text:
We're going to a celebration of the centenary of the 1910 Bhumkal rebellion in which the Koyas rose up against the British. Bhumkal means earthquake. Comrade Raju says people will walk for days together to come for the celebration. The forest must be full of people on the move. There are celebrations in all the DK divisions. We are privileged because Comrade Leng, the Master of Ceremonies, is walking with us. In Gondi, Leng means 'the voice'. Comrade Leng is a tall, middle-aged man from Andhra Pradesh, a colleague of the legendary and beloved singer-poet Gadar, who founded the radical cultural organisation Jan Natya Manch (JNM) in 1972. Eventually, JNM became a formal part of the PWG and in Andhra Pradesh could draw audiences numbering in the tens of thousands. Comrade Leng joined in 1977 and became a famous singer in his own right. He lived in Andhra through the worst repression, the era of 'encounter' killings in which friends died almost every day. He himself was picked up one night from his hospital bed, by a woman Superintendent of Police masquerading as a doctor. He was taken to the forest outside Warangal to be 'encountered'. But luckily, Gadar got the news and managed to raise an alarm. When the PW decided to start a cultural organisation in DK in 1998, Comrade Leng was sent to head the Chetna Natya Manch. And here he is now, walking with me, for some reason wearing an olive-green shirt and purple pyjamas with pink bunnies on them. "There are 10,000 members in cnm now," he told me. "We have 500 songs, in Hindi, Gondi, Chhattisgarhi and Halbi. We have printed a book with 140 of our songs. Everybody writes songs." The first time I spoke to him, he sounded very grave, very single-minded. But days later, sitting around a fire, still in those pyjamas, he tells us about a very successful, mainstream Telugu film director (a friend of his) who always plays a Naxalite in his own films. "I asked him," Comrade Leng said in his lovely Telugu-accented Hindi, "why do you think Naxalites are always like this?"—and he did a deft caricature of a crouched, high-stepping, hunted-looking man emerging from the forest with an AK-47, and left us screaming with laughter.
Boy, What A Smile: Comrade Kamla, 17, wearing a pistol on her hip. Also, a miracle.
An advance party has arrived and cooked dinner already. For dessert, Kamla brings me a wild guava that she has plucked on the walk and squirrelled away for me.
From dawn, there is the sense of more and more people gathering for the day's celebration. There's a buzz of excitement building up. People who haven't seen each other in a long time meet again. We can hear the sound of mikes being tested. Flags, banners, posters, buntings are going up. A poster with the pictures of the five people who were killed in Ongnaar the day we arrived has appeared.
I'm drinking tea with Comrade Narmada, Comrade Maase and Comrade Rupi. Comrade Narmada talks about the many years she worked in Gadchiroli before becoming the DK head of the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan. Rupi and Maase have been urban activists in Andhra Pradesh and tell me about the long years of struggle by women within the party, not just for their rights, but also to make the party see that equality between men and women is seen as central to a dream of a just society. We talk about the '70s and the stories of women within the Naxalite movement who were disillusioned by male comrades who thought themselves great revolutionaries but were hobbled by the same old patriarchy, the same old chauvinism. Maase says things have changed a lot since then, though they still have a way to go. (The party's central committee and politburo have no women yet.)
Around noon, another PLGA contingent arrives. This one is headed by a tall, lithe, boyish-looking man. This comrade has two names—Sukhdev, and Gudsa Usendi—neither of them his. Sukhdev is the name of a very beloved comrade who was martyred. (In this war, only the dead are safe enough to use their real names.) As for Gudsa Usendi, many comrades have been Gudsa Usendi at one point or another. (A few months ago, it was Comrade Raju.) Gudsa Usendi is the name of the party's spokesperson for Dandakaranya. So even though Sukhdev spends the rest of the trip with me, I have no idea how I'd ever find him again. I'd recognise his laugh anywhere though. He came to DK in '88, he says, when the PWG decided to send one-third of its forces from north Telangana into DK. He's nicely dressed, in 'civil' (Gondi for 'civilian clothes') as opposed to 'dress' (the Maoist 'uniform') and could pass off as a young executive. I ask him why no uniform. He says he's been travelling and has just come back from the Keshkal ghats near Kanker. There are reports of 3 million tonnes of bauxite that a company called Vedanta has its eye on.
Bingo. Ten on ten for my instincts.
Sukhdev says he went there to measure the people's temperature. To see if they were prepared to fight. "They want squads now. And guns." He throws his head back and roars with laughter, "I told them it's not so easy, bhai." From the stray wisps of conversation and the ease with which he carries his AK-47, I can tell he's also high up and hands-on PLGA.
Jungle post arrives. There's a biscuit for me! It's from Comrade Venu. On a tiny piece of paper, folded and refolded, he has written down the lyrics of a song he promised he would send me. Comrade Narmada smiles when she reads them. She knows this story. It goes back to the '80s, around the time when people first began to trust the party and come to it with their problems—their 'inner contradictions', as Comrade Venu put it. Women were among the first to come. One evening an old lady sitting by the fire got up and sang a song for the dada log. She was a Maadiya, among whom it was customary for women to remove their blouses and remain bare-breasted after they were married.
Jumper polo intor Dada, Dakoniley
Taane tasom intor Dada, Dakoniley
Bata papam kittom Dada, Dakoniley
Duniya kadile maata Dada, Dakoniley
(They say we cannot keep our
blouses, Dada, Dakoniley
They make us take them off, Dada,
In what way have we sinned, Dada,
The world's changed, has it not Dada)
Aatum hatteke Dada, Dakoniley
Aada nanga dantom Dada, Dakoniley
Id pisval manni Dada, Dakoniley
Mava koyaturku vehat Dada, Dakoniley
(But when we go to market Dada,
We have to go half-naked Dada,
We don't want this life Dada,
Tell our ancestors this Dada).
Jumper polo intor Dada, Dakoniley
Taane tasom intor Dada, Dakoniley
Bata papam kittom Dada, Dakoniley
Duniya kadile maata Dada, Dakoniley
(They say we cannot keep our
blouses, Dada, Dakoniley
They make us take them off, Dada,
In what way have we sinned, Dada,
The world's changed, has it not Dada)
Aatum hatteke Dada, Dakoniley
Aada nanga dantom Dada, Dakoniley
Id pisval manni Dada, Dakoniley
Mava koyaturku vehat Dada, Dakoniley
(But when we go to market Dada,
We have to go half-naked Dada,
We don't want this life Dada,
Tell our ancestors this Dada).
This was the first women's issue the party decided to campaign against. It had to be handled delicately, with surgical tools. In 1986, it set up the Adivasi Mahila Sangathan (AMS) which evolved into the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan and now has 90,000 enrolled members. It could well be the largest women's organisation in the country. (They're all Maoists by the way, all 90,000 of them. Are they going to be 'wiped out'? And what about the 10,000 members of CNM? Them too?) KAMS campaigns against the adivasi traditions of forced marriage and abduction. Against the custom of making menstruating women live outside the village in a hut in the forest. Against bigamy and domestic violence. It hasn't won all its battles, but then which feminists have? For instance, in Dandakaranya, even today women are not allowed to sow seeds. In party meetings, men agree that this is unfair and ought to be done away with. But, in practice, they simply don't allow it. So, the party decided that women would sow seeds on common land which belongs to the Janatana Sarkar. On that land, they sow seed, grow vegetables and build check dams. A half-victory, not a whole one.
Rest Station: A Maoist 'camp'. When they move, all that will remain is the ash from the kitchen fire.
Ajitha has a bob-cut too. The Judum came to Korseel, her village, and killed three people by drowning them in a nallah. Ajitha was with the militia and followed the Judum at a distance to a place close to the village called Paral Nar Todak. She watched them rape six women and shoot a man in his throat.
Comrade Laxmi, who is a beautiful girl with a long plait, tells me she watched the Judum burn 30 houses in her village, Jojor. "We had no weapons then," she says, "we could do nothing but watch." She joined the PLGA soon after. Laxmi was one of the 150 guerrillas who walked through the jungle for three-and-a-half months in 2008, to Nayagarh in Orissa, to raid a police armoury from where they captured 1,200 rifles and 2,00,000 rounds of ammunition.
Comrade Sumitra joined the PLGA in 2004, before the Salwa Judum began its rampage. She joined, she says, because she wanted to escape from home. "Women are controlled in every way," she told me. "In our village, girls were not allowed to climb trees; if they did, they would have to pay a fine of Rs 500 or a hen. If a man hits a woman and she hits him back she has to give the village a goat. Men go off to the hills for months together to hunt. Women are not allowed to go near the kill, the best part of the meat goes to men. Women are not allowed to eat eggs." Good reason to join a guerrilla army?
Sumitra tells the story of two of her friends, Telam Parvati and Kamla, who worked with KAMS. Telam Parvati was from Polekaya village in south Bastar. Like everyone else from there, she too watched the Salwa Judum burn her village. She then joined the PLGA and went to work in the Keshkal ghats. In 2009, she and Kamla had just finished organising the March 8 Women's Day celebrations in the area. They were together in a little hut just outside a village called Vadgo. The police surrounded the hut at night and began to fire. Kamla fired back, but she was killed. Parvati escaped, but was found and killed the next day.
That's what happened last year on Women's Day. And here's a press report from a national newspaper about Women's Day this year:
Bastar rebels bat for women's rights
Sahar Khan, Mail Today, Raipur, March 7, 2010
The government may have pulled out all stops to combat the Maoist menace in the country. But a section of rebels in Chhattisgarh has more pressing matters in hand than survival. With International Women's Day around the corner, Maoists in the Bastar region of the state have called for week-long "celebrations" to advocate women's rights. Posters were also put up in Bijapur, a part of Bastar district. The call by the self-styled champions of women's rights has left the state police astonished. Inspector-general (IG) of Bastar, T.J. Longkumer said, "I have never seen such an appeal from the Naxalites, who believe only in violence and bloodshed."
Bastar rebels bat for women's rights
Sahar Khan, Mail Today, Raipur, March 7, 2010
The government may have pulled out all stops to combat the Maoist menace in the country. But a section of rebels in Chhattisgarh has more pressing matters in hand than survival. With International Women's Day around the corner, Maoists in the Bastar region of the state have called for week-long "celebrations" to advocate women's rights. Posters were also put up in Bijapur, a part of Bastar district. The call by the self-styled champions of women's rights has left the state police astonished. Inspector-general (IG) of Bastar, T.J. Longkumer said, "I have never seen such an appeal from the Naxalites, who believe only in violence and bloodshed."
And then the report goes on to say:
"I think the Maoists are trying to counter our highly successful Jan Jagran Abhiyaan (mass awareness campaign). We started the ongoing campaign with an aim to win popular support for Operation Green Hunt, which was launched by the police to root out Left-wing extremists," the IG said.
"I think the Maoists are trying to counter our highly successful Jan Jagran Abhiyaan (mass awareness campaign). We started the ongoing campaign with an aim to win popular support for Operation Green Hunt, which was launched by the police to root out Left-wing extremists," the IG said.
