Saturday, May 2, 2015
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जन्मदर घटने से हिन्दू संस्कृति को भारी खतरा
जन्मदर घटने से हिन्दू संस्कृति को भारी खतरा
कोलकाता में हिदुओं की जनसंख्या का विकास दर धीमा हो गया है जबकि अहिंदु आबादी की वृद्धि दर काफी बढ़ी है। 2001 को समाप्त हुये दशक में हिंदू महिलाओं का शिशु प्रजनन दर प्रति महिला एक बच्चा था जबकि किसी भी
धार्मिक समुदाय के टिकाऊ होने के लिये उसके आबादी का विकास दर 2.1 प्रतिशत होना जरूरी है। एक आंकड़े के अनुसार आलोच्य अवधि में कोलकाता में हिंदुओं की आबादी में महज 0.7 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि हुई है जबकि इसी अवधि में अहिंदु कौम की आबादी में 18 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि हुई है।
विख्यात थिंकटैंक ‘पैट्रियट फोरम’ ने यह चिंता जाहिर करते हुये कहा है कि आगामी पांच दशकों में भारत में हिंदुओं की आबादी अहिंदू जनसंख्या से कम हो जायेगी। ‘पैट्रियट फोरम’ के आंकड़ों में जगणना के आंकड़ों के हवाले से कहा गया है कि देश में जहां 1991 में देश में हिंदुओं की आबादी का विकास दर 23 प्रतिशत था जो दस वर्ष के बाद घट कर 20 प्रतिशत हो गया यानी आबादी के विकास दर में दस वर्षों में 3 प्रतिशत की गिरावट आयी है जबकि इसी अवधि में अहिंदुओं की आबादी का विकास दर 34.5 प्रतिशत से बढ़ कर 36 प्रतिशत हो गया यानी उसमें डेढ़ प्रतिशत की वृद्धि हुई है। लेकिन विख्यात थिंकटैंक ‘पैट्रियट फोरम’ ने भारत में हिंदुओं की जनसंख्या में तीव्र गिरावट के जो आंकड़े पेश किये हैं वे न केवल डराने वाले हैं बल्कि चिंतजनक भी हैं। स्व. पी एन भट्ट और ए जे फ्रांसिस ने अपने ‘ रोल ऑफ रीलिजन इन फर्टिलिटी इन डिक्लाइन’ में कहा है कि हिदू माताओं की संतानोत्पिति दर में भारी गिरावट आयी है जबकि अहिंदू माताओं की संतानोत्पिति दर में 25 से 30 प्रतिशत वृद्धि हुई है। चिंताजनक तथ्य यह है कि भारत में नीतियां तय करने के कार्य से जुड़े लोग भी इस हालात से वाकिफ हैं लेकिन इसे नजरअंदाज कर रहे हैं।
आंकड़े बताते हैं कि दुनिया भर में 1972 से संतानोत्पति दर में गिरावट आयी है। 1972 में जहां एक प्रति महिला 6 संतानें उत्पन्न करती थी वहीं 1990 में यह घट कर 2.09 हो गया। राष्ट्र संघ की जनसंख्या रिपोर्ट के अनुसार यूरोप की संतानोत्पति दर 2.1 के विस्थापन स्तर से काफी कम है।
मानव विकास के दुनिया भर में चार मानकों - शिशु मृत्यु दर( एक वर्ष से कम आयु के शिशु) ,बाल मृत्यु दर (एक से पांच वर्ष की आयु के बच्चे), शहरीकरण की दर और प्रजनन के समय जीवन की उम्मीद, के तहत भारत में अहिंदुओं से हिंदू बहुत पीछे हैं।
मानव विकास के चारों मानकों का अगर विश्लेषण किया जाय तो शहरी करण के मानकों में भारत में हिदुओं की अपेक्षा अहिंदुओं की तादाद ज्यादा है। रिलीजन डाटा रिपोर्ट 2001 के अनुसार शहरीकरण में हिंदुओं का अनुपात महज 26 प्रतिशत है जबकि अहिंदू आबदी का अनुपात 36 प्रतिशत है। यही नहीं इनसाइक्लोपीडिया ब्रिटेनिका के अनुसार भारत में हिदुओं की आबादी सन 2000 के 73.77 प्रतिशत से 2013 में घटकर 72.04 प्रतिशत हो गयी है। सभी आंकड़े बता रहे हैं कि भारत में हिंदुओं की आबदी में तेज गिरावट आ रही है जबकि अन्य धर्मावलिम्बयों की संख्या तेजी से बढ़ रही है और यह प्रवृत्ति कायम है। हालांकि भारत पर अतीत में भारी हमले हुये हैं और नि:संदेह बहुत जन हानि हुई भारत फिर से अपनी प्राचीन गरिमा तथा वैभव प्राप्त करने में सफल रहा है।
भारत में तेजी से घटती हिंदू आबादी दर से आने वाले दिनों दिनों में हिंदू धर्म को मानने वालो की संख्या घट जायेगी और इसके परिणाम की कल्पना सहज ही की जा सकती है। अब यहां प्रश्न उठता है कि बढ़ती समग्र आबादी के इस दौर में क्या यह विषय चिंतनी है। क्या समाज इस समस्या से वाकिफ है और इसके हल के लिये उपाय सुझाने का इच्छुक है।
कोलकाता में हिदुओं की जनसंख्या का विकास दर धीमा हो गया है जबकि अहिंदु आबादी की वृद्धि दर काफी बढ़ी है। 2001 को समाप्त हुये दशक में हिंदू महिलाओं का शिशु प्रजनन दर प्रति महिला एक बच्चा था जबकि किसी भी
धार्मिक समुदाय के टिकाऊ होने के लिये उसके आबादी का विकास दर 2.1 प्रतिशत होना जरूरी है। एक आंकड़े के अनुसार आलोच्य अवधि में कोलकाता में हिंदुओं की आबादी में महज 0.7 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि हुई है जबकि इसी अवधि में अहिंदु कौम की आबादी में 18 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि हुई है।
