Rajesh Ramachandran
NDTV Transcript
Thursday, July 27, 2006 (Dantewada):
The People's Liberation Guerrilla Army in Dantewada, Chattisgarh was raised on December 2, 2000 by the Maoists to create pockets of liberated zones.
A state of constant war is how the Maoists define survival and expansion as they take on the Naga Battalion, the CRPF and the local police.
Village Sangham is the basic unit of the Maoist organisation. Dalam or people's militia is raised from the Sanghams.
Dalam has full timers involved in organisational work and organised into platoon, companies and battalions.
Female fighters
Among the members are Lakki and Buddri - trusted soldiers very comfortable with home made rifles. At times they use self-loading rifles and sten guns.
Their weapons are from the police armory seized during raids.
Buddri was on sentry duty in February when Naxals raided the Baila
Dila mines ammunition dump. They fled with over 20 tonnes of explosives.
Lakki's role was to ambush the policemen.
"I was on sentry duty when we raided the Baila Dila mines and carried away ammunition," Buddri said.
On the ground in Dandakaranya - divided into five divisions or districts, a divisional secretary commands actions approved by the top leadership.
Recruitment
Hare Ram, an adivasi, joined the force when he was 12 years old and
he is now an area secretary as head of a local organisation squad.
The squad visits hundreds of villages, motivates and recruits full timers into the Dalam and later screens them for the fighting force.
"First when the Naxalites came into the forest villages they were called kuppalor or dacoits. Slowly they gained the confidence of the people," Ram said.
"We intervened when the forest guards threatened to set the village on fire and sought goats and bribe".
He added, that Naxal Dalam members beat up the forest guards and
patwari and gradually the movement gained ground.
"We don't have good weapons. We know fully well the weapons cannot win us this war. It is only people's love that can sustain the movement," Ram said.
"Its been one year since Salwa Judum began harassing the villagers in the name of the Naxal army. But the Dalam is where it was and villagers have not given us away," he said.
The young men and women return after a day's patrolling to dance and sing in their own Gondi language.
They sing of the martyrs who died so that others could live with dignity.
And the Chetna Natya Manch performers are proof that the war the Maoists are waging is not just with weapons.
Showing posts with label Naxal Stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Naxal Stories. Show all posts
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Monday, July 23, 2007
Naxal Series: Chandrababu Naidu Is Still A Target
EXCLUSIVE
NDTV Transcript
Rajesh Ramachandran
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 (Dantewada forests):
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said only last week that naxalism is the biggest threat India faces today.
In a reflection of why the concern is very real, NDTV travelled deep into Naxal territory in Chattisgarh and interviewed Ganesh Ueike, a top Naxal leader.
Ganesh Ueike, the militia's commander in Bastar and Dantewada, is an unassuming, middle-aged man but it soon became clear that he means business.
Ueike, who is a state committee member of the CPI (Maoist), also said that former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is still a target even though he's no longer in power.
Previous attack
A few years ago, in a remarkably accurate and devastating attack, Naidu's car was blown up. He was lucky to have survived but he has not escaped the Naxals' anger. "We still feel that we were right in targeting Chandrababu Naidu. Our tactics during the elections were correct. If you make an analysis of the all India situation, he devised the worst policies to suppress us and to a great extent he was successful,” said Ganesh Uieke, State Committee Member, CPI (Maoist).
"So targetting him was essential for the movement. Hence we targetted him. It doesn't mean that if we kill Naidu the system will change. If Varma goes Sharma will take over. But there is always a focal point of attack," he added.
NDTV : Is he still a target?
Ganesh Uieke: Yes. He is still a target.
NDTV : You say if Varma goes Sharma will take over. Then why is he still a target?
Ganesh Uieke: He killed 1200 of us and 5000 to 6000 others. He was a despot and an enemy of the people. So he will remain a target of the movement.
NDTV : Do you have a hit list?
Ganesh Uieke: No we don't have any hit list. The mainstream media calls us terrorists. But we are leading a political movement. We have a mass line and a political line. We don't believe that one or two actions would solve all the problems. Revolution doesn't happen like a Bollywood movie.
NDTV : Are there other national leaders who are targets?
Ganesh Uieke: Whoever is against the movement is an enemy.
Although the comparison with terrorism is perhaps inevitable, the Naxal leader condemned the Mumbai train blasts but expressed solidarity with the militancy in Kashmir.
NDTV : Do you agree with politics and militancy of Kashmiri militants? For instance the Mumbai blasts?
Ganesh Uieke: You can't compare Kashmir to Mumbai. The Kashmiri people don't have to do this in Mumbai. They are fighting for Kashmir. Those who choose soft targets or do such things to create communal hatred have nothing to do with people. They are mercenaries funded by national or international powers. Anyone who has people's interests in mind will not support such attacks against innocent people.
