West Midnapore: In TMC’s Own Backyard, Tribal Discontent Simmers

Jhargram, the much sensitive area of Bengal still awaits development. Will the upcoming election change anything?

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee during the 2011 election rally at Jhargram in West Bengal. (Photo: PTI)

Santhals form the largest part of the tribal population residing in Lalgarh – a village in Binpur–I community development block under the Jhargram subdivision of West Midnapore district in West Bengal – and its several surrounding villages – Katapahari, Bashber, Sitaram Dehi etc.

Long known to be the Red Corridor, the jungle mahals had a significant Maoist presence until 2009.

A file picture of joint forces in action in West Midnapore, West Bengal. (Photo: PTI)

Under the Left Front rule, tribals in the area were systematically persecuted for maintaining alleged Maoist links. They were being charged with helping insurgents and taking part in anti-state activities.

People were randomly picked up by the police without any concrete evidence, and detained and tortured under the pretext of exacting information about Maoist insurgents. Years of police atrocities have embittered and angered these tribals.

File photo showing the body of Jhargram Congress President Bikash Mahato killed by suspected Maoists near Lalgarh in West Bengal. (Photo: PTI)

For a long time, they demanded simple development measures such as health centres, schools and roads, and the basic means for survival, such as proper prices for forest produce and an end to the harassment caused by the likes of forest officials and the timber mafia.

The Tribal Movement and Operation Lalgarh

On 2 November 2008, the convoy of the then Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, and then central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada, was attacked by Maoists with a landmine.

Part of the then Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s convoy, this police car was ambushed by the Maoists in 2008. (Photo: PTI)

They were on their way back from laying the foundation stone of the Jindal Steel Plant (part of another proposed Special Economic Zone [SEZ] like Nandigram) at Shalboni, another jungle area populated by Santhals, not far from Lalgarh.

The local police became desperate and were under tremendous pressure from their higher-ups to nab the insurgents responsible for the attack. On 4 November 2008, the police detained three school kids, alleging they were Maoists. They were returning to their village Bashbera, after watching a Baul performance in Katapahari.

File photo of the jailed PCPA leader Chatradhar Mahato filing his nomination as an Independent candidate for Jhargram assembly seat. (Photo: PTI)      

As news of the arrest broke, thousands of tribals gathered to oppose police action. A local political activist, Chatradhar Mahato convened the Maoist-backed Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee, which is essentially the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), and a movement was launched. He, along with three other members of the committee, were later arrested. They are now serving life terms.

Santhals play the Dhamsa and Madal (drums) during their festive dances. They also serve as the clarion call in times of a revolt. (Photo: The Quint/Abhirup Dam)

For nine months, local administration was abolished and Lalgarh was termed a ‘liberated zone’.

In 2009, Operation Lalgarh began. The Government of West Bengal asked for assistance from the Centre to assist the state police. Five companies of the CRPF and two companies of COBRA forces reclaimed the area and eradicated the Maoist presence in the 12-day-long operation.

Whither Development?

When I arrived at Sitaram Dehi, Sandhya Murmu had just put a pot on the fire to start the process of making Mahua – a liquor made from flowers of the same name. Consuming liquor is part of the Santhal culture – it helps to fill a starved stomach, but not to forget the life-draining heat.

A bottle of mahua hangs from Sadhya’s house. (Photo: The Quint/Abhirup Dam)

The village of Sitram Dehi has just got paved roads. That is the only poriborton (literally meaning ‘change’) that they have witnessed.

At first, Sandhya, along with the other villagers Baidyanath Murmu, Anil Murmu, and Bishu Tudu, were extremely reluctant to speak. When assured they wouldn’t be recorded, they opened up.

Sandhya puts a pot of water to boil as a basket of Mahua flowers sit fermenting. (Photo: The Quint/Abhirup Dam)

Reporter: Do you vote?

Sandhya: Of course we do. Otherwise we will be branded Maoists.

Baidyanath: You ask of change. We don’t even have a deep tube-well for water. We have just heard of the Indira Awas Yojana. It seems, one gets permanent houses through that. None of our villages have come under it.

TMC Changed Little or Nothing

The story was eerily similar everywhere I went. Katapahari, Bashbera, Dharampur. Nobody was willing to talk. It was only when my driver Dilip assured them in Ol Chiki, the Santhal language, that I meant no harm did they become approachable.

But speaking on camera was still a big no. Sixty-year-old Anjali Tudu lives in Katapahari village and primarily makes a living out of selling sal leaf plates.

Traditionally Santhals were never farmers. But forest covers have reduced and the forest can’t sustain them anymore. (Photo: The Quint/Abhirup Dam)

Are roads the only hallmark of development? If my children can’t walk to school, or I can’t walk to fetch water from somewhere nearby, what good are these roads?

<b>Anjali Tudu, Katapahari local</b>

Anjali Tudu’s family lunch: just a bowl of boiled vegetables. (Photo: The Quint/Abhirup Dam)

Jitu Soren had just finished his first bowl of Mahua of the day. I caught him resting under some shade in Katapahari. When I started talking to him, he asked if I had some sort of ID. As I handed over my press card to him, he called out for his son. Sixteen-year-old Jagan came out, inspected the ID, and said something to his father in Ol Chiki. Jitu was illiterate, I realised.

The colourful entrance to Jitu Soren’s house. (Photo: The Quint/Abhirup Dam)

Police torture has reduced but the quality of our lives has not improved. The nearest health clinic is several kilometres away. You know, it is another struggle to constantly prove that you are not a Maoist.

<b>Jitu Soren, Katapahari local</b>

Silence Please

The tribal areas of Lalgarh and its surroundings have been sanitised of Maoist presence. But it has also left its people completely desensitised, depoliticised, and anaesthetised.

The apprehension of being branded as Maoists, coupled with the memories of police atrocities, has instilled an ‘unputdownable’ fear in their hearts.

Jhargram is a major town in West Midnapore, about 22 km away from Lalgarh.

Campaign vehicles parked in Jhargram. (Photo: The Quint/Abhirup Dam)

As I rode from the town to the villages, I saw heavy paramilitary deployment. Is the state afraid of its once-dissenting people again, given that all the Maoists have been dealt with officially?

Can a democracy function by silencing its people, calling them Maoists and ‘anti-state’ at the drop of a hat? Why has Mamata Banerjee’s party, which once promised to deal with the problems they accused the Left Front of creating, not been able to alleviate their distress?

At Bashber village. (Photo: The Quint/Abhirup Dam)

Will their vote make a difference, or will they vote to make a difference, not allowing the fear of persecution to get the best of them?

We have to wait and watch.