Arrest at Hati on way to Taraimar

I am under arrest: the state administration is of the opinion that my going to attend the Public Hearing at Taraimar (Dharamjaigarh) would disrupt local peace. What will NOT, in its opinion, disrupt local peace is the forceful uprooting of 40000 persons, mostly tribals and Bangladeshi-refugees, from their lands and homes to make way for Vedanta company to mine 800 million tons of coal for two new power plants it intends to set up in adjacent Korba. Already, the agents of Vedanta have begun forcing tribals into selling their lands for as little as Rs 15000/acre; those that have resisted so far will be left with no option after tomorrow's public hearing. Precious forests and wildlife will be lost forever...There are only two lines in Vedanta's 80-page proposal about what it intends to do with the 9000 families it will displace: "they will be rehabilitated in a condition better than their present lot." There is, however, not one word about where, when and how this rehabilitation is to be done. Its environmental assessment report is based on what can at best be described as figments of some very fertile imagination...This is precisely what I- and several others like me- had intended to ask at tomorrow's public hearing. Sadly, these questions will remain unanswered. The Peace that Dr. Raman Singh- no doubt, acting as an agent for Mr. Anil Agrawal (the London-based proprietor of Vedanta)- so fiercely wants will come at the cost of erasure of an entire peoples and their way of life...

Read More (आगे और पढ़ें)......

BASTAR SATYAGRAHA: Padyatra through the Heart of Naxalite Territory

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें.
Last month, on 23rd May, we lit candles and walked through the streets of Raipur to pay homage to victims of Naxalite-related violence: clearly, that was not enough. Those who came to participate in the Peace March felt that something more should be done; something that would make an actual difference. What that something should be, they- we- couldn’t say.

It’s all very nice to hold seminars & candlelight procession on the ‘Naxalite Problem’ in Raipur and Delhi. More than anything else, I believe they help to sensitize public opinion, especially among the Speaking Classes, who in turn give utterance to long-suppressed voices. But unless and until one really experiences for oneself what it means to live like the tribals caught up in the Madness of Bastar- to undergo the same anxieties that they go through every minute of their precarious existence, not knowing which bullet or bomb, whether CRPF, SPO or Maoist, would claim them, and their loved ones- any attempt at finding a Solution would ultimately be meaningless.

I intend, therefore, to do exactly that: alongside 40 of my fellow unmarried youth colleagues (ed.- the number has increased exponentially since this post was published), volunteers representing every district of Chhattisgarh, I shall walk again, this time through places most ravaged by violence. We will do it quietly, without fanfare and without publicity. Our sole object is simply to listen to what people living in these places, especially the youth among them, have to say. That, however, is easier said than done.

The people, in particular the tribals, aren’t quite ready to speak-out what’s really in their minds and hearts. They’re afraid. Very afraid. It should be our endeavor, therefore, to make them as comfortable as possible: in other words, to win their faith. Like I said elsewhere, the only way to overcome Fear is by Faith. And going in a cavalcade of armored cars and making long public speeches in a language they cannot possibly understand isn’t exactly the best way to go about doing it. We must show them- and much more importantly, they must believe- that we Care.

On 19th June 2010, we will walk into their villages- and into their homes and into their hearts- as one among them; we will share the food they offer us and live in their houses. We shall go with no ulterior motive; we shall not pre-judge the situation and we shall certainly not point fingers; we will offer no solutions to their- our- problems. Instead we will listen very carefully to the solutions they have in mind, and do our very best to see that their voices are heard by those in power.

That, in my view, is the limited purpose of our Bastar Satyagraha: to begin a long overdue Dialogue.
*
I am uploading press clippings and posters about the Satyagraha here:






[Courtesy: Ameen Meman]



[Courtesy: Sandeep Sahu]
*








[Many thanks to Vinod Tiwari for the above designs]
*
The first phase of the Bastar Satyagraha will start at Dantewada on the morning of 19th June and end on the evening of 25th June with a Youth Meet at Sukama. We would be passing through Nakulnar, Nailawada, Mokpal, Bhusaras, Chingawaram, Korra, Munga, Marematka and Gadiraas with several unscheduled detours:

*
26.6.2010
It gives me great pleasure to announce the DISTRICT-WISE NAMES OF SATYAGRAHIS who participated in the first phase of our BASTAR SATYAGRAHA. The names in Bold indicates those who took part throughout the 7-day, 106 kms Padyatra from Dantewada to Sukma. Others (not in Bold) were absent for less than 2 days. Remaining names have been omitted.

