Revolution Highway - a novel by Dilip Simeon

Revolution Highway is a novel by Dilip Simeon which revolves around characters during first naxal uprising or spring thunder and world politics of that time. Though it is categorised under "fiction" the facts in the book make it a travelogue in the past. At first we should thank Dilip Simeon for writing a book about naxalites at present political turmoil.

In the present situation it is really hard to read the book without any prejudiced. The decisions and path of the comrades of those days will make us to compare it with the present day comrades and it is happy to note that the present day comrades and the movement has moved on from "chairman Mao is our chairman" to "New Democratic Revolution".

Has India changed from those days? Ofcourse technologically we have advanced, we have nuclear weapons, billionares, trillionares but.........." Rahul gets urge to defecate at night 10' o clock. Mohan, Pranav and Rahul staying in an urban slum. Rahul goes to a playground. Pranav - ' Bustee women using it now?'. Mohan - ' No, they shit soon after dark'". Though the scene in the novel ends with humor it reminds us that this is one of the thousand things that has remained unchanged from past days.

As one can expect the novel ends by commenting about the superiority of the non violence movements over armed revolution. Nevertheless there are many discussions between the characters which make us to think in both ways. Whenever we opt for a revolutionary path, we will be the minority who has to face many questions of prejudiced minds. In the book there is really good picturisation of conflicts in the revolutionaries mind before becoming a full time party worker and their emotional blackouts with parents when leaving home to go underground.

Rathin, a character who is philosophical and against armed revolution initially immediately goes underground just because of facing apathy by 2 officials. Since he didn't had ideological clearance he gets disappointed in his early encounter with the masses. Revolution doesn't come in a single night.

We will leave the review of each and every character to the reader. Towards the end pranav has a doubt whether the movement is expanding or extinct? The present day gives answer to his doubt.

In an heated argument between Mohan and Rathin, Mohan says that the masses will understand the role of revolutionaries in due course. At those times the party dreamt about capturing the power by 1975. Rathin disapproving with Mohan says that party will not capture power even in 1995. Thanks to the present party leadership and cadre that they dont have any day dreams. The present CPI - Maoist party which inspite of spreading the support areas to vast part of country, they know that their path to seizure the power is still a long way to go. May be 50 or even 100 years.

Lal Salaam

Maoists expand political and military operations in West Bengal

from Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle www.revolutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com[In one district after another, as government forces find themselves unable to suppress popular resistance, including village militias and Maoist units, they appeal to be classified as an "LWE - affected" (left-wing-extemist-affected) area, to obtain more police funding and materials.--ed.]Kolkata: The Left Front may be claiming success in the anti-Maoist operations in Junglemahal but an internal government report indicates that the ultras who till now had been confined to Junglemahal — Purulia, West Midnapore and South 24 Parganas — have spread to other nearby districts.The police and local administrations of Birbhum, Nadia and Murshidabad districts have submitted a report to the state home department requesting that some police stations in their districts should be brought under the ambit of Left Wing Extremism-affected area considering the increased activities of the Maoists there.According to the reports submitted by the state police to state home department, eight police stations in Nadia, six police stations in Birbhum and three police stations in Murshidabad have seen increased Maoist activities in recent months."The reports and the recommendations have been submitted to us and we have forwarded it to the state home department. After scrutinizing the facts, the report will be sent to the Centre for approval from the state home department," said Surajit Kar Pura Kayestha, IG (Law and Order).Police sources said Dubrajpur and Khairashol police stations in Birbhum district, which have been mentioned as Maoist-affected areas, had always been a safe haven for the Maoists. "Several senior Maoists leaders, including Kalpana Ruidas, were arrested from the area," said a senior police officer.The report accessed by The Indian Express further states that the Maoists have formed a regional committee in Nadia and an area committee in Jalangi. There are over 30 members in the area committee. "The Maoists started setting up their base in the area after forming an outfit called Mazdoor Krishak Sangram Samity, which works like a frontal organisation of the Maoists much akin to the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) in West Midnapore," said a senior police officer."As per the information we have gathered till now, the area committee is led by Prasanta Das alias Raja, a resident of Kotwali," the officer added."Das is the key person in the area who is strengthening the cadre's base in Murshidabad and Nadia districts. They have started spreading their influence in the colleges of the district," the officer said.

