Love Jihad's baby machines

Fundamentalist Islamic body gets young recruits to allegedly lure, 'love', bed women to convert and make them breed a brood
Over 2,000 girls missing from different places in Kerala from 2005 onwards, may have been lured into marriage, converted to Islam and repeatedly raped to produce children a brood of at least four – say Hindu and Christian groups in south India.The alleged plot, hatched by a group called Love Jihad, recruits young Muslim boys to make Hindu or Christian girls fall in love with them (in a time span of two weeks) and then convert them to Islam in six months. If the recruits can't make the girl fall in love in two weeks, they are told to move on to the next target.A Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader who did not want to be named said, "There are over 2,800 girls who have gone missing from Kerala. They want our girls to be converted and then made to bear children and then force them into terror activities. We have been getting threatening calls from Saudi Arabia and Dubai for trying to rescue the girls."

Case oneTwo women ran away from the abuse and returned to their families. They have also approached psychiatrists and priests for support. One of these women, Rosy Kurien (21, name changed), a copy of whose complaint to the Kerala High Court is available with this paper, said, "We fell in love with the boys, but came to know of the truth only after we ran away with them. The boy I eloped with was a senior from my college. During the courtship period he used to talk to me about Islam and make me read religious books. He told me that after the wedding I would have to convert to Islam."When asked, if she was sexually abused, the girl said she was and had been told that the motive behind the love affair was for her to bear children. "His family kept watch so that I wouldn't run away, but I managed after four months of virtual imprisonment," she said. Luckily, Kurien is not pregnant. Case twoThe other girl, Latha Nair (23, name changed) from Pathanamthitta in Kerala, in her statement to the court writes, "I was a MBA student sharing a room with my best friend Anne. I met a Muslim man, Shahenshah, a senior student, who was helpful and friendly. He became friends with both Annie and me."He took us home to meet his family and his mother taught us Islamic rituals. He used to talk a lot about religion and tell us how wonderful Islam was."On July 18, 2009, Anne and I ran away — she with another Muslim guy and I with Shahenshah. We got married and then he forced me to convert. I heard that one of the girls we were staying with had been sexually abused."'Sexually abused'Dr Malika G S, director of Man Shakti counseling centre in Kerala said, "The two girls have been sexually abused, but do not want to admit to it. When I spoke to them, I realised that the main intention of these people is to increase the Muslim population. Last year, three girls who had committed suicide had eloped with Muslim boys. They had been then raped by their lovers and their friends."Jacob Punnoose, director general of Police, Kerala, in his statement to the court said, "It is not established that any particular organisation is actively engaged in religious conversions. We have received two complaints of conversion and have registered cases and are investigating the matter."Not God's WillMaulana Mustakeen Azmi, Maharashtra President Jamait-ul-Ulema said, "I certainly condemn the forceful conversion of the girls into Islam. This is against God's wish. If one wants to convert of their own free will, that's fine, but this is cheating, if the girls are being forced into conversion."

Maoist reaction to the farmer suicide in orissa

Recently I have read an article on a national daily on Maoists. I have realized that many of our policy makers don’t know details about the Naxal revolution in India, particularly southern India including Odisha. Since the commencement of the Naxal revolution in India, there is great rupture between naxal activities and the left parties, but the leftist ideologists and intellectuals supported most to the red revolution. The farmer revolution which is the backbone of the red revolution continues to be its main issue, now the red revolution getting its support form the anti industrial activities most. In Odisha, the red revolutions main supporters are the tribals. In the 60s the naxal revolution was considered as the rescuer of the oppressed and landless farmers. At the same time the leftists organized the farmers and industrial workers under the different banners. The naxal revolution only limited to the rural and tribal areas. But the rural support to the naxal revolution downsizing and the naxal revolution pushed to the tribals. Police and administrative reforms are two of the many causes but we cannot give all the credits to them. Here the spread of the education and literacy is the most important cause. Along with the spread of literacy the need for a better life style has been growing among the rural population and tribals. The socio-psychological environment in rural areas changing day by day. So, on which issue the red revolutionaries getting support from the people, is weakening gradually. And the red revolutionaries now shifting their strategy to more violence and creating fear. Which is very much effective in changing sociological environment. In present environment, people wants more security and stability in economic conditions. The Naxals , now the maoists targeting this soft side of the people psychology. This is clear form the recent issue, Farmer suicides in Orissa. The so called rescuer of the landless farmers , the Maoists don’t want to raise the issue even they have not a commented on a single issue.

