Naxalism - Chattisgarh losing it

Reports of large number of tribals staying in the government run relief camps in different parts of Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh leaving the camps is an alarming signal on the efficacy of "Salva Judum" against the Maoists.It is more frightening that about 90 members of the CPI(Maoists)who had surrendered to the police last year and were accommodated in the relief camps after paymet of "compensation" also deserted the camps and rejoined the cadre.

The government admission that 600 tribals deserted the Dornapal camp and about 90 ex-Naxalites left Bhairamgarh camp is a pointer that Salva Judum may not be sustained for a longer period.Whether the 90 Maoists who had surrendered and later left the camps was a ply of the Naxalites will be known later on, but it appears that were facilitated to surrender to know about the strategy of the government machinery against the Maoisim.If that is true,then it is a blunder on the part of the adminstration,first to let them “in” and later allow them “out “.

The state had received reports from Bastar police about the plan of the inmates to desert the camps well in advance.The inmates claimed they were dissatisfied with the arrangements in the make shift camps built of polythene sheds ,no beds nor basic human facilities.

The government had planned to construct pucca housing colonies from them near the police stations and high-ways to prevent the Maoists from attacking them.The decision was to handover the construction of model housing colonies through the public sector HUDCO and the foundation was scheduled for October last year.But,nothing happened.The tribals staying in the camps did not get incentives.The government was unable as the numbered swelled to 50,000.

The state launched the movement by the people and for the people,but could not take effective steps to conrol attacks on the people .There was no security to the people. Recent spurt in violence by the Naxalites and "irresponsible" and vague statements by the state’s home minister and the senior police officers has raised serious concern over the containment of the Maoist' menace in the state.

The recent violence is one of the series of major incidents committed by the Maoists in since the Salva Judum was launched on June 8 last year from Bhairamgarh.The government claimed 200 people have been killed by the Maoists for their involvement in the campaign against the Maoists. Maoists have killed innocent tribals,members of the Nagaland police,CRPF,CISF,Special Armed Force,district armed force ,attacked the police stations,blew up railway stations,supply belt of the NMDC,magazine of the corporation and disrupted the power supply of Bastar by blasting the high tension power lines..

The Naxalite who earlier used to operate only in the interiors of Bastar and Surguja are now visible in action on the highways in the two regions and police reports suggest they have even planted pressure bombs in water hand pumps. The growing influence of the maoist can be gauged from the simple fact that they even managed to reach the state capital to distribute their VCDs and literature and that too in the flats of the MLA’s.

Though there has been a significant increase in the Naxal related violence since the last one year, but inaction even after intelligence inputs and presence of large number of security personnel in the state shows the inability of the state to run the normal administration effectively in the Naxal infested areas.

There has been a debate over the movement of the Salva Judum campaign as whether the state has any rights of using people as an instrument in their efforts of eradicating the Left Wing extremism, The state government is not only determined to use them as tools ,but is also glorifying it. Till now, more than 200 villagers associated with the movement have lost their lives in a span of eight months which averages to two persons being killed every third day. In a rare mass migration in post independent India, more than 50,000 villagers have been displaced and are now staying in refugee camps.

Even when so many people have lost their lives and homes with a commitment to drive out the Naxalites from their homeland, state government still has to formulate a policy as how to go about the public upsurge in these areas which is adding to the casualties. The tribals and the villagers who are associated with the campaign have been stranded with nowhere to go, for it’s the maoist who bay for their blood if the join the movement and if they do not, the same is done by the state government.

The developmental programmes and the rehabilitation of villagers displaced owing to the movement as announced by the government eight months back, are still at the policy formulation levels, furthering adding to the miseries of people. Government in a statement admitted non-utilization of 90 per cent of the fund allocated for Naxal infestedDantewada district. There is no construction of roads, no relief works in the district. Maoists got support from the villagers due to rampant corruption in the tribal areas of Bastar.The government sponsored scheme of free supplying of LPG cylinders to villagers and tribals of the naxalite infested district has run into rough weathers, with zero cylinders being distributed in Kanker and Dantewada and 74 against the target of 5,000 in North Bastar

The ministers and the senior leaders of the BJP in Chhattisgarh had been complaining of Centre's poor assistance in combating the problem. It seems the BJP government has no knowledge of the Constitutional provisions of police being a state subject and duty of the state government is to provide security to its citizens. The law and order is an exclusive issue to be dealt by the state government and the role of the Government of India is limited to extending support in form of resources, like extra force and funds. Even after getting the support of the Government of India, which was evident when the centre willingly allowed the state to use the services of the NSG commandos, the state's inability in combating the problem has now the forced it to find new excuses and new strategies to ignore its responsibility. The state now blames the "inaction of the neighboring states".

