For starters, I don’t intend to be prophetic in my evaluation of the recently concluded Gujjar Community-Rajasthan Government wrangle. However, I cannot help but observe, quite candidly, that the whole situation serves as a dark episode in the history of civil liberty movements in this country. The reasons for such analysis are not too far to seek.

For a moment, let us relive the influence of caste in shaping the political, cultural and even geographical history of India; caste as an index continues to affect our public policy, be it through coalition governments or affirmative action, and hence is a critical determinant of the upward/downward mobility that the Indian citizen attains in life. Central and State Governments, have throughout the course of post-Independent India, engaged in active programmes that seek to mitigate the wrongs of historical discrimination meted out to various castes. One may indeed argue that the whole gamut of events has only recently, acquired a political twang. Caste-based violence still continues to be a haunting reality in rural India, with incidents of isolated and systematic torture frequently surfacing in the news.

Taking such grim reality as the backdrop to this article, it is important that we understand the repercussions of granting ’special, backward community’ or ‘ST’ status to Gujjars. Not because the additive 5% would increase the ever-burgeoning basket of reservations in the quota system, but because the 5% so granted was the direct and immediate consequence of untoward and violent rebellion against the State. Of course, the million-dollar question is always going to be whether the Govt. was right in granting such privileged status to the community? Nonetheless, the finer aspect of the issue still remains: Was the Govt. right in acquiescing to the violent methods of the Gujjars in granting reservation? The next logical question would then be: Is not the Govt. setting a bad precedent, effectively indicating that ends can be achieved through such caste-based violence? The answer, unfortunately, is a loud and thumping Yes.

(To be continued.)

Ghazala Khan from the Pakistani Spectator interviewed me yesterday on blogging and the blog itself. The interview transcript is now published by the Pakistani Spectator here.

I must say I was startled by some of the questions myself.

My good friend Rahul Narayanan wrote on his Gtalk tagline;

We do not protect our civil liberties by sacrificing them

I asked him whether he wrote this in a particular context and he asked me to google ‘David Davis’. I found out that David Davis is a former British MP who resigned after the new legislation to extend the detention of suspects without charge from 28 to 42 days was passed by a narrow vote.

In a little reading that I’ve done on the issue, I’ve started liking David Davis. If there is no political motive behind this, then I gotta say that this man has some character.

Ally Fogg from the Guardian has written an interesting piece on this issue. Readers may read it here.

Both the teams left towards Konta camp at around eight in the monrning. Now the road to Konta is one where the maximum camps are located in the area. In fact, a few months ago in Errabol camp a mass killing of 25 people including women and children had occurred at point blank range.
At Injram camp, the two teams split ways and I was on my way to Andhra Pradesh to meet some of the 13,000 odd Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who fled the Salwa Judum. Out of horror and shock I dont want to recount most of the stories I documented but Sanchita documented one of this young woman who was literally beaten and sexually abused with her hair being pulled and I can’t even imagine what not (Sanchita can give a better picture of it).
I documented the testimonies of people from Naindar village; a village that had been burnt and built twice and to my knowledge most of the men had been killed and daughters reported missing. In one instance, the forces from Chattisgarh crossed the state border to Andhra Pradesh to hunt down and kill three people allegedly suspected to be naxalites.

On our way back we were stopped by 14-15 year old children carrying .303’s and AK-56s. When you ask them their age they tell you that they’re 30 years old and that they’re appointed by the police at Special Police Officers (SPOs). That is when you smile at their plight and at the same time wonder what has happened to the political and legal structure and its working mechanism in this country. Nobody gives a damn about the constitution or numerous SC judgments of Bhagwati or so out here and they just want to live. The worst is, we fail to provide them even that sense of security.

We returned at night while it was raining heavily to find that around 60-70 victims and families had come over to the ashram to depose before the National Human Rights Commission the next day. One the fun part, I joined Sridevi and Sanchita to get wet in the rain and got myself involved in a mud fight. Certain subtle child like pleasures of me I would say.

Day 3 (8th June’08 )

Rains last night had led us to alter our plans and we made move for a village called Potenaar. It was a nine km trek to jangli thana which took us about an hour and forty five minutes to cover.

On our way we were stopped by a patrolling squad of SPOs who asked us where we were going. By now this had become normal since we were on our way to naxalite territory from Salwa Judum’s. Fortunately we had informed the police and the NHRC card seemed to have worked. People here have become very vary and cautious of the NHRC after newspaper reports of the issue reaching the Supreme Court et. al.

The testimonies at Potenaar were the most horrifying to hear and document till now. First the Naga battalion came and killed people , raped women and burnt their houses. Then the Salwa Judum took them at gun point to the camp. The camp description they gave seems a lot like a nazi concentration camp. In all they were given food only once in the two years that they spent there. They didn’t have much to money to but food so they were like scavengers hunting for it. The Salwa Judum; at one documented instance took eight of their women to the bridge by the jungle and raped them. One of these girls was 13 years old then and I still cannot get her face out of my head.