This cocktail of malice and ignorance is not unusual. Gudsa Usendi, chronicler of the party's present, knows more about this than most people. His little computer and MP3 recorder are full of press statements, denials, corrections, party literature, lists of the dead, TV clips and audio and video material. "The worst thing about being Gudsa Usendi," he says, "is issuing clarifications which are never published. We could bring out a thick book of our unpublished clarifications about the lies they tell about us." He speaks without a trace of indignation, in fact, with some amusement.
"What's the most ridiculous charge you've had to deny?"
He thinks back. "In 2007, we had to issue a statement saying, 'Nahin bhai, hamne gai ko hathode se nahin mara (No brother, we did not kill the cows with a hammer).' In 2007, the Raman Singh government announced a Gai Yojana (cow scheme), an election promise, a cow for every adivasi. One day the TV channels and newspapers reported that Naxalites had attacked a herd of cows and bludgeoned them to death—with hammers—because they were anti-Hindu, anti-BJP. You can imagine what happened. We issued a denial. Hardly anybody carried it. Later, it turned out that the man who had been given the cows to distribute was a rogue. He sold them and said we had ambushed him and killed the cows."
And the most serious?
"Oh, there are dozens, they are running a campaign, after all. When the Salwa Judum started, the first day they attacked a village called Ambeli, burned it down and then all of them—SPOs, the Naga battalion, police—moved towards Kotrapal...you must have heard about Kotrapal? It's a famous village, it has been burnt 22 times for refusing to surrender. When the Judum reached Kotrapal, our militia was waiting for it. They had prepared an ambush. Two SPOs died. We captured seven, the rest ran away. The next day the newspapers reported that the Naxalites had massacred poor adivasis. Some said we had killed hundreds. Even a respectable magazine like Frontline said we had killed 18 innocent adivasis. Even K. Balagopal, the human rights activist, who is usually meticulous about facts, even he said this. We sent a clarification. Nobody published it. Later, in his book, Balagopal acknowledged his mistake.... But who noticed?"
Remembering The Martyrs: Pictures of slain comrades displayed on Bhumkal Day
I asked what happened to the seven people who were captured. "The area committee called a jan adalat (people's court). Four thousand people attended it. They listened to the whole story. Two of the SPOs were sentenced to death. Five were warned and let off. The people decided. Even with informers—which is becoming a huge problem nowadays—people listen to the case, the stories, the confessions and say, 'Iska hum risk nahin le sakte (We're not prepared to take the risk of trusting this person)', or 'Iska risk hum lenge (We are prepared to take the risk of trusting this person)'. The press always reports about informers who are killed. Never about the many who are let off. So everybody thinks it is some bloodthirsty procedure in which everybody is always killed. It's not about revenge, it's about survival and saving future lives.... Of course, there are problems, we've made terrible mistakes, we have even killed the wrong people in our ambushes thinking they were policemen, but it is not the way it's portrayed in the media."
The dreaded 'People's Courts'. How can we accept them? Or approve this form of rude justice?
On the other hand, what about 'encounters', fake and otherwise—the worst form of summary justice—that get policemen and soldiers bravery medals, cash awards and out-of-turn promotions from the Indian government? The more they kill, the more they are rewarded. 'Bravehearts', they are called, the 'Encounter Specialists'. 'Anti-nationals', we are called, those of us who dare to question them. And what about the Supreme Court that brazenly admitted it did not have enough evidence to sentence Mohammed Afzal (accused in the December 2001 Parliament attack) to death, but did so anyway, because "the collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender".
At least in the case of the Kotrapal jan adalat, the collective was physically present to make its own decision. It wasn't made by judges who had lost touch with ordinary life a long time ago, presuming to speak on behalf of an absent collective.
What should the people of Kotrapal have done, I wonder? Sent for the police?
Arundhati Roy irritates me—her tone, her smugness, her careless use of history; specifically, her stringing of disparate events and phenomena as if they all amounted to the same old same old (eg, the lumping together of the Indian annexation of Hyderabad as part of the country's "colonialis[t]" course, bizarre given the old order displaced was an absolute monarchy hijacked by religious revivalists in its twilight, an old order diametrically opposed to the sort of peasant insurgency one would expect Roy to be sympathetic to were the Indian state not on the "other" side), her sloppy view that the Indian polity is no more than an "upper caste Hindu state"—are annoying not only in themselves, but because they mar the force of her arguments, on issues so crucial one can ill afford to slip up (Walking with the Comrades, Mar 25). But. But. But. For the courage to talk about what other writers in English barely touch upon, and rarely without resort to the empty platitudes of those who use language not to think about problems but to avoid them, everything she writes on the plight of the Indian polity's ultimate expendables—the tribals—can't be missed. Umair Muhajir, New York
This is the only article of Arundhati's that I've read and some of the facts she mentions ring true to me. For example, I have seen strategic hamleting in Mizoram around 1977 when I was working in the nehu. A highway was built from one end of the state to the other, villages were shifted near the highway, (and I was told) fenced off, and the villagers needed identity cards to leave the fenced area to their farms. Rahul Banerjee, who worked for about 25 years with tribals in Central India, has similar things to say in his work, Recovering the Lost Tongue: The Saga of Environmental Struggles in Central India. Anandaswarup Gadde, Melbourne
Speechless. That's how Arundhati's essay has left me. Dearton Thomas Hector, Kollam
Meaningless! It's what came to my mind about my own work (I do what's called 'peace-building') after reading Arundhati's piece. Agyatmitra, Pune
The counterbalance in Arundhati's essay lies in a paragraph in the 21st page. She echoes our misgivings about communist revolutions worldwide when she writes about the "party" being a genuine people's party when it is the suitor, but doubts if it will remain so after the revolution. History tells us that it's never been so. Russia, Hungary, East Germany, China, Cambodia, Nepal and, at home, the people's government in West Bengal suffice as examples. Are Chandu, Kamla, Maase and scores of their comrades in the jungle even conscious of these? These innocents, indoctrinated by a philosophy as heady as their mahua, are caught up in the illusion of the perfect, classless world. The need to believe in something better than their miserable existence has placed them betwixt the devil and the deep sea. A generation of young will die in the forest to live the delusions of others. The country will move on. What the essay tells us about the mining companies and politicians sounds plausible. The poor will remain removed from the dream. The dream will be lived by the others. God deliver us from this indecency of living. Or send us an Avatar. Samrat Chatterjee, Raipur
Outlook confuses me. On the one hand, it reflects all that is associated with big business and 'development'—its glossy, screaming ads testify to that. On the other, it has something as remarkable as this! Talha Chowdhry, Bangalore
Arundhati's is the only voice of conscience in an India blinded by corporate greed, political corruption, imperial hubris and utter injustice wrought on its own common people. Alfred Abdul, New York
After the hectoring voices on TV and in other print media, Arundhati's essay soothed my soul and mind. Mini Mathew, on e-mail
Arundhati gives voice to the voiceless, and questions the government. We Indians need to be self-critical. When we shape our country's institutions, we must ensure they are genuinely inclusive. That said, I think Ms Roy provides no alternatives. We simply cannot have a civil war in India. The Maoists cannot continue with their guns and goonda raj. And it is equally improbable that the tribals continue with their age-old practices in the 21st century, living in the forest and competing with endangered fauna and flora—fragile natural resources. India's population is exploding and the only way to provide decent health, education and living conditions for everyone is through common agreement and the rule of law. How can the tribals be protected in the middle of all this? How can we prevent outsiders (either Naxals/police/politicians) from taking advantage of their ignorance? That is what we have to think about. Kiran, Grenoble, France
Arundhati's essay was brilliant—for its narrative style, marshalling of facts and the intrinsic honesty in putting forth her point of view. But more than all this, Vinod Mehta deserves special credit for giving her the platform—and space—for having her say. Which other editor of a mainstream newsmagazine today would allot 31 out of 50 editorial pages for a story like this? Derek Bose, on e-mail
Arundhati deserves praise for going where none of our armchair journalists go. Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh
Did Arundhati actually go to Dantewada or has she written her piece sitting in the AC study of a five-star residential address in the capital? M.J. Mansharamani, Nagpur
At the end of 2008, I was in Gadchiroli for some research. The stories I heard were quite different from those in Arundhati Roy's essay. I heard about the murder of a local leader trying to organise his community. More than one person told me that a politician, afraid of the man's rising popularity, paid the Naxalites to kill him. I heard that the Ballarpur Paper Mills pays the Naxals to cut the bamboo from the forest and that the Naxals, in exchange allow the mill owner to develop the road leading to those forests just enough to let him carry the bamboo out. I heard that there are two job opportunities for people in these villages—the State or the Naxalites. That people from the same families are either in the police force or with the Naxal force. All poor. All desperate. All with little other choice. Unless they can feed their families with one rice crop a year. I heard that Naxalites won't allow development, yet traders from Bengal have been allowed to set up businesses—for a price. Unlike Arundhati, I couldn't sleep under the stars in the Dandakaranya forest, enjoying the beauty I was surrounded with. I didn't have a friend or a comrade with a gun to protect me. Could this be true of others like me? Unlike Arundhati, I would not dare to give a 'name' or 'face' to the people I spoke to and took photos of, can't post their images or tell their story on my blog or to a magazine that would want to hear their story. I'm no fan of the machinery deployed by various official, corporate and media forces that work overtime to push the poor and dispossessed who are increasingly 'falling into the hole' as Arundhati so eloquently puts it. However, I have heard with my own ears in Gadchiroli the voices of ordinary villagers—the poor, dispossessed and unarmed say in no uncertain terms that the Naxalites are the one-stop shop for the violent settling of scores. Any score. Nandini Bedi, Amsterdam
Let those who have eyes, see; let those who can, read and understand. I fell in love with Comrade Kamla after reading Arundhati's piece. T.M. Dhanaraj, Chennai
For Arundhati, this is probably a thrilling escape from elitist seminar circuits in her designer clothes. The Maoists are supplied with weapons from across the border and they openly say they want to keep elected governments under pressure. They never demand roads, schools, hospitals, in short, better governance for backward tribal areas and brainwash tribals into believing that they do not need these. I've seen critically ill patients being carried on tractors to hospitals tens of kilometres away in these areas. It's not just the mining lobbies that are the cause of the tribals' miseries. The more grave threat is actually from the Maoists who deliberately deny them a dignified life and access to healthcare and education. M.K. Devarajan, Kottayam