The state machinery in its statements has termed Maoist violence as an act of cowardice and has repeatedly talked of new strategies almost every week, but on the ground the situation is worsening day by day. Much hype was created by the state government officials regarding availing the expertise of the elite NSG commandos in combating the naxalites, now after these commandos have arrived in the state, no official has spoken anything regarding their effectiveness.

The maoist have also stepped up their activity and have warned that more big strikes would be carried out unless the Salva Judum campaign is stopped.

The Salva judum campaign which was claimed to be launched ‘by the people’ is now leading to sufferings ‘to the people’ and the basic relief ‘for the people’ is the ultimate casualty. It now remains to be seen that when will the state government decide that enough is enough.

(www.centralchronicle.com/20050811/1108304.htm)

Chattisgarh: Blood on the tribal land

In post independent India, more than 30000 villagers have been displaced and are now staying in refugee camps, says Abhinandan Mishra

The arrival of the American President nearly overshadowed the killing of more than 25 innocent tribals by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh. The inability of the Chhattisgarh government which is of "the people" and "by the people" to provide security "to the people" is a matter of grave concern in enforcement of Constitutional provisions in Chhattisgarh. Recent spurt in violence by the Naxalites and "irresponsible" and vague statements by the state's home minister and the senior police officers has raised serious concern over the containment of the Maoist' menace in the state.

The recent violence is one of the series of major incidents committed by the Maoists in last 30 days in the state. Tuesday's Maoists attack was preceded by killing of tribals, attack on police station, killings of jawans of Nagaland armed battalion, looting of explosives from the NMDC ore mines and blasting of high tension transmission tower.

The Naxalite who earlier used to operate only in the interiors of Bastar and Surguja are now visible in action on the highways in the two regions and police reports suggest they have even planted pressure bombs in water hand pumps. The growing influence of the Maoist can be gauged from the simple fact that they even managed to reach the state capital to distribute their VCDs and literature and that too in the flats of the MLAs.

Though there has been a significant increase in the Naxal related violence since the last one year, but inaction even after intelligence inputs and presence of large number of security personnel in the state shows the inability of the state to run the normal administration effectively in the Naxal infested areas.

There has been a debate over the movement of the Salva Judum campaign as whether the state has any rights of using people as an instrument in their efforts of eradicating the Left Wing extremism, The state government is not only determined to use them as tools, but is also glorifying it. Till now, more than 150 villagers associated with the movement have lost their lives in a span of eight months which averages to two persons being killed every third day. In a rare mass migration in post independent India, more than 30000 villagers have been displaced and are now staying in refugee camps. Even when so many people have lost their lives and homes with a commitment to drive out the Naxalites from their homeland, state government still has to formulate a policy as how to go about the public upsurge in these areas which is adding to the casualties. The tribals and the villagers who are associated with the campaign have been stranded with nowhere to go, for it's the Maoist who bay for their blood if the join the movement and if they do not, the same is done by the state government.

The development programmes and the rehabilitation of villagers displaced owing to the movement as announced by the government eight months back, are still at the policy formulation levels, furthering adding to the miseries of people. Government in a statement admitted non-utilization of 90 per cent of the fund allocated for Naxal infested
Dantewara district. Since September, there is no construction of roads, no relief works in the district.

The ministers and the senior leaders of the BJP in Chhattisgarh had been complaining of Centre's inability and inassistance in combating the problem. It seems the BJP government has no knowledge of the Constitutional provisions of police being a state subject and duty of the state government is to provide security to its citizens. The law and order is an exclusive issue to be dealt by the state government and the role of the Government of India is limited to extending support in form of resources, like extra force and funds. Even after getting the support of the Government of India, which was evident when the centre willingly allowed the state to use the services of the NSG commandos, the state's inability in combating the problem has now the forced it to find new excuses and new strategies to ignore its responsibility. The Irresponsible attitude of the chief minister was evident from his statement when he attributed the increase in violence to "inaction of the neighboring states".

