December 3, 2015
Why visit?
With the life imprisonment of
Chhatradhar Mahato, Sagun Murmu, Sukhshanti Baskey, Shambhu Soren,
Prasun Chatterjee and Raja Sarkhel under the different sections of
IPC, UAPA, Arms and Explosive Acts on May2015, there was concern
about the unjust, arbitrary punishment, irregularities in Judgment,
filing appeal in higher court etc. They were basically punished for
their role in the exemplary struggle under the banner of People’s
Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA). Chhatradhar Mahato was
the spokes-person and Sukhshanti Baskey was the treasurer of PCAPA.
Prasun and Raja of Kolkata, like many others actively supported the
struggle. The struggle was mainly against police atrocities that the
local people had to face daily in the name of combing for Maoists. No
one was spared, old, women and children were frequently bodily
searched, beaten, held illegally in police custody, tortured and
abused. Along with the demand of stopping of police atrocities, the
PCAPA’s other demands included development of their
socio-economically backward area.
After the verdict on May 12, 2015, all six were shifted to different
jails, hundreds of kilometers away from homes, making it further
difficult for the families to have regular access to them and get
legal papers signed, etc. Families find it difficult to meet them
even once, due to the financial constraints and distance.
Furthermore, making the life more difficult in jail, they were
stripped off the status of ‘political prisoners’. This was not
all, the circular that close family members of the prisoners of
political background, could only meet them in jail, added to the
complications by denying friends and fellow activists the right to
meet them.
As always, there were few in activist circle to think of the families
whose major earning members were in jail for more than the last six
years with the chances of their securing release from prison
remaining bleak. The mothers, wives, the children, the ailing parents
of these political prisoners were the invisible casualties of the
state’s war on its people. As Prasun and Raja lived in Kolkata, it
was easy for us to maintain contact with their families, but what was
happening to the others? How were they coping in such a difficult
circumstances? Do they have family, friends and neighbors’ support?
How were they managing day-to-day life? It was more than six years
that these families were left to fend for themselves, along with
having to visit the dear ones in jail and courts.
The visit
The above was discussed in a WSS meeting and it was decided that a
team would visit the families of Chhatradhar Mahato, Sagun Murmu,
Sukhshanti Baskey, and Shambhu Soren in their homes in Lalgarh. On
11th October 2015 a three-member team of WSS – comprising Nisha
Biswas, Swapna Bandopadhyay and Shukla Bhuimali – went to meet them
in Lalgarh. The team took some clothes for the women with them. As
the team was nearing Chhatradhar Mahato’s house, they met his wife
Niyoti Mahato who took them to the late Lal Mohan Tudu’s house, as
according to her the distances were long and it was not possible to
visit each home before sun-set and that being centrally located she
would ask the others to come and meet the team in Tudu’s house.
Lal Mohan Tudu was killed on February 2010 in his house, when he came
to bless daughter Lolita who was appearing for her class X Board
exams that year. Lolita did appear for the examination just after
four days of his killing, but failed to clear it. She then dropped
out of school. The boys Leander and Bhupati, named after the tennis
players, were studying in class VIII and IV at that time. The old
sick mother, Dhanmoni, has taken bed. The family is in dire straits.
Lal Mohan’s wife, Lakhimoni too has become sick and frail. Leander
and Bhupati are studying B.Sc (Hons) in Geography and X,
respectively. Leander studies from home, whereas Bhupati is staying
in a hostel for ST students, where he has to pay Rs 2500/- per year
as electric charges. The boys are irregularly getting the scholarship
for ST students. Household and educational expenses are mainly born
by mother-daughter duo, who collect and stitch leaves. Lolita also
does small mending jobs of old clothes. Though the family has 3Bighas
of land they grow a single crop and the yield is not sufficient to
run the house. Lack of irrigation facilities forces them to leave the
land fallow in winter and summer. All of them do farm-labor jobs as
and when they get.
Dipali Baskey, 25 yrs old, wife of Sukhshanti Baskey is very sick.
She had been married for only a few days at the time of her husband’s
arrest. She now lives with her mother-in-law, who along with trying
to manage the home by doing petty jobs and collecting leaves, looks
after the clinically traumatized daughter-in-law. Dipali is so
depressed and under such severe trauma that she has lost all interest
in life. She has no interest in food or meeting people to the extent
that she does not visit her parents. She spends her days and nights
in bed. According to her mother-in-law she says, “Sukhshanti will
die in Jail and I will die in this house”.
Shanti Murmu, wife of Sagun Murmu was married for three months when
her husband was arrested. She lives with the father and two unmarried
brothers of Sagun. A few years back her mother-in-law passed away.
