Chetan, with his mother Nethravathi Devi, at the funeral of slain CRPF jawan Shivappa, who was killed in a Naxal ambush in Dantewada last month
My dear Chetan
You are barely nine years of age and you have lost your beloved father. Your mother, Netravathi Devi, who is in her prime, has also lost the anchor of her life.
Your father, Shivappa, has been killed thousands of kilometres away by the bullets of those who are fighting for the cause of the adivasis in the dense forests of Dantewada.
Dantewada: a place you had never heard of; a place you cannot spot.
Not less than 40 men from your little village of Chikkabasavanahalli are serving in the Indian army and police forces across the country. After hearing the news of your father’s death, perhaps the families of all those soldiers are worried too of what lies in store.
Chetan, your father Shivappa was a true patriot who wanted to serve his country. He loved his country just as much as he loved you, your mother, your uncles and aunts.
I have heard that whenever he came home on breaks from duty he would enquire about the wellbeing of everyone and had thus earned the love and affection of your village.
Chetan, there are many honest people like your father who was the son of a poor farmer. They strive hard to earn a living. They accept difficult postings in various parts of the country so that they can fend for their families.
You are still too young to understand the world of the grown-ups.
What is the CRPF?
Who are the Maoists?
Who is P.Chidambaram who has mourned your father’s death?
Where is Chattisgarh?
Who are these adivasis?
Why can’t they just cast their votes every once in five years instead of rebelling?
Why did your father and others like him go to Kashmir, Kargil, Chattisgarh and other such places instead of staying in their hometowns like Chikkabasavanahalli?
***
Chetan, you are still a fourth standard student. You probably don’t know anything about the Vedanta company. Your school text books will certainly not contain such information.
Not just you, even the other poor farmers of your Chikkabasavanahalli will certainly not have heard of the Vedanta company.
I am mentioning this because somewhere in the matrix of your father’s death is the Vedanta company.
When you enter high school, your social studies text books will tell you which parts of India contain rich mineral resources. Those books will definitely tell you where in India you will find gold, bauxite, iron ore, aluminum and copper deposits.
You will come to know that in states like Orissa and Chattisgarh there are millions of tonnes of such precious minerals.
Vedanta is a mining company headquartered in London. Two extremely rich brothers called Anil Aggarwal and Naveen Aggarwal are the owners of this company.
They are also the owners of almost half of the aluminum deposits in this country.
Besides the 75 million tonnes of bauxite mine at Lanjigarh they also own a five lakh tonne iron ore plant at Jarasugarh. In the Dantewada and Bijapur districts of Chattisgarh there are iron and bauxite deposits worth several crores of rupees.
The Aggarwal brothers wanted to lay their hands on all these precious minerals. Our government very kindly said to them “Please help yourselves.”
Unfortunately, a problem arose.
The forests of Chattisgarh which contain these mineral deposits are also home to lakhs of adivasi tribals who are variously called Koli, Munda, etc. Though 63 years have lapsed since our country won its freedom, till this date no government has provided the adivasis with even basic amenities like education, roads, ration cards, etc.
The condition in those areas is so miserable that hardly any of the people there live beyond the age of 40 years. In this short lifespan they have to survive on the little that the forests provide them.
Without driving the hapless adivasis out of the forests, Vedanta company could not start mining for the precious deposits.
In the beginning, the advasis refused to move out. Then the government made some devious plans to force them out. The adivasis protested. Government sent in the police. The adivasis left their villages and ran into the forests.
The government created a semi army called Salwa Judum, which burnt down villages, beat up children and men and raped women. When harassment by the government continued, the adivasis had no option left but to rally behind the Naxalites and take up an armed struggle.
Naturally, the government could not tolerate this audacity and wanted to finish off the adivasis. That is why it started sending thousands of CRPF policemen like your father to wage a war against those adivasis who are, incidentally, as much Indian as your father was.
***
Now, Chetan, I would like to tell you a few things about Chidambaram who is the leader of this war. He is the Home minister of our beloved country.
It is his job to maintain peace and order in this country. Five to six lakh policemen like your father Shivappa work under him.
Though Chidambaram is always dressed in a white shirt and white panche, he was for some time also a lawyer.
In 2003 when one company called Sterlite cheated the government crores of rupees in taxes and got caught, the person who took up their legal case was this same Chidambaram.
This Sterlite company is also owned by the Vedanta group.
For a while, Chidambaram was also a member on the board of directors of Vedanta company.
This is the man who is now our Home minister.
This is the same man who sent people like your father to finish off the adivasis so that Vedanta can start mining in those forests.
