoset fire to all the roadsideshops, eateries and thatchedhouses on one side of theBalitutha bridge. This hasbeen vividly shown on the

Oriya television channels.Now the entire area isteeming with police forcesand their special operationsvehicles, and they arepreventing anyone from thebesieged villages fromstepping out.

The villagers’ woundsand their description of whathappened on 15th April inBalitutha is a grim testimonyof what the state can inflicton peaceful protesters. Thereare around two hundredinjured people in the threevillages. Wounds are fromrubber bullets, lathis and,something that I had seen forthe first time, from pelletsfired from shotguns. Theseare small spherical pellets, like

bicycle ball-bearings, whichhave been fired in thousands.Many people have five or sixof these painfully embeddedunder their skins. Withoutavailability of doctors andunable to reach hospitals,many people are being forcedto extract the pellets at homeusing knifes and blades.

Women seem to havebeen especially targeted forassault and humiliation.Most of the wounded wesaw were women.Mounabati Das, in her fifties,who after being hit by arubber bullet on her leg andfalling on the ground,described how she wasdragged around by her hairby the police who threatened


36


her in filthy language thatthis would be theconsequence of resisting thegovernment. She has a largesubcutaneous blood clot fromthe rubber bullet which hither thigh and walks aroundwith great difficulty. TikkiBardhan, whose foot seems tohave been fractured afterbeing hit by a rubber bullet,cannot even walk. There hasbeen no doctor to see her andplaster the fractured foot.Her husband, BharatBardhan, was hit by a rubberbullet and a shotgun pelleton his face. He barely missedlosing his right eye, but thebullet broke a tooth and ablood vessel in his nosebecause of which he wasprofusely bleeding from hisnose. The shot gun pellet isstill embedded in his leftcheek.

Shantilata Mahapatrawas hit by a rubber bulletand a shotgun pellet on herleg. She could barely walk. Iextracted the pellet withdifficulty from her leg anddressed up the wound andgave her a course ofantibiotics which I had takenwith me. Gujuri Mahanti, a72 year old grandmother,has been hit by three rubberbullets on the back of herhead, on her back andbehind her waist. She findsit difficult to sit or even liedown, except on her side.She described how theassembled women wereattacked by the police on that

day. The women had beensitting in dharna in front ofthe bridge. The police, whowere on the bridge, orderedthem to move away andclear the path. After aroundtwo hours, when they hadgot up and turned to moveaway, the police attackedwith tear gas, rubber bulletsand pellet guns. Many of theelderly women, includingherself, choking on the teargas, somehow moved awayfrom the spot and reachedwhat they thought to be asafe distance, where theytried to gather together. Butthe police turned their fire onthis group and kept firing ontheir backs as they tried torun away. This is clearlyshown by the fact that shewas hit by rubber bullets onher back. The police, who hadthe advantage of beingsituated on higher round on

the bridge, fired at will on thepeople assembled on lowerground at one end of thebridge. When the womenwere running away, thepolice descended from thebridge and assaulted themwith lathis and dragged themby their hair. Five of themwere dragged into policevans and taken away. Theirrelatives do not know tillnow what has been their fate.

These stories wererepeated in every home. Thepeople are now awaiting animminent attack on thevillages itself which theadministration has alreadythreatened. However, theysay that these wounds haveonly strengthened theirresolve to resist, and therewill be a blood bath if thepolice enter their villages.

But 72 year old GujuriMahanti had a questionaddressed to NaveenPatnaik, “Would he treat hismother in the same way thatthe police had treated her?”As Naveen Patnaik, with hismasters at Tata and POSCO,tries to bring “development”to Orissa with rubber bulletsand shotgun pellets, this is thequestion that confronts himfrom poor village womenwho are resolved to resist thisaggression on their lives andlivelihoods.

Partho Sarathi Ray is anactivist who is involved in theanti-SEZ struggles and is a partof the Sanhati [email protected]

Mounabati Das has a

large subcutaneous blood

clot from the rubber bullet

which hit her thigh and

walks around with great

difficulty. Tikki Bardhan,

whose foot seems to have

been fractured after being

hit by a rubber bullet,

cannot even walk.

l

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Shri Ashish Mandloi,

fondly remembered asAshishbhai by the villagers ofBadwani (and Babloo by hisfamily), started on theheavenly abode on the 20thof May, 2010. He passedaway in his ancestral villageChhota Barda in Badwanidistrict due to a cardiacarrest.