Would these tribals have raised a war against the state—where they stand to lose everything for nothing in return—had they not been pushed to the edge of survival? And it is we who have pushed them to this brink with our supposedly developmental policies. We are the real perpetrators of the war, not them. And it is we who need to step back and give these desperate souls room to return to an ordinary, peaceful existence. Reader Man, Calcutta
The words of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire reiterate the incisive truth reflected in Arundhati's essay. As he says in his seminal book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, "Never in history has violence been initiated by the oppressed. How could they be the initiators, if they themselves are the result of violence? How could they be sponsors of something whose objective inauguration called for their existence as oppressed? There would be no oppressed had there been no prior situation of violence to establish their subjugation." Raaj Mondol, on e-mail
If this was a modern country with real democratic values, Arundhati's essay would have evoked serious debate and discussion, with debates in Parliament and media. In India, however, it will only generate 'Has-VM-sold-Outlook-to-Ms Roy' kind of response from its right-wing jingoistic readers or the hysteria of Arnab Goswamis. B.F. Firoz, Trivandrum
Arundhati's piece reminded me of what the learned jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer said, "The Indian Constitution is deaf and dumb in these tribal regions. The leitmotif of people's liberation is the spirit of autonomy, more human rights, less centralism and less illusions about peace through police actions." S.M. Kompella, Kakinada
More often than not, mainstream media chooses to ignore the worst cases of state atrocities, not because it is not aware but because we the middle class can't be bothered as long as there's food on our table. Upendra, Winnipeg, Canada
It's difficult to distinguish between the Naxals and the Navis of James Cameron's Avatar. Mazhar Farooqui, Dubai
Journalism at its best. Thank you, Arundhati. Ashwat Ramani, Hyderabad
Instead of criticising Arundhati for speaking on behalf of people who no one else listens to, we should briefly put ourselves in the place of these men and women. What would you do if you were an adivasi doing the only thing you know how to do in the only place you know that exists and the government drives you away from there because it has conceived some fancy plan to exploit the area? Who do you turn to? It's more difficult in India to touch a tiger belt than a tribal belt. There's greater sympathy for animals in India than people. Sanjay Dhingra, Gurgaon
While Arundhati's writing is persuasive, she doesn't offer any viable alternatives. It's true that tribal exploitation has been rampant in India and these regions are some of the most underdeveloped in the country. But by taking up arms against the state, they have ensured that doctors run away from clinics in these areas, government officials are scared to do their jobs and teachers are not prepared to go to schools. Is it Arundhati's case that tribals do not need health and education and should be left to live happily off the forest? A majority of India's population, however distressed we might feel by the efforts of our government, is part of the mainstream because we know it benefits us personally and as a society. Sadly, tribals know nothing better and their leaders have vested interests in ensuring developmental efforts do not reach these areas. Instead of romanticising the tribal dream, people like Arundhati should work with them to develop a way of life so that they can become a part of modern India, albeit by keeping close to their land and their way of life. Divya Bharati, London
A long story notable for little new except Arundhati Roy's story-telling ability. Basically what she is saying is that the tribals of Dandakaranya do not need to learn to count beyond 20 and are best off if left alone to live as they have been for thousands of years. The use of violence to protect their way of life is also completely justified. Arundhati evidently suffers not only from directional but logical dyslexia too. If the world follows her foolishly romanticised path, change, the only constant, will become a bad idea, to be opposed at all costs. In short, she is effectively condemning the people whose cause she seeks to promote. She can't see the tyranny of it because she does not have to lead that life; for her the fruits of the development she condemns are available—including getting her article printed here. Arundhati can pick up any group of people resisting change for any reason and write what she has written with only minor changes. One cannot shake the feeling that somewhere deep down, she is filled with vicious hatred. Vinod Sharma, New Delhi
I went through Arundhati's entire essay and while I found enough stats on how much profits corporates make, there was nothing on where comrades get their money or arms from. To me, those who use tribals as human shields are as grotesque as the cops molesting women. Both amount to a rape of humanity. Kajal Sengupta, on e-mail
By going against the state, the tribals are only providing employment to the likes of Arundhati Roy and human rights activists. The state might consider Maoists the gravest internal security threat but our home minister needs to concentrate on how to deal with an even bigger one—of Arundhati Roy and her tribe. S.S. Deo, Gurgaon
The last time I read something like this was about Robin Hood and his Merry Band! Arundhati has, as is her wont, demonstrated brilliantly how a bit of erudition and verbosity can make a complete travesty of truth. A.M. Diwakar, Bangalore
Just a few weeks back, Arundhati was exhorting us to listen to grasshoppers and see how some Indians deny and even celebrate violence. Isn't she doing exactly the same now: denying Maoist violence, nay, even celebrating it? Rahul, Delhi
What does a directional dyslexic, capable of getting lost in life's objectives, do? As Arundhati herself says, "Come hell or high water, I'll be holding on to Comrade Raju's pallu...." A.S. Raghunath, Delhi
Roy loves herself and her writing, never mind if anyone else does or not. Gayatri Devi, Delhi
There's only one editor and one magazine in India courageous enough to publish such a daring piece of writing. But why does he allow Arundhati to be bashed up in letters on your web edition? I wish the magazine would start monitoring that space and make it a forum for healthy debate like in the Guardian or New York Times. Edava Shine Kutty, on e-mail
It is becoming increasingly clear that, in the name of development, we are helping the rich become richer and the poor are being thrown to the dogs. In waging a war against this "internal security threat", the government seems to be forgetting that these are our people too. Aarti Khosla, on e-mail
Sixty years of freedom and none of it for people who have lived thousands of years. What a crying shame! Kailash Chandra, on e-mail
Thank you Arundhati, for making us see how blind our government is. Jan ez Jalen, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Great effort, great journalism. Pankaj Yadav, Gurgaon
The time has come to redefine what freedom and independence really mean. If I can be displaced and hounded out of a land where my forefathers have lived for centuries, will I be called free? Yet, there is a ray of hope for Indian democracy that such an article can still be published in a mainstream magazine, that journalism survives amidst gutter press reporting. Narendra Murty, Calcutta
Every time Arundhati writes, readers often pick on the writer, missing the larger point: that the poor, the adivasis, the Dalits and other marginalised people are bearing the entire brunt of the nation's economic march. Implicit in their criticism of her is the notion that our way of life is somehow superior to theirs. All subsequent arguments stem from this belief. To dismiss her writing by accusing Arundhati of being a romantic is being naive—and dishonest. Sajosam, New Delhi
While I can understand Roy's empathy for tribals, I will never agree with the surgical tools of the Maoists. Given that, Arundhati has used the fundamental right of freedom of expression to the fullest—something no other country except the Indian democracy would allow—even daring to take potshots at the Father of the Nation. M. Ponnein Selvan, Chennai
Arundhati and her ilk should be banished to the luxurious thousand-star suites in Dandakaranya where they can collect tendu leaves along with the tribals and "live happily ever after". Sudharshan, Madras
No doubt our democracy is imperfect and there have been human rights violations. But to compare it to the excesses of Stalin and Mao is revolting. G. Vijayaraghavan, on e-mail
Writing novels was too easy on Arundhati's talent, I suppose, which is why she gave it up. Many in India can write a novel, and do. But few put their writing to the use that Arundhati does. One of modern India's greatest writers is also a true patriot. Siddharth Chowdhury, on e-mail
The greatest service Arundhati has done to the tribals is to give them a name and face. What have Mangtu, Nirmala and Venu suffered in the last 50-60 years of independent India that they are ready to fight one of the biggest and most sophisticated armies of the world with only knives and front-loading rifles? K.D.M., on e-mail
Arundhati's travelogue on the time she spent in the jungles of Dandakaranya in the company of Maoist cadres is a celebration of revolutionary romanticism and her own rebelliousness. You might disagree with what she says but you can't but be touched by her poetic prose. Aparajita Krishna, Mumbai
"What this country needs is a revolution," says Arundhati's mother, the activist Mary Roy. And along with Comrade Kamla, Arundhati is "marching, not just for herself, but to keep hope alive for us all". Women are leading the way everywhere you look, and we better take note. Ahmed Shamim, New York
Lal salaam to Arundhati Roy and the Outlook editor for standing against the tide of state-directed media. Ranabir Roy, Agartala
India's gravest security threat, isn't it Arundhati herself? Arnav Das Sharma, Nagpur
Exclusive 32-page essay? I could count only 31. Did Chidambaram censor the last page out? Or does 'The Big Lie' start with the number of pages? Pritam Sengupta, Bangalore
Arundhati must be smoking some good tendu if she thinks the Maoists are getting their guns and grenades from the Rs 120 cut from its proceeds they extract from the leaf-buyers. Jerin Chacko, Thiruvananthapuram
If solutions flowed from the barrels of guns, the Northeast and J&K would have been restored as heavens on earth a long time back. Alok Verma, on e-mail
Did the train, bus or motorbikes Arundhati would have used for her tryst with the Maoists appear at the wave of a magic wand? R.K. Asthana, Portsmouth
I am burning my copy of your magazine lest the police arrest me for being in possession of Naxalite/Maoist literature. Rakesh Babu G.R., Bangalore
The yuppie-commie rhetoric has of late turned its guns on the Mahatma, or so it would seem from a reading of the Arundhati Roy essay Walking with the Comrades, (Mar 29). And the neo-Dalit is not far behind in this offensive. Harijan has thus become a dirty word coined by a condescending bania! Let us not forget the sub-human lot of the panchamas for centuries. The first and foremost Indian to view their state with utter compassion was Gandhi. And he identified himself uncompromisingly with them. But for the bania's undaunted service to uplift them and the Kashmiri Pandit Nehru's defiant enactment of universal adult franchise that at one stroke enfranchised all the scheduled castes, would there be Kanshi Rams and Mayawatis at the helm, unceremoniously kicking off the Gandhi ladder that pushed them up? For heaven's sake, let's not dismiss the sovereign role of compassion. What Arundhati Roy has for the Naxals and the forest tribals is unambiguous compassion. It is strange, though, that the lady has not a word about the Andaman aborigines, mercilessly decimated by the Indian colonisers and their government (the Union government is exercised over the declining Parsi population) or the unspeakable sufferings of the people of Manipur and farther east (Kashmir monopolising all her selective perception). Gandhian satyagraha is no pious humbug. The pious humbug was open to the lady when she was hauled up before the court for contempt, but she chose to cave in rather than be jailed. Please recall the classic non-violent rin mutiny at Bombay, to cite but one instance, that heralded Indian Independence. It is again easy to be dismissive of trusteeship, expediently choosing to understand Gandhi's words literally. To go to the spirit of trusteeship, it means only ploughing back to society whatever surplus one may command over one's honest needs. Roy herself has so ploughed back her funds, in excess, I fondly believe, of her own honest needs. Jayant Mrtyunjaya, Bangalore
