A Singur Timeline prepared by Citizens' Initiative: Please check.
Here
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Gaan/ Song
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Keno Jiggashile Khodar Kotha, Dekhai Ashmane?
Apon Ghore Ke Kotha Koy, Na Jene Ashmane Takai ...
In Solidarity: Citizens' Initiative
PRESS RELEASE 22 FEBRUARY 2008
Condemnation of Maoist and State violence in Orissa
We the undersigned strongly condemn the massacre of thirteen policemen and two civilians in Nayagarh town of Orissa by armed Maoists on February 17.
At the same time we also condemn, equally strongly, the subsequent killing of thirty five alleged Maoists as claimed by the Orissa police in a desperate measure of revenge and to show they are still 'in control'. Going by past experience there are grave doubts as to who the people they have killed really are- Maoist guerrillas or innocent villagers.
Media reports about acts of wanton brutality by the Maoists, such as burning alive a policeman and castrating another – if true – is especially condemnable. There can be no justification whatsoever for such actions, especially by a political group claiming to wage an armed struggle for social justice and striving to build a new revolutionary society.
We are completely opposed to this cult of violence, even though we are fully aware that the way the central and state governments treat non-violent movements with utter cynicism, they inevitably push people towards such cults.
The Maoist atrocity in Nayagarh is particularly unfortunate as it is detrimental to the various democratic mass movements all over Orissa that are resisting the policies of land grab and diversion of natural resources to global and domestic corporations. The Orissa government
is bound to use this incident as yet another excuse to crack down on the militant but non-violent struggles of the people against unjust development policies in the state.
We also call upon the government of Orissa as well as the Indian government to stop their brazen misuse of state power to carry out arbitrary arrests, torture and even murder of innocent citizens in the name of containing the Maoists. As elected bodies bound by the Indian Constitution they are expected to adhere to the laws of the land and democratic norms instead of resorting to vigilante justice.
Finally we request the media in the state to stop labeling activists fighting democratically against state policies and oppression as 'Maoists' with no evidence to back up such claims.
Amit Bhaduri, Economist, New Delhi
Achin Vanaik, Political Scientist, New Delhi
Apoorvanand, Academic, New Delhi
Aditya Nigam, Political Scientist, New Delhii
Amit Sengupta, Journalist, New Delhi
Mamata Dash, Activist, New Delhi
Praful Bidwai, Journalist, New Delhi
Rabi Shankar, Activist, Kashipur, Orissa
Sumit Sarkar, Historian, New Delhi
Satya Sivaraman, Journalist, New Delhi
Tanika Sarkar, Historian, New Delhi
Subrat Kumar Sahu, Film Maker & Writer, New Delhi
(Sent to us by Dilip Simeon. We would like to express our complete solidarity.)
Condemnation of Maoist and State violence in Orissa
We the undersigned strongly condemn the massacre of thirteen policemen and two civilians in Nayagarh town of Orissa by armed Maoists on February 17.
At the same time we also condemn, equally strongly, the subsequent killing of thirty five alleged Maoists as claimed by the Orissa police in a desperate measure of revenge and to show they are still 'in control'. Going by past experience there are grave doubts as to who the people they have killed really are- Maoist guerrillas or innocent villagers.
Media reports about acts of wanton brutality by the Maoists, such as burning alive a policeman and castrating another – if true – is especially condemnable. There can be no justification whatsoever for such actions, especially by a political group claiming to wage an armed struggle for social justice and striving to build a new revolutionary society.
We are completely opposed to this cult of violence, even though we are fully aware that the way the central and state governments treat non-violent movements with utter cynicism, they inevitably push people towards such cults.
The Maoist atrocity in Nayagarh is particularly unfortunate as it is detrimental to the various democratic mass movements all over Orissa that are resisting the policies of land grab and diversion of natural resources to global and domestic corporations. The Orissa government
is bound to use this incident as yet another excuse to crack down on the militant but non-violent struggles of the people against unjust development policies in the state.
We also call upon the government of Orissa as well as the Indian government to stop their brazen misuse of state power to carry out arbitrary arrests, torture and even murder of innocent citizens in the name of containing the Maoists. As elected bodies bound by the Indian Constitution they are expected to adhere to the laws of the land and democratic norms instead of resorting to vigilante justice.
Finally we request the media in the state to stop labeling activists fighting democratically against state policies and oppression as 'Maoists' with no evidence to back up such claims.
Amit Bhaduri, Economist, New Delhi
Achin Vanaik, Political Scientist, New Delhi
Apoorvanand, Academic, New Delhi
Aditya Nigam, Political Scientist, New Delhii
Amit Sengupta, Journalist, New Delhi
Mamata Dash, Activist, New Delhi
Praful Bidwai, Journalist, New Delhi
Rabi Shankar, Activist, Kashipur, Orissa
Sumit Sarkar, Historian, New Delhi
Satya Sivaraman, Journalist, New Delhi
Tanika Sarkar, Historian, New Delhi
Subrat Kumar Sahu, Film Maker & Writer, New Delhi
(Sent to us by Dilip Simeon. We would like to express our complete solidarity.)
Monday, February 25, 2008
Simple, Ain't It?
- My only concern was to get home after a hard day's work.
- I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.
- I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.
- The only tired I was, was tired of giving in. (on refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white male)
- Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again?
Also, here .
Remembering
Some things that I like to remember. We could argue about it.
- I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.
- I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
- I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.
- It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
- One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.
- Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
- Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
- You must be the change you want to see in the world.
- Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
'Satyagraha Leaflet No. 13,' May 3, 1919, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Nagorik Udyog: 16th and 17th Feb, 2008
Summing Up:
Here. Thanks Rimidi.