Born and raised in afarmer’s family in the fertileplains of Nimad, aftereducation and graduation,Ashish spent the early yearsof his youth volunteering forthe Narmada BachaoAndolan, when the struggleagainst the gigantic SardarSarovar Project was at itspeak and later contributed histime and energy; full-time toNBA as a key activist in theNimad and Pahad (hillyadivasis areas).

Every family in theaffected villages knew him byname. His innate sensitivity,

coupled with his extensivenetworking with the villagersand passion to go into thedepth of every single issue athand – be it exposing theinaccuracies in governmentsurveys and data orunearthing crores ofcorruption in therehabilitation of the projectaffected families, throughfake registries or bogus claimsof alternative rehabilitationmade him challenge manyillegalities and injustices.

His investigativeefforts, with the help of otherfarmer-activists, have savedthousands of dam-affectedfamilies from beingmisguided and cheated bythe nexus of corrupt officialsand their agents. It was dueto his relentless investigativecampaign, that the massivepublic interest case againstcorruption could be filed andargued for two-full yearsbefore the High Court ofMadhya Pradesh and a

Judicial Commission ofInquiry under (Retd.) JusticeS.S. Jha instituted to inquireinto the various aspects ofcorruption and illegalities.His team of farmers was alsoawarded the NDTV-PCRFNational RTI Award forusing the RTI as a weapon toexpose corruption.

Ashishbhai alsoplayed a prominent andleading role in the recentfortnight-long JeevanAdhikar Yatra of thethousands of Sardar Sarovarand Jobat oustees, throughwhich, the people issued anultimatum to the Narmadavalley authorities to ensureland-based rehabilitation tothe oustees.

Over the past oneyear, Ashish was also fullyinvolved in the constructionof NBA’s own office.

Ashish was a veryresourceful person whoperformed the role of a friendand a guide on manyoccasions and was alwaysavailable for any need andliterally shared the sorrowand happiness of the people.

He stands as aninspiration to every youthtoday by working for thecause of the Andolan withhis exemplary dedication,selflessness and commitment.Ashish has immortalized thespirit of a true activist byliterally living the slogan‘Sangharsh hee jeevan hai’.

Narmada Bachao Andolanand National Alliance ofPeople’s Movements

A Trbute to Ashish Mandloi

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Veteran Gandhian and

Sarvodayi Leader AcharyaRamamurti passed away onMay 20th after long illness inPatna. He was 97 years old.He was born on 22ndJanuary, 1913 in Thane toInspector Raghunath Singh.He had the chance to see thenation’s miserable conditionas it was, in its bare form.During the earthquake inBihar in 1934 he formed agroup of Bihar students toprovide relief in the affectedareas. This move wasremembered a long timeafter the earthquakeoccurred.

As he was eager to domore and more for thesociety, he wanted to gobeyond just acquiringeducation to get the change.So, he went to impart adulteducation to the nearbyHarijan colony.

He was brilliant instudies as well. He receiveda gold medal for topping inhis MA from LucknowUniversity. He went tobecome a professor at theQueen’s university, Varanasiafter that. As a teacher, hewas very close to his studentsand wanted the welfare ofhis students, along with beingan intellect in politicalscience and history. He leftthe plush job after

DheerendraMajumdarc a l l e dhim fort h eBhoodanmovement in 1951. Hewanted to be a part ofhistory, wanted to make thatchange to society.

His ideology inspiredby Marx, his methodology byGandhi, and the disciplineand commitment by VinobhaBhave. This made the perfectpackage for a new sense ofrevolution in society. In theBhoodan movement, he hadto take the position of theimportant religious teacher(Acharya) as Dheerendrajisaid that education had to bethe tool for revolution.

The whole of 1957was marked by variouseducation campaigns tobring about the change hewanted to see. The field ofwork got smaller laterbecause the effectiveness wassuch that the villages startedhaving self governing bodies.They started having movableschools, woman campaigns,etc.

Also, he was aveteran freedom fighter anda key aide to JayprakashNarayan and Vinoba Bhavein later years. He tirelesslyworked for the cause ofSarvodaya ideals.

He also wroteextensively on Gandhianthought. He was the editor of‘Gaav ki baatein’, ‘BhoodanRaj’ and the author of severalbooks. During the term of VPSingh, he was the Chairmanof the Education Group.

For past many yearshe was living in Patna and inspite of his old age remainedactive in various socialpolitical movements andchampioned the cause ofmasses. A supporter ofpeople’s movements heextended his support toNAPM as and when needed.