विख्यात थिंकटैंक ‘पैट्रियट फोरम’ ने यह चिंता जाहिर करते हुये कहा है कि आगामी पांच दशकों में भारत में हिंदुओं की आबादी अहिंदू जनसंख्या से कम हो जायेगी। ‘पैट्रियट फोरम’ के आंकड़ों में जगणना के आंकड़ों के हवाले से कहा गया है कि देश में जहां 1991 में देश में हिंदुओं की आबादी का विकास दर 23 प्रतिशत था जो दस वर्ष के बाद घट कर 20 प्रतिशत हो गया यानी आबादी के विकास दर में दस वर्षों में 3 प्रतिशत की गिरावट आयी है जबकि इसी अवधि में अहिंदुओं की आबादी का विकास दर 34.5 प्रतिशत से बढ़ कर 36 प्रतिशत हो गया यानी उसमें डेढ़ प्रतिशत की वृद्धि हुई है। लेकिन विख्यात थिंकटैंक ‘पैट्रियट फोरम’ ने भारत में हिंदुओं की जनसंख्या में तीव्र गिरावट के जो आंकड़े पेश किये हैं वे न केवल डराने वाले हैं बल्कि चिंतजनक भी हैं। स्व. पी एन भट्ट और ए जे फ्रांसिस ने अपने ‘ रोल ऑफ रीलिजन इन फर्टिलिटी इन डिक्लाइन’ में कहा है कि हिदू माताओं की संतानोत्पिति दर में भारी गिरावट आयी है जबकि अहिंदू माताओं की संतानोत्पिति दर में 25 से 30 प्रतिशत वृद्धि हुई है। चिंताजनक तथ्य यह है कि भारत में नीतियां तय करने के कार्य से जुड़े लोग भी इस हालात से वाकिफ हैं लेकिन इसे नजरअंदाज कर रहे हैं।
आंकड़े बताते हैं कि दुनिया भर में 1972 से संतानोत्पति दर में गिरावट आयी है। 1972 में जहां एक प्रति महिला 6 संतानें उत्पन्न करती थी वहीं 1990 में यह घट कर 2.09 हो गया। राष्ट्र संघ की जनसंख्या रिपोर्ट के अनुसार यूरोप की संतानोत्पति दर 2.1 के विस्थापन स्तर से काफी कम है।
मानव विकास के दुनिया भर में चार मानकों - शिशु मृत्यु दर( एक वर्ष से कम आयु के शिशु) ,बाल मृत्यु दर (एक से पांच वर्ष की आयु के बच्चे), शहरीकरण की दर और प्रजनन के समय जीवन की उम्मीद, के तहत भारत में अहिंदुओं से हिंदू बहुत पीछे हैं।
मानव विकास के चारों मानकों का अगर विश्लेषण किया जाय तो शहरी करण के मानकों में भारत में हिदुओं की अपेक्षा अहिंदुओं की तादाद ज्यादा है। रिलीजन डाटा रिपोर्ट 2001 के अनुसार शहरीकरण में हिंदुओं का अनुपात महज 26 प्रतिशत है जबकि अहिंदू आबदी का अनुपात 36 प्रतिशत है। यही नहीं इनसाइक्लोपीडिया ब्रिटेनिका के अनुसार भारत में हिदुओं की आबादी सन 2000 के 73.77 प्रतिशत से 2013 में घटकर 72.04 प्रतिशत हो गयी है। सभी आंकड़े बता रहे हैं कि भारत में हिंदुओं की आबदी में तेज गिरावट आ रही है जबकि अन्य धर्मावलिम्बयों की संख्या तेजी से बढ़ रही है और यह प्रवृत्ति कायम है। हालांकि भारत पर अतीत में भारी हमले हुये हैं और नि:संदेह बहुत जन हानि हुई भारत फिर से अपनी प्राचीन गरिमा तथा वैभव प्राप्त करने में सफल रहा है।
भारत में तेजी से घटती हिंदू आबादी दर से आने वाले दिनों दिनों में हिंदू धर्म को मानने वालो की संख्या घट जायेगी और इसके परिणाम की कल्पना सहज ही की जा सकती है। अब यहां प्रश्न उठता है कि बढ़ती समग्र आबादी के इस दौर में क्या यह विषय चिंतनी है। क्या समाज इस समस्या से वाकिफ है और इसके हल के लिये उपाय सुझाने का इच्छुक है।
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
West Bengal: Body Blow
Hari Ram Pandey
The early triumphalism in sections of the media after the first news of the killing of Maoist Politburo member Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji in Burishole forest in West Midnapore District, West Bengal, during an operation on November 24, 2011, was quickly tempered by statements from Security Forces’ (SF) leaders that this incident was unlikely to alter the course of the Maoist movement in the region and across wider theatres in the country. It is, nevertheless, a tremendous achievement for counter-insurgency (CI) Forces in the protracted war against what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the “single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country”. The killing compounds the impact of a continuous succession of intelligence-based operations that has progressively decimated the top Maoist leadership over the past years in a silent war of attrition that has far greater significance than the noisy shuffling about of “massive and coordinated Forces” and the flashy “clear, hold and develop” non-strategy that has been projected as the principal state response in the recent past.