These instances are only of one pada of the seven in the village and there were as many as 20 villages in the camp at Jangli.

You start wondering where this is the notion of Governmentality and human dignity that one yearns and talks about. Life is so different here than what we experience in Hyderabad, Mumbai or Delhi. It is a full fledged war out here that shows no signs of ending.

When we go to the villages, the people are so open about the deaths and other gruesome crimes committed against them that you wonder as to how it all seems so normal to them. Perhaps its because they’ve been witnessing it for over three years now. The Salwa Judum and SPOs have instilled a lot of fear in the minds of the tribals. In a place called Matwada where the people were planning to leave the camp for their village; at around 3 a.m. they were pulled out fo their houses and beaten up with their hands tied. After that there were taken to the nearby handpump and forcefully drink water. At around 8 a.m., knives were pulled out and their eyes were pierced and finally they were killed with boulders squashing their heads.

I’m not recounting most of the testimonies as one is more horrifying than the other and would bring back memories that I dont want to keep. Above was merely an instance of the gravity of the situation out there.

Things are really bad out here and I know that I’m really lucky to survive. I don’t know how Ill be able to tell my friends as to what’s happening out here. I don’t know if they’d even make an effort to understand what I’ve seen and the shit going on around. There are no atheists in fox holes they say and every time I see an armed person stopping me i forget being an atheist.

Day 2 (7th June’0

Nandini and I went on motorcycles to this palce called Pulondi today. On out way we crossed strict and clear salwa judum territory with sign boards of “Salwa Judum Zindabad” all over.
We cross that area and a few camps. From then on we faced road blocks with bridges being broken and trees all over. Thankfully the rumours we heard about the roads being mined were’nt true.

- So after a two hour ride we finally reached Pulondi village; where as soon as the people saw us they started running away. A minutes later on they came and surrounded us with bows and arrows. Actually, the salwa judum, SPOs and the CRPF had conducted a lot of raids here; killed people and looted their food stocks. They thought we were one of them.
Now this village was a pure naxalite village but we didn’t get to see any ‘dasta’ or ’sangam’ members. It too some time for Nandini and I to explain to them who we were and why we were here. Once they started feeling a little secure, they let down their bows and started telling their stories. Most of these were horrifying and scary to hear. For instance; one ‘Hemla Pande’ was shot while she was pregnant. It was not that she was running away or anything; but she was in her house when the forces came in and shot her. Her husband who witnessed the whole incident told us about it.
In another incident, the forces came and killed more then 10 people while the village was having a meeting. None of them was armed or anything.

Pulondi is in Bhairamgarh block (Mirtur thana) and has a population of about 600 people.

- One boy called Lachu new hindi as he went to school before it was destroyed by the forces. Very diligently he had maintained a diary of the dates of the raids by the forces and the losses that had occurred to the village. He even maintained a list as to who had lost what in the last two years.
I was amazed at the vision and disposition (a new word that Sridevi taught me) of that kid and as a small token I gifted that boy a pen. I then realised that I was running out of gifts to give the kids so on the way back I bought a lot of toffees to give next time. I should be safe by then.

The Social Blog now features in the list of the Top 100 civil liberties blogs. conducted by the Criminal Justice Degrees Guide.

For my readers, Thank you. This is a welcome incentive to blog more regularly.

Day 1 (6th June’0

- We reached this place called Jagdalgaon in the morning and left for Dantewada from there. It was the ten of us in a single Tata Sumo.

- On reaching Dantewada town, we got down to have breakfast. At breakfast, I saw a guy standing right next to me in civilian clothes with an AK-56. My guess was the he was a Special Police Officer (SPO); but he claimed that he was the bodyguard of a Zilla Panchayat Officer. I think this is the starting point from where things get worse.

- Apparently yesterday morning, the naxalites blew up six power lines due to which there would be no electrivity and water for the next fifteen days in the district. The naxalities feel that since the tribals don’t get water and electricity, other should’nt too.

- Law, order and governmentality don’t seem to be exist here. This seems to be a place where everybody keeps shooting and killing everyone and you start wondering why the hell you’ve come here? Now that’s a question I shall answer later on; perhaps at the end.

So we went to this place called Mertwar and the moment we reached there the CRPF commander informed us that this was the most dangerous are of them all. The area description of the place is as follows;

The Mertur camp is protected by the CRPF from the outside (63rd batallion) and a Police Station is there inside to allegedly protect the villagers. Just near the camp is the Churli village where the people are forced to come and spend the nights at the camp. The camp officers say that this is to protect them while the churli people say that this is to get forced labour done out of them and if they dont come, they’re branded as naxalities.

Next to Churli village is a river and across it is pure naxalite territory. The CRPF calls this river the L.O.C. We were suppose to visit this village called Bechapal across the river but time didnt permit us. Near bechapal on the other side of the river is the Brigade HQ of the naxalites.