Farmer suicide in Odisha: Government myopia

With in one month 6 farmers died due to suicide, many more rescued attempting suicide bid. Political melodrama is high. The state government is under suffocation. And the reaction is 3 governmental enquiries and independent enquiries, hundreds of rallies. But yet no body and not a single agency carved a action plan to mitigate the problem.

Let’s enumerate the figures of last year more than 1 lakh persons (1, 22,637) in the country lost their lives by committing suicide during the year2007. This indicates an increase of 3.8% over the previous year’s figure (1, 18,118).In Odisha, the farmer suicide has been increased to 6 percent. And even the overall rate of suicide trends is 10.9percent, which is .1 percent higher than the national average. The data shows that the among the suicide deaths, 22.3% died due to illness, 23.8 percent committed suicide due to poverty, 2.7 percent due to bankruptcy and sudden change in economic status. In Odisha the number of suicides due to family disputes is 1181 during the year 2007. But the state government did not alarmed, Even the ruling BJD has not been keen to its party manifesto.

In 2009 among the 6 farmer suicide deaths, according the government report, 5 people taken such step because of bankruptcy and sudden change in economic status, due to loss in cultivation. This year the monsoon is delayed and the rain was 36 percent lower than the average. But the state government continuously evasive on this issue. In Odisha About 75 % of the total workforce depends on agriculture. The cropped area is about 87.46 lakh hectares out of which 18.79 lakh hectares are irrigated. Climate and soil play vital role in Orissa’s agricultural economy. Our Odisha has been divided into 4 major environmental zone, And the north western Odisha fall in highly moisture deficit zone. In such environment the western Odisha has 40 percent share in rice cultivation. Irrigation facilities has been developed by implementing different schemes such as AIBP, RIDE, BKVY, RR&R, Bharat Nirman, Biju Krushak Vikash Yojana, Panipanchayat ,RLTAP. The two project proposals namely Mahanadi Basin Development Plan (MBDP) for Mahanadi Basin and Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture & Water Management Project (OIWMP) for Baitarani, Budhabalanga and Subernarekha basins, but the outcome of the result are still now questionable….(conted)