Indeed, with Kishanji’s killing, the 2007 Politburo of the Communist Party of India – Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has been brought down from its original strength of 16 to just seven members operating in freedom. These are General Secretary Mupalla Laxman Rao, alias Ganapathy from Karimnagar; Nambala Keshav Rao from Srikakulam; Kattam Sudarshan alias Birenderji from Adilabad; Mallojula Venugopal (brother of Kishanji) from Karimnagar; Misir Besra from Jharkhand; Prashant Bose alias Kishanda from Jadavpur; and Malla Raji Reddy from Karimnagar. Of the remaining Politburo members, Cherukuri Rajkumar aka Azad was killed on July 2, 2010 and Kishanji on November 24, 2011; while Pramod Mishra was arrested on May 11, 2008 from Dhanbad; Akhilesh Yadav alias Jagdish Yadav was arrested on June12, 2011 from Gaya; Amitabh Bagchi was arrested on August 24, 2009 from Ranchi; Kobad Ghandy was arrested on September 21, 2009 from Delhi; Baccha Prasad Singh was arrested on February 9, 2010 from Kanpur; Narayan Sanyal was arrested on January 2, 2006; and Sushil Roy was arrested on May 21, 2005 from Hooghly.
Of equal significance is the fact that the 39 member Central Committee (CC) of 2007 has now been reduced to just 21 members, depleting the resources from which the national level leadership can be drawn. This process has penetrated deep into regional, state and district level leadership structures, forcing the Maoists into a dramatic contraction of their strategic overreach to “extend the people’s war throughout the country”, and this is reflected in current Government estimates that suggest that the 223 Districts variously affected by Maoist activities in 2008 have now reduced to just 180 such Districts. Maoist violence has also diminished dramatically, as the rebels focus urgently on consolidation, recruitment, training and a deepening of influence and infrastructure in their areas of dominance, instead of spreading themselves thin across territories where the ‘revolutionary situation’ is relatively inhospitable, or wasting themselves in unproductive operations against state Forces. Maoist-related fatalities in 2011, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) data, have dropped to 563 (till November 27), against their peak of 1,180 in 2010, and 997 in 2009. Crucially, the pre-election ‘deal’ with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress had virtually ended violence in West Bengal – the State that registered the highest number of fatalities in 2010, at 425 – bringing total fatalities there down to just 49 in 2011.
The most significant CI successes have been secured in sustained, cross-State intelligence-led operations, specifically targeting leadership figures, not in blind area domination exercises. Indeed, despite the suspension of operations in West Bengal immediately after Banerjee assumed power, it is clear that SFs continued to intensively and aggressively gather intelligence on Kishenji in full knowledge that the ‘ceasefire’ with the Maoists would, eventually, prove untenable. Senior Police officials attributed this operational success entirely on human intelligence, with Andhra Pradesh intelligence – which has been responsible for a overwhelming proportion of operational successes against the Maoist leadership across the country – claiming that the troops in the Burishole Forest were acting on “a tip-off from within”, and that Kishanji had been “set-up”. The Maoists’ West Bengal State Committee member, Akash is reported to have conceded that Kishanji was aware of infiltration of the Maoist ranks by the intelligence agencies, and had begun to neutralize suspects, but his responses were too little, too late.
Kishanji had been on the run almost continuously since March 29, 2010, when he escaped narrowly after being wounded in a gun battle with SFs in the Lakhanpur Forest in the West Midnapore District of West Bengal, and, despite his high profile projections of the preceding year, had become inaccessible to the media and public since this date. Intelligence agencies and the SFs had, however, stuck close to his heels since, with at least two close escapes in the intervening months, culminating in the fatal encounter on November 24. Indeed, it was the groundwork during the months of ‘ceasefire’ that allowed the SFs to register this quick hit within ten days of the announcement, on November 14, of resumption of anti-Maoist operations in the Jungalmahal area. A Joint Force of some 1,000 troopers drawn from the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and State Police, launched a massive operation on November 22, after getting specific information that Kishanji was in that area along with his trusted aide Suchitra Mahato, the widow of the West Bengal State Committee member Sashadhar Mahato. Suchitra Mahato is believed to have been injured, but escaped, even as the Forces continue to seek out the survivors of the November 24 encounter.
The resumption of SF operations against the Maoists in West Bengal was forced by the November 4, 2011, killing of Jitu Singh Sardar, a local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader in Balarampur area of Purulia District, by the Maoists. A month earlier, the victim had formed the Jangalmahal Unnayan Birodhi Pratirodh Committee (Protest Committee against anti-development in Jungalmahal), an anti-Maoist forum and vigilante group, in the Ghatbera area of the District. Again, on November 14, 2011, Maoist cadres killed Ajit Singh Sardar and his son Baku in the same area. The victims were, respectively, the father and brother of Rajen Sardar, who had recently left the Adivasi Moolvasi People's Committee, a Maoist front organisation, and joined the TMC. Earlier, the Maoists had killed another two local TMC leaders and the Jharkhand Janamukti Morcha President, who was perceived as close to the TMC.