He leaves behind agrand legacy of Gandhianand Socialist political thoughtand action. His death marksthe closure of a big chapterof the movement. A personwith such conceptual clarityand thought about thesociety breathed his last.Time has snatched awayanother important pillar ofsupport in the movement tomake a better to society foreveryone to live in.

National Alliance of People’sMovements (NAPM)

A Tribute

Acharya Ramamurti

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from Pfrom Pfrom Pfrom Pfrom People’eople’eople’eople’eople’sssss

Mo Mo Mo Mo MovvvvvementsementsementsementsementsJune 15, Mumbai: Centre for Women Studies, TISS& Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan organises aPanel discussion on Maharashtra DomesticWorkers Welfare Board Act at the Conference Hallof TISS, Deonar-Mumbai.June 5, Kinnaur: The people’s movements ofKinnaur valley organised the environment daycelebration at eReckong-Peo. People’s movements,human right defenders, environmental and civilsociety activists from throughout country andactivists of Himalaya Niti Abhiyan along with localpeople participate.June 3, Badwani: Independent people’s tribunaltakes place on displacement, rehabilitation,environmental compliance and cost-benefits ofSardar Sarovar Project before the panel of Justice(retd.) A.P. Shah (Chief Justice Delhi High Court),Dr Devender Sharma, agriculture policy analyst;Prof. Jaya Sagade, Indian Law Society (Law College).May 21, Jabalpur: A Division Bench of Justice ShriK K Lahoti and Justice Shri Ajit Singh,issued notices to the Principal Secretary, GeneralAdministration Department and PrincipalSecretary, Department of Finance of the Governmentof Madhya Pradesh to show cause and reply to aletter from Justice S S Jha Commission of Inquiryregarding the lack of adequate funds and supportbeing provided to the Commission to carry out itsinvestigative work into the massive corruption ofhundreds of crores in the rehabilitation of the SardarSarovar Project affected families.May 21: State wide demonstrations held on Friday,21 May 2010 (in front of District Forest Offices)protesting regressive amendments to the KarnatakaTree Preservation Act by environmental and socialaction groups, local communities and concernedpeople. In Bangalore, Environment Support Groupand Hasiru Usiru (a voluntary network ofprogressive individuals and organisations)organised the protest in front of the Headquartersof Karnataka Forest Department, Aranya Bhavan.May 18, Bangalore: Around 100 People participatein protest against forceful eviction and policeBrutality in Orissa at Gandhi Statue, MG Road,Bangalore.May 1, Orissa: Seventeen Adivasi villagers ofSamna in Orissa’s Narayanpatna block claim thatthey were brutally assaulted in custody last week,

an allegation the police have denied. According tothe villagers, they were picked up on May 9, as partof a joint operation conducted by the Orissa andAndhra Pradesh police along the inter-State border,airlifted to a police station in Andhra Pradesh andheld in custody for three days before being releasedon May 14.May 19, Mumbai: A group of slum dwellers underthe banner of Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolanfrom Anna Bhau Sathe Nagar gheraoed Shri. KripaShankar Singh, at Kurla, where he had come toinspect the progress of Mithi River cleaning. Theslum dwellers challenged the silence of the congressparty over the gross violation of their rights. Hewas questioned as to why till date none of therepresentatives of the congress party had visitedthe slum area. To which, he assured that he wouldpersonally visit the demolition site tomorrow.May 17, Anna Bhau Sathe Nagar: The Satyagrahaby slum dwellers of Rafi Nagar, Shivaji Nagar ledby Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan continuedfor the fourth day. It was joined by slum dwellersfrom different bastis in opposition to forcefuleviction of the area by the Mumbai Police. Seeingthe huge opposition to the move, the MumbaiMunicipal Corporation and the Shivaji Nagarpolice had to declare that they would not evict theslum forcibly. Just a day before this, more than 1500slum dwellers had visited the slum as part of theVisthapan Virodhi Yatra that ended with a vow tochallenge the unjust and illegal demolition drive ofthe government.May 17, Khandwa: With 80 per cent work doneand only 5 per cent of the affected rehabilitated,retired Delhi High Court chief justice RajendraSachar, veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar, socialistleader Surendra Mohan and World Council of AryaSamaj president Swami Agnivesh urges PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh to ensure that peopleaffected by the Maheshwar dam project in MadhyaPradesh get justice.May 17, New Delhi: Expressing concern over theplight of farmers whose rights are affected whentheir land is acquired for development, the SupremeCourt in a judgement said there is need forParliament and the Law Commission to revisit theLand Acquisition Act, 1894, which is more than acentury old. Writing the judgment, Justice


