This article on Binayak Sen by NT Ravindranath (He is a retired Intelligence bureau (IB) officer) should alert millions of Indians about modus operandi of such organizations and activists.
SC’s logic while giving bail to Binayak sen, that possessing Naxal material is not a proof that he or she advocates that ideology is beyond comprehension. Binayak sen did not only possess such material but was a medium used to exchange letters between a deadly dangerous wanted Naxal leader and Naxal supporter.
Naxal agenda is open and transparent. Naxals and Maoists are butchering our security forces and innocent tribals. To call it a Gandhian movement is height of intellectual bankruptcy and lunacy. Who so ever may be responsible for poor conditions in tribal areas, but this is not the way to solve that problem.
What is the ultimate aim of these so called intellectuals? They have an agenda to disintegrate this country into pieces.
How is that most of these NGOs are funded from overseas dubious or overt or covert Christian missionary organizations?
How is that most Magsaysay award winners become a sympathizers of Naxalism or separatist activities in India?
Recently a Pakistani ISI supported NGO in USA, championing the cause of Kashmiries has been exposed by FBI of USA. They have sponsored many Indian intellectuals like Kuldeep Nair, activist Gautam Navlakha, Rajindra Sacchar, Dilip Padgaonkar (ex editor TOI and J&K interlocutor) etc. to many seminars on Kashmir (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/padgaonkar-j&k-interlocutor-is-among-fais-many-guest-speakers/820304/).
At the end of such sessions in five star hotels, Kashmir’s right to self determination or secession used to be endorsed as consensus resolution. No dissent note by any of the Indian intellectuals attending these five star seminars was ever noted. They have been travelling business class, wining and dining in five star hotels, all funded by Pakistani ISI money to champion the cause of Kashmir.
Most of them at least say that they believe in non violence and simple living style of Gandhiji. They all believe in Socialism and oppose American policies but have no problem with such lavish travels and stays in five star hotels in USA, London or Geneva. They do not want to ask source of these massive funding. Only fools can believe such explanations.
First change the demography of the region, either throwing ethnic groups out or by conversion and then start the separatist movement.
This is the story in Kashmir, Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam now. Use human right, woman right, tribal right, cultural pluralism, Naxalism, Maoism and last but not the least minorityism and secularism to promote these activities.
Exaggerate actions of Security forces as excesses, add allegations of rapes, dilute or get scrapped all anti terrorist laws to shield these activists and their movements from Police and local Government actions. If you talk anything against this, you are branded as nationalist. It is not an accident that most of the National Advisory Council (NAC) members are Naxal sympathizers.
Recent Communal Violence Bill (http://nac.nic.in/pdf/pctvb_amended.pdf) proposed by NAC speaks volumes on the philosophical make up of members of NAC. If you utter a single word against this bill then you are branded as communal.
Every citizen of India belonging to any political party should take these issues seriously. If India remains united then only political parties and democracy will survive. Story of Binayak Sen is only the tip of the iceberg. Real intellectualism is to understand the nefarious designs of these self style intellectuals and their overt and covert supporters in print and electronic media, Government and political parties. This article is a step in that direction.
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Strange and dubious case of Dr. Binayak Sen
By N. T. Ravindranath
Thursday, 21 July 2011, 16:20
Dr. Binayak Sen, a "civil liberty" and "human rights activist", was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police on May 14, 2007 under the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005, (CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 on the charges of treason, sedition, criminal conspiracy, links with Maoists and acting as a courier for Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal.
Earlier on May 6th 2007, the Chhattisgarh police had arrested a Kolkata-based businessman Piyush Guha, a tendu leaves trader from Raipur following recovery of some letters written by jailed Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal from him. Guha’s confession about the involvement of Binayak Sen in passing on these letters to him had led to Sen’s arrest.
Dr. Binayak Sen, accompanied by his wife Ilina Sen, came to Raipur in the late eighties and worked among the tribals in the area promoting health care activities. He founded an NGO called ‘Rupantar’ that trained community health workers to work in villages. He was also a "noted civil rights activist" who reportedly had maintained close links with the Maoists in the area.
Dr. Sen was also in the forefront in launching a campaign against the “Salva Judum”, a people’s resistance movement against the Maoist activities in the area. Arrest of Binayak Sen in May 2007 had led to wide-spread protest programmes by civil society groups both within India and outside.
In December 2007, while Sen was lodged in jail, the Indian Academy of Social Sciences (IASS) declared Binayak Sen as the winner of RR Keithan Gold Medal for "his outstanding contribution to the advancement of science of Nature-Man-Society and his honest and sincere application for the improvement of quality of life of the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed people of Chhattisgarh”.
