India - Forum against corporatisation and militarisation

 organised program in JNU ON ‘Bastar Killing Fields’ condemning corporate sponsored bloodbath in Bastar-Harsh Thakor

On March 28^th, FACAM organised "Bastar Killing Fields" at TEFLAS Union Hall, JNU, on 15 months of corporate sponsored genocide under Operation Kagaar. The program was addressed by Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Distinguished Professor at Council of Social Development, Delhi; Renowned Human Rights Activist Himanshu Kumar; and Prof. Saroj Giri, Faculty at the Department of Political Prisoners, Delhi and FACAM Member. Moderated by FACAM members Baadal and Ehtmam, the program also paid homage to 400+ people martyred in the resistance against corporate plunder.

FACAM released its official newsletter "KAAR: Chronicle of 14 months of Operation Kagaar", providing an illustrative picture of State massacres, rape and torture of civilians and Maoists alike.

The newsletter contains articles exploring and diagnosing the Hindutva State-Corporate nexus's nefarious designs behind plunder of resources and war on people in Bastar, Jharkhand and Sijimali. It also dealt with the suppression of people's democratic resistance through undemocratic ban on Moolwasi Bachao Manch and the Hindutva model aimed to be achieved by Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist BJP-RSS through its Surajkund Scheme's "Vision 2047 for Viksit Bharat", which manifests fascist onslaught on oppressed sections and plunder of people's resources. The booklet also paid homage to comrade Prof. G.N. Saibaba by compiling a brief historical account of his role in shaping the democratic revolutionary movement.Anti-Imperialist struggles and campaigns against War on people.

Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization asserted that foreign and domestic corporates are the forces activating Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist onslaught on oppressed and exploited sections of the country. The Surajkund Scheme brought forth by the Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist BJP-RSS represented Hindutva fascist consolidation to intensify the monopoly of foreign and domestic corporates Operation Kagaar and the current bloodbath in Bastar is an integral part of attempt at fascist consolidation.

Commendable how speakers untapped or unfolded all the crucial aspects to link the brutal bloodbath with socio-economic factors and an integral part of fascism as a whole.

Speeches

Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty discussed about the grave escalation of militarisation of Bastar through

planting of paramilitary camps every 2-3 kilometres, with an objective to station a wall to intensify corporate plunder of resources. He favourably compared the militarisation of Bastar and that of mineral rich regions like Sijimali, where paramilitary is deployed hundreds of numbers to woe out people's movement against mining and to conduct fake Gram Sabhas. He explained why it was imperative to recognise Hindutva Fascism along with Corporatization and Militarisation as the main enemy of the people of the country and to unitedly fight against Operation Kagaar and Surajkund Scheme.

Renowned Human Rights Activist Himanshu Kumar discussed the merciless nature of the state's war on people in Bastar. He recounted the horrific incidents of Gompad Massacre of 17 Adivasis (2009), Nendra Mass rapes (2016) and other numerous massacres to project the character of state's cruelty towards Adivasis. He placed the question? "lakhs of paramilitary forces have been deployed in Bastar. For what ? To protect the Adivasis? He questioned why progressive and mainstream parties hardly moved their lips on the ongoing massacre of Adivasis in Bastar. Remembering the Anti-imperialist revolutionary martyrs Bhagat Singh-Sukhdev-Rajguru, he said Bhagat Singh warned us of this day when he wrote his last petition to governor of Punjab and declared that a war will continue as long as exploitation and oppression prevails.

Prof. Saroj Giri, Faculty at the Department of Political Science, DU, and FACAM Member distinguished the specific features of Human Rights, Civil and political rights, Corporatization and Militarization from what can be observed in other areas such as Kisaan Andolan and other democratic movements. He affirmed that it is principally the organised resistance of adivasi peasantry that is checking corporate plunder of resources. The nature and the magnitude of the repression is a result the degree and militant nature of the resistance. Substantiating this point, he asserted that because we should not fall into the trap of disillusionment because of the grave loss of lives and explore the resistance, its potential to withstand such a bloodbath and elevate this humanitarian approach towards this question into solidarity and action with the resistance.

Harsh Thakor is freelance journalist. Thanks Forum against Corporatisationand militarisation for report