The Story of People's Resistance to Displacement in Jharkhand

January 6, 2012

By Stan Swamy, Sanhati

This article is an introduction to the trajectory of peoples' movements against displacement in Jharkhand in the last few years. As the author writes, the resistance in Jharkhand has resulted in the fact that "[o]ut of the about one hundred MOUs signed by Jharkhand government with industrialists, hardly three or four companies have succeeded in acquiring some land, set up their industries and start partial production." - Ed.

Displacement is painful for anybody - to leave the place where one was born and brought up, the house that one built with one's own labour. It is most painful when no alternate resettlement has been worked out and one has nowhere to go. And when it comes to the indigenous Adivasi People for whom their land is not just an economic commodity but a source of spiritual sustenance, it can be heart-rending.

A very conservative estimate indicates that during the last 50 years approximately 2 crore 13 lakh people have been displaced in the country owing to big projects such as mines, dams, industries, wild-life sanctuaries, field firing range etc. Of this, at least 40%, approximating 85 lakhs, are Indigenous Adivasi People. Of all the displaced, only one-fourth have been resettled. The remaining were given some cash compensation arbitrarily fixed by local administration and then neatly forgotten.

On 24 November 2011, the body of the Maoist leader Kishanji, with multiple injuries all over the body, was found in the Burishole jungle of the Jhargram area of the West Medinipur district of West Bengal. One of the main operatives of the Chidambaram-Mamata joint forces, Mr. Vijay Kumar, the DG of the CRPF, described it as a ‘clean and successful operation’. The mutilated body bore marks not only of bullet wounds, but wounds of four types. One was the bullet wounds; the second was the wounds caused by sharp weapons; the third was wounds caused by burning; and the fourth was the wound caused by pounding parts of the body such as fingers by heavy instruments.

Kishenji Fought for a Better World

by Bernard D'Mello

India's Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, West Bengal Chief Minister (also in charge of the province's home affairs) Mamata Banerjee, Union Home Secretary R K Singh, and the top bosses of the security forces involved in the operation have all been bent on establishing one point: that the alleged encounter in the Burishol forest in West Midnapore district, 10 km from the West Bengal-Jharkhand border, in which Mallojula Koteswara Rao, popularly known by his nom de guerre Kishenji, a member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI (Maoist)], was supposedly killed was "real".

Kashmir is one of two war zones in India from which no news must come. But those in unmarked graves will not be silenced

by Arundhati Roy, guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 September 2011

At about 3am, on 23 September, within hours of his arrival at the Delhi airport, the US radio-journalist David Barsamian was deported. This dangerous man, who produces independent, free-to-air programmes for public radio, has been visiting India for 40 years, doing such dangerous things as learning Urdu and playing the sitar.

Sagarika Ghose Interviews Arundhati Roy

31 August, 2011 - Ibnlive.in.com

In an exclusive interview, writer Arundhati Roy said there are serious concerns about the Jan Lokpal Bill, corporate funding, NGOs and even the role of the media.

Sidhu Soren, CC Member of PCPA Martyred on 26-07-2010, Goaltore - Lalgarh

July 18, 2011 by Ranjit Sur

The Supreme court of India ordered a CBI enquiry into the death of CPI( Maoist) leader Azad (Cherakuri Rajkumar), following allegations by his party and several civil rights organizations that Azad was murdered in a fake encounter by the Andhra Police. Even Ms Mamata Banerjee, the new Chief Minister of West Bengal, raised her voice in protest and demanded a proper enquiry, while addressing a public meeting in Jangalmahal before the Assembly election.