The home minister too has been using idioms in state's response to the increasing violence of Maoists which are boasting, irresponsible and baseless. In addition to the politicians, the state's DG of police calling the Maoists as thieves, dacoits and smugglers shows the professional incapability of the state police chief. The state machinery in its statements has termed Maoist violence as an act of cowardice and has repeatedly talked of new strategies almost every week, but on the ground the situation is worsening day by day. Much hype was created by the state government officials regarding availing the expertise of the elite NSG commandos in combating the naxalites, now after these commandos have arrived in the state, no official has spoken anything regarding their effectiveness.

The phenomenal rise in the naxal violence is mainly attributed to sagging morale of the security forces of which the government is not even apparently aware of. There is no uniform policy of posting of police men in naxalite infested areas and most of police officers are posted in those areas as punishment. Police is struggling for the basic needs and even the senior police officials are struggling for their genuine needs.

Another reason for the increase in naxalite authority is the rampant corruption which has covered the state. The government sponsored scheme of free supplying of LPG cylinders to villagers and tribals of the naxalite infested district has run into rough weathers, with zero cylinders being distributed in Kanker and Dantewara and Seventy-four against the target of five thousand in bastar.

As described by the chief Minster the state Government is engaged in fighting a "battle" against the maoist, a battle which is being fought through pamphlets, posters and vcd's on the same scale as done by the maoist.

The "gentleman, humble and generous" chief minister of the state Raman singh has apparently become a victim of confusion, lack of coordination and communication among the different section of the state bureaucracy, police and his own office which became evident when contradictory statements were issued about the casualty figure and kidnappings following Tuesdays tribal massacre. The chief minister literally woke up following the message from the president and statement of the union home minister in the parliament and consequently the international community was fed with high alarming figures of death which remained un-confirmed.

The Salva judum campaign which was claimed to be launched 'by the people' is now leading to sufferings 'to the people' and the basic relief 'for the people' is the ultimate casualty. It now remains to be seen that when will the state government decide that enough is enough.

(http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060313/1303304.htm)

The fall of Lalu

The result of the recently concluded Bihar state election morning can be perhaps best described as one which reposed the faith of the common masses in the Indian democracy. It gave a new mandate, one which will perhaps change Bihar; unfortunately the time which people required for making up their mind was too long.

Fifteen years was the time taken by the upper castes, the lower castes, the Muslims and the Hindus to realize that what Lalu was doing for them was not right. It's a glaring example of what castes and class politics can do . People in rural parts of India, in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, give more importance to their caste than to development.

The Yadavs and the Muslims who thought the RJD as their savior were sadly disappointed. The party itself created problems and issues which were non existence, and then gave solace to the Yadavs and the Muslims by projecting themselves as their only messiah. The MY group members also did not get any material benefits which they were expecting, what they received was cosmetic relief in forms of 'recognition in the society-contracts and some minor posts in PSUs'.

Riding on his luck, and the blind belief of people, the once rural boy of Bihar soon became the chief minister, proclaimed himself as the kingmaker, and kingmaker he did become but at the expense of his own people who once had elected him and had pinned their hopes on him.

Kidnapping, murder, rapes are now words that symbolize Bihar. The state was left in the hands of goons and the "chootbhaiya" netas of the ruling party. Medical professionals were picked up only to be released or killed after the payment of ransom money. Even Small children's like "Kishlay" were not spared. Kidnapping became a high profit yielding profession, just like politics. The state machinery including the bureaucrats is suffering from a very low morale due to the years of misuse and exploitation they were made to suffer in the hands of the politicians.

The scams during the tenure of Lalu Yadav which rocked the nation included the Rs.900 crore fodder scam, the Rs.600 crore bitumen scam, the Rs.400 crore land scam and the Rs.300 crore tree cutting scam. Many more simply were not discovered. Suraj Bhan, Mohd.Shhahbudin, Pappu yadav could not have stopped smiling when they were told that their duty as an elected member of the people is to respect the constitutional, respect the law and work for the people. How ironical that people who least respected the law were made the law makers. Incongruity has strange ways of coming true.

Corruption and casteism in Bihar were rampant even before Lalu Yadav emerged as a political leader, but he himself cannot deny that it was during his rule these became a problem of gigantic proportions. It created problems for the people of Bihar, but for the ruling RJD it became the tool, one which had the power to secure the party a secure mandate for ruling the state for fifteen years. The man in charge of RJD soon realized that if he has to make a niche for himself in the politics of Bihar, his two best friends would be caste and power. The former was an entry point for attaining the latter.