RAIPUR
1. Vinod Tiwari (9406300000)
2. Abhishek Modi (9827446117)
3. Sandeep Sahu (94242100000)
4. Ashok Sonwani (9826647780)
5. Deepak Jaiswal (9993006143)
6. Sachin Awasthi (9300030903)
7. Amar Mishra (9754260011)
8. Yomesh Sahu (9229568315)
9. Nemichandra Patel (9669463118, 9926838778)
10. Sanjeev Shukla (9753554500)
11. Pradeep Sahu (9301285445)
12. Mahesh Yadav (c/o Sanjeev Shukla)
13. Shahbaz Hussain (07869236742)
14. Gulzeb Ahmad (9300266663)
15. Subodh Haritwal (9827937900)
16. Dr. Vivek Sharma (9977122883)
17. Ishwar Dongare (9406402468)
18. Lalu Manikpuri (9302430339)
19. Suraj Rathore (9907998446)
20. Devprakash Dewangan (9926127049)
DHAMTARI
21. Anand Pawar (9425214965)
22. Anurag Lal (9907990444)
MAHASAMUND
23. Tamradhwaj Baghel (9753119299)
DURG
24. Ayub Khan (9406137786)
25. Durgesh Tamrkar (9827187008)
26. Vishal Tripathi (9301283000)
27. Teksingh Chandel (9589235777)
28. Gurdeep Bhatia (9907412397)
29. Santosh Singh (9329870048)
RAJNANDGAON
30. Mehul Maroo (9993337777)
31. Nawaz Khan (9406092886)
KAWARDHA
32. Ramu Chandravamshi (9179995163)
33. Pankaj Chandravamshi (9977982829)
34. Pappu Dhruve (9165243546)
35. Baldev Yadav (9977425827)
BILASPUR
36. Amit Aishwarya Jogi (9424202648)
37. Avinash Sethi (9827494610)
38. Sameer Ahmad Babla (9981232786)
39. Satish Gupta (9300543765)
40. Ashok Rajbhar (9406305000)
JANJGIR
41. Pappu Baghel (9303181256)
42. Abhishek Swarnkar (9770114419)
43. Dhananjay Kanwar (9009955454)
RAIGARH
44. Vibhash Singh Thakur (9425251800)
45. Aseem Pandey (9755123555)
46. Santosh Gond (9329597373)
47. Ashish Jaiswal (9300003245)
KORBA
48. Nitin Yadav (9669688888)
49. Ashish Gupta (9098888861)
JASHPUR
50. Anoj Gupta (9425252942)
AMBIKAPUR
51. Surendra Choudhary (9425257039)
52. Imam Hussain (9926168300, 08109868300)
53. Karamchand Singh (9753319580)
BAIKUNTHPUR
54. Shivram Maharana (9406133668)
55. Neeraj Pandey (9098132401)
KANKER
56. Poornachand Padhi (9425593201)
57. Deepak Gajendra (9584370709)
58. Vishnu Netam (9479024750)
JAGDALPUR
59. Hemu Upadhyay (9425258302)
60. Anwar Khan (9425202516)
61. Saket Shukla (9425261625)
62. Vikram Singh Sardar (9425261197)
DANTEWADA
63. Harish Lakma (9406281777)
64. Durgesh (c/o Harish Lakma)
65. Girish Kashyap (9407717097)
66. Suresh Kumar (9406105525)
BIJAPUR
67. Naveen Korsa (9424279479)
NARAYANPUR
68. Pankaj Yadav (9424286770)
69. Manish Rathore (9424287369)

FOOD & ACCOMODATION COMMITTEE:
70. Sanjeev Agrawal (9425204900)
71. Rajesh Agrawal (9425513875)
72. Yogeshwar Rao Gawte (9827189296)
73. Mohammed Ahmad (9691693594)
74. Abid (9300272561)

I thank each and every one of the Satyagrahis- and pray that we are all successful in our endeavor.
*
17.6.2010
Many thanks also to Mr Manoj Trivedi for sharing these slides with me. In many ways, they capture the essence of what we're trying to do.