Binayak Sen was honoured with this award in absentia by Balachandra Mungekar, President of the Indian Academy of Social Sciences and Member of Planning Commission at the 31st Indian Social Science Congress held at SNDT university, Churchgate, Mumbai on 29 th December 2007. The UPA government obviously found nothing wrong in a dignitary like the Planning Commission Member honouring a jailed pro-Maoist leader at an official function.(http://www.freebinayaksen.org/?p=92).
Again in April, 2008, while Sen was still in jail, the Global Health Council nominated him as the winner of the 2008 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. Following the announcement of this award, 22 Nobel laureates had made an appeal to the government of India to allow Dr. Sen to travel to Washington DC to receive the 2008 Jonathan Mann award in person at the end of May 2008. (http://www.binayaksen.net/2008/05/nobel-winners-call-for-release-of-dr-binayak-sen/). After the rejection of this appeal, Sen’s wife Ilina Sen had received the said award.
All efforts by Sen to come out on bail remained unsuccessful for next two years. He was finally granted bail by the Supreme Court on May 25, 2009. On December 24, 2010, Civil rights activist Binayak Sen, Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and the Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha were found guilty of sedition by a Raipur court for helping the Maoists in their fight against the state. All the three were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Additional District and Sessions Judge of Raipur, B P Verma.
The civil society organizations conducted rallies in different cities in India and also in some cities in North America and the UK on 30th January, 2011, the day of Gandhi’s martyrdom , in protest against the life sentence awarded to Dr. Binayak Sen and seeking his immediate release from the jail. They also sought the abrogation of Chattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 and the alleged colonial era sedition law.
Protest demonstrations were also held in front of Indian consulates in New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Vancouver and London on that day. The civil rights groups which took a leading role in organizing the protest rallies in western countries on 30th January included rights groups like the Asian Law Alliance and the People’s Health Movement, anti-war groups like Answer Coalition and the Boston Mobilisation, women’s rights groups such as the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and students groups from Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley.
A coalition of 55 civil society groups from the US, the UK and Canada also launched an on-line signature campaign for a petition to be submitted to the President of India. (http://www.srai.org/global-online-campaign-for-binayaks-release/). The petition besides seeking the immediate release of Binayak Sen, also demanded the repeal of alleged draconian sedition laws and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and disbanding of civil militia such as the Salva Judum and the Maa Danteshwari Swabhiman Manch.
A group of 40 Nobel laureates from 12 countries had also send a joint petition to the Prime Minister of India expressing their astonishment and dismay at the unjust life sentence handed down to Dr.Binayak Sen and seeking his immediate release on bail. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/release-binayak-sen-nobel-laureates-tell-in/748006/).
Meanwhile the Chhattisgarh government had granted permission to an eight-member delegation from the European Union to watch the Chhattisgarh High Court’s hearing on rights activist Binayak Sen’s bail plea and appeal against his life sentence on 24th January, 2011.
Earlier the ministry of external affairs (MEA) had forwarded a request from the eight-member European delegation seeking permission to watch the court proceedings in Bilaspur on 24th January to the Chhattisgarh government. The Chhattisgarh government forwarded the request to the High Court, leaving it to the judiciary to take a decision. The Observer Mission included representatives from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden and the UK.
Binayak Sen’s plea for bail and suspension of the charges of sedition and links with Maoists slapped on him was however rejected by the Chhattisgarh High Court on February 10, 2011.
(http://www.deccanherald.com/content/131724/).
Binayak Sen granted bail
The Supreme Court which heard Dr. Binayak Sen’s bail plea on April 15, 2011, however rejected the sedition charges against him as baseless. (http://in.news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-grants-bail-binayak-sen-20110414-235458-452.html). The Bench pointed out that mere possession of Maoist literature did not make a person Maoist. But Sen had carried not only Maoist literature but also letters written by jailed Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal which were meant to be passed on to other Maoist leaders through Piyush Guha.
Maoist leader and politburo member Narayan Sanyal, who is undergoing imprisonment in Chattisgarh jail, is not an ordinary leader. He had led the Naxalbari uprising in 1967 along with late Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal. He is thus a living legend for the Maoists in the country. During his more than 40 years association with various naxal outfits, he has committed innumerable offences including murders. Binayak Sen had maintained very close relations with Narayan Sanyal and frequently visited him in the jail. Between May 26, 2006 and June 30, 2007, Dr.Sen had met Sanyal 33 times and served as his courier for passing on seditious letters written by Sanyal to other comrades through Piyush Guha, a tendu leaf trader.