The emergence of Lalu Prasad Yadav as a leader with a mass following of the backward sections and the minorities should be seen in this context. He was aware that for him to be in power his support should come from the people of the minority and the 'backward' classes. This he demonstrated by resisting the infamous "rath yatra" of the BJP from entering Bihar. His comical, spontaneous, rural image bought him laurels and support; he was the one man party.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is what happened with him. His only objective was to keep power, and for that he did everything, except what he had promised the masses. It's also unfortunate for the Indian politics that a leader with such a mass following could not deliver. Perhaps his associates were to be blamed more then he himself, for failing to live up to the expectations.

After the previous election results were announced, it took very little time for a seasoned campaigner like Lalu to know that he was fighting a losing battle, though he didn't admit it. Political analyst will give various reasons like anti incumbency for the change of power, but only the people of Bihar will know that it took them a long time to realize the misdeeds of the ruling RJD, and it took even a more longer time to rise above the caste politics, but they rose and now are perhaps eagerly waiting to see some changes, changes which will take a while to bear fruit. It is now to the leaders of the country to realize that the time of Mayawatis, Mulayam Singh's and Paswan's who were dependent on caste and religion politics has come to an end.

The election results have shown that the Indian voters have become more responsible, more mature and more aware of the might their votes hold. It's now up to the new government to act and bring the state on the right track. People have huge expectation from the newly elected government.

Expectation of good governance, expectation of better infrastructure, expectation of employment opportunities and better amenities. And only time will tell whether Nitish Kumar, the new Chief Minister has the political will and the people's support which is required for developing the state. Getting the state out of the anarchy that Lalu and his cronies have created in past 15 years, will take time. Demolishing something is a quick process, building it back is not.

Nitish Kumar has an uphill task to restore Bihar to its pristine glory. He will have to make compromises with the different elements, which predictbly will be tough. History is nothing but a summary of changes, some good some bad; let's hope that this change would go down as good.
(http://www.centralchronicle.com/20051219/1912306.htm)

Alwar rape case verdict

A fast track court of Rajasthan in a rape case of a German national created a history of some sort and gave a new meaning to the term "speedy justice" when it took only 23 days to announce the verdict of the case, whereby it convicted the accused and sentenced him to seven years in prison. In a similar incident in May 2005, a Jodhpur court just took an astonishing 16 sittings to convict and sentence two men for raping a German woman.
This two decisions will go a long way in reposing the faith of judiciary in the mind of the 'common Indian' citizen or would it be more appropriate to use 'foreign nationals'?
The common and perhaps the most crucial factor that led to the justice being delivered in such a quick time was that the victims in both cases were foreign nationals. The scenario would have been quite different had the victims been Indian national.
The word "prolonged litigation" has stagnated the judiciary to such en extent that even a small petty offence takes year to be decided. Though in the present case the high court taking a suo-motto cognizance of the offence ordered the investigating agency to complete the investigation in one month time, thereby paving the way for a quick investigation, prosecution and judgment. The judicial activism showed by the court was exemplary to say the least, but then why is this "activism" active in some cases only?
In the present case the cops filed the chargesheet in four days, though they had ninety days and the forensic lab too followed suit by submitting its report in four days rather than taking months.
The question that needs to be answered is that why this job-efficiency and determination not practiced in other rape cases or crime?
It was not the first rape case that was to be before the Rajasthan high court and surely it would not be the last. Why isn't the same thrust put on disposing and hearing the rape cases in which the victim is an Indian national?
The reasons for this two-pronged approach are clear. In the present case the victim was a German tourist, and the incident occurred in a state which is heavily dependent on foreign tourism. So it was more than vital for the state government to take a personal interest in the case. Secondly the victim had right people at the right places. All that was required was pulling some strings in the German embassy.
The media too played its part and made sure that the plight of the German woman was felt by everyone. It has once again proved that it has its own idea of what should be covered and what shouldn't be. It seems that the media through all these years of print and electronic journalism has arrived at a position where it can decide which "rape" is to be highlighted and which is not to be. Or else why the rape of a poor village woman is not reported as extensively as this present case was covered?
All this proves that the judiciary, the police and the media have adopted a double standard, which is based on the status of the victim.
No doubt that our judiciary does deserve a pat on the back, for showing that if it wants it can deliver what is expected from it. It has set a precedent which if ideally followed would go a long way in upholding justice. However "double standards" should be done away with. A rape is a rape, a crime which kills a woman before she dies, and differentiating this unpardonable crime on grounds of social status is just not tolerable.