Within hours of the November 14 killings in Balarampur, Chief Minister Banerjee ordered resumption of Security operations against the Maoists. A day later, a Maoist letter calling off the ceasefire reached media. The letter, signed by Maoist State secretary Akash, was dated October 31, 2011, and was addressed to human rights activist Sujato Bhadra and other members of the six-member interlocutor team set up by the State Government, and declared, "The ceasefire period has ended as neither you nor the State Government kept any of your promises." The SFs secured their first significant success the very next day, when they ambushed the retreating squad responsible for the November 14 incident and managed to kill two Maoists. Two SF personnel were also injured in the incident and one of them succumbed to his injuries on November 19.
Banerjee’s u-turn on the Maoists was simply a matter of time, and “the suspension of anti-Maoist operations by the Security Forces (SFs) under an undeclared ‘cease-fire’ is now just waiting to be ‘officially’ declared as withdrawn.” Ironically, the Chief Minister has virtually reconstituted the old team that she had contemptuously disbanded just months ago, to fight the Maoists in Jungalmahal. West Midnapore Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Verma had been removed from his post and, to deepen his humiliation, was kept ‘in waiting’, without a new posting. On November 11, 2011, he was appointed as SP Counter Insurgency Force (CIF). Further, the Government has written to the Election Commission seeking its permission to transfer S.N. Gupta, Special Inspector General (IG), Presidency Range, as IG, CIF, before the elections to the Calcutta South Lok Sabha constituency on November 30. Police sources indicate that an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer would be posted at each ‘sensitive’ Police Station in Jungalmahal to oversee CI operations. Land has also been allocated for permanent bases of Central Forces in Jungalmahal. The State has also requested the recall of CoBRA commandos who had been redeployed to Jharkhand after anti-Maoist operations were stalled in West Bengal, and has sought additional force from the Centre.
By all measures, the intensity of operations in West Bengal, and likely in the contiguous States as well, will rise in the immediate future. The Maoists, in the past, also demonstrated fair strength to absorb the shock of falling leaders – losses that are normal and expected in any revolutionary movement. A process of adaptation has been visible. Earlier, for instance, the CPI-Maoist ordered six of its CC members to stay away from a top-level meeting that was convened on the borders of Odisha and Jharkhand in February. The Maoist leadership suspected that these six were under intense surveillance from intelligence agencies, and that their attending the meeting could jeopardize the security of the other CC members. Among the six leaders ordered not to attend were Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna, Varanasi Subrahmanyam, Pulendu Sekhar Mukherji, Misir Besra, Malla Raji Reddy and another unidentified person. Incidentally, Varanasi Subrahmanyam, Pulendu Sekhar Mukherji and Vijay Kumar Arya, all CC members, were arrested in Bihar on April 29. There were also reports that SFs had recently almost surrounded a forested area in Odisha, where Akkiraju Haragopal, was believed to be camping, though Hargopal succeeded in evading arrest.
Despite their cumulative losses, and the shock of Kishanji’s loss, the Maoists can be expected to strike back soon enough, and there will be a parallel escalation of their operations, particularly against SFs and TMC cadres in West Bengal, but also across a much wider theatre. The CC has already called for a ‘protest week’ commencing Tuesday, November 29, and a two-day Bharat Bandh (all-India shutdown) on December 4 and 5, 2011, to protest Kishanji’s killing. Past trends suggest that these protests will be marked by significant acts of violence as well. The People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) week, celebrated each year between December 2 and 8, may also witness efforts to orchestrate acts of dramatic violence.
This stage will see inevitable operational reverses for the SFs as well, even as successes may well be registered. Some of these reverses could be dramatic and severely demoralizing. Any ambivalence on the part of the State at this stage, any dilution of the operational focus or of the political will, would only plunge West Bengal deeper into another bloodbath. It remains to be seen whether Chief Minister Banerjee has the vision and the will to see the present confrontation through to its logical end, or whether she relapses into the uncertainty and paralysis that has come to grip other political leaders confronted with the challenge of a sustained Maoist onslaught.
The early triumphalism in sections of the media after the first news of the killing of Maoist Politburo member Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji in Burishole forest in West Midnapore District, West Bengal, during an operation on November 24, 2011, was quickly tempered by statements from Security Forces’ (SF) leaders that this incident was unlikely to alter the course of the Maoist movement in the region and across wider theatres in the country. It is, nevertheless, a tremendous achievement for counter-insurgency (CI) Forces in the protracted war against what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the “single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country”. The killing compounds the impact of a continuous succession of intelligence-based operations that has progressively decimated the top Maoist leadership over the past years in a silent war of attrition that has far greater significance than the noisy shuffling about of “massive and coordinated Forces” and the flashy “clear, hold and develop” non-strategy that has been projected as the principal state response in the recent past.