Chetan, just think, for whose cause did your father die?
***
Chetan, you must also think about the situation the poor farmers of your Chikkabasavanahalli are in today.
About ten years ago, lands belonging to the poor farmers of Chikkabasavanahalli and other villages on the outskirts of Hassan were taken away by the government in the name of industrialisation and development.
Hadn’t the government then promised jobs in the factories which would come up the land which had earlier belonged to farmers?
Despite this, how come more than 40 men of your village have joined the police and the army? Why did they not get jobs in Hassan? Where are the farmers today who lost their lands ten years ago? Did they even get proper compensation for their lands?
Chetan, no one has the answers to these questions.
While this is the situation in an area like Hassan which is represented by big political leaders in Parliament and has even contributed a prime minister called H.D. Deve Gowda, imagine what must be the situation in a place like Chattisgarh where the adivasis do not even have basic amenities, no education, and no awareness of their fundamental rights?
Imagine another situation.
In case the government comes once again to take over the remaining two acres of dry land from your family so that it can hand it over to some Tata or some Vedanta, what will the people of your village do?
Will they not protest?
In case the people’s protest cannot be controlled by the local police then the government will definitely send a Naga battalion or some other CRPF battalion to crush your people.
And when the war between the people and the state escalates, people on both sides will be killed. At which point the government will do nothing but merely place orders for more coffins.
Before I forget, I must mention that the former lawyer of the Vedanta company and now the honourable Home minister of this country Chidambaram has recently threatened:
“I don’t care how many men I lose, I will win this war.”
Unfortunately, no one is discussing about the injustice of all this. The government is not talking about the wrongs it is committing. In the meanwhile, Chetan, hundreds of innocent patriots like your father are needlessly sacrificing their lives.
They brought your father’s remains in a coffin, didn’t they?
Let me tell you a story with regard to these coffins. When the honourable Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of our country, his government too had bought coffins from the United States in order to transport the remains of people like your father who had died in the Kargil war. What was disgusting was that the government had taken a commission in the coffins deal too.
Chetan, you are still too young to understand the complexities of all this. I hope that when you grow up you will make an attempt to comprehend it all.
Today, you and your mother are grieving your loss in Chikkabasavanahalli. But remember that thousands of adivasi men, women and children are also grieving their losses in places like Chattisgarh.
The reasons for your grief and their grief might be different but the grief is the same.
Chetan, do you know that the government of Chattisgarh has imprisoned many boys your age because it thinks they are a threat to the security of this country?
Just the way you are an innocent little boy, so are they.
Just the way your father became a victim of the vile machinations of Chidambaram and Vedanta, thousands of adivasi fathers, mothers and children are also becoming victims of the same duo.
I hope you understand that the real criminal here is none other than our government.
With my heartfelt condolences,
B.Parvateesha
(This is the translation of a letter that appeared recently in Gauri Lankesh‘s Kannada weekly, Lankesh)
Photograph: Nethravathi, wife of slain CRPF subinspector Shivappa offering pooja to his mortal remains on April 10. Chetan is by her side (courtesy The Hindu)
***
Also read: ‘What Muslims were to BJP, Naxals are to Congress’
CHURUMURI POLL: Will the ‘State’ beat the Naxals?
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1) This article has been carefully and cleverly written by a maoist sympathizer so that anyone who disagrees with it should feel he is not sympathetic to Chetan.
2) If this country needs an “evil man” like Chidambaram to flush out the “innocent” mao terrorists then so be it.
3) Chetan is too small a kid to also understand the dangers of maoists. He has not an iota of idea about the actual goals of maoists.
4) Maosists didn’t blow up schools? They didn’t kill children? They have not raped women?
5) Evil man Chidambaram was on board of directors of Vedanta and he was a lawyer for them. So?
6) The author of this piece does not forget to mention the name of Vajpayee when mentioning Coffin scam. But “forgets” to invoke names of Manmohan Singh and Sonia gandhi who have appointed this evil man Chidambaram.
There is clearly something wrong when someone uses other people’s grief, especially a child’s to make this sort of a statement. This whole open letter business reeks of opportunism. Very insensitive of Mr. Parvateesha.
Dinesh
I had in my mother’s name invested Rs 10000 in sterlite shares this is about 15 years back, some ten years back my mother got a check for rs. 2000/- thinking that this was a divident, we encased the cheque. Later when we noticed that HDFC demat had debited our shares, when I enquired i was told that the money send was to buy back the share, If I did not want
to sell the share then I had to send back the cheque to the company and tell them we are not interested to sell the share.