HISTORY OF NAXALISM

Telangana Struggle: By July 1948, 2,500 villages in the south were organised into ‘communes’ as part of a peasant movement which came to be known as Telangana Struggle. Simultaneously the famous Andhra Thesis for the first time demanded that ‘Indian revolution’ follow the Chinese path of protracted people’s war. In June 1948, a leftist ideological document ‘Andhra Letter’ laid down a revolutionary strategy based on Mao Tsetung’s New Democracy.
1964CPM splits from united CPI and decides to participate in elections, postponing armed struggle over revolutionary policies to a day when revolutionary situation prevailed in the country.
1965-66Communist leader Charu Majumdar wrote various articles based on Marx-Lenin-Mao thought during the period, which later came to be known as ‘Historic Eight Documents’ and formed the basis of naxalite movement.· First civil liberties organisation was formed with Telugu poet Sri Sri as president following mass arrests of communists during Indo-China war.
1967CPM participates in polls and forms a coalition United Front government in West Bengal with Bangla Congress. This leads to schism in the party with younger cadres, including the “visionary” Charu Majumdar, accusing CPM of betraying the revolution.
Naxalbari Uprising (25th May): The rebel cadres led by Charu Majumdar launch a peasants’ uprising at Naxalbari in Darjeeling district of West Bengal after a tribal youth, who had a judicial order to plough his land, was attacked by “goons” of local landlords on March 2. Tribals retaliated and started forcefully capturing back their lands. The CPI (M)-led United Front government cracked down on the uprising and in 72 days of the “rebellion” a police sub-inspector and nine tribals were killed. The Congress govt at the Centre supported the crackdown. The incident echoed throughout India and naxalism was born.
• The ideology of naxalism soon assumed larger dimension and entire state units of CPI (M) in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and some sections in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh joined the struggle.
July-Nov: Revolutionary communist organs ‘Liberation’and ‘Deshbrati’ (Bengali) besides ‘Lokyudh’ (Hindi) were started.Nov 12-13: Comrades from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal met and set up All India Coordination Committee of Revolutionaries (AICCR) in the CPI (M).
1968
May 14: AICCR renamed All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) with Comrade S Roy Chowdhury as its convenor. The renamed body decides to boycott elections. Within AICCCR certain fundamental differences lead to the exclusion of a section of Andhra comrades led by Comrade T Nagi Reddy.
1969
April 22: As per the AICCCR’s February decision, a new party CPI (ML) was launched on the birth anniversary of Lenin. Charu Majumdar was elected as the Secretary of Central Organising Committee. AICCR dissolved itself.May 1: Declaration of the party formation by Comrade Kanu Sanyal at a massive meeting on Shahid Minar ground, Calcutta. CPI (M) tries to disrupt the meeting resulting in armed clash between CPI (M) and CPI (ML) cadres for the first time.
• By this time primary guerrilla zone appear at Debra-gopiballavpur (WB), Musal in Bihar, Lakhimpur Kheri in UP and most importantly Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh.May 26-27: Andhra police kill Comrade Panchadri Krishnamurty and six other revolutionaries during a crackdown on Srikakulam struggle in Andhra Pradesh sparking wide protests.Oct 20: Maoist Communist Centre was formed under Kanhai Chatterjee’s leadership. It had supported Naxalbari struggle but did not join CPI (ML) because of some tactical difference and on the question of the method of party formation.
1970
April 27: Premises of Deshabrati Prakashan, which published Liberation and its sister journals, were raided. CPI (ML) goes underground.May 11: The first CPI (ML) congress is held in Calcutta under strict underground conditions. Comrade Charu Majumdar is elected the party general secretary.July 10: Comrades Vempatapu Satyanarayana and Adibatla Kailasam, leaders of Srikakulam uprising are killed in police encounter during the crackdown. Comrade Appu, founder of the Party in Tamil Nadu was also killed around September-October. The Srikakulam movement in continued in Andhra Pradesh till 1975.
• Leading lights of literary world of Telugu like Sri Sri, R V Shastri, Khtuba Rao K V Ramana Reddy, Cherabanda Raju Varavara Rao, C Vijaylakshmi with others joined hands to form VIRASAM (Viplava Rachayithala Sangam) or Revolutionary Writers Association (RWA).
• Artistes from Hyderabad inspired by Srikakulam struggle and the songs of Subharao Panigrahi form a group — Art Lovers – comprising the famous film producer Narasinga Rao and the now legendary Gaddar.
1971
In the background of Bangladesh war, the Army tries to crush the ultra-left movement in West Bengal. Uprising in Birbhum marks the high point of this year.
• Art Lovers change its name to Jana Natya Mandali (JNM) late this year. It joins Communists and start propagating revolutionary ideas through its songs, dances and plays. It functioned legally till 1984.
1972
July: Charu Majumdar is arrested in Calcutta on July 16. He dies in Lal Bazar police lock-up on July 28. Revolutionary struggle suffers serious debacle. CPI (ML)’s central authority collapses.August: ‘Pilupu’ (The Call), a political magazine was launched in Andhra Pradesh.• Kondapalli Seetharamaiah reorganises the AP State Committee of Communist Revolutionaries following killing or arrest of the 12-member AP State Committee.
1973Fresh guerrilla struggles backed by mass activism emerge in parts of central Bihar and Telangana, now a part of Andhra Pradesh.
1974
July 28: The Central Organising Committee of CPI (ML) was reconstituted at Durgapur meeting in West Bengal. Comrade Jauhar (Subrata Dutt) was elected general secretary. Jauhar reorganises CPI (ML) and renames it as CPI (ML) Liberation.March: Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLP) was formed again with Sri Sri as president.August: Andhra Pradesh state committee was reconstituted with Kondapalli Seetharamaiah representing Telangana region, Appalasuri (coastal AP) and Mahadevan (Rayalseema).October 12: Radical students union was formed in Andhra Pradesh. It faced brutal suppression but surged again after emergency was lifted.
