From: bimal pandia <bimalpandia@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: {KBK OTable} CMAS Firing detail report
To: kbkroundtable@googlegroups.com, rajeshpatilias@gmail.com,
1100kishore@gmail.com, agragamee@sify.com, umi.daniel@gmail.com,
deepak3818@rediffmail.com
Dear Mr Patil and Umi,
Good morning and regards !
It is really very heartening to get a healthy response/reaction from a
young IAS officer who is serving in a very disturbing administrative
zone and trying to break the impasse of mistrust and intolerance. This
type of conversation will hopefully continue in the future and set a
precedent for healthier community-CSO-administration interaction.
While both Mr. Patil and Umi are right on their versions of democratic
violation, considering their perceptions and obvious biases, it
deviates from the present debate pertaining to the police firing at
Narayanpatna. While Mr. Patil can criticize the fact finding report,
done by Sharanya and Co., for their 'prejudice and other extraneous
motives', was the administration acting without such addicts? In fact,
until the report by Sharanya and Co. most people staying far from this
epic centre, were made to believe that all culpability for forcing the
police to open fire on the mob entirely lay on the CMAS agitators.
This happened because the other reports, too, had their prejudices and
extraneous motives.
Coming to democracy – both of you give different reasons and periods
for why and when democracy came to its worst. Both reasoning seem
just. But if any incidence justifies the term 'democracy at its worst'
then will there be any doubt that the Narayanpatna firing incidence
was one such case? Here all circumstantial and direct evidences
question/raise suspicion on the police version of what led them to
open fire. Here majority of administrative reaction seemed Hitlarian
in nature. If the other side can be accused of shedding civility, did
the administration (police) acted any differently?
Having said all this, the administration must be hailed for making
belated efforts in bringing back normalcy. If officers start hearing
dissenting opinions, then the administration will be more successful
in making inroads towards peace and justice. I thus congratulate Mr.
Patil for participating in this debate which I hope will be taken
further to planning and action. What Achyut bhai, Umi, Sharanya and
others are doing is commendable because they are attempting to make
the administration believe that their version is not totally correct
and thus rectify their mistakes.
I hope this healthy debate will improve delivery of administration in
the KBK region. Let the KBK get best of officers, CSO/NGO activists,
Journalists and concerned citizens to bring it out of the infamies and
rising civil war type of situations.
Thank you.
With regards
Bimal Prasad Pandia
9438488563
============================
On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 8:43 AM, Umi Daniel <umi.daniel@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear friends,
>
> This is pertaining to the fact finding report posted by Sharanya and we have received the response from subcollector of Koraput who has expressed his own views. let us welcome such posting from people in administrtion and continue our discussion.
>
> please go through the mails below which is self explantaory.
>
> Regards
>
> Daniel
>
> ===================
> Umi Daniel
> MiRC, Migration information & Resources Centre
> 3, Subhadra Enclave
> Jagamara, Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar
> Tel: 0674 6570455
> Mob: 9937019196
>
> visit my blog: http://orissamigration.blogspot.com/
> =============
> fromUmi Daniel <umi.daniel@gmail.com>
> torajeshpatilias@gmail.com
>
> cc1100kishore@gmail.com,
> agragamee@sify.com,
> deepak3818@rediffmail.com,
> bidyut Mohanty <bidyut.mohanty@gmail.com>,
> Sharanya Nayak <sharanya.nayak@gmail.com>
>
> dateTue, Dec 1, 2009 at 9:18 PM
> subjectRe: [OREGS Watch] Fw: {KBK OTable} CMAS Firing detail report
> mailed-bygmail.com
>
> Dec 1 (1 day ago)
>
> Hello Rajesh,
> Thank you very much for expressing your frank and open views which I feel has the ingredient of both official and personal opinions. Unfortunately, your posting couldn't be delivered to the kbkroundtable members since you are not the member of the group. However the mail reached to me which was addressed to Sharanya and copied to others along with bidyut and Agragamee.
> Would it be OK if I post your mail to the KBK roundtable? Please confirm so that the conversation reaches out to more members.
> Rajesh, I appreciate your views in which you have responded to the matter related fact finding posted by Sharanya. I have found very few bureaucrats who go beyond their official line and interact with people. Please keep this up until your seniors ask you to abstain from such interaction.