This scheme has happened for the first and last time in India’s corporate history.
At this time this crook Chidambaram was the director, I am sure it was his idea.
I have heard his daughter(inlaw)is beautiful. Am waiting to send a cheque some day.
I would happily send Parvateesh to the Maoists. I am sure he is really needed over there in Dantewada.
What this letter did not explicitly state but implied:
Dear Chetan,
When you grow older you will realize that the maoists who killed your father were doing it for a greater good. You should be grateful to them as they were saving the tribals from the evil Vedanta group headed by two evil brothers and supported by an evil home minister always dressed in white. These damned capitalists. Those selfless maoists could not access the evil Aggarwal brothers and instead they sacrificied your father. You should be proud of your father and the maoists.
Dear Chetan, When you grow slightly older you should also read a wonderful book called the Red book where the great man Mao (who you will then realize is also in an indirect way responsible for the noble act of your father’s death) mentioned that power flows from the barrel of the gun. You will also be surprised that this great man’s policies and political purges were responsible for the killing of anywhere between 50-70 million people. This noble act of Mao is also in a way responsible for the emergence of China as a global power with all wonderful economic reforms. We Indians are no where close to them you know. But the problem now is evil Vedanta group even overtook Chalco, the great company of Mao’s peoples republic of china who were involved in the same mining business.
That apart dear Chetan when you grow old, the best tribute you can pay for all those wonderful Maoists who helped you realize your father’s greatness is to join them. If you get a little bit more education Chetan, you can even join a wonderful institute called JNU in delhi where you can meet extrordinary intellects, especially in the social science depertment, the ones who can help you understand dialectical materialism, the basis on which the whole world runs and our history shaped. I am sure you will enjoy JNU and the deep discussions in smoke filled canteens with bold and independent girls who wear no makeup and dont shave their underarms. And don’t forget to read Che’s motorcycle dairies. If Arundathi Roy is still around in Delhi make sure to attend her inspired talks and read her wonderful treatises on ‘ The Evil Empire’. The same empire which employed your father.
But you know Chetan if you have a higher passion you can even follow the footsteps of Saketh Rajan (you will be surprised to know that he is from your own karntaka state) and Kobad Gandhy and his wife anuradha. There is nothing in comparison to this sublime revolutionary route.
Lal Salaam to you father.
Comrade Kitapati
Dear Chethan,
Did you understand atleast one word written here by a Mao sympathiser who is more or less indirectly involved in your father’s death?
Dinesh: What nonsense. What better education for a child than the truth?
Churumuri…scooping so low?
How much does the media pay for the exclusive coverage of the elusive maoists?
Do maoists buy weapons, gadgets and food from that money?
Dear Chetan, please ask this Parvateesha uncle where maoists get their money. What about the allegations of them extorting money from these very evil corporations.
Also ask Parvateesha uncle and Gauri Lankesh aunty, how much they are paid for their services as the PR agency to the maoists.
So what are the Adivasis who are now ministers in Jarkhand and Chattisgarh doing while some one been raping their lands, we Indians repeatedly make effort to make Winston Churchill s words look so true. As far as all the NGOs getting foreign aid can you guys start educating the Adivasis so that they don’t vote in criminals first.
What a sick mind..
Bringing many unrelated topics just to push his agenda at the time of grief.
‘In case the people’s protest cannot be controlled by the local police’
protest andre noraar jananna saysode?
Many loopholes in the article.
Let him take citizenship of Somalia or Ethiopia if he’s not happy to be here.
One simple question to all these Mao sympathizers like Gauri, Arundathi etc.:
You are able to write an article like this (and make a decent living out of it) because we have a functioning democracy (however bad it is) and tolerance. Imagine Naxals overthrowing the state. What will be the future? Will we be forced to buy radios that are set to just one frequency like in N. Korea? Will Gauri Lankesh be able to write against the atrocities of the Maoists when they become (god forbid) the rulers of India? Will we be even allowed to access the internet to read churumuri posts, facebook, gmail etc…?
ok, so this is how people are brainwashed! Now we understand!
B. Parvateesha,
nachke aaglilva, vombat varshad mageen hinde ninde nintu baaNa biDoke?
shameful. this reads like a script of cheap bollywood movie.
can you write the same to the kids of the people who were beheaded in that massacre?
its one thing to write this in media, can you as a full grown man stand in front of that kid, look in his eyes and tell him the same story?
manasakshi annod ilve? how do you sleep at night? how much 1lakh they paid you to write this? for 1 lakh you sold your soul? thoo.