(http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060414/1404304.htm)

Systemic reforms needed to rejuvenate the judiciary

As India celebrates this year as Year of Excellence in Judiciary, one needs to explore ways to rejuvenate the administration of justice at various levels. During a recent visit to Bhopal, the Chief Justice of India, Justice R.C. Lahoti said that one of the main reasons for the judiciary’s failure to deliver quick justice is the lack of manpower to clear the huge backlog of over 30 million cases. He also advocated changes in the legal system to expedite justice.

Clearly, the increasing number of cases proves that the people’s faith in the judiciary is also increasing. But the number of judges is too small to handle the workload. One of the suggestions is for fixing a timeframe within which the case should be heard and decided. But what is required is both increasing the strength of the judges and the timeframe. At the same time, there is need for revamping the whole procedural law and bringing new laws which would reduce delays.

We still follow a legal system introduced by the British to suit their needs. Our lawmakers have designed the system in such a way that cases go on and on to give maximum chance to the accused to prove that they are innocent. One cannot blame them because the very system presented an opportunity to the law to be misguided.

The law enforcing authority (read Police) may be given more powers but with necessary safeguards so that petty cases are solved at the ground level itself, thus reducing the burden on the judiciary. Another solution is for revamping the procedural law, giving jurisdiction and authority to the police to deal with such offences which need not go to the courts.

Creating a new and parallel system, the same as the existing one, but only one with jurisdiction and authority to decide cases of petty nature can also be an answer. This will lead to the dilution of cases right at the inception stage. This will serve two purposes: easing the burden on judiciary; and settlement of these types of cases within a short time.

The aspect of appeal and re-appeal should be looked into. If a party to the dispute is not satisfied from the decision of the district court, it appeals to the High Court and, if still unsatisfied, goes to the Supreme Court. Though it is the discretion of the concerned court to allow the party to appeal, in most cases, the appeal is allowed. Consequently, loose implementation of the process of appeal leads to the loss of valuable time, though the higher court only hears the same facts again including the examination of the same witnesses.

Why, then, follow the same practice of wasting time and resources again and again? Clearly, provisions for appeal need to be tightened: the petitioner should have a substantial ground for seeking an order of appeal.

A careful study of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Civil Procedure Code would suggest that though these laws have numerous offences listed under various heads, some of the offences can be clubbed together. It would be appropriate to suggest that the minute distinction between various sections should be removed and offences of similar nature should find place in one section. This will go a long way in reducing the filing of a single case under various sections and thus help reduce the time and resources.

Keeping in view the increasing workload on the judges, it must be made explicitly clear how many cases a judge needs to hear everyday. Similarly, the region falling under the jurisdiction of a single judge should not be too large. Otherwise, it won’t be of any help because the judges will be forced to decide a large number of cases. Dividing regions into small numbers and appointing judge for every region would help reduce the burden on a single judge. The end result would be that each case could be decided within a reasonable timeframe.

Unfortunately, the Union Law Ministry has not done enough work on judicial reforms. The kind of importance this Ministry holds, one would have expected it to be treated at par with any other governmental department like Finance, Home or Defence. But this has not been the case. There is reasonable justification for increasing the budget for the Law Department. More resources should be allocated to the various branches of the Law Ministry keeping development and reforms in sharp focus.

Many state governments have put a moratorium on inducting new judges. This should be revoked, and regular induction of judges should take place on the basis of examinations. Also the time period of promotion of a Sessions Judge to the High Court should be reduced.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, while delivering the convocation address at Jodhpur Law University recently, suggested the creation of Indian Judicial Service (IJS). He promised to write to the government on this issue. The creation of IJS, on the pattern of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), will help expedite pending cases as young judges will be more active, enterprising and render speedy service. The recruitment norms and procedures for the IJS could be on the lines of the Civil Services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.

Institutes like the National Judicial Academy (NJA) in Bhopal should be given due attention. Every region in the country should have an institute based on the NJA model. The NJA’s basic aim is to train judges, improve their skill, and make them acquainted with legal fields like cyber law, arbitration law, environmental law etc. These areas, having developed in recent times, need to be given the attention they deserve.

National law schools in various parts of the country have been playing their part, by giving well-informed, well-moulded legal graduates. Encouragingly, there are more than 12 law schools all over the country.

As this year is being celebrated as Year of Excellence in Judiciary, we have to strive for the all round improvement in the judiciary.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050320/edit.htm#2