> I fully agree with you that the fact finding has certain limitation which may be contested and argued from a diverse position and perspective. And each passing day, there is always inquisitiveness from every quarter to learn the truth.
> In reply to your statement, the one I am referring is pertaining to the issue of tribal snatching way the gun and firing 22 rounds. Let us examine this, the firearm used by IRB must be a sophisticated one and probably a self loading assault rifle. During an open shootout situation (the situation in the firing zone must be like a combat zone in Narayanapatna) a tribal is snatching a rifle (may be AK47 or some modern self feeding rifle) unlocks it, takes safe position and fires indiscriminately. Where the bullets have gone?? Who was the target... 22 rounds fired, not a single bullet hit anyone?? Two rifle, 22 rounds of gunshots and then the person escapes unhurt and unnoticed by the police? And now please don't tell me that the two people who were killed were the one holding the gun and fired 22 (11rounds each) rounds?? In India the police got a terrible history of planting such stories and all such stories were proved futile. The genuineness of the story from Narayanapatna will also be brought to the limelight oneday.
> Secondly where the injured have gone? In a war situation even the POWs are entitled to the best of medical care, but the poor tribal who were being shot were allowed to fend for themselves without any attention to their medical need. You say a medical van is waiting in Narayanapatna to treat the victims. Then why the people are not reporting? What is preventing them to save their precious life?
> I don't think the democracy was worst since last 5 months in Naryanapatna because of the tribal demanding their basic rights. On the contrary, people of these area, since ages have been undemocratically ruled, miss-governed by the administration and exploited by our own society, and institutions. Moreover, the administration which is considered to be more powerful, privileged and authoritative has failed in responding to peoples fundamental issues and went on implementing certain populist government schemes which too has never yielded significant results.
> I must congratulate you and your team in Narayanapatna for your excellent effort in streamlining certain work related to NREGA, provision of forest land and transfer of land back to tribal. However, please compare the two and half month achievement indicators in Narayanapatna with some of your other blocks like Dasmanthpur, Semiliguda, Lamtaput and you will find out the variation. Why the same vigor and obligation is not demonstrated in similar tribal blocks. The answer is simple; there is no any pressure either from below or top on the administration the way you have been experiencing in Naranyanapatna.
> You are absolutely right, the effort from NGOs are not visible or effective. However, like the BDO who is putting his best of effort in Narayanapatna and considered the best in KBK, there are some good civil society organizations doing meaningful work in their own field. We simply can't ruleout the role of civil society in strengthening development, human rights and democracy.
> My former colleague and senior in ActionAid Mr. Harsh Mander used to opine that, the administration often tend to get suspicious and defensive at a juncture when the institutions to whom they represent indulge in conflict with poor and marginalized people who seek justice. There are people in the administration who in the past have demonstrated high value and transparency in their work and stood firm for the cause of people to whom they serve. I have enough faith in the administration and people like you who can transform the situation. I am a great admirer of the present collector of Koraput who is considered as people's collector because of his low key, down to earth attitude, honest and knowledge about the local issues. I am sure under his leadership things will certainly change.
> I will look forward to your response.
> Regards
> Daniel
> -----------------------------------------------------
> From: rajesh patil [mailto:rajeshpatilias@gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 11:14 PM
> To: Sharanya Nayak
> Cc: 1100kishore@gmail.com; agragamee@sify.com; bidyut Mohanty; umi.daniel@gmail.com; kbkroundtable@googlegroups.com; deepak3818@rediffmail.com; soojata mishra
> Subject: Re: [OREGS Watch] Fw: {KBK OTable} CMAS Firing detail report
>
>
> Hello sharanya,
> First of all I will congratulate you and your team for your daring visit to Narayanpatna and preparing a fact finding report "'Democracy' at its worst !" . The findings of the report are really shocking and one can very easily get convinced that it must be situation like Somalia or Sudan if he has no knowledge about the history of the problem and the prevailing situation in Narayanpatna.
