Orissa - Anti-Vedanta Dongria Kondh leader Lado Sikaka abducted

By Surya Shankar Dash. (Source : forestrights listserv from Sanhati))

August 10, 2010

Note 2

The story of Lado’s disappearance might not be as simple as we have assumed.This is what Bhawanipatna based activist Sidhart Naik (President of Green Kalahandi) has to say - About 15 Dongria Kondh people along with Sidharth Naik, Kumti Majhi, etc. were travelling in two vehicles to eventually go to Raipur from where they were to catch a train to Delhi in order to attend a meeting on 12 August. Before leaving Niyamgiri forest they were intercepted by another two vehicles with gunmen in it. Sidharth Naik says they were more likely to be goons and not police or CRPF - some of the gunmen spoke in Hindi and some in Telugu. At gunpoint, they made Sidharth Naik hand over Lado and Sana to them. Sidharth naik has registered a FIR with Lanjigarh police station.

Note 1

Last evening Lado Sikaka and Sana Sikaka were returning from Lanjigarh when a police team attacked and arrested them near Ijrupa village in the Niyamgiri forest. It seems Lado and Sana have been taken to an undisclosed location as they are neither in the Lanjigarh P.S. or Muniguda P.S. which are the nearest Police Stations. A third person who was also accompanying Lado and Sana was not arrested. Lado is one of the strongest Dongria Kondh protestors against Vedanta and he hails from Lakhpadar village that is closest to the mining lease area. A month ago 2 platoons of para-military had carried out a combing operation in Lakhpadar village and had beaten up Sana but were essentially looking for Lado who was not present in the village then. The general fear amongst the people there is that he will be framed as a Maoist and tortured. Also, taking Lado out of Niyamgiri means to deliver a severe blow on the anti-mining movement of the Dongria Kondh. Sources say the next person being targeted is Arjun Chandi of Kadamguda village. Essentially the police and company are targetting local leaders who are uncompromising and incorruptible. My sincere appeal to everyone to stand with the Dongria Kondh as the darkest period in their struggle has arrived.

India's naked intervention behind failure of parties to elect new PM: Gajurel

UCPN (Maoist) Secretary CP Gajurel on Monday blamed the naked intervention of India for the parties failing to elect a new prime minister even after four rounds of election.

Speaking at a programme organised in the capital today, Gajurel claimed that the special emissary of the Indian prime minister Shyam Saran started political parleys in the country with the sole purpose to prevent the formation of a Maoist-led government.

He said that people are dissatisfied and disappointed as the parties could not elect a new prime minister even after four rounds of election.

Gajurel said, "It is a wrong understanding of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML that the Maoist party will become a civilian party only after its disarmament."

Source :Nepal News

RMT showing of In Prison My Whole Life in North London at Finsbury Park on 12th August 2010

Call for mobilisation and support from Coordination Committee of Revolutionary Communists of Britain for Indian High Commission Demonstration in London on 15th August 2010

The Coordination Committee of the Revolutionary Communists of Britain re -affirms its determination to expose the crimes of the Indian State and calls on the people of Britain to support the demonstration at the Indian High Commission on 15th August 2010 between 11 am to 1 pm against the murder of Comrade Azad and the journalist Hem Pandey and Operation Green Hunt and Indian Expansionism.

The Protest at the Indian High Commission on the 15th August India's National Day is called by Indian Workers Assocation and the Alliance for Peoples Rights in South Asia.and the Progressive Nepalese Forum and supported by the Coordination Committee of the Revolutionary Communists of Britain..

The Coordination Committee of the Revolutionary Communists of Britain also calls for an international investigation into the murder of comrade Azad and Hem Pandey and for maximum mobilsation for 15th August 2010 demonstration in London to express the outrage felt by progressive people of Britain at the murderous activities of the Indian State which are ignored by the British bourgeois media

Coordination Committee of Revolutionary Communists of Britain

Statement Issued 25th July 2010

Protest against the murder of Comrade Azad and Hem Pandey , Operation Green Hunt and Indian Expansionism at the Indian High Commission in Aldwych - London on Sunday 15th August between 11 am - 1 pm

CALLED  BY ALLIANCE FOR PEOPLE'S RIGHTS IN SOUTH ASIA

afprisa@googlemail.com

Representing Indian Workers Association (GB)

Progressive Nepalese Society UK

Britain-South Asia Solidarity Forum

Do you know?