NDTV : So you don't target civilians?
Ganesh Uieke: No that's against the people. All this should be condemned.
NDTV : You say that you support all national movements like Kashmiri and NE militancy. Do you have any relationship with these outfits?
Ganesh Uieke: Not directly. We are only giving them moral support.
NDTV : Do you have any links with Kashmiri militants?
Ganesh Uieke: I don't know about it. Generally we give our moral support. We consider that the Indian state is against the development of nationalities and the proletariat. So we feel that there should be a united front against the Indian state.
The Naxals are on the defensive and confined to the forests. But they still talk of targetting Chandrababu Naidu.
NDTV Transcript
Rajesh Ramachandran
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 (Dantewada forests):
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said only last week that naxalism is the biggest threat India faces today.
In a reflection of why the concern is very real, NDTV travelled deep into Naxal territory in Chattisgarh and interviewed Ganesh Ueike, a top Naxal leader.
Ganesh Ueike, the militia's commander in Bastar and Dantewada, is an unassuming, middle-aged man but it soon became clear that he means business.
Ueike, who is a state committee member of the CPI (Maoist), also said that former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is still a target even though he's no longer in power.
Previous attack
A few years ago, in a remarkably accurate and devastating attack, Naidu's car was blown up. He was lucky to have survived but he has not escaped the Naxals' anger. "We still feel that we were right in targeting Chandrababu Naidu. Our tactics during the elections were correct. If you make an analysis of the all India situation, he devised the worst policies to suppress us and to a great extent he was successful,” said Ganesh Uieke, State Committee Member, CPI (Maoist).
"So targetting him was essential for the movement. Hence we targetted him. It doesn't mean that if we kill Naidu the system will change. If Varma goes Sharma will take over. But there is always a focal point of attack," he added.
NDTV : Is he still a target?
Ganesh Uieke: Yes. He is still a target.
NDTV : You say if Varma goes Sharma will take over. Then why is he still a target?
Ganesh Uieke: He killed 1200 of us and 5000 to 6000 others. He was a despot and an enemy of the people. So he will remain a target of the movement.
NDTV : Do you have a hit list?
Ganesh Uieke: No we don't have any hit list. The mainstream media calls us terrorists. But we are leading a political movement. We have a mass line and a political line. We don't believe that one or two actions would solve all the problems. Revolution doesn't happen like a Bollywood movie.
NDTV : Are there other national leaders who are targets?
Ganesh Uieke: Whoever is against the movement is an enemy.
Although the comparison with terrorism is perhaps inevitable, the Naxal leader condemned the Mumbai train blasts but expressed solidarity with the militancy in Kashmir.
NDTV : Do you agree with politics and militancy of Kashmiri militants? For instance the Mumbai blasts?
Ganesh Uieke: You can't compare Kashmir to Mumbai. The Kashmiri people don't have to do this in Mumbai. They are fighting for Kashmir. Those who choose soft targets or do such things to create communal hatred have nothing to do with people. They are mercenaries funded by national or international powers. Anyone who has people's interests in mind will not support such attacks against innocent people.
NDTV : So you don't target civilians?
Ganesh Uieke: No that's against the people. All this should be condemned.
NDTV : You say that you support all national movements like Kashmiri and NE militancy. Do you have any relationship with these outfits?
Ganesh Uieke: Not directly. We are only giving them moral support.
NDTV : Do you have any links with Kashmiri militants?
Ganesh Uieke: I don't know about it. Generally we give our moral support. We consider that the Indian state is against the development of nationalities and the proletariat. So we feel that there should be a united front against the Indian state.
The Naxals are on the defensive and confined to the forests. But they still talk of targetting Chandrababu Naidu.
Naxal Series: Steel Companies & Salwa Judum
EXCLUSIVE
NDTV Transcript
Rajesh Ramachandran
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 (Dantewada):
The Naxalies say steel companies and Chattisgarh's politician Mahendra Karma are backing Salwa Judum.
Karma has denied the charge. The Naxal-hit districts of Dantewada and Bastar are now flush with investments.
The land is rich, worth thousands of crores. For Dantewada alone in the last two years the central government approved seventeen licenses for reconnaissance prospecting and mining.
Steel companies
Last year on June 4 Tata Steel signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government. The same day Karma set up Salwa Judum to fight Naxal violence. An MoU by Essar followed. For Ganesh Uieke state committee member of the CPI Maoist this is no coincidence.
"They know that as long as they don't crush our movement we won't allow them to open their factories," says Uieke. "We are now a force to reckon with. Earlier we were too small. We are strong know. We have the PLGA and the strength to hit at them".
Charge denied
Mahendra Karma described the charge against him as nonsense. "They are trying to defame my mission with this character assassination," he said. "The MOU was signed by the government. I was there because I am the leader of the Congress party. This Salwa Judum movement was not sponsored by the government and it is not like the signing of the MOU between Tata and the government."