After reading Arundhati Roy's long-winded article, I wondered if she wanted Charu Mazumdar as our president and Kishenji as our PM! Kanu Sanyal has meanwhile committed suicide, but she could give Comrade Niti a responsible post. With her as home minister, the whole country can achieve the progress Dandakaranya has. Gurudas S., Bangalore
Some three decades ago, I travelled through the parts Arundhati Roy wrote about. Later, I made the same trip in 2001. Reading her article, I realise nothing's changed there. Roy has done a commendable job in bringing out the other side of the Maoist story. G. Sondur, Pune
In Arundhati Roy's essay, CPI (Maoist) Dandakaranya spokesperson Gudsa Usendi says that K. Balagopal, "usually meticulous about facts", had said that the Naxalites had massacred adivasis at Kotrapal and that "later in his book (presumably referring to the Human Rights Forum report titled: 'Death, Displacement and Deprivation, the War in Dantewara') acknowledged his mistake...". This is to clarify that Balagopal or HRF, the organisation he belonged to, has never issued a press statement to the effect that the Naxalites had resorted to the massacre at Kotrapal, nor has Balagopal "acknowledged his mistake". When reports appeared in the press in June 2005 of the killing of a large number of adivasis at Kotrapal by the Maoists, the HRF wrote a letter to various civil and democratic rights organisations calling for a fact-finding in the area. Subsequently, a team of hrf and the Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights visited the area on Jul 16-17, '05. A joint press release was put out at a media conference in Hyderabad on Aug 3 in which it was stated that "the news of the massacre of June 19 in Kotrapal...is not true." Both the letter and the press note can be accessed from the report on our website: humanrightsforum.org. Usendi, in this case, is shoddy about facts. V.S. Krishna, Secretary, HRF, Visakhapatnam
We believers in free-market economics will rubbish all the arguments of Arundhati Roy, but despite the vitriol we pour upon her, deep in our hearts, we'll always know she's so goddamned right—infuriatingly, exasperatingly so! Dr Oscar Rebelo, Goa
Arundhati Roy's article is a wake-up call to India's political establishment to stop its misguided tyranny against our own people in the name of development. Ranbir Singh, on e-mail
It never ceases to amaze me how naive the extreme left is. Arundhati Roy goes to meet the Maoists—and that's courageous! She gives them a voice—and it's her right to do so! But what rubs me the wrong way is her tone that goes thus—"look at the emaciated, courageous men and women who are taking on the jackbooted government criminals". And while criticising the government for not developing the area, she calls the companies that are taking development there colonials. How does one develop a place in a capitalist system? In my opinion, Roy is a decent person but we're lucky she does not run our country and hopefully will never do so. Frank Hawkins, San Francisco
I don't have anything against Arundhati Roy. She is a gifted writer and I've always admired people who have the time and patience to take up cudgels on behalf of others, for whatever reason. Her heart is in the right place and she is obviously committed. The trouble is, she gets so carried away in her zeal that she simply fails to take the complete picture into account. Her arguments are so utterly lacking in balance, and her words so intemperate, that she only manages to alienate even those who are relatively sympathetic to the causes she espouses. The tribals do have some very real grievances but by throwing their lot with the Maoist insurgency, they're simply asking for more trouble. Shaili Thakur, Chandigarh
The high priests of Left philosophy—Marx, Lenin and Mao—must be turning in their graves at the unique turnaround in the tactical equations between the 'proletariat' and the 'bourgeois'. Instead of the 'proletariat' joining hands with the middle classes to throw away 'bourgeois' hegemony, now we have a situation where the 'bourgeois' intellectual elite represented by the likes of Arundhati Roy are joining hands with the 'proletariat' (read tribals in this case) to prevent the emergence of an Indian middle class in this globalised world. Upside down, inside out! Mihir Kumar Jha, Patna
Arundhati, mercifully, did not blame the invention of the wheel, and fire, for all the rot in the current civilisation. We wonder why she came back at all from her haven of violence. She could have had all the fun walking and dancing with her comrades, exchanging 'lal salaams'. Bharat Trivedi, on e-mail
Instead of justifying the violence unleashed by the Maoists, she would have done well to question the central and state governments on the funds allocated year after year in their budgets for rural and tribal development. Where does the money go? T.R. Viswanathan, Mumbai
I am not an admirer of Arundhati Roy but her poetic piece was superb, to put it mildly. Jawahar P. Sekhar, Dubai
Arundhati Roy has obviously expended considerable energy in reporting from ground zero, but I dare say that the essay tends to romanticise the Maoist cause. She has conveniently glossed over all the needless murders and incidents of looting, arson and vandalisation these 'comrades' have been committing in the name of justice and alternate governance. It also seems from the essay that the whole movement is now itself victim to the adage, 'the more things change, the more they remain the same'. What with different departments and an elaborate hierarchy, the janatana sarkars are beginning to resemble the same labyrinthine, faceless entities, without spontaneous popular support—much like the system the Naxalites are purportedly fighting against. Rahul Gaur, Gurgaon
Arundhati Roy's article was to my expectation: Hindus are to blame for all of India's failings; the victims are about everyone else. More than just pretty writing, the most striking part was the picture on the cover: the dainty, city-slicker activist in socks and sandals, well-protected from the elements, in sharp contrast to the barefoot Maoist girl sitting next to her. Lokesh Raina, Mumbai
Arundhati ought to realise at her age that there is no such thing as a perfect society. Man has always exploited man through the ages, and a Communist China or militarised Myanmar do nothing but exploit ideology. Common people like us have to just put up with whatever we have. By creating unrealisable hopes among adivasis, Maoists have only prolonged their misery, caught as they are between them and the state. We city-dwellers also feel the agony of the exploited. But aren't we also exploited at every step? Santhanam, on e-mail
Arundhati Roy's article has opened my eyes. I got to know for the first time about the kind of life Naxalites lead, the hurdles they face in their day-to-day life, the reasons for their taking to arms, even the food they eat. Sandeep Shankar, Delhi
This is to congratulate both you and Ms Roy for the courageous and remarkably revelatory article on the tribal Maoists of Bastar. In the deeply distressing face of state violence and the caricature state and media present the tribal struggles as, it is literally Ms Roy's pen and your magazine that give us hope, doing not just the history and humanity of tribal aspirations a service, but the conscience of us all. In this regard, I wanted to share with you a painting I just completed and that is currently being exhibited at the Reflection Art Gallery in Shahpur Jat in a group exhibition themed 'Hope'. Titled The Truth Wins, it celebrates precisely what Ms Roy's article and your magazine are in the process of achieving. The body in the painting is taken from a photograph of five innocent people piled in the back of a trailer, killed on April 15, 2009, by the police in an alleged anti-Naxalite operation. What struck me about the photo was the fact that surviving the terrible violence visited upon this body was a little ball-point pen clipped serenely to the dead man's shirt pocket. That pen symbolises truth to me, whether through the media or courageous individuals standing up and speaking out.
Are you happy now, Arundhati? Some 76 innocent lives lost, thanks to people like you who glorify Maoist criminals. Ashwin, Chennai
Now that 75-odd Indians have been killed by their fellowmen in the jungles of Dandakaranya, perhaps the bleeding heart and tormented soul of Arundhati can be at peace. Balakrishnan Unny, Gurgaon
Congrats, Arundhati. Your men struck well, claiming 76 lives. Why don't you now go and live in your thousand-star hotel forever? Chetan Rathor, Delhi
Will Arundhati now go to the homes of those brave men who were killed to write about them and their families? People like Arundhati should be made accountable for such killings as articles like hers create sympathy in the minds of most readers and portray the government, especially the forces, negatively. Nishant Chaudhary, Bokaro
The problem with Sonia staffers like Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram is that they breathe the polluted air of dynastic politics. So it is that neither the families of the killed CRPF jawans nor the rest of the countrymen have any hope from this toothless government. There can be no politics or logic when it comes to dealing with the terrorists. Suraish Kumar, Chandigarh
When the mecca of human rights, Amnesty International, can become a terror-supporting charity, why be surprised at Arundhati supporting violence against the government and her own countrymen? Narayan, Zurich
Even if we do not agree with what she says, we have to concede that Arundhati writes from her heart and that her heart is in the right place. Angarag, Guwahati
Arundhati's might be embedded journalism alright. But none can deny that people like her arouse the conscience of the nation. The Maoists are indeed social fascists—mouthing socialism at one level but indulging in fascist methods of intolerance and cruelty on their opponents on the other. Their ideas may sound ideal but their understanding of the modern social reality and political-economic scenarios is outdated and archaic. Yet, one can't, on this pretext, support state terrorism on tribal populations either. G. Niranjan Rao, Hyderabad
All men and women have human faces, however dehumanised they may be. If one were able to meet the attackers of 26/11 while they were among their kith and kin, revealing their "hearts and homes, motives and motivations", they would have probably come across as equally gentle and deserving of sympathy as the comrades Arundhati walked with. Also, had she spent as much time with security forces as she did with the Maoists, she would have known better than to say —"Nagas and Mizos are sent to fight in Chhattisgarh, Sikhs to Kashmir and Tamilians to Assam". Indians of all regions and religions form the sword arm of the government either in mixed- or class-based security forces. Thus they can't be influenced by local pressures, or their families be open to harm, being far. When misinformed half-truths poison and bias minds, they move beyond the pale of "freedom of speech". They are sacrilege for those who have the thankless task of defending the nation. Geeta Katoch, Udhampur
In her essay, Arundhati asks; "Is (the) armed struggle intrinsically undemocratic? Is the sandwich theory accurate? Are 'Maoists' and tribals two discrete categories?" My answer to all three questions is a resounding 'yes'. Arundhati spreads the canard that the Indian police are being trained by the Mossad. She tries to distort the meaning of words to suit her discourse. She makes unsubstantiated allegations about judges and media. She calls B.K. Ponwar (who runs Kanker's jungle warfare school) a dirty name. She uses sarcasm in place of facts. It doesn't work. All I want to say is: if tribals wish to live a primitive life, so be it. No one should force them to change or convert. If they believe that industrialisation impinges upon their freedom, it should stop. Maoists have made a point; now, they should relent and eschew violence. Is that asking for too much? Madhu B. Thaker, Vallabh Vidyanagar