About Singur:
We went to Singur on the 17th with Aseem, spent the day there, walked over a few kilometers and spoke to people in about five villages. We have photographs and audio, which we will send around as reports and transcripts as soon as possible, along with the transcripts of the lectures and open house at the seminar and brainstorming on the 16th.
Briefly, people in Dobadi (a village full of landless labourers just outside the factory walls) are all but starving. They are unlikely to survive without our urgent attention and relief. They have no money to buy milk for their babies and they are fast running out of resources and food. If we want to keep these people from migrating to the city as destitutes in a few months we have to reach them with some relief urgently.
The men and boys who have been employed as guards at the TATA factory have not been paid their salary for four months.
The people eight sacks of 15 kg harvested potatoes were stolen from the fields near Khaserberia by people from the factory on the 16th night, the day before yesterday.
An 80 yr old woman in Purbopara said: "This is the first time in my life I'm having to buy ration rice, we always ate food from our own fields. We were self sufficient"
Women across the villages are making festoons with ribbons (12 festoons for Rs 2 which are taken by vendors from the city) to try and make some money...they are also embroidering bed covers for money for measly returns.
Most women in Dobadi have to leave their children and infants behind all day to work in fields that are 6/7 km away...they leave home at 3 am everyday and walk for 3/4 hrs and back again at the end of the day, sometimes quite late in the evening. They are paid anything from Rs. 30/- to Rs. 50/- per day - this is likely to go down as summer arrives as the landowners where they work know that these women have no other option. Most of this money is spent on buying rice for the large families, there is little left over for anything else - even basic medicine for the sick. There is a general trend of men taking to alcohol.
The people who have been given alternative houses near Dobadi live in the middle of the field just next to a high factory wall - 8 to 10 people in each room, no trees, shade or any water. These are ghettos not villages/settlements. They were flooded waist high when it rained because the natural drainage system of the area through the river has been damaged irrevocably by the factory constructions.
Finally, the factory is a fortress. there are walls inside walls inside walls. It is surrounded by a proper moat and wire fences. The floodlights point outwards to the fields not inwards, even though the theft of crops seems to be happening the other way round. There are watchtowers (machas) at intervals where the watch is kept from at night, every entrance is guarded by the police or local lads employed as guards.
The people are very angry, very little of it seems to have to do with TMC propaganda. They said "amader jomi niye nicche, desh niye nicche, mati niye nicche...ei kota lok ke tulte hajarkhanek police pathacche"
The Opposition has of course capitalised on the situation somewhat, but that may be a minor detail right now, which we probably should nonetheless keep in mind.
Lastly, they need Relief (rice, dal, milk powder, medicines, clothes) in Dobadi to survive a few more months.
We will send across our collated formal report across in two weeks to all of you along with photos and audio clips (if we can manage the technology).
Here. Thanks Rimidi.
About Singur:
We went to Singur on the 17th with Aseem, spent the day there, walked over a few kilometers and spoke to people in about five villages. We have photographs and audio, which we will send around as reports and transcripts as soon as possible, along with the transcripts of the lectures and open house at the seminar and brainstorming on the 16th.
Briefly, people in Dobadi (a village full of landless labourers just outside the factory walls) are all but starving. They are unlikely to survive without our urgent attention and relief. They have no money to buy milk for their babies and they are fast running out of resources and food. If we want to keep these people from migrating to the city as destitutes in a few months we have to reach them with some relief urgently.
The men and boys who have been employed as guards at the TATA factory have not been paid their salary for four months.
The people eight sacks of 15 kg harvested potatoes were stolen from the fields near Khaserberia by people from the factory on the 16th night, the day before yesterday.
An 80 yr old woman in Purbopara said: "This is the first time in my life I'm having to buy ration rice, we always ate food from our own fields. We were self sufficient"
Women across the villages are making festoons with ribbons (12 festoons for Rs 2 which are taken by vendors from the city) to try and make some money...they are also embroidering bed covers for money for measly returns.
Most women in Dobadi have to leave their children and infants behind all day to work in fields that are 6/7 km away...they leave home at 3 am everyday and walk for 3/4 hrs and back again at the end of the day, sometimes quite late in the evening. They are paid anything from Rs. 30/- to Rs. 50/- per day - this is likely to go down as summer arrives as the landowners where they work know that these women have no other option. Most of this money is spent on buying rice for the large families, there is little left over for anything else - even basic medicine for the sick. There is a general trend of men taking to alcohol.
The people who have been given alternative houses near Dobadi live in the middle of the field just next to a high factory wall - 8 to 10 people in each room, no trees, shade or any water. These are ghettos not villages/settlements. They were flooded waist high when it rained because the natural drainage system of the area through the river has been damaged irrevocably by the factory constructions.
Finally, the factory is a fortress. there are walls inside walls inside walls. It is surrounded by a proper moat and wire fences. The floodlights point outwards to the fields not inwards, even though the theft of crops seems to be happening the other way round. There are watchtowers (machas) at intervals where the watch is kept from at night, every entrance is guarded by the police or local lads employed as guards.
The people are very angry, very little of it seems to have to do with TMC propaganda. They said "amader jomi niye nicche, desh niye nicche, mati niye nicche...ei kota lok ke tulte hajarkhanek police pathacche"
The Opposition has of course capitalised on the situation somewhat, but that may be a minor detail right now, which we probably should nonetheless keep in mind.
Lastly, they need Relief (rice, dal, milk powder, medicines, clothes) in Dobadi to survive a few more months.
We will send across our collated formal report across in two weeks to all of you along with photos and audio clips (if we can manage the technology).
Friday, February 22, 2008
Aseem
No, that's not a cigar in his hand, that's Aseem examining a patkathi.
Copyright: Abhijay Gupta, 17th of February, 2008.
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