1975
Following declaration of emergency on June 25 and the following repression on ultra-leftists and others, the Central Organising Committee in its September meeting decided to withdraw a “common self-critical review” and instead produce a tactical line ‘Road to Revolution’. But it did not unity among the cadres. Armed struggles were reported from Bhojpur and Naxalbari.
1976
CPI (ML) holds its second Congress on February 26-27 in the countryside of Gaya, in Bihar. It resolves to continue with armed guerilla struggles and work for an anti-Congress United Front.
1977
Amidst an upsurge of ultra-leftists’ armed actions and mass activism, CPI (ML) decides to launch a rectification campaign. The party organisation spreads to AP and Kerala.February: Revolutionaries organise Telangana Regional Conference in Andhra Pradesh and seeds of a peasant movement are sown in Karimnagar and Adilabad districts of the state. The conference decided to hold political classes to train new cadres and to send “squads” into forest for launching armed struggle. Eight districts of Telangana, excluding Hyderabad, were divided into two regions and two regional committees were elected.May: Bihar and West Bengal representatives of Central Organising Committee resign at a meeting. Andhra Pradesh representative fails to attend the meet due to the arrest of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah. The Central Organising Committee is dissolved.
1978
Rectification movements (CPI ML and fragments) limits pure military viewpoint and stresses mass peasant struggles to Indianise the Marxism-Leninism and Mao thought.• CPI (ML) (Unity Organisation) is formed in Bihar under N Prasad’s leadership (focusing on Jehanabad-Palamu of Bihar). A peasant organisation – the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti (MKSS) is formed.
• ‘Go To Village Campaigns’ are launched by Andhra Pradesh Party of revolutionaries to propagate politics of agrarian revolution and building of Radical Youth League units in Andhra Pradesh villages. It later helped in triggering historic peasant struggles of Karimnagar and Adilabad.Sept 7: The famous Jagityal march is organised in Andhra Pradesh, in which thousands of people take part.Oct 20: Andhra Government declares Sarcilla and Jagityal ‘disturbed areas’ giving police “draconian” powers.
1979
From April to June, Village Campaign was for the first time organised jointly by RSU and RYL in Andhra Pradesh. The two organisations also expressed solidarity with National Movement of Assam.
Between 1979 to 1988, MCC focused on Bihar. A Bihar-Bengal Special Area Committee was established. The Preparatory Committee for Revolutionary Peasant Struggles was formed and soon Revolutionary Peasant Councils emerged. Two founding members of MCC passed away-Amulya Sen in March 1981 and Kanhai Chatterjee in July 1982.
1980April 22: Kondapalli Seetharamaiah forms the Peoples War Group in Andhra Pradesh. He discards total annihilation of “class enemies” as the only form of struggle and stresses on floating mass organisations.
• Mass peasant movement spreads in Central Bihar.
• CPI (ML) puts forward the idea of broad Democratic Front as the national alternative. It was part of a process to reorganise a centre for All-India revolution after it ceased to exist in 1972.
• The central committee was formed by merging AP and Tamil Nadu State Committees and Maharashtra group of the CPI (ML). Unity Organisation did not join. The tactical adopted by the committee upheld the legacy of Naxalbari while agreeing for rectifying the “left” errors.
• CPI (ML) Red Flag is formed led by K N Ramachandran.1981
CPI (ML) organises a unity meet of 13 Marxist-Leninist factions in a bid to form a single formation to act as the leading core of the proposed Democratic Front. However, the unity moved failed. The M-L movement begins to polarise between the Marxist-Leninist line of CPI (ML) (Liberation) and the line of CPI (ML) (People’s War).• First state level rally is held in Patna under the banner of Bihar Pradesh Kisan Sabha beginning a new phase of mass political activism in the state.
1982Indian People’s Front (IPF) is launched in Delhi at a national conference of CPI (ML) (Liberation). At the end of the year the third Congress of CPI (ML) is organised at Giridih (Bihar), which decides to take part in elections.
1983Peasant movement in Assam shows signs of revival after allegedly “forced” Assembly elections. IPF plays a crucial role in this regard.• An all-India dalit conference is held in Amravati (Maharashtra) to facilitate interaction with Ambedkarite groups.
1984CPI (ML) and other revolutionaries try to woo Sikhs towards joining peasant movement following Operation Bluestar in June and country-wide anti-Sikh riots after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in Oct 31 the same year.
1985People’s Democratic Front is launched in Karbi Anglong district of Assam to provide a “revolutionary democratic orientation to the tribal people’s aspirations for autonomy”.• PDF wins a seat in Assam Assembly elections bring about the first entry of CPI (ML) cadre in the legislative arena.• Jan Sanskriti Manch is formed at a conference of cultural activists from Hindi belt at New Delhi.
1986
• Bihar govt bans PWG and MCCApril 5-7: CPI (ML) organises a national women’s convention in Calcutta to promote cooperation and critical interaction between communist women’s organisations and upcoming feminist and autonomous women’s groups.April 19: More than a dozen “landless labourers” are killed in police firing at Arwal in Jehanabad district of Bihar.
1987PDF gets transformed into the Autonomous State Demand Committee.
1988CPI (ML) holds its fourth Congress at Hazaribagh in Bihar from January 1 to 5. The Congress “rectifies” old errors of judgement in the party’s assessment of Soviet Union. It reiterates the basic principles of revolutionary communism – defence of Marxism, absolute political independence of the Communist Party and primacy of revolutionary peasant struggles in democratic revolution.• CPI (ML) ND is formed in Bihar by Comrade Yatendra Kumar.