According to the Indian government, they have deployed 150,000 troops in India’s central and eastern states. Independent witnesses say the numbers are closer to 250,000. This is more than the number of US troops in Afghanistan. This is war on the Indian people. •Recent statistics show 37% of the country’s people suffer from chronic malnutrition and 50% are undernourished. •A nearly third of India is under army occupation with no democratic freedoms? All over India arrests, detentions, disappearances have increased to alarming levels since the people began resisting the corporate take over of India?•On July 1, the Indian Maoist revolutionary Azad, a Polit Bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the spokesperson of its Central Committee along with a Delhi-based journalist Hem Chandra Pandey were killed by the Andhra state police. •During the last few days at least 29 innocent Kashmiris have been killed.

India has sent one of its ex-ambassador to Nepal to influence the election of the Prime Minister there.

We support

The following demand of the CONCERNED CITIZENS & FORUM AGAINST WAR ON PEOPLE, DELHI, INDIA:

"While condemning in the strongest possible words the killings of Azad and Hem Chandra Pandey, we demand that the government constitute an immediate judicial enquiry to probe into the incident. We also demand an immediate stop to all extra-judicial execution of revolutionaries as well as activists and leaders of people’s movements. The government must respect the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights of the people to life and dignity. The gagging of the media and stifling of media freedom must be stopped by the government. We demand an end to the Indian government’s war on people in the name of Operation Green Hunt, and the immediate withdrawal of its armed forces from the areas of conflict. The government must scrap all the MoUs signed with the multinational and Indian corporations for the exploitation of mineral resources at the expense of people’s lives and livelihood. The Indian government must also politically address the demands of the struggling people of Kashmir and the North East through dialogue, and must stop the brutal repression of their voices through state repression. "

Protest in New York against Operation Green Hunt on 13th August 2010

Press Release, Sanhati.com

Protest Against the Indian Government’s “Operation Green Hunt”

Where: At the Consulate in New York City (3 East 64th Street)

When: On August 13 at 11 a.m.

EW YORK CITY – Sanhati, and other organizations and individuals, are organizing a protest against the Indian government’s insidious war, named “Operation Green Hunt,” which has been unleashed on the inhabitants of the forested regions of East-Central India. The protest will approximately coincide with Indian Independence Day (August 15) to emphasize that the promises of independence have remain largely unfulfilled for a large section of the population, including the tribal peoples.

In its current phase, this war is concentrated primarily in the forested regions of East-Central India, stretching from the states of Chhattisgarh to Jharkhand and West Bengal. This region is home to significant amounts of natural resources.

Big corporations, both Indian and foreign, are plundering these natural resources for quick profits and plan to continue doing so while paying almost no attention to the enormous environmental and human costs inherent in their ventures. The state and central governments continue to welcome these big corporations with open arms by signing an unknown number of memoranda of understanding with them—whose details have been kept secret. A recent report by the Ministry of Rural Development, on the other hand, described these trends as one of the biggest land grabs since the time of Columbus.

Yet these forested areas house not only natural resources. This region is home to a large section of India’s roughly 100 million Adivasis (i.e., the tribal population). Using all means at their disposal, the Adivasis resisted the government’s efforts to forcibly drive them from their ancestral lands. Drawing on the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which is devoted to Adivasi rights and provisions for their protection, Adivasi activists challenged the government’s expropriations.

Instead of addressing the genuine grievances of the Adivasis, the Indian government has cracked down on their legitimate protests in violation of the letter and intent of the Indian Constitution. Peaceful resistance movements across this region have been met with police brutality and military might; this forced the arming of a section of the resistance movement. State-assisted vigilante groups like the Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh and Harmad Bahini in West Bengal were a response of the state to the armed resistance of the Adivasis.

When that failed, Operation Green Hunt—a further escalation and militarization of the State’s response—emerged. Such militarization is facilitated by the Indian government’s military cooperation with the United States and Israel.

Sections of civil society have been urging the central government to stop Operation Green Hunt and begin negotiations with the diverse people’s organizations opposing the looting of natural resources. The response of the government to the idea of dialogue has in general not been encouraging in view of the plans of increased militarization, human rights abuses committed by the security forces, suppression of dissenting voices, and abductions and killings of the leaders of people’s organizations.

In this context, Adivasis in India, and all the people who are with them in this struggle for freedom from exploitation and oppression, need your support. Join us to protest against Operation Green Hunt and the increasing violence of the Indian State on democratic movements on August 13, 2010 at 11 a.m. in front of the Indian Consulate in New York City.

