Operation Green Hunt

-a perspective of political economy

Anand Teltumbde

Convention on Operation Green Hunt andDemocratic Rights

Mumbai16 January 2010

“Naxalism is the single biggest internal

security challenge ever faced by our

country”

- Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister in 2006

“Naxalites are nothing but cold-

blooded murders”

-Advt. issued by the Home Ministry

“Naxalism is the greatest internal securitythreat to India” … and to development”- Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister in 2009

Threat to Internal Security ofINDIA

Which India?Rural India of Poor Peasants,Farmers, Landless labourers,Dalits, Adivasis…?

Urban India of Slum and pavement Dwellers,Casual Workers, Contract Laboureres, … ?

Middle India of swelling Middle Classes?

Corporate India of CorporateHonchos?

Globalizing India of DollarMillionaires and Billionaires?

Surely, it is a Threat to the India ofhandful Globalist Elites!

Threat to Internal Security ofINDIAThreat to Internal Security ofINDIAThreat to Internal Security ofINDIA

Nothing but cold-blooded murderers…Human life is sacredNo one can and should defend destruction of human life

True, huge loss of life has taken place inNaxal conflict … both by Maoists andSecurity Personnel

Statistics show comparable figures of Killings by both..According to Chhattisgarh Police,

In 2008, 212 people were killed..63 Sec. and 52 Naxals..

In 2007, 369 people were killed..124 Sec. and 64 Naxals…

In 2006, 385 people were killed…39 Sec. and 69 Naxals…

Civilian casualty is far more and who did it is not known!

What aboutFake encounters?Custodial deaths? Extra-judicial killings?andStructural violence killing people in millions?

Nothing but cold-blooded murderers….

Deaths inPure Police Violence

9382008384*200774920068922005500+200445120031402002100+20015020003631999270199842819971561996DeathsYear

•As of September 30,2007•Source: Home Ministry, Home Affairs

Direct7468 Killed in Police Custody in

2002-07 or 7333 deaths (2006-2009) as against total 3116killings by Police and Naxals

Average 1500 -1850 deaths/y asagainst estd 417 deaths innaxal violence

These figures do not includedeaths in custody of armedforces and Indian army

Structural Violence of StateMore than 1.8 lakh farmers

committed suicides2 Million children below 5 years

are killed annually4 lakh new born die within 24

hours every year-------

Deaths in Naxal Conflict in India

Average35 people killed in Naxal conflict per monthAccording to NCRB,Average 120 farmers are killing themselves per month.

Just a Glimpse of Chhattisgarh

According to PoliceTotal 1416 people lost lives in Naxal conflict;212 in 2008

Total 1593 farmers committed suicide in 2008 alone!

Maoists- the biggestHindrance to Development

Development?

Yes, they arethe hindrance to development measured byGDP-growth, Growth of dollar billionaires, Growth ofinfrastructure to facilitate corporate loot of people’snatural resources, Development to facilitatecorruption, Enrichment of political class and itsminions in bureaucracy…leading to impoverishment and dispossession ofthe people on margins

The fact is that

Maoists have never opposed development oriented tobenefit these people

---Building irrigation tanks, wells, health care centers,schools, etc.

• Rather they have undertaken development thatshould have been done by the State --- ascommented by D. Bandyopadhyay-led Expertcommittee Group set up by the Planning Commission.

0.0590.5920.533Orissa120.1250.6110.486Jharkhand120.0640.6480.584India

0.0790.5950.516Chhattisgarh110.0790.5850.506MP100.0600.5820.522UP90.0650.6940.629Tamilnadu80.0550.5910.536Rajasthan70.0510.7160.665Maharashtra60.0600.6580.598Karnataka50.0650.6860.621Haryana40.0540.6740.620Gujarat30.0710.5520.484Bihar20.0590.6270.568AP1

20061996HDIRise

HDIStateSr.No

Source:UNDP/Min of Women & ChildDevelopment, GoI, India

there is no significantDifference between theNaxal-Affected states andOthers …No significantdifference betweennaxal-affected districtsand others in anystate..

In Terms of Human Development measured byHDI..

India ranks 134 out of180 countries in termsof HDI, behind mostAsian countries andmany African countries

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

THE INDIAN STATE

Thus, from the perspective of vastmajority of Indian people-The biggest internal security threat,-The cold-blooded murderer, and- The biggest hindrance to development is

that has been actively facilitating enrichment of ahandful rich and dispossession of multitude ofmasses

No appreciation ofthe fact thatNaxalism is a socio-economic

problemIt is rooted in social oppression and

economic exploitationIt has potential appeal among the

most oppressed people whoconstitute vast majority

It is grounded in a particularideology, one may agree with ornot

It challenges prevailing paradigm ofpolitical economy

It can only be dealt with by addressing theproblem of this oppression and exploitation

Indeed,many in the state machinery including

politicians individually acknowledgedthis fact

Manmohan Singh posited that theNaxalite problem had “a strongsocio-economic dimension” that wasat the very heart of the issue.

However,As the State their response always

reflected that Naxalism was just aLaw and Order problem, a menacewarranting police brutalities.

With the transformation of the State character from oneconstricted by the constitutional social contract to the

Neo-liberal blatancy.