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Raveendran said the Act required the urgentattention of the State governments and developmentauthorities with reference to: absence of proper oradequate survey and planning before embarkingon acquisition; indiscriminate use of emergencyprovisions; notification of areas far larger than whatis actually required, for acquisition, and thenmaking arbitrary deletions from the acquisition;offer of a very low amount as compensation anddelay in payment necessitating references to courtin almost all cases and the absence of rehabilitationmeasures.May 16, Madban: protests stalled a public hearingof the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) atMadban village in Maharashtra because three ofthe affected viallages did not receive the EIA report.Only after officials acknowledged their mistake ofnot providing copies of the environmental impactassessment (EIA) to the affected villages, it wasallowed to go on under protest. About 2,300 peoplehave lost land to the project.May 15, Jharkhand: Gladson Dungdung HumanRights Activist, writer and convener of JharkhandIndigenous people’s forum, Joy Raj Tudu;Programme Head Jharkhand Initiatives, VijayMunda – DBSS; Arvind Kishku volunteerJharkhand Initiatives of CNI-SBSS, PhotographerGopal Paswan; and Badal Sardar convener ofKhutkati Raiyat Bhumi Raksha Samity were takento police custody because of their opposition to theBhushan Steel Project. Bhushan Steel and PowerLimited had purchased 135 acres of private landsecretly from the villagers belonging to the businesscommunity of Potka which comes under EastSingbhum district in Jharkhand.May 15, jagatsinghpur: More than 20 people inOrissa’s coastal Jagatsinghpur district were injuredafter thousands of armed police fired rubber bulletsand lobbed tearges shells to disperse about 1000villagers who had blocked a road protesting thesetting up of 12 million tonne greenfield steel millby South Korean steelmaker Posco in the area. Sincelast four months, people of 6 villages under thebanner of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, an anti-Posco body opposing the project had blocked theroad at Balitutha, the key entrance point to thesevillages. People in these 6 villages in 3grampanchayats inside the proposed project areahave dug their heels in since last 4 years refusing tonegotiate with the State government or Posco.May 14-19, Hardoi: A workshop for activists andstudents of social movements was organised duringthe Convention of Asha Parivar to empower

grassroots democracy at Asha Ashram, VillageLalpur, Post Atrauli, District Hardoi, U.P., IndiaMay 13, Mumbai: More than 500 hutments wereillegally bull dozed and burnt down at Sathenagarin Mumbai. The Additional Collector Shri Danajaycame along with a contingent of more than 250-armed policemen and 6 Bulldozers to demolishmore than 3000 houses. The Demolition squad wasfiercely resisted and opposed by the slum dwellers,especially the women but the police used force toenter the slum and started the demolition drive. Tofacilitate that, fire was kindled at 3-4 places. Slumresidents lost most of their belongings. 40 slumactivists were detained by the Deonar Police andreleased only later in the night.May 13, Kalinga Nagar: Tension grippedKalinganagar area in Orissa following a clashbetween villagers and policemen over landacquisition for Tata Steel’s million-tonne steelproject, in which one person was killed and aboutsixteen others injured. The deceased has beenidentified as Laxman Jamuda, a 60-year-old residentof Chandia village.May 12, New Delhi: The Narmada BachaoAndolan (NBA) urges Prime Minister ManmohanSingh to send a high-level Group of Ministers to theNarmada Valley to assess “the true scale ofrehabilitation of project-displaced people,corruption and non-compliance of environmentalmeasures’’ in the Narmada dam basin states ofGujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.May 11, Vijaywada: The Hind Swaraj Yatra thatbegan in Kerala to celebrate the centenary ofpublication of the seminal work by MahatmaGandhi, reached Vijaywada. Participants of theyatra will express solidarity with Manipuri writerand social activist Irom Sharmila, who has been onSatyagraha for the last 10 years against therepressive laws.May 10, Imphal: Sinlung Indigenous PeoplesHuman Rights Organisation demands that theGovernment of Manipur and its colluding partnersimmediately declare the recent MoU signed by theGovernment of Manipur with the National HydroPower Corporation (NHPC) and Shimla-basedSatluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVN) on April28, 2010 at Faridabad, for building the controversial1500 MW Tipaimukh Hydroelectric (Multipurpose)Project which is without the prior, informed consentand approval of the Sinlung-originated Hmarindigenous peoples who has been peacefully co-existing with river Tuiruong and Tuivai since timeimmemorial.