Indeed, with Kishanji’s killing, the 2007 Politburo of the Communist Party of India – Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has been brought down from its original strength of 16 to just seven members operating in freedom. These are General Secretary Mupalla Laxman Rao, alias Ganapathy from Karimnagar; Nambala Keshav Rao from Srikakulam; Kattam Sudarshan alias Birenderji from Adilabad; Mallojula Venugopal (brother of Kishanji) from Karimnagar; Misir Besra from Jharkhand; Prashant Bose alias Kishanda from Jadavpur; and Malla Raji Reddy from Karimnagar. Of the remaining Politburo members, Cherukuri Rajkumar aka Azad was killed on July 2, 2010 and Kishanji on November 24, 2011; while Pramod Mishra was arrested on May 11, 2008 from Dhanbad; Akhilesh Yadav alias Jagdish Yadav was arrested on June12, 2011 from Gaya; Amitabh Bagchi was arrested on August 24, 2009 from Ranchi; Kobad Ghandy was arrested on September 21, 2009 from Delhi; Baccha Prasad Singh was arrested on February 9, 2010 from Kanpur; Narayan Sanyal was arrested on January 2, 2006; and Sushil Roy was arrested on May 21, 2005 from Hooghly.
Of equal significance is the fact that the 39 member Central Committee (CC) of 2007 has now been reduced to just 21 members, depleting the resources from which the national level leadership can be drawn. This process has penetrated deep into regional, state and district level leadership structures, forcing the Maoists into a dramatic contraction of their strategic overreach to “extend the people’s war throughout the country”, and this is reflected in current Government estimates that suggest that the 223 Districts variously affected by Maoist activities in 2008 have now reduced to just 180 such Districts. Maoist violence has also diminished dramatically, as the rebels focus urgently on consolidation, recruitment, training and a deepening of influence and infrastructure in their areas of dominance, instead of spreading themselves thin across territories where the ‘revolutionary situation’ is relatively inhospitable, or wasting themselves in unproductive operations against state Forces. Maoist-related fatalities in 2011, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) data, have dropped to 563 (till November 27), against their peak of 1,180 in 2010, and 997 in 2009. Crucially, the pre-election ‘deal’ with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress had virtually ended violence in West Bengal – the State that registered the highest number of fatalities in 2010, at 425 – bringing total fatalities there down to just 49 in 2011.
The most significant CI successes have been secured in sustained, cross-State intelligence-led operations, specifically targeting leadership figures, not in blind area domination exercises. Indeed, despite the suspension of operations in West Bengal immediately after Banerjee assumed power, it is clear that SFs continued to intensively and aggressively gather intelligence on Kishenji in full knowledge that the ‘ceasefire’ with the Maoists would, eventually, prove untenable. Senior Police officials attributed this operational success entirely on human intelligence, with Andhra Pradesh intelligence – which has been responsible for a overwhelming proportion of operational successes against the Maoist leadership across the country – claiming that the troops in the Burishole Forest were acting on “a tip-off from within”, and that Kishanji had been “set-up”. The Maoists’ West Bengal State Committee member, Akash is reported to have conceded that Kishanji was aware of infiltration of the Maoist ranks by the intelligence agencies, and had begun to neutralize suspects, but his responses were too little, too late.
Kishanji had been on the run almost continuously since March 29, 2010, when he escaped narrowly after being wounded in a gun battle with SFs in the Lakhanpur Forest in the West Midnapore District of West Bengal, and, despite his high profile projections of the preceding year, had become inaccessible to the media and public since this date. Intelligence agencies and the SFs had, however, stuck close to his heels since, with at least two close escapes in the intervening months, culminating in the fatal encounter on November 24. Indeed, it was the groundwork during the months of ‘ceasefire’ that allowed the SFs to register this quick hit within ten days of the announcement, on November 14, of resumption of anti-Maoist operations in the Jungalmahal area. A Joint Force of some 1,000 troopers drawn from the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and State Police, launched a massive operation on November 22, after getting specific information that Kishanji was in that area along with his trusted aide Suchitra Mahato, the widow of the West Bengal State Committee member Sashadhar Mahato. Suchitra Mahato is believed to have been injured, but escaped, even as the Forces continue to seek out the survivors of the November 24 encounter.
The resumption of SF operations against the Maoists in West Bengal was forced by the November 4, 2011, killing of Jitu Singh Sardar, a local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader in Balarampur area of Purulia District, by the Maoists. A month earlier, the victim had formed the Jangalmahal Unnayan Birodhi Pratirodh Committee (Protest Committee against anti-development in Jungalmahal), an anti-Maoist forum and vigilante group, in the Ghatbera area of the District. Again, on November 14, 2011, Maoist cadres killed Ajit Singh Sardar and his son Baku in the same area. The victims were, respectively, the father and brother of Rajen Sardar, who had recently left the Adivasi Moolvasi People's Committee, a Maoist front organisation, and joined the TMC. Earlier, the Maoists had killed another two local TMC leaders and the Jharkhand Janamukti Morcha President, who was perceived as close to the TMC.
Within hours of the November 14 killings in Balarampur, Chief Minister Banerjee ordered resumption of Security operations against the Maoists. A day later, a Maoist letter calling off the ceasefire reached media. The letter, signed by Maoist State secretary Akash, was dated October 31, 2011, and was addressed to human rights activist Sujato Bhadra and other members of the six-member interlocutor team set up by the State Government, and declared, "The ceasefire period has ended as neither you nor the State Government kept any of your promises." The SFs secured their first significant success the very next day, when they ambushed the retreating squad responsible for the November 14 incident and managed to kill two Maoists. Two SF personnel were also injured in the incident and one of them succumbed to his injuries on November 19.