Former IGP convicted in Verghese case

Central Bureau of Investigation special judge S. Vijayakumar on Wednesday convicted the former Inspector-General of Police, K. Lakshmana, in the Verghese fake encounter case. Naxalite leader A. Verghese was killed 40 years ago in Wayanad.
The judge, however, acquitted P. Vijayan, former Director-General of Police and third accused, in the absence of sufficient evidence against him.
The judge found Mr. Lakshmana, the second accused, guilty of the offence punishable under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
The sentence will be pronounced on Thursday.
Mr. Lakshmana and Mr. Vijayan were present in the court when the verdict was delivered. Mr. Lakshmana was later remanded to a sub-jail in Kochi.
The CBI took over the investigation on a directive from the High Court in 1999.
The directive came on a writ petition alleging that the Naxalite leader was killed in a fake encounter in 1970 in the Thirunelli forest in Wayanad.
The police version that Verghese died in an encounter was blown apart by the former police constable, P. Ramachandran Nair, who came out with an astonishing revelation in 1998 — some 28 years after the incident — that he had shot Verghese dead on the orders of the then Superintendent of Police, Mr. Vijayan, and the then Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr. Lakshmana.
Ramachandran Nair died in November 2006.
As many as 31 witnesses, including Verghese’s brother, were examined before the court after the trial began in April.
The special judge mainly relied on the evidence of A.K. Mohammed Haneef, a former policeman who was present in the forest along with Ramachandran Nair; Prabhakara Warrier, a classmate of Verghese, and agricultural labourer Jogi, for convicting the second accused.
The court observed; “It is proved beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt that Verghese, who was caught alive, was brutally killed by A1 [Ramachandran Nair], who was a stooge at the hands of A2 [Mr. Lakshmana], who on his order/command brought about his plan. It is thus satisfied that the theory of Verghese’s death in police encounter is an advance defence moulded as a pretext to commit the crime.”
The court said the deposition of Mr. Haneef was sufficient to prove that it was Ramachandran Nair who fired the shot on Mr. Lakshmana’s orders. Mr. Haneef’s statement established the presence of Mr. Lakshmana on the spot.
“The offence of murder had been committed as good as by the second accused.”
The judge also said that the chances of the Naxalite leader, who was alone in the forest, engaging in an encounter with a team of armed policemen “were remote.”
Acquitting Mr. Vijayan, the judge said that the evidence “was not sufficient to prove the involvement of the third accused in the crime beyond reasonable doubt.”

Hail the Historic 6th Anniversary of the Party Formation Day! COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST)

Press Release

August 30, 2010

Hail the Historic 6th Anniversary of the Party Formation Day!

Defeat the fascist Operation Green Hunt!!

Come together for a united struggle against the loot of our country!!!

Call of the Polit Bureau of CPI (Maoist) on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of the party to be celebrated with revolutionary enthusiasm and great fervor from September 21 to 27, 2010

Our beloved comrades and people!

On the 6th anniversary of our party formation day on September 21, 2010 , our PB extends hearty revolutionary greetings to the Party, PLGA, Revolutionary people's committees and comrades of all mass organizations and to the revolutionary people who are advancing the people's war by fearlessly fighting back Operation Green Hunt, the countrywide massive counter-revolutionary military offensive of the enemy, who is bent upon annihilating our party. On this fervent occasion our PB also congratulates the comrades in the jails who are bravely facing the enemy.

Our PB humbly pays homage to the more than 10,000 great martyrs, 1500 of them after the unified party was formed in 2004, and 300 in one year, who sacrificed their invaluable lives for the success of the New Democratic Revolution in India and for the achievement of the greatest cause of human kind, i.e. socialism and communism. The fact that a majority of these martyrs are common people, revolutionary mass organizations' members and militia member shows how the vast masses of India are thronging into the revolution.

Since we celebrated our party formation day last year, the war between revolution and counter-revolution in our country has intensified further. There have been many significant changes of strategic importance in this period which would affect the Indian revolution for a long time to come. It is necessary to look into our strengths and weaknesses, the favourable and unfavourable conditions for the revolution on this occasion and place before the people and the ranks of the party.

Firstly - starting from May 2009 to July 2010, eight topmost comrades including PBM and beloved leader Azad and ten state level comrades had either been caught and killed by the enemy or had been put behind bars. Many leadership comrades from district level to lower ranks were either arrested or killed. These losses had all affected our party and movement seriously. Particularly, losing comrade Azad who had been fulfilling key responsibilities in the highest committee and had been rendering multi-faceted services most efficiently in many fields is a great loss.