Oppose the biggest land grab since Columbus!

Oppose Operation Green Hunt!

Oppose the war on people!

India’s Maoists’ solidarity with Kashmir: ‘Support the just national liberation struggle’

Posted by Rajeesh on Indian Vanguard August 6, 2010

2nd August 2010

Srinagar: In an emphatic statement issued Friday CPI (Maoist) extended the party’s backing for right of self determination to Kashmiris and appealed to people of India to support the “just national liberation struggle of the people of Kashmir”.

The party said ‘Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris’ and appealed people of India to “strongly oppose daily firing of Kashmiri people”, raise their voice against state atrocities and “heartless killing of youth by armed forces”.

“Fearlessly support the just national liberation struggle of the people of Kashmir,” the statement from the central committee of CPI (Moaist) said. “We appeal to all citizens and pro-people activists of India to demand the withdrawal of Indian paramilitary and military from Kashmir and take stern action against their officers.”

The party appealed to the people to see through the media propaganda about Kashmir that distorts its history. “Those who are aware of Kashmir’s history know that it was never a part of India.”

The two-page detailed statement indicates the depth of knowledge the party has about the details of day-to-day happenings in Kashmir.

“The Indian ruling class may claim that ‘militancy’ has ended and ‘separatist’ organizations have been crushed but the truth is that Kashmiri people keep struggling daily over one issue or another.”

The statement also castigates Omar Abdullah led coalition government in the state for its brutal response to “democratic resistance”.

“Government of India and its puppet government under Omar Abdullah have responded with firing, teargas, lathicharge and curfew to the peaceful and democratic resistance by the Kashmiri people which is still on.”

The statement also criticised recent attributions of stone throwing protests to having been instigated by LeT and elements from Pakistan. “Attribution (of protests) to LeT is disrespect of the freedom loving Kashmiri people.”

Through the statement CPI(Maoist) presented its revolutionary salute (Inqalabi Salam) to the struggling Kashmiri people.

“The armed struggle may have weakened, but the youth have used stones as weapons in their hands to fight the state armed forces. This only indicates their deep desire for liberation,” the statement said likening the “resistance” in Kashmir to that by the tribals of Dandakaranya. “Kashmiris are fighting Indian paramilitaries and police forces with stones just like tribals under the party are fighting in Dandakaranya using bows and arrows.”

“The enemy is the same here (Dandakaranya) as well as there (Kashmir).”

The central committee of CPI (Maoist) on behalf of the party, People’s Army and the revolutionary people vowed that it will wholeheartedly continue supporting “your struggle” in Kashmir.

Open Letter to Swami Agnivesh from Srikant, Central Committee member of CPI(Maoist)

August  2010, SOURCE: SANHATI

The following is an open letter from Srikant, member of the Central Committee of CPI(Maoist), to Swami Agnivesh, that has reached us. Sanhati has no way to ascertain the authenticity of the letter. However, we feel that the content of the letter is significant enough that if it is genuine, it forms an important part of the ongoing civil society process, in the backdrop of Operation Green Hunt, to initiate a dialogue between the Indian government and the CPI (Maoist), with which Sanhati has been engaging since the beginning. - Ed]

Dear Swamy Agniveshji,

I have recieved your latest letter dated 22nd july. I understand your feelings about the martyrdom of Com. Azad and sincere concern for the peace process. Though I could not get the attachements which you mentioned in the letter, I followed almost all of your interviews given to print media.

Since it is not only difficult for me to send any reply to your letter, it is also not possible to send your letter to our comrades who had to decide and act on your letter ; therefore this open letter. There was no other choice for me.

The deception is continuing. The deception by Mr. Chidambaram, who ardently believes in “quiet diplomacy”. He is doing the things quietly and coolly.

He officially agreed to make you the interlocutor in the “peace talks”. You opened channels to send the proposals to us. He “quietly” and with a neatly chalked out plan entered our channels; knowing well that the communication would have to reach Com. Azad. Under the clear guidance from Chidambaram, the notorious APSIB implemented the plan. I feel that you too must have understood all this by now, but may be difficult for you to say so. I can understand that.\

Chidambaram had his hands not only wet with blood of our beloved Com. Azad, but also his life partner com. Sitakka alias Padma, who was most probably shown as an encounter death in Gadchiroli on 6th July, and also journalist Hem Chandra Pandey – he could not have seen straight into your eyes and accepted for an enquiry in to this absolutely fake encounter. He knows that he was the brain behind this operation and that was why he could not have accepted this demand. Who knows like Amit Shah, who is exposed as the the main culprit in Soharabuddin case, Chidambaram too could be implicated one day, if there were to be an enquiry. Any way, he denigrated your status as an interlocutor by rejecting the most genuine demand.