It is really unfortunate that we still believe that a military operation can solve the Naxal problem. China, Vietnam and various other situations have proved time and again that when a movement has the people's support, even mighty powers have to surrender. S.P. Deolalkar, Hyderabad
The state can't avoid answering the questions Arundhati raises. Mouthing platitudes about constitutional governance is all very fine, but what when it doesn't reach people at all? A.V. Gurunath, Prathipadu
I'm fully convinced now how good a writer of fiction Arundhati is (Walking with the Comrades, Mar 29). She should go to Dantewada independently—without the protection of the Maoists. She should try to talk to the adivasis when the Maoists aren't around. Maybe she should learn what Maoism is herself and then test the adivasis on their knowledge of that ideology. Let her do her work through independent and free research and then write. Chandru Kalsi, Mumbai
How I wish Arundhati understood Gandhi before calling the Maoists 'Gandhians with Guns'. Doesn't matter, though! After all, her tirades are meant for consumption by the West. If she finds nothing worth praising in the country she lives in, why doesn't this mobile republic just migrate? Aditya Trivedi, Bangalore
What Arundhati conveys in her essay is not very different from what Mahatma Gandhi and other enlightened people who worked for the uplift of the worst off in India have said—that there is something drastically wrong with the neo-liberal economic path we have taken and that we need an alternative development model. With disarming honesty, she says she doesn't know what alternative to offer the adivasis who have taken to the path of violence. But I think something is amiss if someone like Arundhati sees no hope in what she calls Gandhi's "pious humbug". Coming to think of it, Arundhati, Gandhi had the answer. As a Jain, I believe violence in all forms—manasa, vacha, karmana—is wrong. Kritee Shah, Ahmedabad
The reactions to Arundhati's piece on the Maoists appear to me way off the mark. In a democratic set-up like ours, we have a large group of people who have been deprived of their rights and have therefore been forced to take up arms against their countrymen. The Maoist uprising in adivasi regions is an indication of the poverty, deprivation and frustration the inhabitants experience. Let the adivasis live peacefully in their lands and let them join the mainstream on their own. Let us not impose ourselves on them. Amar Heblekar, Goa
Apropos of Arundhati's piece on the Maoists and Muhajir's analysis of the piece and its context, I think what Muhajir says is true: we need more essays like Arundhati's, but by others. Your cover story on the Maoists (Feb 22) carried more credibility than Arundhati's. Ironically, by promoting the self-righteous Arundhati's shrill demonising and romanticising of issues, Outlook will keep the middle class inured to the issues she passionately champions. Recoiling from the horror of reading Arundhati's piece, they will continue to dwell in blissful ignorance. R.S. Krishna, Bangalore
Arundhati never supported the Maoists in any way in her writing. All she did is spend time with them and then pen down what she saw. It would be preposterous to expect the Barkha Dutts and Arnab Goswamis to open their eyes to reality. Firos, Thiruvananthapuram
The Maoists could not have found a better advocate than Arundhati Roy to justify their violence (Walking with the Comrades, Mar 29) . Instead of bringing peace and prosperity, Maoist acts have put development in reverse gear. P.C. Sockey, Hazaribag, Jharkhand
Arundhati admits it is impossible to defend much of what the Maoists have done but in the very next breath adds that the Congress and bjp have more sordid achievements to their credit! Her ambivalence is also visible when she doubts the future behaviour of the "people's army" but adds the face-saver that one should not immobilise oneself in fear of the future. Why forget that humanity advances through trial and error. One could preserve tribal culture, promote check dams instead of big dams, and work out a via media to take development to certain parts without "immobilising" adivasi society. V.A. Deshmukh, Ex-MLA, by fax
Thank you, Arundhati! I put off reading your piece on the Maoists because I knew it would make me angry. Sure enough, it did! Keep writing. Shivani Dogra, New Delhi
Is the murder of Azad in accord with the upa's approach to India's "greatest internal security threat"? Yes, if you recall Arundhati Roy's words in Walking with the Comrades (Mar 29): "An article on the Internet says that Israel's Mossad is training 30 high-ranking Indian police officers in the techniques of targeted assassinations to render the Maoist organisation 'headless'."
I totally agree that 'Capitalism' without restrictions or intelligent checks is failing our country, and we really must rethink our strategies to include and accomodate every citizen.
But include them in what? Have we ever thought about what these guys REALLY want?
Basically they seem to be gun toting 'lotus-eaters'.
The ultimate existential contradiction if you ever saw one. They want 'status quo' for their surroundings, and use the gun to keep things the way they are. Ms. Roy takes at face value their claim that the guns are reserved only for their enemies 'the state', but in her romantic dreams of revolutions, she completely overlooks the fact that the same gun has been entirely successful in expanding 'maoist territories' to the sizes they are today. Does she think think maoists are gaining ground through 'popularity' alone?? What a laugh.
They are scaring every simple villager around them into succumbing without a hiccup or a whimper. They have, with their guns, taken over hundreds of thousands of acres belonging to other people, and are now eating at these peoples' expense. How difficult is it to 'convert' a poor man when you're waving a killing machine and saying it will get him what he wants?
They are prepared to use their guns to get whatever 'benefits' they can get from the state for continuing to 'do nothing'. Their gun toting laziness is all they can offer.
They've rejected offers of 'jobs' from the companies that might take over their lands and 'develop' it. They claim to be happy eating leaves and marketing them..but they are clearing their forests of all wildlife to make it entirely safe for themselves.
What they seem to overlook entirely, is that the reason they are still living happily in their little lotus eating world is because India is still an impossibly soft state.
If a real Maoist or Marxist regime takes over tomorrow, these guys will first be BOOTED, and put into airless factories, to WORK, while their pretty lands (stripped of wildlife as they already are) will be used for mines dams and factories.
Status Quo, is not possible. For anyone.
If you want 'development', you have to 'WORK', no one knew that better than Marx or Mao.
But that is a series of life changing actions these people do not want to even consider.
All they want to do is carry illegal killing weapons to hold everyone to ransom.
Arundathi is wrong in the following:-
> She seems a castiest and therefore seems to dereive sadist happiniess by demeaning Hinduism and India subtly even where such insinuations have no connection to what she is writing. (Accepting the fact that neither hinduism nor India is perfect but so are all other religions and countries)
> She forgets (or) seems to be oblivious to the fact that none of these villagers are tribals. If they can mingle with a complex charecter like arundathi roy, they are highly sociable. Also if all they want is more pay for tendu leaves or Bamboo, It would be better to settle and work in an area rather than being a nomad wandering without direction.
> If every woman in this country who feels that domination of men can be solved by killing, then there is nothing left. (personally, i believe a life without woman is barren, including mother, sister, wife and daughter. I also firmly believe that only a house/country where woman are happy will alone prosper. But it takes 2 hands to clap)
> Arundathi Roy's mind is filled with hate. It is one thing to love what you like which is a universal right, but it is not correct to hate what you dont like. She hates the govt. She hates companies that build cancer hospitals. She is cynical. She has lost the message of hope and love. Hate is not a activity worthy of human and that too a woman.
> I wish to remind arundathi that your freedom ends where others freedom starts. If you want to enforce you rights with the sword then you will surely die by the sword.
>Let me remind readers here that this is not a review about a new hill station for you to sit and dream and give comments. Imagine a cow. Now if this cow behaves itself, no one wants to harm it and people call it sacred. But the moment this cow starts harming people, will you and arundathi roy keep quiet. Arundathi Row is sowing seeds of hatered in the minds of ordinary people who are filled with love. She also spews venom by using here literary skill to make poeple thing that love has no hope.
Woman .. What have u been smoking in the forests?!!!!! Insofar as to say that Big Dam Projects are a curse to humanity is Blasphemy... What do u suggest ?nWe all go back to the hunting gathering lifestyle? Well If you are really sucha martyr for saving Forests and wildlife why would you eat ' Ant Chutney'? And throughout this passage it loooks like most of ur impressions about the tribals came at the hands of the ' indoctrinated' Maoists... Woman Please give up writing.. U pollute the Internet..!!!
Roy is wonderful indeed. Bravo for her courage and good intentions.
I would humbly beg to differ in her approach. More maturity is required in tackling such occurrences. Individuals cannot fight with FDA or States refer naturalnewstv.com for mind boggling info. REALITY IS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE PERCEIVE. Our perceptions are always wrong and conclusions and approaches are based wrongly on such beliefs that we have.
Many people like us just read and sympathise or appreciate and go away to eat our food as a consumer of the earth to kill the earth. There is no democracy to voice our opinions or assert our rights. What they need is different for different people and for themselves.
Democracy is failing and humanism is challenged thru out the world. Good people are just earning popularity and getting killed and we say Tsoo! tsoo!
We have to organise ourselves in a different way acceptable to all, and promote changes
in the Govt administrations legitimately instead of trying to achieve illogically.
I may be wrong. I want roy to be strong and living long for the benefit of all of mankind.
Whistleblowers starting from our own little humble homes are facing a tuff situation thru out the world. Today there are biggest threats from Medical MNCs, Politicials, Bureaucrats,etc.,
I humbly try to reach good messages for curing oneself from any disase without HARMFUL DRUGS thru my site sunflowerdancecom. Roy is great ! Praying for her Welfare and strength.
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2012 Oregon Growing Season Update for the Last Week of June
During the growing season, our winemakers venture beyond the 470 acres of our organic estate vineyard to make the rounds all over Oregon and Washington wine country. They do this throughout the summer, visiting the 40+ vineyards that grow grapes for our wines. This update for the last week of June, details their observations of Southern Oregon vineyards.
This trip reinforced that this year is heading in a great direction! So far we are seeing a much more "normal" start than the last two vintages. Early on we were trending with the 2006 vintage in regards to heat units. It's a pleasure to see there is real separation and marked differences between various locations, vineyards, blocks, clones, etc. This separation allows for harvest to be much more logistically sane. During the last 2 vintages everything seemed to converge, grapes all over the state ripened at the same time despite geographical differences, which compacted harvest. All of the grapes wanted to come in during 7-10 day window, which makes for some long days and nights and presents a lot of logistical challenges. Take a look at the pictures below and exhale with me as this vintage seems to be providing a much larger window for crush, and showing all the signs we like to see for great quality fruit come harvest.
- Jeff Kandarian, Director of Winemaking & Viticulture