1989May: The founding conference of All India Central Council of Trade Union (AICCTU) is held in Madras. Key resolutions are passed at this meet.November: More than a dozen “left supporters” are shot dead by landlords in Ara Lok Sabha constituency of Bhojpur district in Bihar on the eve of polls.• CPI (ML) (Liberation) records its first electoral victory under Indian People’s Front banner. Ara sends the first “Naxalite” member to Parliament.
1990
In February Assembly election, IPF wins seven seats and finishes second in another fourteen. In Assam too, a four-member ASDC legislators’ group enters the Assembly. Special all-India Conference is held in Delhi on July 22-24 to restructure the party.August 9-11: All India Students Association (AISA) is launched at Allahabad. It opposes VP Singh’s implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations.Oct 8: First all-India IPF rally is held in Delhi. CPI (ML) (Liberation) claims it to be the first-ever massive mobilisation of rural poor in the capital.• CPI (ML) S R Bhaijee group and CPI (ML) Unity Initiative are formed in Bihar. The former is still active in east and west Champaran.• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chenna Reddy lifts all curbs on naxal groups. Naxalites operate freely for about a year but observers say it corrupted them and adversely affected the movement.
1991In the May Lok Sabha elections, Indian People’s Front loses Ara seat but CPI (ML) retains its presence in Parliament through ASDC MP.
1992
• Andhra Pradesh bans People’s War Group• CPI(ML) reorganises the erstwhile Janwadi Mazdoor Kisan Samiti in South Bihar as Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Samiti (Jhamkis).May 21: Chief Minister N Janardhan Reddy bans PWG and its seven front organisations again in Andhra Pradesh.Dec 20-26: CPI (ML) organises its fifth Congress at Calcutta from Dec 20 to 26. CPI (ML) comes out in the open and calls for a Left confederation.
1993
• AISA registers impressive victories in Allahabad, Varanasi and Nainital university elections in Uttar Pradesh besides in the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.• CPI (ML) launches a new forum for Muslims called ‘Inquilabi Muslim Conference’ in Bihar.
1994
February: All India Progressive Women’s Association is launched at national women’s conference at New Delhi.• Indian People’s Front is dissolved and fresh attempts are initiated to forge a united front of various sections of Leftists and Socialists with an anti-imperialist agenda.• Interactions among various Communists and Left parties intensify in India and abroad to revive the movement drawing lessons from Soviet collapse.
1995
• A six-member CPI (ML) group is formed in Bihar Assembly. Two CPI (ML) nominees win from Siwan indicating the expansion of party’s influence in north Bihar.May: N T Ramarao relaxes ban on Peoples War Group in Andhra Pradesh for three months. PWG goes in for massive recruitment drive in the state.July: CPI (ML) organises All India Organisation Plenum at Diphu to streamline party’s organisational network.
• Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) is launched as an all-India organisation of the radical youth.
1996
• Five members of ASDC make it to Assam assembly. An ASDC member is re-elected to Lok Sabha. Another ASDC member is elected to Rajya Sabha. ASDC retains its majority in Karbi Anglong District Council and also unseats the Congress in the neighbouring North Cachhar Hills district in Assam.• CPI(ML) takes initiative to form a Tribal People’s Front and then Assam People’s Front• CPI (ML) joins hands with CPI and Marxist Coordination Committee led by Comrade A Roy to strengthen Left movement.• CPI (ML) initiates the Indian Institute of Marxist Studies. Armed clashes between ultra-leftists and upper caste private armies (like Ranvir Sena) escalate in Bihar.• The Progressive Organisation of People, affiliated to revolutionary left movement, launches a temple entry movement for lower castes in Gudipadu near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. It emerges successful.
1997
CPI (ML) organises a massive ‘Halla Bol’ rally in Patna. A left supported Bihar bandh is organised as part of “Oust Laloo Campaign” in view of the Rs 950-crore fodder scam.
1999
• CPI (ML) Party Unity merges with Peoples War.• Naxalites launch major strikes. CPI (ML) PW kills six in Jehanabad on February 14. MCC kills 34 upper caste in Senai village of Jehanabad.Dec 2: Three top PWG leaders killed in Andhra Pradesh leading to a large scale brutal naxalite attacks on state forces.Dec 16: PWG hacks to death Madhya Pradesh Transport Minister Likhiram Kavre in his village in Blalaghat district to avenge the killing of three top PWG leaders in police encounter on Dec 2.
2000
• PWG continues with its revenge attacks. Blasts house of ruling Telugu Desam Party MP G Sukhender Reddy in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh in January. In February it blows up a Madhya Pradesh police vehicle killing 23 cops, including an ASP. It destroys property worth Rs 5 crore besides killing 10 persons in AP in the same month.Dec 2: PWG launches People’s Guerrilla Army (PGA) to counter security forces offensive.
2001
April: CPI (ML) celebrates 32nd anniversary of its foundation in Patna on April 22 and gives a call to rekindle ‘revolutionary spirit of naxalism’.July: Naxalite groups all over South Asia form a Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) which is said to be first such an international coalition. PWG and MCC are part of it.• As per the Intelligence reports, MCC and PWG establish links with LTTE, Nepali Maoists and Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence to receive arms and training. Naxalites bid to carve out a corridor through some areas of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh up to Nepal.Nov: MCC organises a violent Jharkhand Bandh on Nov 26.Dec: Naxalites, mainly in AP, Orissa and Bihar celebrate People’s Guerilla Week hailing the formation of PGA on Dec 2. The week unfolds major violence in the three states during which a plant of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and the house of an Orissa minister is blown up.