Being the only women in the family, her younger sister lives with
her. The old and sick father-in-law stays at home. One brother-in-law
is studying in college, and the other one is a farm labor. It also
needs to be mentioned that because there is no irrigation facilities
in the region, most of the land is single crop, which means
agricultural laborers get work for only a very small period of the
year. Both the sisters collect leaves and do menial jobs so that the
family can manage to eat rice with starch or dry rice with salt,
occasionally they have vegetables made of creepers and leaves that
they can collect.
The team also met Mangli Soren, daughter-in-law of Shambu Soren.
Shambhu was the major earning member of the family. Mangli was
married for three years when Shambhu Soren was arrested. Her story is
also like the family of Sagun Murmu.
While the team was talking to the above families, they met Gulapi
Mandi with her 6-year old daughter Shyamali. Gulapi was 4months
pregnant when her husband Lakhinder Mandi and father-in-law Rajaram
Mandi were shot dead on the same date at the same place by the armed
forces, near their home. She lives all alone in her house and goes to
sleep in Lakhinder’s uncle’s house that is next to her home.
She is still scared and is afraid of spending the night all alone.
She too earns her living by collecting leaves and occasional farm
labor.
Seeing the team Pada Baskey, student of class XII, brother of slain
Sidhu Soren @ Bhuta Baskey, stopped by. Sidhu Soren, secretary of
PCAPA, was the young face of the movement of Lalgarh. He was killed
in Metala forest while he was asleep. Pada informed the team that his
father Jamadar Baskey is very sick and that they do not have money
for treatment. He had Jaundice a year back and probably has some
liver ailment now. His mother, Lakhimoni Baskey, is the major earning
member of the family. She earns money by collecting and stitching
leaves. He, his brother Gopinath Baskey, student of class IX, along
with their mother cultivate their nearly 3-bigha land. He said people
are scared to talk to them and express their support. He also brought
to notice the issue of non-ownership of the land. He said that his
forefathers cleared and started farming the portion of forestland,
which they still have in their possession. Because the government of
West Bengal has not implemented Scheduled Tribes and Other
Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006,
other villagers like him and his family are still denied formal right
to their land. They are occasionally asked to get clear papers or the
land will come under re-forestation.
Chhatradhar Mahato’s elder son Dhriti Prasad Mahato was pulled out
of the finals of football match in 2011, organized by West Bengal
police in Midnapore, depriving him of the ten-day trip to Germany. He
was once again left out of West Midnapore district team last year
after making the cut in the selection trials. Niyoti Mahato, his
mother said that Dhriti, a college student, has got his father’s
undying love for the game. The family is looked after by Niyoti,
which owns a small patch of land. Niyoti also informed the team, that
being closer to the forest, the wild elephants destroyed the entire
crop, with hardly any chance for compensation. Chhatradhar’s
younger son Debi Prasad Mahato too is studying in college. Both the
son’s are under tremendous pressure to earn money so as to help
Niyoti, their mother. Dhriti is also taking a computer course to
enhance employment prospect.
After visit thoughts
- While the team was visiting Lalgarh, the striking presence of armed forces shocked and surprised them. The old temporary camps are permanent now. Moreover, the employment of local boys as civic police (earlier called special police officers) was very visible. They continuously followed the team’s vehicle. The situation was so intimidating that the team members were asked to leave the place well before sunset.
- Though the government of West Bengal is claiming that there is peace in Jungle Mahal now, that peace is maintained with the help of arms. Forces with modern guns hanging on shoulders were seen patrolling the area. Civic police in t-shirts and track pants were seen moving around on motorbikes. The ‘peace’ tomtomed by the West Bengal Chief Minister is actually the peace of grave and Jungle Mahal lives in constant terror of state repression.
- On one hand, huge expenditure is made on armed forces; on the other there is no irrigation for the parched land, which could have improved the economic situation of the people in general. On top of this the wild elephants regularly raid their fields, destroy major portion of crop. This regular destruction is not being compensated. There is no medical facility; the sick still have to be taken to Midnapore for treatment whereas huge permanent buildings are erected for the police. A police-training academy too is coming up, whereas the families are not getting work under MNNREGA.
- Women, who were going to the forests for collecting its produce early morning, now go much after sunrise and some times have to return empty handed seeing the large presence of armed forces.
- The families of the arrested are living in severe hardship. There is no fellow feeling. Generally it is seen that whenever women like us have visited any village, lot of curious people gather and participate. But in Lalgarh, though the team spent 3 to 4 hours, no neighbor or passer-by stopped.
- The non-implementation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 by the government of West Bengal is depriving the people of their right on the land that they have cultivated for generations.
- It was really heartening to see the determination of families to provide education to their wards. Children are serious about studies and are doing very well. They are going for higher studies. The boys we met, mothers we talked to, and all were determined to continue studies even under such adversities.
With this sunshine in the heart and
darkening sky, the team took the train for Kolkata.
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