This article was published in the COMBAT LAW . A bimonthly, Combat Law brings together diverse voices united against all forms of discrimination and exploitation in order to engage in an active, meaningful discussion and foster a climate for legal activism in pursuit of crafting a more tolerant, just, democratic and equitable world.
Link: http://www.combatlaw.org/?p=531
The State follows a policy which silences even murmurs of protest by the tribal people, who have become sacrificial lambs — displaced from their traditional land and resources to facilitate rapid industrialisation, reports Karuna Dayal, member of the HRLN fact-finding team that investigated genesis of popular resistance in Jharkhand.
Simply put, those who are disposable are the ones who have fallen prey to the spiral of silence, they no longer have a voice — which is what adivasis in Jharkhand have surrendered to become. Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal are ‘important’ Indian states, for they house over 80 percent of India’s mineral resources such as iron, coal, bauxite and manganese, among others. The future industrial and economic growth of the country depends upon ‘peace’ in these regions. Naxalism in these belts thus, is looked upon by the government as an impediment to future growth of the country. Jharkhand, which is considered a land of paradox, is incredibly rich in natural resources — boasting of about 40 percent of India’s mineral wealth, the highest concentration in the country. On the other hand, the state is home to some of the world’s most destitute, dispossessed people, particularly Jharkhand’s indigenous population. Given the current state of affairs, ‘Operation Green Hunt’ continues to devastate thousands of lives with no hope of securing their rights.
The strategy
Operation Green Hunt is the name used by the Indian media to describe the Government of India’s ongoing paramilitary offensive against the Naxalite rebels. The Operation began in November 2009 in five states of the “Red Corridor”. The term is supposed to have been first coined by the Chhattisgarh police officials to describe the Operation as one of the most successful drives against the CPI (Maoist). The media till date uses the term erroneously to express the anti-Naxalite offensive. The beginning of November 2009 saw the first phase of the Operation originating in Gadchiroli district. As many as 18 companies of the central paramilitary forces were moved into the area in anticipation of the Operation.
“We will have to launch the joint offensive against the Maoists. My government is of the view that providing security and maintaining law and order is the duty of the government. We condemn the Maoist violence in any form,” the then Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren said in the state assembly on March 8, 2010. It was not clear earlier if Jharkhand would participate in the Operation, but Soren made it clear that Jharkhand too would launch the Operation. At present it is clearly visible that the verdict has been seriously applied in the state.
The implications
Sample this — Balki’s father-in-law Mane Marandi was shot dead. She had gone to the market during daytime when she heard gunshots. The victim had been sleeping outside his house taking an afternoon nap when the incident took place. Balki did not return to the house that night because she was afraid. The next morning she found him lying dead with gunshots on his body. No police inquiry was conducted. Moreover, the family has not received any compensation till date.
This is an example of civilians being fatally caught in the crossfire between the paramilitary forces and the Maoists. The state ensures that no police or medical inquiry is conducted so that the cause of death remains unascertained and the liability for compensation to families is left hanging mid-air. The state does not even maintain a record of those hurt, injured or killed in direct combat between the security forces and the Maoists.
Mausam Manjhi had been victimised by the police and had been implicated in a false case. The incident took place during February 2001. One morning he had gone to the fields to graze 24 goats. The police met him and asked him about his sons, and then asked him to leave. After that they called him back and took him to the police station. The police accused him of being an informer of the Maoists and subjected him to immense torture. He was made to lie on an ice slab and brutally beaten while in police custody. Not only was he not produced before the magistrate within 24 hours, but was taken to court only after eight days of this harassment. He was scared of the police and could not tell the magistrate of the brutalities of the police. He was imprisoned for 11 months but has been finally acquitted.
In another incident, a middle school in Khukhra village of Giridih district stopped functioning after it was occupied by the CRPF for camping. This angered the Maoists, and led them to blow up the camp about a year ago.
Jharkhand’s vast natural wealth has prompted various national and multinational corporations to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the state government to extract the state’s resources for profit. A total of 105 MOUs have been signed between corporations and the government of Jharkhand, out of which 55 have been signed for acquiring land in the Saraikela, East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum districts. The villages of these three districts are on the forefront in the fight against resource-grab and displacement.
In Potka block, MOUs have been signed with Bhushan Steel for the acquiring of about 5,000 acres of land which would result in the displacement of 36 villages of the block. By the year 2000 an estimated six lakh people had been displaced in Jharkhand. As per the current status of MOUs the government expects that there would be a further displacement of about fifty five lakh persons. This figure does not reflect any kind of forced or voluntary displacement. Jindal Steel, a major private player in the steel industry, is also in the process of acquiring a large area of land around the Jadugoda mines. On March 22, 2010, surveyors and officials from Jindal Steel had come to the village. The villagers had gathered to protest, since Jindal Steel had initiated the entire process on their own without even approaching the Gram Sabha which is mandatory. In another case, the police, along with Bhushan Steel, had marked out 11 villages (Samorsai, Judi, Roladih, Bada Bhumri, Potka, Khaduasai, Hesgud, Poda Gumrih, Langamatiah and others). The surveyor from Bhushan Steel came to take measurements on September 8, 2009, while the villagers protested against the same, since they had come to the village without prior permission from the Gram Sabha. The villagers tied up a surveyor and took him round the village and then took him to the police station. Eventually, FIRs were lodged against 18 people of whom four persons were booked under Section 307 IPC for attempt to murder. Bhushan Steel is in the process of acquiring 4,000 acres of land, the villagers claim that the entire land is not government land, and is instead ‘gochhar zameen’ (grazing land) which belongs to the local community as a whole. The government has a new plot they say: it acquires land in the name of smaller companies which then resell the land to bigger companies and never come in the picture for follow-ups. Singhbhum is rich in sponge iron. If displacement does take place, it would greatly imperil food security. The past bears evidence to the fact that no rehabilitation has ever been provided to the displaced. Adivasi people whose land was acquired have not been compensated till date.
Will sanity return?
Perhaps, several incidents are haunting the land of Jharkhand each day. The government’s tactic of arresting and torturing local activists is an efficient way of crushing the movement against land grabs. It removes the most committed, energetic voices of the struggle, and it frightens others from becoming involved.
The condition of those who are residing in their villages is highly precarious and vulnerable. Given the fact that the government has not complied with the Supreme Court order on rehabilitation of displaced families (families which were displaced in the earlier phase of Salwa Judum violence), the new phase of violence by the security forces has added to the crisis in these remote and inaccessible villages. Instead of rehabilitating displaced and tortured people, the government, in the name of combating Maoism, is bent upon unleashing its lethal paramilitary forces and evicting people from their villages. The government and industrial collaborations in bribery, threats, violence, defamation, arrests, and torture demonstrate how far they will go to advance the state of ‘abjure violence’ in the region. It is essential to instantaneously end this policy of eviction and terror and enable people to live safely in their villages.
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