Naxal violence claims 2,600 lives in three years

NEW DELHI: The Naxalites, who have become the gravest internal security threat forcing the Centre to plan an all-out offensive against them, have killed more than 2,600 people, including civilians, in the last three years. The highest number of incidents of violence has taken place in four worst-affected states -- Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa -- where 2,212 people lost their lives from January 2006 to August this year. "We have witnessed more than 5,800 incidents of Naxal violence across the country during the period forcing the government to announce a new strategy to deal with the menace which is growing at an alarming pace in many states," a home ministry official said. In Chhattisgarh, 388 people were killed by the Maoists in 715 incidents in 2006. While 369 lost their lives in 2007, another 242 were killed in 2008. In 2009 till August, about 180 people lost their lives in the state. Altogether 124 people were killed by Maoists in 2006 in Jharkhand, 157 people in 2007 while another 207 lost their lives in 2008. In 2009 till August, about 150 people were killed by the Naxals. With nearly 40,000 para-military personnel, the Centre has readied its anti-Naxal plan which also includes a Rs 7,300-crore package for developmental works in areas cleared off the Left-wing extremists. The Naxalite movement started when an extremist section of CPI(M)) led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal attacked the police on May 25, 1967 in Naxalbari village in North Bengal after a farmer was killed by miscreants over a land dispute. The same year the Naxalites organised the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR), and later broke away from CPI(M). Today the Maoists are active in Lalgarh, Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum districts in West Bengal. From 2002 onwards Maoists have been infiltrating from Jharkhand and Orissa to West Midnapore particularly in areas like Belpahari, Kantapahari and Banspahari. In Orissa, 17 0f 30 districts are Maoist hit, in Jharkhand 20 of the 24 districts while in Bihar 30 out of 38 districts, according to official sources. In Bihar on February 9 this year, ten policemen, including some from the special auxiliary police, were killed in an ambush in Nawada district. More recently on August 22, four policemen including an assistant sub-inspector were killed by Maoists in Jamui district. It was the same in Orissa where 10 CISF personnel were killed in an attack by Maoists at NALCO's bauxite mines in Damanjodi on April 12, while 11 other security personnel died in a landmine explosion in the third week of June this year in Narayanpatna in Koraput district. A top former Jharkhand police officer, who did not wish to be named was sceptical about the Centre's plans to tackle Maoists with the IAF given permission to retaliate if attacked. "Unnecessary needling may result in spurt in Naxal violence," he said. A former DGP of Orissa, S N Tiwari, echoed him. "The situation is grim. Day by day it is becoming difficult," he said.