Your letter dated 26th of June reached Com Azad, just before 30th. The APSIB, which had already entered into the mechanism, knew this. They knew that they could scuttle the process by eliminating Com. Azad. With that purpose only, they entered through the channels you had opened to send your letters to us. We fell prey to this great deception by Chidambaram.

We feel that you are being used as a pawn in the whole process. Sorry for the straight talk!!

Please ask Mr Chidambaram one question. What is that the APSIB has been doing in many states outside Andhra Pradesh? In UP, West Bengal, In Delhi, so on and so forth? Are they functioning without his knowledge ? Does he not know that it is the APSIB team that had arrested Com. Kobad Gandhy and put him under illegal custody for three days and on 20th septemeber he was given to Delhi Police ? Shall I inform you the list of the personnel of APSIB who arrested Com Kobad Gandhy; and who headed that team? May be it will be a small addition to the Wikileaks, and can be a scoop to the media.

he point is again the deception. He is talking of langauge of “peace”. He is planning cold blooded murders with his trusted APSIB.

Now that you have given another letter to our CC, appealing to take the further the peace process that was started.

Your letter dated 22nd July reached me. Not just the letter. Some thing more too. The APSIB too reached me. How can we understand this phenomenon? I just escaped very narrowly, on August 1st. If we can meet some time later, like we met on the dias of Karimnagar Peasant Labour Association meeeting in 1983, where we addressed the gathering along with others, (You paid rich tributes to Com. Haribhushan who was killed by the then NTR regime), I can give you the details. Had I gone into the hands of this notorious Indian Mossad, your 22nd letter must have gone back to Chidambaram, perhaps with some blood marks on it, like the way your 26th letter reached him. We do not have any iota of doubts in your genuine feelings regarding the peace process. I am afraid that you are pigeon among the cats. The cats are using you to catch us in this process.

The APSIB encircled me and for the time being I am out of it. In these circumstances it is difficult for me to send any reply to you through some channels or send your letter to our comrades. I request you to openly publish your letters in the papers. Any channel if you try to send through, it might end up in some loss. I think we can no more afford that.

Chidamabaram will continue to play the unfair game. He has already claimed the lives of our beloved comrades along with life of a journalist.

Our comrades will reply to you on your proposals, if you can publish your letters through media. The 26th June letter and the present one, since the 26th June letter has not reached our comrades. Since they are written by you, it is your prerogative to publish openly or not. May be you have to go against Chidambaram by not doing these things “quietly”. He is sticking upto his programme by doing “quietly”.

Your lofty concerns and well meaning efforts are torpedoed by Chidambaram with his dirty tricks. He might have scuttled the peace process by killing Com. Azad. Can he stop the revolution? The history of Hitler is before us.

I stated hard facts.

with warm regards,

Srikant a.k.a Sukant

Central Committee Member,

CPI(Maoist)

August 3rd

Condemn the murder of Comrade Azad and Hem Pandey - Mobilise for demonstration at Indian High Commission London on 15th August 2010

Condemn the murder of Comrade Azad and Hem Pandey - Mobilise for demonstration at Indian High Commission on 15th August 2010

The Coordination Committee of the Revolutionary Communists of Britain condemns the killing of Comrade Cherukuri Rajkumar spokesperson for the CPI Maoist popularly known as Azad and journalist Hem Pandey by the Indian State.

The killing of comrade Azad who was involved in peace negotiations exposes the criminal comprador nature of the Indian State which has declared War on its own patriotic people and has a programme of selective assassination of its own citizens - leaders of the people's movement especially the CPI Maoist..

The Coordination Committee of the Revolutionary Communists of Britain re -affirms its determination to expose the crimes of the Indian State and calls on the people of Britain to support the demonstration at the Indian High Commission on 15th August 2010 between 11 am to 1 pm against the murder of Comrade Azad and the journalist Hem Pandey and Operation Green Hunt and Indian Expansionism.

The Protest at the Indian High Commission on the 15th August India's National Day is called by Indian Workers Assocation and the Alliance for Peoples Rights in South Asia.and the Progressive Nepalese Forum and supported by the Coordination Committee of the Revolutionary Communists of Britain..