Ganapathy, the general secretary, the supreme leader of the Maoists made it clear recently that his war against the government would only intensify if it doesn't stop what he calls the facilitation of the plunder of Chhattisgarh.
NDTV Transcript
Rajesh Ramachandran
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 (Dantewada):
The Naxalies say steel companies and Chattisgarh's politician Mahendra Karma are backing Salwa Judum.
Karma has denied the charge. The Naxal-hit districts of Dantewada and Bastar are now flush with investments.
The land is rich, worth thousands of crores. For Dantewada alone in the last two years the central government approved seventeen licenses for reconnaissance prospecting and mining.
Steel companies
Last year on June 4 Tata Steel signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government. The same day Karma set up Salwa Judum to fight Naxal violence. An MoU by Essar followed. For Ganesh Uieke state committee member of the CPI Maoist this is no coincidence.
"They know that as long as they don't crush our movement we won't allow them to open their factories," says Uieke. "We are now a force to reckon with. Earlier we were too small. We are strong know. We have the PLGA and the strength to hit at them".
Charge denied
Mahendra Karma described the charge against him as nonsense. "They are trying to defame my mission with this character assassination," he said. "The MOU was signed by the government. I was there because I am the leader of the Congress party. This Salwa Judum movement was not sponsored by the government and it is not like the signing of the MOU between Tata and the government."
Ganapathy, the general secretary, the supreme leader of the Maoists made it clear recently that his war against the government would only intensify if it doesn't stop what he calls the facilitation of the plunder of Chhattisgarh.
Naxal Series: Salwa Judum Divides Adivasis
Rajesh Ramachandran
NDTV Transcript
Friday, July 28, 2006 (Dantewada):
Its brother versus brother in the forest villages of Chhattisgarh. With the creation of Salwa Judum and its special police officers to take on the Maoists, the violence in Naxal-hit districts has only increased.It has pitted adivasis against each other.
The tension is palpable on the Sukhma - Konta high way in Dantewada. A different war is being waged here where aggressor and victim are both adivasis.
Here, 31 adivasis had their throats slit when Maoists attacked the Salwa Judam camp on July 16. Large parts of this camp at Errabore were burnt and the police station and CRPF post in the vicinity were no protection.
The blood letting between the Maoists and the Salwa Judam began in these forests a year ago, with the creation of Salwa Judum, a peace campaign by Opposition leader Mahendra Karma to counter Maoist violence.
Under Karma's leadership, the state government hired adivasis and made them Special Police Officers or SPOs for Rs 2500 a month and armed them. They in turn lead the security forces into the forests, bringing villagers into camps near police stations.
Government support
Supported by the government, Karma succeeded in bringing over 45,000 forest villagers into 17 camps spread across Dantewada. This, he sees, is the only way to wean villagers away from Maoist influence."
The Nagas, CRPF, BSF; they have not been invited to Chhattisgarh state to be fed. If they do what they have to, the Salwa Judum is not responsible. They allege that the police goons and we are fighting them together. What else can they say? This is their lie," said Mahendra Karma, Opposition leader, Chhattisgarh.
The Maoists had disturbed the traditional village hierarchy, barring headmen from polygamy and disempowering them.
Karma, the traditional headman of several villages has chosen another feudal head to lead the biggest camp Dornapal. Soyam Erra is from a family of traditional mukhiyas."Earlier the police party used to go inside the forests but only to get killed. What did they know of the forests? Now our Special Police Officers go along with the force and we show them Naxal hideouts and we attack them," said Soyam Erra, Camp head.
Erra and his SPOs are controlled by the police and outsiders from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere who have for generations settled on roadside villages.
Terrorised villagers
Some SPOs are accused of gang raping woman and terrorising villagers who are neither Maoists nor rich farmers but just victims.
"The Salwa Judum told us that when the Army comes you would be killed. If you remain in the forests you would be beaten up and limbs broken. But if you join Salwa Judum it would be better for you. We were threatened to join Salwa Judum," said a villager.
"That's what happened to everyone. We were all herded into these camps. But now Naxals say they would kill us if we remain here with Salwa Judum. We have been badly caught in between," the villager added.
This is probably the only place where people have refugees in their own land. If they remain in their villages they would be termed Maoists and targeted by the police and the Salwa Judum.If they come into the camps they would become victims of the Maoists. This state of civil war only seems to get worse everyday.
NDTV Transcript
Friday, July 28, 2006 (Dantewada):
Its brother versus brother in the forest villages of Chhattisgarh. With the creation of Salwa Judum and its special police officers to take on the Maoists, the violence in Naxal-hit districts has only increased.It has pitted adivasis against each other.
The tension is palpable on the Sukhma - Konta high way in Dantewada. A different war is being waged here where aggressor and victim are both adivasis.