subset: commoncrawl


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Along Lakeshore Dr in Wascana Centre, across the road from the Conexus Arts Centre, Regina.
Waterfowl Park Display Ponds is home to Wascana Centre's injured and captive waterfowl including geese, ducks, pelicans and swans. The public are welcome to stop by to learn about and feed the birds in this location throughout the summer months. Display panels assist visitors in identifying and studying the waterfowl.
2900 Wascana Drive, Box 7111
Regina, SK S4P 3S7
Tel: (306) 522-3661
Email: email@example.com
Website: http://www.wascana.ca
1-May-2014 to 1-Oct-2014
Admission by donation
Free admission
Rate details: Donations gratefully accepted.
Hours of operation: Daily 7am - 7pm. Guided tours available weekdays 8am - 3pm by advance booking.
Full wheelchair access
Live animal display
Self-guided tour
Guided tour
Tours upon request
Group tour services
Student group services
Saskatchewan Birding Trail affiliate
Information in this listing is subject to change at any time. Please contact the operator to verify that information is accurate.
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Popular ŌĆ£EntourageŌĆØ star who portrays Dana Gordon in the series, has decided to get hitched with her boyfriend of three years Ross Lamoureux. Constance Zimmer, engaged over the weekend, says they plan on exchanging vows sometime this fall. Get the full story, with photos and video below!
Starring in Mark WahlbergŌĆÖs ŌĆ£EntourageŌĆØ since 2005, the actressŌĆÖ star has been steadily rising over the last few years. Now, with talks of an ŌĆ£EntourageŌĆØ movie as well as an impending wedding, it looks like she has an exciting year coming up!
Dating Ross Lamoureux for three years, the couple already have one child together, 1-year-old Colette Zoe Lamoureaux. For Constance Zimmer, engaged is not where she saw herself last year! She told the press that having a baby with Ross was enough of a commitment and that she was nowhere near ready to take the plunge.
As far as her acting career, the 39-year-old actress says she is excited about her role in the upcoming season of HBOŌĆÖs ŌĆ£Entourage.ŌĆØ
ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs a kind of a softer side of Dana. [Jeremy Piven and I] didnŌĆÖt have to scream at each other to get something done.ŌĆØ
But thatŌĆÖs not all she has to be excited about. The showŌĆÖs director, Mark Wahlberg, says he wants to take the show to the big-screen. That would mean an even bigger boost to the actressŌĆÖ career.
"I am more focused on making that movie than my own films," said Wahlberg in an interview. "I just think we can make a great movie. I think people always wanted it and have complained that the episodes are too short ŌĆō they've always wanted more. I think we're going to do it. We just have to end strong, and this season is, by far, the best season so far."
All the best to Ross Lamoureux and Constance Zimmer! Engaged at 39 is the right way to do it in Hollywood. Too often stars rush into marriage and it doesnŌĆÖt last. What do you think of the ŌĆ£EntourageŌĆØ starŌĆÖs decision to get hitched? And would you be excited to see and ŌĆ£EntourageŌĆØ movie? Let me know in the comment section! Also, check out the pictures and video below!
Photos: www.wenn.com/Nikki Nelson, Apega, Jody Cortes, PNP, Starbux


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A glowing Victoria Beckham was on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon yesterday to chat about her baby news and fashion line. She's expecting her fourth child with husband David Beckham, but insists that she doesn't yet know the sex of the baby. She also explained why she cried during a recent British Vogue shoot.
Download the TV Guide app for iPhone, iPad and Android!