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May 8, Kerala: Hind Swaraj Yatra begins fromCherthala in Alappuzha Dt, Kerala to Imphal insolidarity with Irom Sharmila’s decade-old hungerstrike demanding repeal of Armed Forces SpecialPowers Act in the north-eastern states of India. Asa part of this journey, they perform a play writtenby Civic Chandran called ‘Meira Paibi’ (women withtorches) in various Indian cities on their way toImphal. After performing in Bangalore, Chennai,Vijayawada, Pune and Bhopal, the team will be inDelhi on May 16.May 6, Dantewada: Project-affected villagersboycott National Mineral DevelopmentCorporation public hearing because it was held 50km away from the project site. The protest was ledby Adivasi Mahasabha, fighting for the rights ofthe adivasis.May 6, New Delhi: Home Ministry in a presscommuniqué warns the civil society groups thatthose who speak in favour of Maoist guerrillas willface legal action and 10 years imprisonment. It said,‘any person who commits the offence of supportingsuch a terrorist organisation (like Communist Partyof India (CPI)-Maoist) with inter alia intention tofurther the activities of such terrorist organisationswould be liable to be punished with imprisonmentfor a term not exceeding 10 years or with fine orwith both’.May 5-8, 2010, Chattisgarh: March for Peace andJustice held from Raipur to Dantewada by 35concerned citizens from 13 states includingprominent scientists, veteran Gandhians,journalists, professors, engineers, social activists,youth and women passing through Jagdalpur,Dantewada, Kanker and Dhamtari. Peace - justicemarchers through press conferences, publicmeetings and talking with small groups of peoplegave the message that the problem will not be solvedby violence and counter violence. The chain ofviolence must stop and talks should start.May 5, Lucknow: The Taungya forest communityin Saharanpur inches closer towards the landownership title under the Forest Rights Act (FRA)2006 with the district administration acceptingclaims of around 600 Taungya families for scrutiny.A major hurdle, however, is furnishing the proof ofresiding in forest for 75 years. The forest department(FD) could ‘find’ evidence of only 60 years. ButTaungyas and FRA activists are still hopeful ofcrossing the obstacle created by the FD.May 5, Lucknow: An independent fact-findingteam comprising of social activists and lawyersarrive at Sonbhadra district for a two-day visit toinvestigate irregularities in the implementation of

the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and allegations ofviolence inflicted by forest department on womenand tribals. The team comprises Arundhati Dhuru,advisor to the right to food commissioner to thesupreme court; Kalyani Menon-Sen, seniorresearcher and activist on women issues; ProfSurender Nischal, reader, JVJ Jain College; SanjayUpadhyay, supreme court advocate; Nathu Kol,member UP State Level Monitoring Committee onFRA; and Ramchander Rana, member of UP StateLevel Monitoring Committee.May 5, New Delhi: Supreme Court accepts right toland-based rehabilitation and compensation attoday’s market-value for Narmada canal-affected.In an interim order passed today in the SpecialLeave Petition in appeal against the judgement ofthe High Court of Madhya Pradesh High Court inthe case of Narmada Bachao Andolan, SC rejectedthe claim of the Government of Madhya Pradeshthat the canal-affecetd families of Indira Sagar (ISP)and Omkareshwar (OSP) canals, being the‘beneficiaries’, have no right to rehabilitation, whileNBA asserted their rights for land as per theRehabilitation Policy for Narmada Project affectedfamilies.May 5, Chhatisgarh: A mob of about 100 sloganshouting supporters of the ruling Bharatiya JanataParty barged into the public meeting of eminentcitizens, including space scientist Yash Pal, veteranGandhian Narayan Desai and former UGCchairman Ramji Singh, a day before they embarkedupon a peace march from Raipur to Dantewada inChhattisgarh.May 4-7 and 12-14 Orissa: An all India independentfact finding team comprising of Dr. KS Subramanian,retd. IPS, Prof. AK Ramakrishnan (JNU), Ms.Nandini K Oza (activist-researcher), Mr. HarshKapoor (new media activist), Mr. Madhuresh Kumar(Researcher and NAPM activist) and Ms. ShaziaNigar visited Kalinganagar, Bhubaneshwar andCuttack and investigated the firing and policerepression in April and May by Jajpur DistrictAdministrationMay 4, Lucknow: Urban poor people start anindefinite demonstration from 4th May 2010onwards at the Shaheed Smarak, Lucknow againstnon-allotment of houses, to two slum dwellings thatwere bulldozed last year in Lucknow, under theKanshiram Urban Poor Housing Scheme.May 4, New Delhi: 35 Bhopal gas tragedy survivorsgathered outside the Prime Minister’s Office inSouth Block to file Right to Information requestsregarding the civil nuclear liability bill and its