Read More (आगे और पढ़ें)......

A Blog's Life.एक ब्लॉग की ज़िन्दगी

BIRTH PANGS (2006-07) जन्म यातनाएं

May 26 2006:
The first post of this blog, containing excerpts from my Jail Diary, The Ballad of Raipur Gaol, is published exactly twenty-six days after I am released on bail. The blog is christened Undertrial.

इस ब्लॉग की पहली पोस्ट, जिसमें मेरी जेल डायरी, "द बैलड ऑफ़ रायपुर जेल" (रायपुर जेल का गाथागीत), के कुछ अंश हैं, का मेरे जमानत पर रिहा होने के ठीक छब्बीस दिन बाद प्रकाशन होता है. ब्लॉग का नामकरण "अन्डरत्रायल" (विचाराधीन) किया जाता है.

November 2 2006:
Hindi makes its first appearance on this blog albeit in a fairly rudimentary form: Hindi posts such as this one are painstakingly composed on Adobe, then converted and published as .jpg images. The outcome is simply not worth the effort as readers have to click on each image to enlarge it in order to make the text readable.

हिंदी की इब्तदा ब्लॉग पर होती है, यद्यपि बेहद मौलिक रूप में: अडोब पर लिखे पोस्ट को .jpg में परिवर्तित करके प्रकाशित किया जाता है; पाठकों को अक्षरों को पढ़ने के लिए अलग-अलग चित्रों पर बार-बार क्लिक करना पड़ता है, जैसे कि इस पोस्ट में. इसलिए महनत के अनुसार फल नहीं मिल पाता.


January 12 2007:
A video of me delivering my first Chhattisgarhi speech is posted. This is the first Chhattisgarhi video on the internet of its kind.

मेरे छत्तीसगढ़ी बोली में दिए गए पहले भाषण के वीडियो को पोस्ट किया जाता है. अपनी तरह का यह इन्टरनेट पर पहला छत्तीसगढ़ी वीडियो है.


April 31-May 1 2007:
During my month-long incarceration, Dr. Saibel Farishta posts on this blog under the nom de plume, Tiger. This is the only time when this blog has two authors. Shortly after my acquittal, the "Tiger Posts" are lost forever when Saibel accidentally (?) deletes them.

इस एक महने जब मैं अचानक फिर जेल में रहा, तब डॉक्टर सैबल फ़रिश्ता इस ब्लॉग पर "टायगर" के नाम से पोस्ट करना जारी रखते हैं. केवल यही समय है जब ब्लॉग के दो लेखक रहते हैं. मेरे बरी होने के कुछ ही समय बाद, सभी "टायगर पोस्ट" हमेशा-हमेशा के लिए तब नष्ट हो जाते है जब सैबल उन्हें गलती से (?) मिटा देते हैं.

October 1 2007:
The first full Hindi post is published using Google Transliterate. The occasion is Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.

सम्पूर्ण रूप से हिंदी की पोस्ट का पहला प्रकाशन होता है, गूगल Transliterate के कारण. अवसर गाँधी जयंती का है.

FIRST RENAISSANCE (2007-08) पहला पुनर्जन्म

December 2 2007:
After my acquittal in May 2007, the title of this blog, Undertrial, loses its meaning. Consequently, the blog is renamed ½FREEDOMS! After a month-long readers-poll, it is given a new look to make room for a variety of new gizmos, which had begun to clutter the lone sidebar: the standard two-column template is replaced with a three-column template by tweaking with Blogger's HTML code. Also, the main color scheme is changed from white-on-black to black-on-white to make the often-lengthy text less stressful to the eyes; and instead of complete texts of each post appearing on the main page, only excerpts are posted with a friendly 'Read More' link.