> You have very conveniently ignored all other dimensions of the problem and generalized the report basing on the firing incident. First of all your report is factually incorrect and one sided. It generally happens if one looks at the issues with prejudice and has other extraneous motives. Had you interacted with all the parties like the agitators, police and the native of Narayanpatna who might have witnessed the incident you could have been more objective and you report could have been more meaningful. Whole narration about the incident of firing is not exactly correct police used 82 rounds which includes 24 rounds fired from the two weapons snatched whereas you have mentioned 300 rounds without any cross checking, only IRB men fired Cobra and CRPF were not in the picture, they were carrying bow, arrow, Khanda, axe but you mentions that they were not carrying any arms. Collector Koraput reached the firing spot first who was accompanied by Nihar Ranjan Pattnaik and not the way you have mentioned.
> Madam, the Democracy was at its worst not from the firing incidence but from last five months when CMAS forget where the line between the agitation and violence ends. While demanding for their rights they were taught to forget the same entitled to others on whom they perpetrated the violence in most barbaric way. These five months saw five murders one gang rape which is not even reported, total destruction of 410 houses of SC, general and tribals who denied to join CMAS, looting and eating of over 2000 cattle, goats. Last 15 days saw looting of over 20 motorcycles, two commanders and one tractor. Over four thousand people were bitten and driven away from their homes in the name of exploiters and outsiders many of whom live at five refugee camps in Koraput, two in Laxmipur. It will surprise you that 20% of these people are tribals. They are undergoing through severe mental depression and trauma some of these people have became mentally ill. Anyone can visit them and see whether they are exploiters and having flats in Bhubaneswar or Vizak. No fact finding team could dare to come forward to understand their plight. Many of these people may be shivering in the 5 degree cold of Koraput when we all are sleeping comfortably. Is the democracy has any meaning for these people? We can't have best of both the worlds. We can't pick and choose when it comes to the rights and duties in the democracy.
> Who is responsible for this all? We all so called activist, rightist , leftist, NGO, civil society of course politicians use the tribals. Use them in whatever situation they are. All the communist guys who were guiding them all along are nowhere to be seen. They have very conveniently escaped from the place leaving the tribals in mess. We use them whatever way we like. Some people make career writing about them in the manner in which it becomes readable and attractive, some others work for them making career and earning money and accolades for it. In the name of helping tribals we do more harm to them. We all move ahead but they are where they were some 40 years back.
> You say you work in the Kumbhari Panchayat of Narayanpatna but you have not mentioned that some of the tribals in that Panchayat doesn't make brooms but deadly bombs.i shall not touch this subject but there is need for looking at the issue in totality. Since you have already branded the govt machinery as "Government officials …???? Less said the better it is" shows your ignorance about the work being done there. The BDO and Tahsildar of Narayanpatna are probably the best in the KBK area. The PDS, AWC are all running smoothly all the teachers who are posted in that area are regular in their work. Only in the last month when the situation was getting better the BDO could spend over 20 lacks in NREGA which is probably highest for any KBK block. Forest Right Pattas are ready for 1300 people in Narayanpatna alone and their 2000 applications are under processing stage. Lands have been reverted from non-tribals to tribals in over 100 cases within a span of two and half months. I will suggest you to spare some time and talk to the RIs, BDO, Tahsildar ask why they are working there and not in cuttack or Khorda district. The non govt people who are suppose to be working for land issues of the tribals in Koraput have no time to have any communication with the authorities and supplement their efforts and the vocal legal fraternity has no time to look into the cases whereby large scale stays are being granted by HC to the reverted cases. Probably, I have digressed to much, anyway we all are use to pay leap service to the tribals so I am not exception!
>
> For the kind information the combing for arrest was done for two days only to nab some leaders of CMAS against whom very serious cases are pending, use of large force was warranted because there was possibility of counter attack. The force is already barracked since last two days and mobile van is stationed at Narayanpatna to treat the injured. Let's not work in different directions when the goal is same.
>
> Rajesh Patil,IAS
> Sub-Collector, Koraput
> 9437574892
>
> --
>
>
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "KBK O TABLE, citizen's collective for a better and different
KBK" group.
To post to this group, send email to kbkroundtable@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
kbkroundtable+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.co.in/group/kbkroundtable?hl=en-GB
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
--
Ch.Santakar
Pujariput
Koraput-764020
Orissa
Mob:09437192553
e-mail:santakar@gmail.com
web:www.koraputonline.com