Over 400,000 babies die within day of birth in India

More than 400,000 children die within 24 hours of their birth in India every year - the highest anywhere in the world, a study by an international charity said.
While globally this figure stands at two million babies dying within a day of their birth, the shocking and tragic fact is that the reason for these deaths are diseases and infections that are easily treatable, and therefore the deaths are preventable.
Launching their `Everyone` campaign on Monday which seeks commitment from individuals to save the lives of millions of children under the age of five, Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children said: `Every child deserves a chance to survive. And every one of us has a moral responsibility to act to ensure that.`
Despite rapid economic growth, India accounts for one-fifth of newborn deaths in the world. Though the country has made significant progress in reducing child mortality, the newborn mortality rate at 39 per 1,000 live births and child mortality rate at 72 per 1,000 live births are shocking, said the study by Save the Children.
With the launching of Save the Children`s `Everyone` campaign in 40 countries including India, Chandy said that often people have a misconception that the cost of saving the lives of millions of children is too high.
`If people understood how affordable and feasible it is to prevent children dying, they would be shocked. There is no real pressure on the government to act largely because of public perceptions that it is too costly to change the reality,` Chandy said.
According to the survey conducted in 14 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Britain, the US, India and Pakistan, 48 percent of the respondents thought that it would cost the world an additional 400 billion dollars annually to save the lives of children.
The reality however is that an additional 40 billion dollars - less than half the amount spent on bottled water - is needed globally to save the innocent lives, Chandy said.
Among the other findings of the report is that 13 of the 14 country respondents felt that poverty was the biggest threat to children's lives. China, which was the exception, said that climate change was the biggest threat.
In a heartening finding, 57 percent of the respondents in India said that they would readily give up the cost of a meal for the sake of a child they had never met.
`However two million children under the age of five die each year in India, the highest anywhere in the world and one third of the world's malnourished children live here. These have to change,` the report stressed.

Making India Proud

Just after the 16th general election and 14th assembly election, there was a huge chaos from the different political parties. Their main objection was; the congress party won the election by manipulating the EVMs. The BJP, CPM and other parties accused that the congress widely manipulated EVMs , and congress did not pay any heed to it. But they were changed, when they defeated with a huge margin in the Orissa state assembly election. Both BJP and Congress sat on same platform along with other small regional parties, to accuse Biju Janata Dal for manipulating EVMs to win the election. Astonishingly some of the electrical engineers and engineering institutions also supported the issue. Now all the things are in dormant, but it reappears again when they (congress and BJP) stand on a public meeting.

What the voters’ think – no political parties wanted to listen, but the ground reality is different, people are firm what they were mandated. They never give any byte to any media regarding this issue.

The Electronic Voting Machine – really India’s democratic proud. World’s largest democracy took the responsibility on its shoulder, after its Invention. It dared to implement it in the world’s largest electoral process, and the outcome was astonishing; people with great enthusiasm casted their vote. It becomes an example for the other democratic nations. Some of the south Asian and sub shahran countries came here to learn the task.

After the 16th general election when the accusation of EVM manipulation by different political parties aired and telecasted , the result is twofold.

For whom it remained as an example, they forced to rethink on its implementation. And the scientists and Engineers who invented it, sat down in the laboratory to revise the machine.
But the whole thing has no impact on voters- as before- just indolence