मई २००७ में मेरे बरी होने के बाद इस ब्लॉग का शीर्षक अपना अर्थ खो बैठता है. "विचाराधीन" की जगह अब इसका नाम "आधी आज़ादियाँ" कर दिया जाता है; साथ ही इसे नई शक्ल भी दी जाती है: नए-नए उपकरणों के लिए जगह बनाने के लिए ब्लोगर के टेम्पलेट के साथ छेड़खानी करके एक के बजाय दो साइडबार निर्मित किये जातें हैं; काले पर सफ़ेद की जगह सफ़ेद पर काले कलर स्कीम को रखा जाता है, ताकि लम्बे पोस्ट पढ़ते हुए पाठकों की आँखों पर जोर न पड़े; और मुख्य पन्ने पर "आगे और पढ़ें" लिंक के साथ केवल पोस्ट के कुछ अंश न की पूरे पोस्ट प्रस्तुत किये जाते हैं.

July 16 2007:
A Disclaimer is posted at the end of the main page. Among other things, it announces this blog's re-commitment to continue with its zero-censorship policy; and forbids publication of its contents without the author's prior consent. The latter part, as is evident from this and other posts, is rarely respected.

ब्लॉग नीति की सूचना ब्लॉग पर मुख्य पृष्ट के अंत में दी जाती है: इसमें ब्लॉग में शुरू से चली आ रही जीरो सेंसरशिप नीति को औपचारिक रूप से घोषित किया जाता है, साथ ही बिना लेखक की पूर्व अनुमति के इसके अंशों के प्रकाशन पर प्रतिबन्ध भी लगाया जाता है. हालांकि इस दुसरे पहलू का कोई गंभीरता से पालन नहीं करता, जैसा कि इस पोस्ट से स्पष्ट हो जाता है.




SECOND RENAISSANCE (2009) दूसरा पुनर्जन्म

January 21 2009:
A separate Hindi blog on the politics of Chhattisgarh, छ्त्तीसगढ़िया सबले बढ़िया!, is started.

छत्तीसगढ़ की राजनीति पर हिंदी में एक अलग ब्लॉग, छ्त्तीसगढ़िया सबले बढ़िया!, की स्थापना होती है.


February 13 2009:
Following an Indian Express feature on this blog, in which it was mistakenly referred to as ½FREEDOM!, the name of the blog is changed for a second time to correspond to that error. The 's' is dropped from its name. The reason: although there are several kinds of freedoms, I realize that both its presence and absence are experienced as a unified whole.

इंडियन एक्सप्रेस में इस ब्लॉग के बारे में एक खबर, जिसमें इसका नाम गलती से आधी आज़ादी लिख दिया जाता है, के प्रकाशन के बाद उस गलती को ठीक साबित करने के लिए इसका दूसरा नामकरण होता है: 'याँ' को हटा दिया जाता है. कारण: हालांकि आज़ादी के कई प्रकार होते हैं, पर जब उसे और उसके अभाव, दोनों को महसूस किया जाता है, तो मुझे अहसास हुआ की वो सब एक ही लगते हैं.


March 1 2009:
Google's Friends Connect feature is added, making it possible for me to keep in touch with my friends- and critics- over this blog.

गूगल के फ्रेंड्स कनेक्ट उपकरण का ब्लॉग पर आगमन होता है, इस उम्मीद के साथ कि सखा और समालोचक, दोनों अब ब्लॉग के जरिए मेरे, और एक दुसरे के भी, संपर्क में बने रहेंगे.

March 5 2009:
½FREEDOM! finally makes its second rebirth with a new minimalist look. Only the bare essentials are retained in the two sidebars; the rest of the features appear as links in the header. Also, it becomes more Hindi-friendly.

ब्लॉग के दुसरे पुनर्जन्म की कड़ी समाप्त होती है, एक न्यूनतम शक्ल के साथ. सिर्फ बेहद जरूरी उपकरणों को ही साइडबार में बकाया रखा जाता है; बाकी सब हेडर में लिंक के रूप में दिखाई देते हैं. साथ ही, इसे और अधिक हिन्दी के अनुकूल बनाया जाता है.


(हिंदी में अनुवादित ये संक्षिप्त इतिहास इस बात का गवाह है!)
Read More (आगे और पढ़ें)......

NOTICE: A Village is My World

Anyone who hopes to do any good for this nation, and has not lived in- I mean, really lived as opposed to merely visited- villages, is a hypocrite: I too am one. How dare could I presume to speak of things I have not myself experienced; for a people whose pain I have not myself felt? All my notions of rural empowerment are, therefore, hollow: in the end, they amount to nothing. Indeed, not having lived in a village is my single biggest handicap.

