ON 24 DECEMBER 2010, Dr Binayak Sen — a man who has now become a cause célèbre across the country — was sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, for “conspiracy to commit sedition”. Sen had worked for 30 years with the tribal poor in the state both as a doctor and a human rights activist. According to the Chhattisgarh state, however, Sen is a dangerous Maoist leader who is a serious threat to national security.
Category: Conflict
Articles written by Kunal Majumder on Conflict
TMC chief whip Sudip Bandyopadhyay tells KUNAL MAJUMDER that Mamata Banerjee wants the Maoists in the mainstream. “Our appeal to all those carrying arms is that they should give them up and join the mainstream, get involved in the peace process,” he says.
This is what happens when land, wetland at that, becomes the heart of battle, in this case the seaside village of Sompeta, 120 km from Srikakulam town. The Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) picks 1,100 acres of wetland here to build a thermal plant. The villagers object. On 14 July, they come to protest. Facing them are 200 NCC workers with blue ribbons and wielding lathis. Around 200 police personnel wait with batons, shields and helmets. The slogans begin: “Go back NCC”.
ON JUNE 29 at around 8 am, Maoist leader Ramanna, alias Ravula Srinivas, made a surprise call to TEHELKA. The mastermind of the deadliest Naxal attack ever — the massacre of 76 CRPF jawans on April 6 — sounded furious. Speaking in his usual Telugu-accented Hindi, he said, “The CRPF and state police are spreading terror in the region. They want to drive out all the tribals so that multinational companies can happily mine here.”
DELHI TRADE UNION LEADER GOPAL MISHRA IS AMONG THE LATEST TO BE BRANDED ‘MAOIST’, SAYS KUNAL MAJUMDER