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The Clark County Commissioners race is finally over. WYSO's Wayne Baker reports that Republican Kyle Koehler has conceded the race to Democrat David Hartley after results of a mandatory recount were released.
WYSO 150 East South College St. Yellow Springs, OH 45387 Office: (937) 767-6420 Studio/Requests: (937)769-1998 Listener Comments: (937)769-1374
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A collection of relevant and timely media clips and resources.
Posted on August 30, 2013
Contact your state Senator and Assemblyman EVERY DAY!
Today, both the state Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees passed several anti-gun and one anti-hunting bill by party-line votes. These misguided anti-gun/anti-hunting bills now go to the floor of the state Senate and Assembly, and could be up for a final vote at anytime.
Time is now very short to stop these egregious bills!
You MUST call AND e-mail your state Senate and Assemblyman EVERY DAY respectfully urging them to OPPOSE all anti-gun legislation. You MUST also remind your family, friends, fellow gun owners, sportsmen and Second Amendment supporters that they must do the same EVERY DAY. The Golden State will need all its law-abiding citizens contacting their state legislators to save the Second Amendment.
Your state Senator and Assemblyman think their constituents are not pro-gun and they use that excuse every time they vote for anti-gun/anti-hunting legislation. To ensure that your state Senator and Assemblyman know that their district is full of pro-gun constituents you MUST contact them daily reminding them that you want your pro-gun voice heard. Contact information for your state Senator and Assemblyman can be found here.
The following bills are now on the floor of the state Senate:
Assembly Bill 48 (Skinner) bans the sale of parts and repair kits capable of converting magazine capacity to greater than ten rounds. This bill would also require that any person who purchases 6,000 rounds of ammunition within a five day period be reported to local law enforcement.
Assembly Bill 169 (Dickinson) bans the sale and transfer of all lawfully acquired firearms that were never, or are no longer, on the California roster of approved handguns.
Assembly Bill 180 (Bonta) repeals state firearms preemption by allowing the City of Oakland to enact ordinances that are more restrictive than state laws concerning the registration or licensing of firearms.
Assembly Bill 231 (Ting) expands the law relating to the storage of firearms. This bill does nothing to reduce California's violent crime problem and only turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals whether or not anything harmful actually happens, and regardless of whether there was any misconduct on the part of the gun owner. Ultimately, AB 231 is a misguided proposal that imposes unprecedented liability on those who choose to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
Assembly Bill 711 (Rendon) makes California the first state in the nation to prohibit the use of all lead ammunition for hunting.
The following bills are now on the floor of the state Assembly:
Senate Bill 53 (De León) bans the online and mail order purchase of all ammunition and requires registration and thumbprinting for all ammunition sales. Further, SB 53 requires that all ammunition purchasers pay a fee (tax) to obtain an annual ammunition purchase permit.
Senate Bill 299 (DeSaulnier) makes it a crime if a victim of firearm theft does not report the theft within 48 hours.
Senate Bill 374 (Steinberg) bans the future sale or transfer of and classify ALL semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazine or holding more than ten rounds of ammunition as "assault weapons." Continued legal possession would require that you REGISTER and pay a FEE (TAX) on ALL your semi-autos newly classified as "assault weapons."
Senate Bill 396 (Hancock) bans the possession of ALL magazines over ten rounds, including the millions of "grandfathered" standard capacity magazines currently legally possessed by Californians.
Senate Bill 475 (Leno) effectively bans gun shows at the Cow Palace by requiring approval of the board of supervisors of the Counties of San Mateo and San Francisco prior to any gun shows.
Senate Bill 567 (Jackson) redefines shotguns to include any firearm that may be fired through a rifled bore or a smooth bore, regardless of whether it is designed to be fired from the shoulder. SB 567 also bans the sale of shotguns encompassed by the revised definitions that have a revolving cylinder, and requires registration of these currently owned shotguns.
Senate Bill 683 (Block) expands California's handgun safety certificate requirement to apply to all firearms, and prohibits anyone from purchasing or transferring any firearm without a firearm safety certificate.
Senate Bill 755 (Wolk) expands the list of persons prohibited from owning a firearm, including persons who have operated cars and boats while they are impaired commonly referred to as DUI.
On a good note, the following anti-gun bills were held in committee and are defeated for the year:
Senate Bill 47 (Yee) bans the use of a "bullet button" on semi-automatic rifles to comply with current law by classifying firearms with "bullet buttons" as "assault weapons" and banning their future sale or transfer. Continued legal possession would require that you REGISTER and pay a FEE (TAX) on ALL of your semi-autos with "bullet buttons."
Senate Bill 293 (DeSaulnier) prohibits new handguns that are not "smart guns" (aka "owner-authorized handguns") from being added to CA's roster of approved handguns once two "smart guns" become available for sale.
There is still time to call AND e-mail your state Senator and Assemblyman urging them to OPPOSE all anti-gun/anti-hunting legislation listed above. Don't forget to forward this alert to your family, friends, fellow gun owners, sportsmen and Second Amendment supporters across California.
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.READ MORE
© 2014 National Rifle Association of America. Institute for Legislative Action. This may be reproduced. It may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.11250 Waples Mill Rd. Fairfax, VA 22030 1800-392-8683(VOTE)


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Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard
Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard will be playing End Of The Road Festival 2012.
Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard played End of the Road festival in 2008.
Born and raised New Yorker Jeffrey Lewis leads a double-life, as both a comic book writer/artist and a musician (or is that a triple-life?). His band Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, featuring Jeff's brother Jack on bass and Bronx-native David Beauchamp on drums, also has a gloriously multi-faceted existence, restlessly exploring a stylistic swath from contemplative folk narratives to distortion-fueled garage rock to soundscape abstractions and more. Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard have toured the world from Los Angeles to London, Berlin to Beijing, Melbourne to Moscow, blowing minds all along the way and sometimes sharing stages and tours with the likes of Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Devo, Thurston Moore, The Fall, The Vaselines, Daniel Johnston, The Mountain Goats, The Moldy Peaches, The Cribs, Dr. Dog, Roky Erickson, and many other luminaries. Live shows often incorporate "low budget videos," Jeff's large illustrations displayed to accompany certain songs, such as Jeff's educational multi-part "History of Communism" or flights of fancy like "The Creeping Brain." In 2001 Jeffrey Lewis signed to Rough Trade Records and has since released six albums, the most recent of which is 2011′s "A Turn in the Dream-Songs" which was recorded at an all-analogue studio in Manchester, UK.
(Notes taken from the A-Z section in the 2008 festival programme.)


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Dinosaur Dig!
Discover dinosaurs with Nickelodeon's Bubble Guppies! Boys and girls will dig into this activity book featuring six watercolors and a paintbrush.
Bubble Party!
Nickelodeon's Bubble Guppies is having a bubble blast! Children can decorate dozens of party scenes in this deluxe activity book featuring a sturdy plastic stencil and punch-out cardstock stencils.
The Spring Chicken!
Kids will love celebrating the spring season with Nickelodeon's Bubble Guppies in this Step 2 reader, which includes over 30 stickers!
Time For School!
Children can discover Nickelodeon's Bubble Guppies up close with this 3-D Storybook featuring a pair of 3-D glasses and eye-popping images on every page.
Material: Paperback
Brand: Random House
Origin: Imported
Publishing behemoth Random House is the largest English language publisher in the world, with books of all kinds including the best in fiction, nonfiction and children's literature. Random House first made international news by successfully defending in court the U.S. publication of James Joyce's masterpiece, Ulysses, setting a major legal precedent for freedom of speech. Beginning in the 1930s, the company moved into publishing for children, and over the years has become a leader in the field. Random House entered reference publishing in 1947 with the highly successful American College Dictionary, which was followed in 1966 by the equally successful unabridged Random House Dictionary of the English Language. It continues to publish numerous reference works, including the Random House Webster's College Dictionary.