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relationship with the lessons of the Union Carbidedisaster in Bhopal.May 4, Manipur: Women’s team from Delhi andMumbai hears voices of peace in the Naga Hills ofManipur.May 3, Mangalore: Mammoth protest by religiousleaders and social activists on the forcefulacquisition of land of a farmer Gregory Patrao forthe expansion of Mangalore Refinery andPetroschemicals Ltd.May 2, Mao Gate: In the midst of the tension aroundthe proposed visit of NSCN-IM leader, Th. Muivahto the Naga Hills of Manipur, the border betweenManipur and Nagaland became a site for statebelligerence as well as protests. Security forcesmoved into the territory in large numbers on theevening of 2nd May 2010 and pulled down thetraditional welcome gate at Mao Gate, and Section144 imposed on Ukhrul and Senapati areas.April 30, Anna Bhau Sathe Nagar, Mumbai: GharBachao Ghar Banao Andolan starts a computercentre in the slums of Mumbai in addition to thealready running two Tailoring Centres for slumwomen and three schools for slum children withoutany funding but only support and donations fromthe individuals who believe in the struggle of theslum dwellers for transforming Mumbai into aninclusive city based on principles of equity andjustice.April 30, Khandwa: NBA slams State Governmentfor favouring Maheshwar dam promoters S Kumarsand for opposing its own people. It was a surpriseto know that the letter of the Chief Minister MadhyaPradesh to the Prime Minister of India on 28.04.2010opposed the Order of the Union Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests suspending the work onthe Maheshwar dam until completion ofrehabilitation and resettlement measures.April 28-29, Bhutan: SAARC Summit held inThimpu, Bhutan focussed on climate change.April 29, Karachi and Porbandar: PakistanFisherfolk Forum (PFF) in Karachi and NationalFishworkers Forum, Boat Owners Association,Porbander and World Forum of Fisher People,Indian chapter took out a big rally jointly in theport city in India, demanding safe release offishermen languishing in Pakistani and Indian jails.April 29, Dhaka: Rights activists in Dhaka onWednesday urged the governments of SAARCmember states to create a visa free South Asia. Theyput forward a 16-point demand, including forredesigning and immediate operation of the SAARCfood bank so that it could feed the hungry in theregion.

April 28, New Delhi: Union Ministry of Mines helda meeting in the Sashtri Bhavan on the possibilityof lifting the current technical ban on miningchrysotile asbestos, amidst Kerala Human RightsCommission’s order banning use of asbestos inschools and a pending case in the National HumanRights Commission in the same matter.Occupational and environmental groups presentat the meeting called for complete ban on asbestosof all kinds because asbestos fibers cause incurablediseases like cancer and sought Mines Ministry’ssupport in getting a ban imposed on importchrysotile asbestos.April 28, Badwani: Devendra Pandey Committeesubmitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forest(MoEF) its 3rd interim report, especially on theCommand Area Development (CAD) Planning andcanals of Indira Sagar, Omkareshwar (NarmadaDams), which brings out unbelievable non-compliance by Govt of MP and Narmada ValleyDevelopment Authority (NVDA) on CAD planning.The report says only draft report on CAD plan inIndira Sagar Project (ISP) & a brief interim report onOmkareshwar Project (OSP) are submitted and noteven the final plans what is submitted are not CADplans but ‘Expression of Interest’. The “plans”cannot be approved and no further construction atthe cost of environment should be permitted tillcompliance on prerequisites is obtained. The SCorder dated 25-02-2010 said the canal work canproceed only with approval by the DevendraPandey Committee and MoEF. It granted maximumof six week time to Pandey Committee and fourweeks to MoEF.April 27, New Delhi: Delhi police detained thecouple, Gopal Mishra and Anu, trade unionists onsuspicion of having Maoist links. On April 4, SunilMandiwal, an assistant professor with DelhiUniversity’s Dayal Singh College, was detained forhis suspected links with Maoists, includingarrested leader Khobad Ghandy. He was releasedafter questioning.April 26, Indore: After 13 days stay at the Office ofthe Narmada Control Authority (NCA), Indore,hundreds of adivasis and farmers, with fisherpeople and potters from the Sardar Sarovar affectedvillages in the Narmada valley left after Mr. V.K.Jyoti, Executive Member and Mr. Afroz Ahmed,Director (Rehabilitation) admitted that the people’sdemands are within the framework of the NarmadaWater Disputes Tribunal ward (NWDTA), state’sR&R Policies and the Supreme Court’s Judgments.The previous developments of the dharna were:Chula jalao andolan on the 12th day, highlight of