Banerjee’s u-turn on the Maoists was simply a matter of time, and “the suspension of anti-Maoist operations by the Security Forces (SFs) under an undeclared ‘cease-fire’ is now just waiting to be ‘officially’ declared as withdrawn.” Ironically, the Chief Minister has virtually reconstituted the old team that she had contemptuously disbanded just months ago, to fight the Maoists in Jungalmahal. West Midnapore Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Verma had been removed from his post and, to deepen his humiliation, was kept ‘in waiting’, without a new posting. On November 11, 2011, he was appointed as SP Counter Insurgency Force (CIF). Further, the Government has written to the Election Commission seeking its permission to transfer S.N. Gupta, Special Inspector General (IG), Presidency Range, as IG, CIF, before the elections to the Calcutta South Lok Sabha constituency on November 30. Police sources indicate that an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer would be posted at each ‘sensitive’ Police Station in Jungalmahal to oversee CI operations. Land has also been allocated for permanent bases of Central Forces in Jungalmahal. The State has also requested the recall of CoBRA commandos who had been redeployed to Jharkhand after anti-Maoist operations were stalled in West Bengal, and has sought additional force from the Centre.
By all measures, the intensity of operations in West Bengal, and likely in the contiguous States as well, will rise in the immediate future. The Maoists, in the past, also demonstrated fair strength to absorb the shock of falling leaders – losses that are normal and expected in any revolutionary movement. A process of adaptation has been visible. Earlier, for instance, the CPI-Maoist ordered six of its CC members to stay away from a top-level meeting that was convened on the borders of Odisha and Jharkhand in February. The Maoist leadership suspected that these six were under intense surveillance from intelligence agencies, and that their attending the meeting could jeopardize the security of the other CC members. Among the six leaders ordered not to attend were Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna, Varanasi Subrahmanyam, Pulendu Sekhar Mukherji, Misir Besra, Malla Raji Reddy and another unidentified person. Incidentally, Varanasi Subrahmanyam, Pulendu Sekhar Mukherji and Vijay Kumar Arya, all CC members, were arrested in Bihar on April 29. There were also reports that SFs had recently almost surrounded a forested area in Odisha, where Akkiraju Haragopal, was believed to be camping, though Hargopal succeeded in evading arrest.
Despite their cumulative losses, and the shock of Kishanji’s loss, the Maoists can be expected to strike back soon enough, and there will be a parallel escalation of their operations, particularly against SFs and TMC cadres in West Bengal, but also across a much wider theatre. The CC has already called for a ‘protest week’ commencing Tuesday, November 29, and a two-day Bharat Bandh (all-India shutdown) on December 4 and 5, 2011, to protest Kishanji’s killing. Past trends suggest that these protests will be marked by significant acts of violence as well. The People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) week, celebrated each year between December 2 and 8, may also witness efforts to orchestrate acts of dramatic violence.
This stage will see inevitable operational reverses for the SFs as well, even as successes may well be registered. Some of these reverses could be dramatic and severely demoralizing. Any ambivalence on the part of the State at this stage, any dilution of the operational focus or of the political will, would only plunge West Bengal deeper into another bloodbath. It remains to be seen whether Chief Minister Banerjee has the vision and the will to see the present confrontation through to its logical end, or whether she relapses into the uncertainty and paralysis that has come to grip other political leaders confronted with the challenge of a sustained Maoist onslaught.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Indian State’s Roads Become a Protest Tool
Hari Ram Pandey
All summer, Homindon Singh Lisam’s phone rang off the hook. As a doctor and hospital administrator in India’s remote Manipur State, he is no stranger to triage. But this was different.
The Kuki tribal group, seeking the creation of a separate administrative district in its area, had imposed a blockade in August, severing the only two roads that lead here, and with them Dr. Lisam’s access to crucial medical supplies. Oxygen canisters, vital for surgery, were already scarce. All nonemergency procedures were canceled indefinitely.
“Many patients come to me and beg to get their surgeries done,” Dr. Lisam said. “I tell them: ‘A hernia can wait.’ ”
It is an astonishing but true fact, and it is indicative of India’s peculiar challenges, that an entire state of the world’s most populous democracy, and a rising economic power, can still be held hostage by a small ethnic group demanding a relatively modest amount of local administrative control.
India’s remote northeast is attached to the rest of the country by a slender thread of territory that arcs over the northern border of Bangladesh. It lies at the crossroads of India, Myanmar, China and Nepal, and is an ethnic and religious crazy quilt, populated by a diverse mix of indigenous tribes. In addition to Muslims and Hindus, many of the tribes are Christian or practice smaller, traditional religions.
That makes for fractious politics all over, from the eastern end of West Bengal to the deepest reaches of Arunachal Pradesh, from Assam to Tripura. Some places have suffered through full-fledged insurgencies while others have remained simmering for decades on a lower boil. Violence has dropped sharply in Manipur, once one of the most insurgent-wracked states in the country. But the state remains fragile. “Manipur is like a mini India,” said Nongthomban Biren, a state government minister and spokesman, in an interview at his palatial home. “There are 36 tribes in such a small state. We have to be very careful. If something is happening, and it hurts someone’s sentiments, it is a big problem.”
Two main roads connect this state to the rest of India, leaving it vulnerable to blockade by whatever group has a gripe with the government.