The Coordination Committee of the Revolutionary Communists of Britain also calls for an international investigation into the murder of comrade Azad and Hem Pandy and for maximum mobilsation for 15th August 2010 demonstration in London to express the outrage felt by progressive people of Britain at the murderous activities of the Indian State which are ignored by the British bourgeois media

Coordination Committee of Revolutionary Communists of Britain

Statement Issued 25th July 2010

A Report on The Public Meeting in Delhi on 3 August Demanding Judicial Inquiry into the Killing of Azad,

A Report on  The Public Meeting in Delhi on 3 August Demanding Judicial Inquiry into the Killing of Azad, the Spokesperson and Polit Bureau member of the CPI ( Maoist) along with Journalist Hem Chandra Pandey

2 PM, 3RD AUGUST 2010, RAJENDRA BHAVAN, DEEN DAYAL UPADHYAY MARG, NEW DELHI

The Public Meeting to demand the judicial enquiry into the killings of Azad, the spokesperson and Polit Bureau member of the CPI (Maoist) along with journalist Hem Chandra Pandey at Rajendra Bhavan, New Delhi was addressed by a large number of prominent citizens in the presence of packed auditorium. Dr. B D Sharma, former National Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Tribes of Government of India chaired the public meeting and started the proceedings of the meeting by calling upon the audience to observe one minute’s silence in commemoration of Azad and Hem Chandra Pandey. Dr Anup Saraya a well-known doctor and democratic rights activist convened the meeting to start it proceedings.

G N Saibaba, conducting the meeting for the Chair told the audience that when he was killed, Azad was in the process of preparing the ground for talks on behalf of his party with the Government of India through Swami Agnivesh. In the manner and at the juncture in which he along with Hem Pandey has been killed has triggered a public uproar, and there is a strong demand to institute a judicial investigation into the circumstances of the killing of Azad and Hem Pandey.

Prof. Haragopal, Professor Emeritus, University of Hyderabad condemning the killings stated that a leading revolutionary of the country has been killed when Azad was carrying a message to the leadership about the final details of the proposed talks. Azad’s letter in response to the proposal for a dialogue clearly states that his party was more than willing to come to the discussion table, a party which is fighting to make our society a more humane one. The Indian government is asked by the people of India why Azad was killed when he was carrying a message of peace. The paradox of our times is that those who are talking of peace are pursuing war and those who are purported to be at war with the Indian state are more committed to peace. He then shared the experiences of talks between the government of Andhra Pradesh and CPI(ML) (People War) and Janashakti, stating that he felt the same guilt that Swami Agnivesh is now feeling for the killing of many Naxalites involved in the process of a dialogue which failed ultimately in 2004. Prof Haragopal further stated that the government has repeatedly betrayed the hopes generated by the peace loving masses of the country by repeatedly betraying the process of talks.

Releasing the memorial booklet on Azad by the ‘Friends of Azad’ Sumit Chakravartty, editor of Mainstream Weekly, observed that the cold blooded manner in which Azad was killed by the state has shocked the country, and the people responsible for it must be held accountable for it. Rajkishore, General Secretary of Revolutionary Democratic Front said that the brutal killing of Azad and Hem Chandra Pandey by the government has not only betrayed the trust of Swami Agnivesh but all the peace loving and democratic people of the country. He said that this killing is a part of the Indian state’s war on people in the name of Operation Green Hunt to facilitate imperialist loot of people’s resources. Through this war, the Indian state wants to crush the alternative model of development by the Maoist movement, and the establishment of new people’s power through Jantana Sarkar ( People’s Government) which has taken the shape of a truly democratic power in the forests of Dandakaranya.

Meher Engineer, a civil rights activist from Kolkata, while reiterating the demand for a judicial investigation into the murder of comrade Azad and Hem Pandey free from the influence of the government. He threw fresh light on the ongoing Lalgarh movement under the PCPA. Sujato Bhadra, the secretary of the APDR, stated that we are living under the reign of the pathological liars in West Bengal, where fake encounters are being carried out by the armed forces of the state with impunity. The right to a normal life for the people of Lalgarh has been taken away by the state. Thousands of activists, people’s leaders, and villagers have been incarcerated, rapes are committed, molestation and state terror has become a daily occurrence.