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the 11th day was the return of the 15 member teamthat travelled to Delhi to warn the two centralMinistries of Social Justice and Empowerment andMinistry of Environment and Forests and also theburning of the effigy of Member (Civil) of NCA, Mr.M.K. Sinha who has committed a fraud by changingthe back water levels (BWLs), which is against theNarmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDTA) andscientific framework.April 23, New Delhi: PUCL, NAPM and manyother civil liberties groups condemn the most savageincident of killing of a physically challenged girl,Suman, and her 70 years old father, Tara Chand, inMirchpur village of Hisar district in Haryana onApril 21 by setting on fire several houses belongingto the Dalit community by miscreants of casteHindus. Groups demand immediate arrest of theculprits and also of the policemen who were onduty there and in whose presence the incident tookplace.April 23, Kalinganagar: Tata Steel PlantFoundation being led with Mysterious Murders &Forceful Demolitions in Kalinga Nagar.April 23, New Delhi: In light of negligible progresson rehabilitation and resettlement and advanceddam construction, the Ministry of Environment andForests suspended the work on the Maheshwardam under the provisions of the Environment(Protection) Act, 1986, until the study ofsubmergence to be caused by the dam is madeavailable, until agricultural land for allotment tothe oustees is identified, and the villagersrehabilitated and resettled.April 22, New Delhi: Around 1000 oustees of theMaheshwar dam began a satyagraha and indefinitefast demanding that the Environment Ministry mustimmediately suspend the construction ofMaheshwar dam under S.5 of the Environment(Protection) Act, 1986 until a comprehensiveRehabilitation Plan is submitted, and over 70,000oustees are rehabilitated and resettled according tothe conditions of the environmental clearances andthe approved rehabilitation policy. Representativesof the oustees of Omkareshwar, Indira Sagar, Manand Upper Beda dams also participated in thestruggle.April 21, West Bengal: violence broke out inBirbhum district of West Bengal where the adivasisof the surrounding villages have been fightingagainst the stone quarry industry in the area overthe past six months. The stone quarries are ownedby outsiders, who control a big mafia network, andare well connected with political parties such asthe CPI(M), Trinamool Congress and Forward

Block. The adivasis have been fighting against theenvironmental degradation and the exploitation bythese stone quarries under the leadership of adivasiorganizations called the Birbhum Adivasi Gaontaand Majhi Pargana Baisi.April 21-22, New Delhi: Civil societyorganisations, peoples movements and socialaction groups from South Asia organise Assemblyof a Union of South Asian Peoples at JawaharlalNehru University as a counter to the official SAARCmeeting to be held in Thimpu from 28-29 April 2010.April 20, New Delhi: The Right to Food Campaignexpresses its disappointment with the “narrowmanner’’ in which the proposed food security Billwas being formulated and sought a public debateon the subject. At a meeting with Union Food andAgriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, a delegationof activists said the proposal to provide 25 kg offoodgrains to a limited number of Below PovertyLine households was meaningless in the face ofhigh malnutrition and spiralling prices of essentials.April 19-20, New Delhi: National Peoples Audit ofSEZs held at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library,Teenmurti House, Delhi.April 17, Mizoram: The Hmar Peoples Convention-Democratic (HPC-D) in its press statement urgedthe Mizoram government to reconsider its policyon the construction of the controversial TipaimukhDam project to be built near the Mizoram andManipur border. The HPC-D stated that it is firmlycommitted not to seek separation from Mizoram butto strengthen it against outside actors who areplanning to steal and grasp the rich naturalresources and land of the people of Mizoram.April 15-19, New Delhi: The Right to FoodCampaign organized a Dharna cum relay fastoutside parliament at Jantar Mantar from 15th Aprilto 19th April, 2010 to oppose the draft NationalFood Security Act. This event was also anopportunity to reiterate the demands of the Right toFood Campaign. More than 2500 people fromdifferent parts of the country participated in thisfive day event.April 14, Srikakulam: Sandeep Pandey, NationalConvenor, NAPM, visited Srikakulam districts, onan invitation by the Movement against ThermalPower Plant, Somepeta, Srikakulam district. He wasjoined by B. Ramakrishna Raju, State Convenor,NAPM, Saraswati Kavula (Movement againstUranium Projects), K Prasad (Forum for GoodGovernance), Dr. Y. Krishna Murthy andDeenabandhu of the MTPP, Sompeta. This trip wascoordinated by JV Ratnam, journalist andenvironmental activist from Visakhapatnam.