The formation of the new party in 2004 placed before the people of our country enriched political, organizational, military lines, a strong party, a strong leadership, a people's army, the PLGA and a vast mass base and struggle areas. This created very favourable conditions for the advancement of the revolution. Fearing all these favorable conditions, the enemy sought to crush our party and all the losses in 2005 and 2006 occurred due to this conspiracy. Yet, the Unity Congress - 9th congress had strengthened the unity of the party and the party leadership and laid down a thorough plan for the advancement of the revolution. Though Andhra Pradesh movement and North Chhattisgarh movement suffered setback and though we suffered heavy losses in North Odisha , the successes won filled the revolutionary camp with self-confidence.

The successful completion of the Unity Congress and the later successes worried the enemy camp to no end and so the enemy had intensified war on people at an unprecedented level to annihilate the party leadership. These losses which occurred since 2009 May are larger in number and more serious in nature than before. However, serious they may be, in the past 45 years, revolutionary movement had been giving birth to new leadership constantly and it will do so again. As long as masses need a revolution, they give birth to its leaders too.

Secondly - UPA-2 had launched the fascist 'Operation Green Hunt' (OGH) as a concrete form of the multi-pronged offensive strategy. Of all the offensive strategies formulated by the Indian ruling classes to crush the revolutionary movement in India , the one which started from mid-2009 (and continuing) is unprecedented, country-wide, most severe, deceptive, centralized and protracted one till date. The military suppression campaign is concentrated on our strong rural areas and guerilla zones, especially Dandakaranya, Jharkhand-Bihar, Lalgarh and bordering areas of Jharkhand-Odisha, Andhra-Odisha and Telangana-Chhattisgarh. This 'War on People' has intensified social contradictions. No other suppression campaign had earned the wrath and resistance of people as much as the OGH in the past 45 areas.

Thirdly - after UPA came to power for second time, there was a qualitative change in implementing the counter-insurgency theories which are restructuring or influencing the state machinery, Indian constitution, judiciary, legislating bodies, administrative bodies, politics, economy, culture, media and so on. This is inspired and led by the 'War on Terror' waged by the imperialists under the leadership of US imperialists. This will lead our country to a disastrous situation. The more they try to wage this brutal war, the more protest and resistance they would encounter from the vast masses. Such resistance is clearly seen all over the country.

Due to the struggles waged by us in all the fields and due to the immense sacrifices of our most revered and beloved three hundred martyrs in the past one year we have won significant successes. They are:

1. The successful attacks in Singanamadugu, Mukaram (Tadimetla) and Kongera of Chhattisgarh; Laheri in Maharashtra; Sankrel and Silda in Bengal; Gumla, Vishnupur and Latehar in Jharkhand; Sono, government toll plaza (Gaya) and Tandwa bazaar in Bihar; Potakal and Baipharguda in Odisha, particularly the historical Mukram (Tadimetla) attack had broken down the initiative of the enemy and increased that of the guerilla forces. These attacks had armed the PLGA with more weapons and new experiences in guerilla war. Tadimetla experience is of the highest level of all these. If not for this active resistance of our forces and people, the enemy would have found more ground to obliterate our movement. These great experiences would definitely help us in fighting back the enemy forces employed for a bigger attack. It was nothing else but the active support of the people which served as the foundation for all these successes.

2. The struggles of Kalinganagar, Singur and Nandigram shook the ruling classes and later Lalgarh and Narayanpatna struggles had burst forth on an extensive and higher scale than these struggles. These were led by our party against revisionism or right opportunism and were waged against the enemy classes, imperialists and the state. We had not seen a deluge of such vast, militant, long drawn mass uprisings in the past 25 years. The lessons of these revolutionary mass uprisings for the development of people's war in our country are invaluable.

3. Lalgarh armed peasant movement which had erupted, spread and consolidated in a period when the enemy had deployed forces on a large scale and was attempting to crush the peasant uprising, is very significant and earned a special place in the annals of Indian armed agrarian revolutionary struggle history.

4. Vast masses under our party's leadership have successfully thwarted the attempts of the MNCs and CBB corporations to loot the natural resources in Eastern and Central India . Our PB sends revolutionary greetings to all the people, revolutionary, democratic, progressive and patriotic organizations and individuals who stood firmly in these struggles and promises that our party would stand in the forefront in these struggles.

5. Our party had conducted ideological and political propaganda war against the enemy's psychological war, under the leadership of Comrade Azad. If our entire party had not fought along with Com. Azad at various levels, the people's war would not have won this much credit. His services in this field are most significant and paramount. Let us continue the struggle in this field with Com. Azad's inspiration.