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McDonald's, the world's largest burger chain, is getting into the hot cereal business.
McDonald's restaurants nationwide, including roughly 100 units in Orange County, are now serving oatmeal. Available all day, the instant Fruit & Maple Oatmeal is made with 100 percent natural whole grain oats, light cream and brown sugar, McDonald's said. Toppings include diced red and green apples, dried cranberries and two types of raisins. Cost: $1.99
Because it's made to order, the instant oatmeal can be prepared with or without brown sugar, McDonald's said. The debut of oatmeal comes two years after Jamba Juice and Starbucks launched oatmeal in stores. Starbucks serves instant oatmeal, while Jamba Juice delivers a slow-cooked oatmeal made from organic steel-cut oats.
If you're counting pennies, the McDonald's oatmeal is about 50 cents less than Starbucks, and nearly a $1 less than Jamba Juice.  Though, with the latter, you're getting a higher-quality oatmeal.
In 2009, some Juice it Up stores were also testing oatmeal made with steel-cut oats in some locations. About 50 smoothie shops offer oatmeal, with more expected to add the breakfast meal this year, said Carol Skinner, senior marketing director for the Irvine-based chain. (Note: The chain's oatmeal supplier is Yorba Linda-based Coach's Oats.)
McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal has 290 calories per serving (with brown sugar) or 260 calories per serving (without brown sugar).
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Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to republish your name and comment in additional Register publications without any notification or payment.


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The seven-member Gordon County Board of Education is the official governing body for the School District. Its responsibilities include policy making, budget approval, evaluation of the superintendent and other duties as prescribed by law. Board members are elected to four-year terms.
Gordon County BOE recognized as Quality Board by GSBA (Georgia School Boards Association). This award is to honor achievement and the pursuit of higher standards in the local governance of public schools.
Copyright © 2014 Gordon County School District


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Lindsay Lohan's Playboy pics were leaked too soon. Read More »
The New Mistletoe
A new app replaces mistletoe with cameltoe. Read More »
Lady Janes
A brief history of LadyJanes (women who pay for sex). 9 Photos »
My G-Spot Orgasm
One writer talks about having a G-spot orgasm. Read More »
- The winner of the Masturbate-a-thon, Masanobu Sato, shares his self-love secrets. (NSFW) [Huffington Post]
- Finally, a reality show about people receiving treatment for sexual dysfunctions. Find out more about LOGO's "Bad Sex." [College Candy]
- The secret to getting him to crave your sex. Wait … I thought he already did, [Your Tango]
- The top 10 sexiest celeb moments of the year. In case you were wondering, yes, it includes Ryan Gosling's street fight. [Yahoo] Keep reading »


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Mastering the Open Floor Plan
When a classic 70s office building went condo, a second-generation Chicago art dealer and his highly talented creative team reconsidered the parameters of open-plan living
By Lisa Skolnik
Spacious Living Room
Living room furnishings were chosen by the designer, Ana Borrallo , for maximum flexibility in the large open space. A white leather Quadra sectional sofa from Poltrona Frau joins chairs and a trio of coffee tables by Borrallo. Spanish artist Jaume Plensa installed his glass and stainless steel art piece around the rooms single floating support column. Plensa says that we call in artists to do commissions only when we have an unsolvable problem, says homeowner Paul Gray. Hes right. The painting is by Suzanne Caporael.
Photographer: Nathan Kirkman


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Baseball Uniforms: Top 5 NBA jerseys 2012
National basketball association jerseys are carefully connected using the stars that put on them. Here's a listing from the Top 5 selling NBA jerseys.
It appears as if LeBron continues to be pardoned for that Decision. The critique James faced has died lower and that he is going after a title using the Warmth. LeBron is in the great graces of NBA fans … a minimum of when it comes to jersey sales. The King reigns again within the top place.
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant is once more close to the top of the list. No matter whether you like him or hate him … nobody is indifferent to Kobe and lots of fans buy his jersey.
Amar'e Stoudemire
Amar'e doesn't run short on confidence. That bravado is the reason why him ideal for the The Big Apple. Amar'e has enough personality to fill any room in New You are able to. His jersey sales prove it.
Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose upped his NBA profile last season, leading his Bulls within an entertaining semifinals series from the Miami Warmth. The Bulls arrived on the scene around the losing finish, but individuals are showing support for Rose by purchasing his jersey.
Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Wade has always become love in the fans. After testing the disposable agent waters within the summer time of 2010, Wade came back to South Beach … and the place among top jersey retailers.


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Los Angeles (CNN) -- Tom Cruise's neighbor had a rough night on Sunday.
Jason Sullivan, 41, allegedly tried to climb over the actor's fence when a security guard used a "Taser" device to stop him, according to police, who said Sullivan was intoxicated and arrested him on trespassing charges.
Police arrived at 9:35 p.m. to find the suspect "attempting to leave the location," Beverly Hills Police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino said on Monday.
Sullivan was arrested for trespassing and taken to a hospital by paramedics "for treatment due to the use of the 'Taser' device," he said.
"Sullivan lives at an adjacent property and was intoxicated at the time of the incident, and may have confused himself and entered the wrong property," Hoshino said.
Cruise and his family were not at home at the time of the incident, he said.
CNN's Denise Quan contributed to this report.


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Welcome Certified
Villa Bengodi is dedicated to those who love the scents or the Mediterranean maquis and the typical atmosphere of Maremma. Villa Bengodi, built at the end of the 18th Century on the top of an extremely green hill close to the sea, is a typical refined farmhouse surrounded of land cultivated with cereals and olive trees. The building has maintained till today the original structure composed by a central block, with independent entrance, composed of large bedrooms with bathroom, dining room, living room, TV room and kitchen.
The views over the sea and the garden contribute to make the guests' stay at Villa Bengodi particularly pleasant, where the colours of the sunsets are unforgettable. Around the villa a magnificent garden with secular palms, many types of agave, holm oaks and maquis, creates a unique environment. From the garden a descent leads directly to a little free beach of sand and rocks. Villa Bengodi is surrounded by an equipped route among cypress trees and Mediterranean vegetation.
People who desire to make trekking can visit the Parco Natural della Maremma, which extends from Talamone (4 km away). Inside the park it is possible to observe animals of rare species which live in a wild state.
Villa Bengodi - Via Bengodi, 2 - Loc. Fonteblanda - 58010 - Talamone (GR)
Mobile: (+39) 335 420334 - Fax: (+39) 0564 885515


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Definitions for mahgrib
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word mahgrib
Princeton's WordNet
Maghreb, Mahgrib(noun)
the region of northwest Africa comprising the Atlas Mountains and the coastlands of Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia
Find a translation for the mahgrib definition in other languages:
Select another language:
Discuss these mahgrib definitions with the community:
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"mahgrib." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2014. Web. 22 Dec. 2014. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/mahgrib>.


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Special Report on James Ossuary and Background to Forgery Trial Verdict
The Biblical Archaeology Society
Phone: 814-218-4067
Fax: 202-364-2636
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 12, 2012)—Biblical Archaeology Society Releases Special Report on James Ossuary and Yehoash Inscription in Advance of Forgery Trial Verdict
On Wednesday, Jerusalem judge Aharon Farkash delivers his verdict in the "forgery trial of the century." He will decide whether the case's two remaining defendants, Tel Aviv collector Oded Golan and antiquities dealer and scholar Robert Deutsch, are guilty of creating and selling forged antiquities. Two extraordinary inscriptions, both of which have enormous historical implications, stand at the center of the case—one on an ancient Jewish burial box that reads "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," and the other, the so-called Yehoash inscription, which, if authentic, would be the only known royal Israelite inscription.
In anticipation of the forgery trial verdict, the Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR), has opened its vast array of resources on the trial and the alleged forgeries to help readers and journalists better understand the decision and its important implications for the fields of Biblical history and archaeology.
In his new special report Awaiting the James Ossuary Verdict: A Complete Guide to the Alleged Forgeries, Hershel Shanks, editor of BAR and a leading figure in the dissemination of information about the case, offers a summary of the forgery trial and the evidence presented for and against the authenticity of the alleged forgeries. This concise introduction discusses the various practical and scholarly reasons why the James Ossuary inscription, Yehoash inscription and other Biblical artifacts are likely genuine, as well as the limitations of the scientific data that have been used to declare them forgeries.
The BAS Library features the Forgery Trial of the Century Special Collection that highlights the most important BAR articles dealing with the James Ossuary and other alleged forgeries and the various scholarly and scientific arguments that have been made in the forgery trial. In addition, the special collection conveniently summarizes the magazine's coverage of the major players and key developments in the forgery trial, which lasted more than five years, included 116 sessions, saw more than 130 witnesses called to the stand and produced nearly 12,000 pages of testimony.
Finally, within days after the verdict is announced, the Biblical Archaeology Society will release the free eBook James, Brother of Jesus: The Forgery Trial of the Century, followed by a full English translation of the forgery trial verdict. This illustrated eBook provides a thorough overview of the artifacts in question and the larger forgery crisis that has engulfed Biblical archaeology. Included are informative articles by renowned Bible scholar and epigrapher André Lemaire on the James Ossuary and the ivory pomegranate, an artifact that, if authentic, would be the only surviving relic from Solomon's Temple.
The Biblical Archaeology Society and its founder Hershel Shanks have followed every twist and turn in the case of the James Ossuary and the forgery trial. With the final outcome now just days away, make the Society your source for information on this important verdict.