“A month after massacre, tribal Chhattisgarh girls begin CRPF training”
http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/may/07/girls-from-maoist-affected-chhattisgarh-join-crpf.htm
Evil tribals / adivasis.
of all the worse people of this country, i find Mao sympathizers the worst.
they eat like pigs. they have no real brain. they can’t think properly. they talk and then just walk.
government provides education to tribals but they refuse to go to schools. Government created panchayat for them but they are too indifferent to the world outside the forest.
I have a servant who belongs to Chhattisgarh. He tells me this all the time how his own people do not participate in any activity conducted by government. he tells how his own people are responsible for the abject poverty.
he has lot to tell but no one will listen as Mao sympathizers are demons who know nothing other than using pen and paper to write garbage. they themselves are just dementors. they are donkeys of this country. and i can assure you JNU is full of such donkeys. even DU is going this way. producing more donkeys who can only write things which they themselves don’t understand well.
Totally insensitive to use this situation in thgis fashion. What I find more nauseating is the presumtion that a 9 year old boy does not understand the complexities of the situation but the grown-ups do!!!??? Clearly shows that the Parvateesha types are no less arrogant that the P Chidambarams!
@Dinesh, I agree. Turning grief into emotional black mail is very opportunistic.
As it was mentioned above, Maoist’s reign will be no different from that North Korea.
Anna, Parvateesha, taavu hogi serkond bidi Maoists na. We will not miss you here.
None of the posts speak to the issue: What is it that has created the Maoist rage from Nepal to Sampaje, whether it is right or wrong?
Let’s bear in mind that the letter is not addressed to the actual Chetan.
Let’s also bear in mind that the Lankesh conglomerate is a rich outfit mouthing Maoist parihaara to our problems. Kallu kuidyo devarige bhangi sedo pujari. Gauramma, Kavithamma, and Indrajitthu have never known hunger or any form of pain caused by poverty. Their appa could not wait to become a leftist jamindaar saradaara. Think of the expensive indulgences that ruled his opulent yellow journalist life–drink, jooju, blackmail, slander, and whatever.
Many of us here have been pontificating about evils that have vitiated this one-time thing called life, especially in Karunaadu for a while. What has changed as a result? If no change, why?
Dissent is democracy. Clearly no one here has heard of it.
Exactly how many of these people who allege that Maoist sympathisers just sit in cities and abuse democracy by writing propagandist articles have ever stepped inside a tribal village? I suspect that most “Maoist sympathisers” have actually been to the places they write about, met and spoken when the people they “support”, but certainly none of their detractors seem to have taken that effort.
Vikram, you refer to your employee as a servant – clearly you think of him that way as well. If tribals don’t go to the schools the government runs, has anyone bothered to ask why? Do you know the teachers we send go there and rename adivasi kids because they cannot pronounce their real names? Do you know they tell the children their language is not a language, and their names are not worth having? Batter a community’s identity for decades and expect them to have respect for your ways of doing things. Right.
Forget about the mining and land grabbing, we even use these people as lab rats to test our drugs. Drugs they will never ever be able to afford. We relocate them when we want roads, dams, mines. There are adivasi communities who have been relocated 7 times in as many years. Will you give up even 10 sq ft of your home if it is needed for “greater public good”? And will you do it 7 times in 7 years?
And when they protest, we send in the Naga regiment and shoot them. No paper reports this, but the HRC report describes these horrors in detail.
We supposedly want these people to come and “talk” to us to have their problems solved. Have we ever “talked” to them? We have only spoken the language of violence to them for at least 40 years now, so what possesses us to expect they will continue to be civil when we have shown no sign of civility?
I’m pretty sure no one commenting here knows that there are dozens of peaceful adivasi movements as well. Of course, the violent version we see and hear about overshadows the more peaceful efforts being made by so many groups. But how about finding out why they are different, when they are fighting the same cause?
I don’t know how a “Maoist sympathiser” is different from an empathic human being. I don’t know how she is different from patriot who wants all citizens to be equal and access to resources equitable, not only on paper, but in lived actuality. I don’t know how it is different from being a true upholder of democracy who knows that there is no democracy without dissent. Everything else is fascism.
@Pulakeshi the great:Plz stop your barking.By calling Lankesh a yellow journalist you have proved your ignorance,unveiled your lower part of your body.(chaddi).
Hi,
Punch into google search BAUXITE MINING, NAXALITE MENACE, JOSHUA CONSPIRACY- VADAKAYIL.
Find out who is bleeding india.
Find out the stake of Church of England in Vedanta.
Be shocked!
Check out how to uproot naxalite menace for ever.
Capt ajit ajit vadakayil
..