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April 12, Chhatisgarh: Chhatisgarh Police MullsAction Against Arundhati Roy based on thecomplaint lodged by Vishwajit Mitra at theTelibanda police station in Raipur, pointing outthat the contents and photographs of ArundhatiRoy’s essay ”Walking With The Comrades”,published in the March 29 issue of Outlook couldattract action as an offence under ChhattisgarhSpecial Public Security Act-2005.April 11, Narmada valley: More than two thousandadivasis, farmers, fish workers, labourers, pottersand other Sardar Sarovar Project affected personsfrom the Narmada Valley assembled at Rajghattoday morning to embark on an indefinite JeevanAdhikar Yatra to challenge unjust political movesto push the giant dam ahead despite the failure ofthe dam having been fully exposed and also in theface of gross environmental non-compliance andunprecedented corruption, causing forced andillegal displacement of the two-lakh population inthe valley.April 8, New Delhi: Hundreds of PavementDwellers march to Azad Maidan demanding earlysettlement of the issues raised by the displacedpeople of Zakaria Bander. For the past 400 daysthe displaced people were on an indefinite Dharnaat Azad Maidan demanding proper rehabilitationafter being displaced from the pavement of ZakariaBander.April 6, Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh stategovernment decides to review over 51,000 claimsfiled under the Forests Rights Act (FRA) but rejectedby the authorities. The decision, according tosources, was taken following complaints that largenumber of claims filed by the forest dwellers wererejected at the local level by the Forests RightCommittees (FRCs) dominated by people of feudalmindset.April 5, New Delhi: NAPM writes to Shri TarunGogoi, Chief Minister of Assam condemning policeaction against Krishak Mukti Sangram Samitiactivists and their continued harassment anddemands action against erring officials, providerelief to those injured, and withdraw all falsecharges.

April 2, Assam: In Dhemaji, Assam, the KrishakMukti Sangram Samiti, a people’s organisation,organised a protest of 12,000 people on March30th. Their demands: Implement the Forest RightsAct, clean up the PDS and halt the construction ofbig dams. The government’s response: The CRPFfired in the air; used tear gas and lathi charged theprotesters. More than 100 were injured and 23admitted to hospital, of who two are in criticalcondition. The district KMSS president wasarrested and slapped with various false non-bailable cases. The KMSS general secretary, AkhilGogoi, faces a series of false cases and has beendescribed by the government as a “Maoist.”

Upcoming EventsJuly 28-August 14: 2nd India-Pakistan PeaceCaravan from Mumbai to Karanchi planned bypeace activists in India and Pakistan - to pushfurther for greater people to people interactions andkeep the peace momentum strong.August 6-8, Orissa: Fourth National Convention onthe Right to Food and Work to be held in Orissa from6-8 August 2010. Among the main issues to bediscussed at the convention are: the National RuralEmployment Guarantee Act; the Public DistributionSystem; children’s right to food; the agrarian crisis;social discrimination in the context of the right tofood; food security of vulnerable groups such asthe elderly, disabled, and widows; farmer’ssuicides; coercive change of land use; displacementof people and its impact on food security; legalaction for the right to food; andorganisational aspects of the Right to FoodCampaign. This will be an action-oriented event,structured around a series of parallelworkshops, plenary sessions, cultural activities,and more. For further information, please check thecampaign website (www.righttofoodindia.org) orcontact the Right to Food Campaign secretariat at011-26499563.September 25-30, Narmada Valley (tentative): 8th

bi-annual national convention of NAPM to be heldin Narmada valley.

The Movement of India

c/o Clifton D’Rozario, 122/4, Infantry Road, Opp. Infantry Wedding Hall, Bangalore - 560 001,

Karnataka (India)

Email: [email protected], Phone: +91 97317 38131

RNI No: MAHENG/2006/18083

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the movement of india may - june 2010 october...

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