Here, 31 adivasis had their throats slit when Maoists attacked the Salwa Judam camp on July 16. Large parts of this camp at Errabore were burnt and the police station and CRPF post in the vicinity were no protection.
The blood letting between the Maoists and the Salwa Judam began in these forests a year ago, with the creation of Salwa Judum, a peace campaign by Opposition leader Mahendra Karma to counter Maoist violence.
Under Karma's leadership, the state government hired adivasis and made them Special Police Officers or SPOs for Rs 2500 a month and armed them. They in turn lead the security forces into the forests, bringing villagers into camps near police stations.
Government support
Supported by the government, Karma succeeded in bringing over 45,000 forest villagers into 17 camps spread across Dantewada. This, he sees, is the only way to wean villagers away from Maoist influence."
The Nagas, CRPF, BSF; they have not been invited to Chhattisgarh state to be fed. If they do what they have to, the Salwa Judum is not responsible. They allege that the police goons and we are fighting them together. What else can they say? This is their lie," said Mahendra Karma, Opposition leader, Chhattisgarh.
The Maoists had disturbed the traditional village hierarchy, barring headmen from polygamy and disempowering them.
Karma, the traditional headman of several villages has chosen another feudal head to lead the biggest camp Dornapal. Soyam Erra is from a family of traditional mukhiyas."Earlier the police party used to go inside the forests but only to get killed. What did they know of the forests? Now our Special Police Officers go along with the force and we show them Naxal hideouts and we attack them," said Soyam Erra, Camp head.
Erra and his SPOs are controlled by the police and outsiders from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere who have for generations settled on roadside villages.
Terrorised villagers
Some SPOs are accused of gang raping woman and terrorising villagers who are neither Maoists nor rich farmers but just victims.
"The Salwa Judum told us that when the Army comes you would be killed. If you remain in the forests you would be beaten up and limbs broken. But if you join Salwa Judum it would be better for you. We were threatened to join Salwa Judum," said a villager.
"That's what happened to everyone. We were all herded into these camps. But now Naxals say they would kill us if we remain here with Salwa Judum. We have been badly caught in between," the villager added.
This is probably the only place where people have refugees in their own land. If they remain in their villages they would be termed Maoists and targeted by the police and the Salwa Judum.If they come into the camps they would become victims of the Maoists. This state of civil war only seems to get worse everyday.
On Nandigram: A TV interview with a Maoist leader
EXCLUSIVE
Rajesh Ramachandran
NDTV Transcript
Saturday, March 17, 2007 (Jharkhand):
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya had claimed that cadres of the CPI-Maoists had organised the revolt against the police forces in Nandigram.
But in an exclusive interview with NDTV, West Bengal Secretary of CPI(Maoist) Somen, has an entirely different take on the events of Nandigram.
Somen laughs off the CPM’s allegation that Maoists are behind Nandigram violence.
“Maoist influence and involvement in Nandigram is extremely limited. We don’t have to use pipe guns now; we have automatic weapons. It’s people’s movement against land acquisition. Of course, we support the movement,” he said.
He also said that the Chhattisgarh attack was in retaliation to Salwajudam (local adivasi militia raised by the government to fight Naxalites).
“It was an attempt to fight the government. We want to convert the guerrilla war into mobile warfare,” he added.
He also expressed his opinion on JMM MP Sunil Mahato’s murder. “The decision to kill Mahato was taken at a very senior level in 2003. It was to stop Mahato from raising a Salwajudam-like militia,” he said.
The murder was more than a retaliation to Lango in which 14 Maoists were killed in 2003 by villagers. Lango is a village in the East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. NDTV
Rajesh Ramachandran
NDTV Transcript
Saturday, March 17, 2007 (Jharkhand):
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya had claimed that cadres of the CPI-Maoists had organised the revolt against the police forces in Nandigram.
But in an exclusive interview with NDTV, West Bengal Secretary of CPI(Maoist) Somen, has an entirely different take on the events of Nandigram.
Somen laughs off the CPM’s allegation that Maoists are behind Nandigram violence.
“Maoist influence and involvement in Nandigram is extremely limited. We don’t have to use pipe guns now; we have automatic weapons. It’s people’s movement against land acquisition. Of course, we support the movement,” he said.
He also said that the Chhattisgarh attack was in retaliation to Salwajudam (local adivasi militia raised by the government to fight Naxalites).
“It was an attempt to fight the government. We want to convert the guerrilla war into mobile warfare,” he added.
He also expressed his opinion on JMM MP Sunil Mahato’s murder. “The decision to kill Mahato was taken at a very senior level in 2003. It was to stop Mahato from raising a Salwajudam-like militia,” he said.
The murder was more than a retaliation to Lango in which 14 Maoists were killed in 2003 by villagers. Lango is a village in the East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. NDTV
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