Along with these five main successes, in some states, we had expanded to new areas, consolidated party, PLGA, politically and militarily, consolidated the existing Revolutionary People's Committees/Janatana Sarkars and expanded them in newer areas. All these successes had won us the support of many revolutionary forces, intellectuals, democrats, progressive and patriotic forces.

Comrades!

Our losses had been very severe. Unless each committee from the CC to the lower committees and the entire party strives very hard to build up new forces in a planned manner on a wide scale and continues the rectification campaign effectively we will not be able to fulfill the losses incurred, particularly that of Com. Azad and other leadership comrades at central and state level.

Only when we understand the real reasons behind the losses, we can prevent them and only then we can strengthen the party as an impregnable fort to the enemy. To identify the real reasons we have to take lessons from the experiences of our party and Maoist parties of other countries.

We have to expand and intensify the self-defensive war waged under the party's leadership by PLGA, people and by uniting with all struggling forces of our country and other countries. If we firmly rely on the masses and make use of our PLGA properly in the war, we would definitely be able to defeat Green Hunt.

Let us prepare ourselves to wage people's war with utmost courage and determination. Celebrate the 6th anniversary of our party formation day with brimming revolutionary enthusiasm and zeal. Let us propagate widely the successes won even amidst severe repression in the past one year.

Our beloved comrades and people of India !

The CPI (Maoist) is issuing a call to all the people of our country to unify under the leadership of the party and rise against the feudal and comprador rulers who are selling our country to the imperialists. We cannot liberate our country from the clutches of these predators without a revolutionary party. The party calls upon all the resistance struggles against the loot of our country to come together which would lead to a broad united front. The fight for land to the tiller, democratic power to the people and basic needs and against SEZs, displacement, corporate mining, plunder of our natural resources, price rise, corruption and all such burning problems have to be carried out in an united manner. We can win only through our unified strength. As our fight intensifies, the state onslaught on all the democratic and revolutionary struggles would also intensify. Let us prepare ourselves for this. Jan Jagrans , Salwa Judums , Sendras and Green Hunts can never break a determined people or their revolutionary party. Final Victory belongs to the people.

¬ Let us consolidate our party as an impregnable fortress and avoid huge losses to leadership and ranks !

¬ Hail and follow the exemplary model battle of Tadimetla to defeat 'Operation Green Hunt' !

¬ Let us unite with and bring together all resistance movements paving the way for a countrywide strong United Front !

¬ Let us hail and follow the exemplary model of Comrade Azad in effectively fighting back the enemy's psychological warfare !

¬ Let us extend to vast areas to fulfill the multi-faceted tasks of People's War!

For Polit Bureau,

(Abhay)

Spokesperson,

Central Committe,

CPI (Maoist)

Pardon us.

To,
Dear Prime Minister and dearest Home Minister,

We are extremely sorry for not accepting the democratic model of the country. Kindly forgive us for not accepting your model of democracy ( which is represented by the images below) you have offered as an alternative to the armed revolution.

Yours faithfully,
"Misguided Youth"

India has highest prevalence of underweight kids: study

New York, Oct 12, PTI:

India has highest prevalence of underweight children under five and the level of hunger there is ''alarming'' as the country ranks 67, out of 84 countries, on the Global Hunger Index, a new study has found.

About 40 per cent of under-five children in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, and Yemen were underweight, while Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, and Somalia have the highest under -five mortality rate – 20 per cent or more, a report by Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has found. "Globally, the biggest contributor to the world GHI (Global Hunger Index) score is child underweight," it said. The GHI was calculated on three factors - the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the child mortality rate. The report found that in South Asia, India was among the countries with hunger levels considerably higher than their GNI (Gross National Income) per capita would suggest, while China had considerably lower hunger levels. In India, the report said, the "high" GHI scores "were driven by high levels of child underweight resulting from the low nutritional and social status of women in the country." "Conflict, disease, inequality, poor governance, and gender discrimination were factors that can push a country's level of hunger higher than what would be expected based on its income," it noted. The study also found that more than 90 per cent of the world's stunted children live in Africa and Asia where rates were 40 per cent and 36 per cent respectively, and more than 80 per cent of stunted children were living in 24 countries. "India alone accounts for a large share of the world's undernourished children," the report said, citing a previous survey by the World Health Organisation, which found that in 2005–06, about 44 per cent of Indian children under age five were underweight and 48 per cent were stunted. "Because of the country's sheer size, these numbers mean that India is home to 42 per cent of the world's underweight children and 31 per cent of its stunted children," IFPRI researchers noted, referring to a UNICEF report. Overall, the survey puts 29 countries in the"alarming" and "extremely alarming" category with the latter being in the Sub-Saharan Africa -- Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Eritrea. Though highest levels of hunger were found in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the report noted that South Asia has made much more progress since 1990. Between the 1990 GHI and the 2010 GHI, the countries that made an absolute progress were Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Vietnam. It also highlighted that malnutrition among children under two years of age was one of the leading challenges to reducing global hunger. "To improve their scores, many countries must accelerate progress in reducing child malnutrition," said Marie Ruel, co-author of the report. "Considerable research shows that the window of opportunity for improving nutrition spans from conception to age two. After age two, the negative effects of undernutrition are largely irreversible." The report will come out ahead of World Food Day on Oct 16.