The Mahatma is right even today: India does live in her villages; but more to the point, she also dies in them. Everyday. The reason, in my opinion, is this: the world occupied by India’s decision-makers isn’t quite the same as the one in which those they decide for live. Even worse, there is absolutely no 'dialogue' between these two worlds; it seems the one doesn't know of- or atleast, is quite content to ignore- the other's existence.

I saw this other world- the world that lies beyond conference halls and powerpoint presentations- during the one year I was jailed; I lived in it, and witnessed life, naked and raw, bereft of color, in black & white. But that is not enough. It can never be.

For the next thirty days, I intend, therefore, to live in a village. Not as an Observer, mind you, but as a full and active Participant of village-life: much like my forefathers. Hopefully, I will begin to learn something about who I am; about the lifeblood that runs in my veins and connects me- binds me- not only to my venerable ancestors but also to the more than twenty-million people who dwell in Chhattisgarh.

It’s sowing season now. A time, aptly, for new beginnings.



AJ Read More (आगे और पढ़ें)......

HAPPY 2007!

I return, my dear Reader, after a month-full of absences to pen a belated wintry tribute to the year gone by: 2006, my Annus Mirabilis. For truly, a lot of wonderful things happened: I got bail; Mummy got elected to the Assembly from Kota by an unprecedentedly huge margin; the High Court finally sorted out Papa’s caste-case. And somewhere along the way, I fell desperately and hopelessly in Love. By most estimates, the Tide has begun to turn: our devoted and ever-observant Bai, very recently, confided to my mother thus: “the sheer quantity of dry-fruit and mithai (sweetmeat) gift-packets this holiday-season far outnumbers those we use to get when sahab (my father) was chief minister.” That- “the gift-packets barometer”- incidentally remains by far, the single most definitive instrument for measurement of a person’s social position in contemporary India that I’ve come across.

For what it’s worth, I wasn’t too busy being happy: admittedly, the explanation for my procrastinated absences (notice: the plural) from this Page- Blog- is much more simple: let’s call it WRITER’S BLOCK. Ever since Kota, I’ve been meaning to write something- anything- but for some inexplicable reason(s)- post-electoral fatigue; exuberance at unexpected victory; the fact that I now make speeches in Chhattisgarhi, the language of my forefathers; travelling to villages simmering with a variety of discontents; a heart caught in the throes of unrequited L?- Words, those constant companions-cum-therapists ever-ready to soothe my ailing, aching Soul, just failed to come to me. And when they did, I didn’t quite know how to hold them together, in phrases, sentences, article, dispatches, so that they might make sense. Thankfully, that sort of thing happens very rarely in my life.

Now that “AJ is back”, you can expect to hear a lot more from me through these pages. Till then, here’s wishing all of you a Splendid New Year.

AJ Read More (आगे और पढ़ें)......

Notice: The Friedrich August Von Hayek Society

The Friedrich August Von Hayek Society (FAVHS) is a recently launched community on Orkut for those "Libertarians" influenced by the ideas of the Austrian thinker Friedrich August Von Hayek, and how they can be applied to shape the common and separate destinies of the world, particularly nations of the so-called Third World; and who share a critical belief in:
'FREEMARKET' (Ending of all existing trade-related, ideological and political 'hegemonies' in both national and international regimes);
MINIMUM GOVERNMENT (Role of Government confined chiefly to the preservation of Peace necessary for the functioning of Freemarket);
WELFARE AS COLLECTIVE RATHER THAN STATE RESPONSIBILITY (Increasing role of non-state actors in the creation and management of welfare-agencies);
ANTI-TOTALITARIANISM (The Protection and furtherance of the Individual's Right to Expression);
RECOGNITION OF MORAL STANDARDS IN INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE LIFE (To check the descent into Immorality on the false pretext of 'liberalism');
DESIREABILITY OF THE RULE OF LAW (Establishing Safeguards against Arbitrariness, particularly state-arbitrariness).

To join, click here.

AJ Read More (आगे और पढ़ें)......