It has been shifting to naked unconstitutional strategies,such as Salwa Judum

-the state-sponsored and supported movement, wheretribals were armed to fight their own people assumed tobe naxalites

And now,the Operation Green Hunt

Advances in labour displacingtechnologies, productionorganization, product-marketchanges, financilaization ofeconomies…

creates a different paradigmwhich does not need poor people

It’s a paradigm of Dispossession,very different from the familiar

capitalist paradigm of Exploitation

It means virtual killing of excesspeople … some 2 billion of total 6

billion

To make the Planet sustain thesuper luxurious life style of the

Rich

At the root of all this laythe treasure beneath the forest..

11449* (14.27)101237*Tin Metal

1.30 (28.00)4.58Diamond

3* (4.41)68*Gold

25*28337*Corundum

32.62 (37.69)86.55Tin ore

26 (2.27)1145Quartzite

148 (4.50)75.33Dolomite

9038 (5.15)175345Limestone

148 (4.50)3290Bauxite41442 (18.67)253302Coal

2731 (18.67)14630Iron Ore

ChhattisgarhIndia

Reserves in (Million tones)Name ofthe Mineral

* Reserves in tonnes

Chhattisgarh is the richestState in terms of naturalwealth, with 28 varieties ofmajor minerals, includingdiamonds….

With Neoliberal Policies, thishuge treasure is suddenlyopened up to the corporatevultures.

Chhattisgarh’s Standing inMineral Wealth

Tin 1st

Coal 2nd

Dolomite 2nd

Bauxite 3rd

Iron Ore 4th

Lime Stone 5th

Chhattisgarh occupies 4% of totalarea of India but contributes almost16% of value of mineral producedin India, worth $ 2000 million 2007-08

Vultures waiting to devour ….

Essar

Mittal

TATA

Vedanta

Posco

Jindal

BHP

Rio Tinto

Billiton

Came ‘Salwa Judum’

In June 2005, a day after Tata Steel signed anMoU to invest Rs. 10,000 crores in a steelplant

However, there is no hiding the fact that the strategy hasbackfiredIt resulted into inhuman tragedy to the local tribals …killings, rapes, repeated destructions, and displacement …over 50,000 still remaining missing.

Over the last three years,despite all disapprovals andcondemnation from everywhere,the Chhattisgarh governmentunashamedly persisted with it.

Pressure Build-UpSince 2001, the governmentconcluded deals (MoUs) withseveral steel and powercompanies to establishplants by 2010.

More than 100 MoUs for totalinvestment of Rs.3.26 trillion.

Most MOUs have time frame validity

During the last three years, >18 of these MOUs amounting toover Rs. 10,000 crores investment had lapsed.

While they could be signed again, it created pressure on thegovernment to take drastic measures.

That measure is the Operation Green Hunt

Operation Green HuntVirtual zoo ofparamilitaries:Black cats, Cobras, GreyHounds, Scorpions,Octopus, Tigers withvarious hues ranging fromGreen to Black…

Backed by corporate Honchos in five star hotelsand first class airport lounges …

Supplementing these carnivores are the Border SecurityForce, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Central ReservePolice Force, Armed Border Force, Naga Batallion,Rastriya Rifles…laced with sophisticated new weaponryand support from the regular army and air force.

to clear the areaof Naxalites– (read Tribals),

‘sanitize’ it and hand it over to the MoU’istcorporates.

The objective is

• Huge unprecedentedConstitutional crisis

• Risk of politicization ofparamilitary and armedforces

• Unlikeliness of successas Adivasis never knewSurrender

• Certainty of increase inMaoist ranks

• May succeed in shortterm but certain to fail inlong term

• Risk to national integrity• Huge human cost and

human rights tragedy

It is alarming enough to wake us against thisimpending calamity

All this for Profits

It is not the Question ofMaoistsOr TribalsOr Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West BengalOr Jharkhand, or Andhra Pradeshor even Delhi

It is the Question ofPeople of India,Their human anddemocratic rights,their sovereignty..It is a question ofIndia itselfIt is the Question of

Its Security and Integrity,the very basis of its being India,…the social contract Represented by

The Constitution of India

Top of the DollarBillionaires

Does not the growing VIP.. VVIP syndromehumiliate you?

Does not the filthy life style of the rich putyou down?

Do you really have any voice?

that Middleness of the Middle class is fastdisappearing as the bottom is vanishing and thetop is leaping skyward

Devastated Bottom of thelabouring people

Middle?

Wake up.. Lest it should be too late

Martin Niemoller’s poignantpoem… “In Germany, they firstcame…..

Wayanad, Pachimada, Singur,Nandigram, Jagatsinghpur,Lalgarh, Dantewada, Kashipur,Kalingnagar, Narayanpatana….

The plights of Binayak Sen, AjayTG, Javed Iqbal, Irom SharmilaThanu, CK Janu, HimanshuKumar…..

It is the time to say resounding NO to this nonsense

should REMIND US

Say No to Operation Green Hunt

All Resistance is not Naxal…but all resistance is met with

Fascist Repression by the State

Systematic decimation ofdemocratic spaces, Choking ofvoices of descent, Risingintolerance of the state.. AndDevastation of people…