Such protests have been a routine part of life here for four decades. This summer’s blockade lasted more than three months, costing the state tens of millions of dollars. Like other blockades through the years, this one stopped as abruptly as it had begun, when the state government said it would create a district for the Kukis. But there was already a competing partial blockade in place by an ethnic group opposed to the move.
All summer, gasoline was in short supply and rationing was in force. People lined up for hours, parking their cars in line at night and returning to wait again in the morning, to get a few liters of oil. In remote and isolated Manipur, blockades ensure that what little commercial life there is gets choked off.
Usually when Manipur is sealed from the outside, the perpetrators are ethnic Nagas who want to break large chunks of the state off to add to what they call Greater Nagaland, an enlarged version of the existing state of Nagaland.
This time, however, it is another tribal group that is blocking the roads. The Kukis are a hill tribe who complain that they are dominated by both the Nagas and the Hindu Meiteis of the Imphal Valley, who dominate political and economic life in Manipur.
In order to have greater control over the development of their community and a measure of self-governance, Kuki activists are demanding that the state government create a new district, which is a local administrative unit, in the southern half of the existing Southern Hills district. While this may seem like a modest proposal, Naga groups oppose it because they worry that a Kuki-dominated district could disrupt their plans for Greater Nagaland.
“The Nagas are against it,” Mr. Biren said, with more than a hint of weariness in his voice. “If the Nagas get angry, that affects the whole state.”
The government, despite draconian anti-insurgency security laws that allow it to clamp down hard on dissent, was unable to stop the blockade. But it is easy to see why this was the case. The village of Gamgiphai, on the outskirts of Imphal, was one of the front lines of the blockade. Villagers had dug a trench through the asphalt of the road, banning all traffic.
The blockade greatly reduced access to crucial medical supplies at a government hospital in Imphal, the capital of Manipur State.
A huge crowd of women surrounded a young army major in wire rimmed glasses, who pleaded with them.
“I ask all the people to calm down,” the soldier said through a scratchy bullhorn. “We apologize to the people.”
There were several different versions of what had prompted this impromptu rally, but the most commonly told was that a paramilitary soldier had tried to break the blockade on his scooter. The women enforcing it got in his way, and, according to Lamshi Haokip, a homemaker and mother of three, he had threatened them.
“He said: ‘I am a soldier. What can you women do to us?’ ” Ms. Haokip said.
The army major was clearly trying to soothe tempers, but he was meeting with little success.
“Please, listen to me,” he pleaded. “I am here to help you. Whatever happened has happened as a result of a misunderstanding. I am standing here empty-handed. I have no weapon with me.”
He paused, waiting for the shouting to subside so he could be heard.
“If you have faith in me, please raise your hands,” he said.
A few hands went up. The crowd quieted. Volunteers formed a human chain to keep the protesters back. The major, it seemed, was going to produce the offending soldier to offer his own apology.
“I will bring my boy here,” he said. “I appeal to you again and again: please do not hurt him!”
A teacher named Kimboi stood a little apart from the scene, wearing a yellow dress. She explained why she supported the blockade.
“It is not only the people in the valley who suffer,” she said. “This is harvesting time. The majority of our people are farmers. This is a big sacrifice for us. We are not trying to destroy Manipur. We are not asking for our own state. We just want control over our own development.”
Meanwhile, a truck arrived carrying the offending soldier. Flanked by his colleagues, he made his way to where the major was standing. The crowd surged but was held back by the human chain.
“Please, I have brought this boy here,” the major said. “He will now apologize.”
The young man was about to speak, but one of his accusers grabbed the microphone. He had accosted them in civilian dress — why was he now brought forward in military fatigues? Another of the women lunged forward and slapped him. A melee broke out, and the young soldier had to be whisked away.
“Please stop, please stop, please stop, please stop!” the major cried.
Lakhi Kanta, a lawyer in Imphal, said these blockades were almost entirely the government’s own making.
“Nobody is serious about tackling this problem,” he said. “There are so many central forces and they cannot ensure the safety of trucks? It is simply a lack of will. As common citizens of this state, we are living with great difficulties.”
Monday, November 7, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
They Want pull Anna down
Prashant Bhushan... or for that matter all running Civil Society movement.... should concentrate on corruption!! They should take their fight against corruption to its 'judicious conclusion'!!! But, seems as the reaction that they got has inflicted them with 'large heads'......and now they feel they are an authority on everything and anything!!! But one thing from Prashant's demand for a plebiscite that is evident is that Civil Society are not hand in glove with RSS!!!! Digvijaya's proof that Anna and RSS are hand in glove has been trashed!!! Seems Digvijaya's logic is now that RSS has extended support to Anna's anti corruption fight so the fight has become unholy!!!! I feel Anna and his lot would only be too happy that Congress continues damning them.... because their stock only rises! What Congress is ignoring is that Public knows about the Great Loot that has taken place during UPA's rule!!!! Congres sis using every trick in 'the dirty book' to bring Anna' stock down.... why one of them is even trying to do this by behaving like a clown!!
People feel it is only natural that Congress will try to pull Anna down!!!
By hook or crook .... and I'd add 'clown'!!!
I'm indeed surprised at Kursheed's excuse for his ' political economy statement'.... he says this was because of the perception that Public wanted this!! Seems he spoke only to the 2 G lot in Jail and 'misconstrued' them as Public!!!! I think Court has been lenient with Kursheed!!! Kursheed has in fact asked the Court to give justice a miss!!!! And people thought Moily was bad..... Kursheed in not time has proved that our Law Minister is 'challenged when it comes to Justice'!!! Nation is crying for a Lokpal and our Law Minister is doing his best to delay the Bill because he has to prove that his Lord and Master Yuvraj of Congress's demand that Lokpal should be a Constitutional Body is right!! SO at present not only trying to delay the Bill but he's trying to credit his Lord and Master too!!!