‘Injustice breeds Naxalism’ - Justice S R Nayak

source - deccan chronicle

Bengaluru, Oct. 9: Maoist outfits are gaining roots in some places in the state and in the country because people in these places have been denied social justice, said Justice S.R. Nayak, chairman, Karnataka State Human Rights Commission.

While addressing students of Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media on the topic, ‘Violations of human rights by police,’ Justice Nayak said citizens who live in Naxal prone areas extend their support as they feel Naxalites are more humane compared to state authorities.“Nowhere in the world have ultras like Naxals been won over by the use of force or by killing them mercilessly,” he said.

He highlighted the classic case of slain forest brigand Veerappan, who was protected by the villagers themselves by misleading the police force as most of them were denied social justice. Justice Nayak also called for 50 per cent reservation for women in Parliament, stating that they had been denied the right to represent the electorate.

“Around 95 per cent of crimes committed against women and children don’t get reported. There have been instances of women who dare to speak out, getting raped and tortured in the police station itself,” he said. He listed some of the illegal acts committed by the police including their refusal to register crimes, illegal arrests, custodial torture and extrajudicial killings. Explaining the psyche of the police involved in such atrocities, he said: “There are policemen who feel that the only way to get the truth out of the accused is to torture them. Sometimes, the police don’t register a case because of increased workload and sometimes under political pressure.”

“There are policemen who take bribes to register a case,” he said.

Gadchiroli: 6 cops injured as Naxals blast anti-landmine vehicle

source - rediff

Six policemen were on Tuesday injured when Naxals blew up an anti-landmine vehicle and opened indiscriminate fire on them in Perimili area of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra

The incident occurred around 8:30-9:00 am in Aheri taluka of the district, when the police party was on its way to recover the bodies of four security men, including a CRPF inspector, who were killed in a landmine blast on Monday in the same area.

The Naxals opened fire on the police party, drawing immediate retaliation, leaving six policemen injured. The injured policemen were identified as Ramesh Dalai, Umesh Korame, Imran Sheikh, Suresh Bhalame, Sagar Malgune and S Rohankar.

Korame and Rohankar were brought to Gadchiroli district headquarters for treatment while the remaining were being treated at Aheri, police said.

Four securitymen-- CRPF inspector Nivrati Jadhav, two Police Sub Inspectors Shashikant More and Malgune along with a constable Anand Gajaje (Patil)-- were killed on Monday after Naxals triggered a landmine blast when they had gone to the weekly market to fetch vegetables in the Perimili area.

Three bodies barring that of Gajaje have been recovered and brought to the district headquarters, police added.

Four securitymen killed as Naxals trigger blast in Gadchiroli

source rediff

Four securitymen, including two Central Reserve Police Force personnel, were killed when Naxalites triggered a powerful improvised explosive device blast in a marketplace in Perilimili village in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra when they were out shopping.

The security personnel were shopping at a local market in the area when the explosion took place at around 4.30 pm, killing two CRPF men and two police officers on the spot.

The two CRPF men have been identified as Inspector Nauroti Yadav and constable Anand Kumar of the 9th battalion of the force, posted in the area for anti-Naxal operations.

Two sub-inspectors of Maharashtra Police -- Shashi More and Mahendra Mangul -- were also killed in the attack, police said, adding their vehicle was badly damaged in the explosion.

Senior officials said that a rescue team and additional reinforcements have been dispatched to the spot to trace the other policemen who were accompanying them and launch a combing operation to track down the Maoist rebels.

The area falls in Aheri taluka of the district, one of the worst-hit by left wing extremism in the state.