No subject

houses are branding as =91anarchy=92, we have a different opinion. We have =
seen
the genuine anger of the people, their tolerance, their suffering. And we
have no hesitation at all in holding the police, administration and CPM
responsible for the current precipitation of the situation.

The committee was formed against police atrocity. But what impressed us mos=
t
was the alternative developmental work that the Committee and the people
have been doing inside Lalgarh in the past seven months. These areas are
marked by extreme poverty and backwardness. Rainfall is scanty and the
people are dependent only on rainfall for agriculture. We saw the
dysfunctional government canal, which is lying dry. They described the
faulty nature of governmental dams which ultimately dry up the natural
falls. The showed us the pathetic condition of roads which becomes
completely inaccessible during the monsoons. The Committee on its own has
made 20 km of roads with red stone chips (=91morrum=92). The people have
volunteered labour to make these roads. The total cost to make this 20 km o=
f
road, they showed were Rs. 47,000, while the panchayat always shows atleast
Rs. 15,000 for 1 km of road. They have repaired quite a few tube wells, and
have installed new ones at half the price than the panchayat. They have
started to make a check dam in Bohardanga to fight the water crisis. The tw=
o
best things that have been done by the Committee is to start land
distribution and run a health center in Katapahari. The vested forest lands
are supposed to be distributed to the landless tribals according to a bill
passed by the West Bengal government. But it never happened. Now the
committee is taking initiative in Banshberi and other villages to distribut=
e
the vested empty lands adjacent to the forests to the people who have no
land. We saw the distribution of the patta in one village. The condition of
health facilities was also in a pathetic state in the villages, as there wa=
s
not a single functional health center. The nearest ones are in Lalgarh and
Ramgarh town. Patients often died the way to the hospital, often there had
been cases of snake bite of the people who were carrying the patients to th=
e
hospital in the monsoon. There was a dysfunctional building in Katapahari
which was supposed to be a health center. The administration decided to tur=
n
it into a police camp. After police boycott, the committee turned it into a
health center. Doctors from Kolkata and other regions visit there thrice a
week. It is flocked by more than 150 patients every day.

We had also attended a huge meeting called by the Committee in Lodhashuli
against a sponge iron factory located in the region. We visited the factory
site and saw the adverse effect of pollution on the trees and regions. The
people informed that even the paddy grown in the region have turned black,
so much so that even the panchayat has refused to accept the paddy. There
are hospitals and schools in the vicinity of such polluting factory. The
meeting despite a bus strike called by CPM was attended by huge masses of
people (around 12000), coming from different parts of the district. It was =
a
vibrant meeting, where the committee resolves among other things to boycott
the factory and build a resistance to stop the factory for good.

The presence of the Maoists within Lalgarh is one of the most contended
issues right now. We saw the open presence of Maoists and their mass
acceptance. They paste posters and have also held meetings where about ten
thousand people have participated. And unlike the popular myth that Maoists
are outsiders from Jharkhand etc. we saw the Maoist brigade to be flocked b=
y
locals. The people are pretty clear about the need for an armed resistance
in the face of the regular joint attacks by the CPM and the state. The
restriction of carrying traditional arms by them is a clear signal by the
state to debilitate this movement.

By the time we left Lalgarh, the struggle has intensified. By now the peopl=
e
have been successful in making their immediate enemy CPM to escape along
with the police. The enthusiasm we saw in the people was exuberant. For the
first time they are being part of not some vote minting political party but
a committee which is their own organization. They are living a life free of
state terror and building their own developmental projects. In different
villages many residents held one opinion in common, =91we have got
independence for the first time=92. Their fight is against age old
exploitation, deprivation, torture and terror. In this way this is a
historic fight. And we strongly feel that what is deemed =91anarchy=92 by m=
any
is real struggle for independence.

We urge the media houses to revisit Lalgarh. The movement has its roots in
the extreme impoverished socio economic conditions of the people because of
the inaction of the state. The state is bound to strike back to this fight
of the people. The CRPF will soon come back with the orders to open fire on
the resilient masses. The state government is also shamelessly asking the
notorious and infamous Grey hounds and Cobra to come and crush the people=
=92s
movement. And that will be the most unfortunate and condemnable thing. The
anger of the masses against massive state terror, underdevelopment and
corruption is valid. And so is the long awaited fight against it.

We are going to publish a detailed report back in Delhi about this movement
of the people. We remember that the media especially the regional media in
Bengal had played a pretty progressive role during the Nandigram movement
and would appeal to you to also stand by the people of Lalgrah and their
genuine fight before the state carries out yet another genocide.

Priya Ranjan, Banojyotsna, Anirban, Gogol, Kusum, Reyaz, Yadvinder, Veer
Singh, Sumati.

Contact : 09711826861


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