Kursheed has transformed in no time!!!!
For Justice and judiciousness he seems to not care even a dime!!
As in Hissar Congress faces a total rout Rahul is roaming about in UP!!!!!!! Why should he canvass in an election where Congress does not stand a chance???? But what surprises is that initially Congress has positioned this election ' as if Sonia's prestige was at stake'!!!! Maybe this was done so as to stop the infighting in Congress .... and to some extent this did work!!! But then Anna and his lot entered the picture and Congress was drummed out of this election 'lock, stock and barrel'!! Coming to Rahul..... if in UP now Congress is not able to come to power he might as well pack his bags.... that is politically!!
Rahul Rahul where have you been??????
We know why is Hissar you were not seen!
Will Advani single handedly make BJP loose out on a chance to come to power?????? He seems to be so fixated with becoming PM that he's not willing to see harm his continuing as one of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidates is causing!!!! His flip flops on his retirement have just added to BJP's woes!!!! They say his family is egging him on ..... saying it's his birthright to be India's PM!!!! I recall even his becoming Deputy PM brought BJP's stock down!!! He's too foxy .......all about him is just a dhong.... and I think Indians do not like dhongis.... in this matter he's got Rahul for company!!!
Abh Advani ji you must give up your 'moh' to stay in 7 Race Course!!!
Apne aap pe Advani ji ' old age is to do paat pooja' rule karro enforce!!!!
PS..... seems Mehbooba negotiated some of her personal issues with Omar.... and that is why anti protests Omar were turned off like a tap!!!! As per a survey Digvijaya is the real Congressman..... why don't people realize that he's doing what he is doing for Madam????? After Planning Commission's Rs. 32 affidavit in Court seems SC has recalculated 'life of an Indian' and reduced the compensation to Upahar Victims!! After Cash for Votes is it possible the bashing up that Prashant and the Civil Society supporters got is it possible is was because of a Bash for Cash....between you know who and who!! Seems Sahara's Managing Worker wants to enjoy good times........ so he's now become Mallya aka King of Good Times partner.... hope he knows the King of Good times is heavy in debt!!
People feel it is only natural that Congress will try to pull Anna down!!!
By hook or crook .... and I'd add 'clown'!!!
I'm indeed surprised at Kursheed's excuse for his ' political economy statement'.... he says this was because of the perception that Public wanted this!! Seems he spoke only to the 2 G lot in Jail and 'misconstrued' them as Public!!!! I think Court has been lenient with Kursheed!!! Kursheed has in fact asked the Court to give justice a miss!!!! And people thought Moily was bad..... Kursheed in not time has proved that our Law Minister is 'challenged when it comes to Justice'!!! Nation is crying for a Lokpal and our Law Minister is doing his best to delay the Bill because he has to prove that his Lord and Master Yuvraj of Congress's demand that Lokpal should be a Constitutional Body is right!! SO at present not only trying to delay the Bill but he's trying to credit his Lord and Master too!!!
Kursheed has transformed in no time!!!!
For Justice and judiciousness he seems to not care even a dime!!
As in Hissar Congress faces a total rout Rahul is roaming about in UP!!!!!!! Why should he canvass in an election where Congress does not stand a chance???? But what surprises is that initially Congress has positioned this election ' as if Sonia's prestige was at stake'!!!! Maybe this was done so as to stop the infighting in Congress .... and to some extent this did work!!! But then Anna and his lot entered the picture and Congress was drummed out of this election 'lock, stock and barrel'!! Coming to Rahul..... if in UP now Congress is not able to come to power he might as well pack his bags.... that is politically!!
Rahul Rahul where have you been??????
We know why is Hissar you were not seen!
Will Advani single handedly make BJP loose out on a chance to come to power?????? He seems to be so fixated with becoming PM that he's not willing to see harm his continuing as one of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidates is causing!!!! His flip flops on his retirement have just added to BJP's woes!!!! They say his family is egging him on ..... saying it's his birthright to be India's PM!!!! I recall even his becoming Deputy PM brought BJP's stock down!!! He's too foxy .......all about him is just a dhong.... and I think Indians do not like dhongis.... in this matter he's got Rahul for company!!!
Abh Advani ji you must give up your 'moh' to stay in 7 Race Course!!!
Apne aap pe Advani ji ' old age is to do paat pooja' rule karro enforce!!!!
PS..... seems Mehbooba negotiated some of her personal issues with Omar.... and that is why anti protests Omar were turned off like a tap!!!! As per a survey Digvijaya is the real Congressman..... why don't people realize that he's doing what he is doing for Madam????? After Planning Commission's Rs. 32 affidavit in Court seems SC has recalculated 'life of an Indian' and reduced the compensation to Upahar Victims!! After Cash for Votes is it possible the bashing up that Prashant and the Civil Society supporters got is it possible is was because of a Bash for Cash....between you know who and who!! Seems Sahara's Managing Worker wants to enjoy good times........ so he's now become Mallya aka King of Good Times partner.... hope he knows the King of Good times is heavy in debt!!
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