So we stopped our car and went this Churli as stated above to collect some depositions. Every evening they run to the camp for protection and while they’re there the Salwa Judum get forced labour out of them. The stories that they recollect are horrid I msut say. One of them had his house burnt by the police/ salwa judum for not coming to the camp regularly.

- Apparently all the roads out to the CRPF camp are mined by the naxalites. Across the river is Bechapal which was burnt earlier by the forces. It is rumoured that a few weeks ago the CRPF conducted combing operations there and a lot of violence had occurred. It started raining heavily at the end of it all out here.

- Everywhere we saw armed civilians carrying AK-56s. These people belonged to the Salwa Judum/ SPO/ Police/ CRPF. In fact, while we were coming bac we were halted at the Mertur Police Station; surrounded by the police and salwa Judum and interrogated. For the first time in the rip I was thankful that nothing had happened to us.

we were told in due course of the interrogation that there were 174 SPOs in the area along with the Police and 130 men of the 64rd batllion of the CRPF. In a 5 sqkm area they claimed there were up against 2000 or more naxalites. However in what is a game of power, the salwa judum and the police seemed to be killing a lot more civilians.

I spent the past eight days with a group of independent reseach scholars and students in the jungles of dantewada, Chattisgarh. Our idea was to visit the conflict zones and study the large scale human rights violations committed by the Salwa Judum, document them and present these testimonies to the National Human Rights Commission that was to visit Dantewada town on the 10th of June. This visit has turned out to be an eye-opener for me. Ive made good friends, understood that the idea of government in India is crap and that rights dont matter to the babus anymore.

The Team included;

1) Prof. Nandini Sundar, Prof of sociology, Delhi School of Economics

2) Sridevi Panikkar, Lawyer

3) Praveen Mote, Independent researcher

4) Pratyush Chandra, Independent scholar ( )

5) Kamal Nayan, Ph.d. Student in Tribal studies

6) Vikas Kumar, Preeti and Ranjay Kumar from Delhi Univ.

7) Sanchita Bakshi, TISS Mumbai

self (Aditya Swarup) from NALSAR Univ of Law, Hyderabad

The daily reports of the trip would be published in subsequent posts.

Hah! this month has been amazing. Not only am I not working as I generally do, but I’m also spending a lot of time with Rimcollians (that’s a term used to refer to alumni from my school, RIMC). Why, just yesterday seven of us met up at INS Hamla and I must say that lots of old memories were brought back. Below are some of the topics of discussions;

1) Apparently Raja Wangdi Sherpa, one of the best cadets I’ve known, had a boxing bout with Vibhore Singh when the former was the cadet captain. Vibhore was recounting his experience and his passionate ’second’ joshing him up against one of the best boxers. At this time, I also remembered the bout between Major Vikramjeet Singh (now Col.) and Bikramjeet Singh alias ‘bhakka’ that took place in my first sem.

2) When something inside me gave me a ‘go ahead’ to enter the 48-51 kg category to fight against Manjeet Kataria (this guy was the nationals variety) and Romen Singh. I was declared RSC after the first round.

3) Cheating in NDA writtens; UPSC exams. One of the best experiences of my life I must say. There’s no better charm than helping your classmates clear the exam. All of us from different classes were recounting as to how we had done it.

4) Not to forget, Col Houghton and the headless horseman incident. We were trying to recall as to who all were involved in it. I now know that Maj. Vivek Singh was on the ropes, Toshi on the beams and PK Pandey. But we still haven’t figured as to who was riding the horse.

5) About how Gaurav Madan, Rajan Chikkara, Vishal Singh and Subeg Singh Dhindsa were the coolest people in college during our time. The Best batch went undoubtedly to Raja’s batch.This also included Bhaskar Shukla, Mithun and Srinivas.

6) Of rounds at five thirty and how I dreaded rolling with bajri (pebbles) put on my back on the cemented floor.

7) Of reducing runs; tapkeshwar, robbers cave and lalgate. Coming back after the run and having blankets put on you while you are ‘legs up and hands down’ and people beating you up with hockey sticks so that you sweat and lose weight.

Of how chandragupt section always ended up being the underdogs and beat up Pratap once in a memorable football match.

9) Not to forget the Obstacle course which all of us agreed was the most interesting event in RIMC. As to how everyone used to do the course and all the drama that takes place when the last man is on the burma bridge and monkey crawl and everyone is cheering up.

10) Lastly, of the championship; Mr. Vishwakarma’s introduction of the “jhadoo pocha” (cleaniness) cup and sections winning the overall championship and lifting the Arjun tank model. Out of my five years at school, my Section Ranjit won it 3 times. We joined as champions and passed out as one.

A lot more was discussed till five in the morning on the beach and rooms at the station. The Rimcollians present were;

Rahul Choudhary, Vibhore Singh, PInku Singh, Ashish Kumar, M Arun, Cdr. RK Singh and self.

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