Pushkar Raj of PUCL stated that we have been taught that the state is the protector of the people. However in India that phase seemed to have come to an end in 1970s. He drew notice to the human rights violations and disrespect to the constitution, the abdication of all responsibility by the NHRC, which has become nothing but a white elephant, and the shocking reaction of our Home Minister in out-rightly rejecting the demand for a judicial Inquiry into the killings of Azad and Hem Chandra Pandey. He said, Maoists are also people like us, who are fighting against poverty, hunger and deprivation. We must be more and more resolute in protesting the extra-judicial killings.

SAR Geelani presented the resolution which was adopted by the meeting after suggestions and modifications. The final form of the resolution is attached here.

Swami Agnivesh, the mediator to the proposed talks between the CPI(Maoist) and the government expressed his condolence to the death or killing of Azad and Hem Chandra Pandey. He said that even though we know that the system of enquiries in our country is long and winding, yet we are demanding a judicial enquiry to get at the truth of their killings. He informed that the Home Minister declined his request for a judicial enquiry, instead asking him go to the Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The Home Minister who himself said his letter to Swami Agnivesh was confidential made it public on programme in TV channel CNN IBN, while his own hands were tied to confidentiality. Swami Agnivesh told that he was suprised to find that the Maoists said that they were ready for ceasefire and talks.. He said, “The Maoists asked me to fix the dates for the dialogue, and I gave three dates in consultation with the government. But instead of the news of peace talks I got the news of the killing of Azad. I felt guilty knowing that he was with my letter to conduct the final round of consultations. I have seen both the versions of the government and the police. I might not have believed the Maoist version, if Hem Chandra Pandey was also not killed along with Azad in order to eliminate the evidence. Babita Pandey, his wife saw him off to Nagpur on 30th June. On 1st July there is the news of his killing. We have therefore reasons to believe that this is the worst kind of fake encounter, whereby the government has not only killed two persons extra-judicially but also betrayed the peace process.” He further appealed to intensify the struggle for upholding democracy, and for the rights of the poor people of the country. By remembering Azad, he said that we must carry forward the legacy of Bhagat Singh, and raise the banner of inquilab, so that no one is forced to take up arms to fight for justice.

Varavara Rao, revolutionary poet told that the simple fact that the state is the perpetrator of violence seems to be difficult for the civil society to comprehend. He said that we may meet and negotiate with Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram’s government, but we must know their true character, that they are the agents of the imperialists. While in the last meeting on 25th May we were talking about peace talks, today we are talking about judicial Inquiry. In the last two days we are demanding that the encircling of comrade Saroj, a Central Committee Member of CPI(Maoist) by the intelligence agencies in the country’s capital, who is carrying Swami Agnivesh’s letter to Ganapathy, the General Secretary of CPI (Maoist) must be withdrawn. Comrade Saroj who is making efforts for the talks, and who is unarmed, has now been encircled and hounded. This is the true character of the Indian state. To make the government and the civil society convinced about their commitment to peace, the Maoists are making so many sacrifices. Even so, for the concern of the people the Maoists are coming out repeatedly for talks. He asked, whether the government is ready for it? Varavara Rao concluded by saying that today’s rulers of India, whether Manmohan, Chidambaram, Modi or Buddhadeb, are on one side and the people on the other. Rao appealed to the civil society to make all efforts for talks, and assured that the Maoists will support this effort in their quest for justice.

Prashant Bhushan, senior lawyer of the Supreme Court stated that the unbridled exploitation and plunder of people’s resources by the corporations with the active aid of the government is taking the people to the fold of the Maoists. Arundhati Roy, writer, speaking in the public meeting, asserted that Azad foretold his death so many times in his writings and interviews, reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s poem ‘A Death Foretold’. She said that the time for revolution has come, since all the institutions of the state have failed the people of the country. E M Abdur Rehman, chairperson of the Popular Front of India (PFI), addressing the meeting reiterated the demand for a judicial enquiry and asserted that all forms of atrocities and repression of adivasis, dalits and minorities need to be resisted, while protesting against framed up charges, abductions extra-judicial killings by the state’s armed police and armed forces.

Radhika Menon of CPI(ML) (Liberation) told the audience that we don’t demand Judicial Inquiry to be constituted into the killings of Azad and Hem Pandey only for the state to see its face in the mirror. For us, the people’s organisations it is crystal clear how the state killed them.

Satnam the author of Jangalnama, a book recently published by Penguin on the revolutionary people’s movement of Dandakaranya narrated the story of the people’s resistance.

Dr B D Sharma the chair concluded the meeting by telling the invincible nature the struggles of adivasi people in India and called upon the people of the country to stand by them