Sen’s Maoist links
Dr. Binayak Sen is the all India Vice President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a civil society group. Originally known as the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights (PUCLDR), it was founded by veteran sarvodaya leader Jayprakash Narayan in 1976 as a non-political platform for all the political parties to come together for the defence of civil liberties and human rights.
The organization was re-christened as the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in 1980 and senior lawyer V.M. Tarkunde was elected as its first President. Over the years it has however lost its image as an independent civil liberty organization because of its increasingly pro-naxal leanings. Presently it is functioning like an over-ground front of the CPI-Maoist outfit (http://naxalwatch.blogspot.com/2010/05/pro-maoist-groups-under-close-watch-of.html)
Like other civil society groups, the PUCL also supports various militant movements in the country like Islamic terrorists, Kashmiri separatists, LTTE, United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and North East insurgents. Binayak Sen is thus a supporter of not only the Maoist movement, but all the militant and secessionist movements in India. (http://www.pucl.org/bulletins/2011/PUCLmar11.pdf).
Binayak Sen has also been a staunch opponent of the “Salva Judum”, which is a people’s resistance movement against the Maoist menace. Besides extorting money from the tribals in the area, the Maoists were also asking every tribal family to spare at-least one member, either a boy or a girl, to join the Maoist movement. Children of those who resisted the Maoist diktat were kidnapped and forcibly made to join the Maoist cadre. Many of those who dared to oppose the extortion and kidnapping were brutally killed.
It was under the backdrop of such Maoist atrocities that the Salva Judum was formed. It was supported by all political parties, including the congress and BJP. It is true that that the state government also supported the Salva Judum, as it was complementing the government efforts to curb the Maoist influence in the area. However the Maoists and the civil society groups like the PUCL opposed the Salva Judum movement vehemently and they also accused the state government of encouraging fratricidal killings among the Adivasis of the area by supporting the Salva Judum.
The civil society groups also managed to use their tremendous influence among the legal fraternity to impose a lot of restrictions on the functioning of the Salva Judum. In a great set back to all anti-Maoist campaigns, the Salva Judum and funding of Special Police Officers (SPOs) has finally been banned by the Supreme Court as per its judgment on 4th July, 2011. (http://statetimes.in/news/index.php/2011/07/06/supreme-court-bans-use-of-tribals-in-salwa-judum/).
Binayak Sen was in the forefront in organizing the anti-Salva Judum campaign in Chhattisgarh, clearly showing his pro-Maoist leanings. (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_binayak-sen-s-opposition-to-salwa-judum-made-him-target-wife_1489319).
According to the charge sheet filed by the Chhattisgarh police against Binayak Sen, the police had conducted a thorough search of Binayak Sen’s residence after his arrest and had seized many incriminating documents, mainly from his personal computer. (http://www.pucl.org/bulletins/2011/PUCLmar11.pdf).
However the police could not find any medical examination room, patient examination table, stethoscope, medicines, B.P.kit and patient treatment register. The charge sheet further alleges that though he calls himself a children’s doctor, there was no evidence of his having treated any child. The police hence came to the conclusion that he was a doctor only in name as treatment of patients was non-existent.
As per the documents seized from Piyush Guha and also from Sen’s residence, Narayan Sanyal is a permanent member of the polit bureau. He was also given the responsibility for strengthening the organization in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Documents seized also revealed that the Andhra Pradesh government, as per its order GOMS No.151, dated 25-03-2006, had announced a reward of Rs.12 lakh for any information on Narayan Sanyal, prior to his arrest.
The PC seized from Binayak Sen contained copies of government notification number F 4-101/ Griha C/07 of Home Department, Govt. of Chhattigarh, granting extension to the ban order on CPI-Maoist and six of its front organizations for one year from April 11, 2008 and Maoist analysis reports on women’s status, jal-jungle-zamin hamara hai campaign and the people’s war, as per the charge sheet.
Crime No.75/06 was registered at Tikrapara P.S. in Chhattisgarh in 2006 when some Maoists threw pamphlets into the MLA rest house in Raipur threatening to blow up the building with all its inmates. The police later arrested K.S.Priya @ Malti in this regard and also seized pistols, grenades, laptops and naxal literature from her. Binayak Sen’s computer records showed that he was in contact with her since 1999.
Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya @ Prakash @ Raghu @ Shyam was arrested by the Patna police from Thana Buddhaji colony, Patna in September 2007 in connection with his naxal activities. The police had recovered anti-national literature, communication equipments, explosives, detonator, fuse-wire, gelatin, etc. from him. His wife Shoma Sen, who works as a lecturer in Nagpur is a PUCL activist. As per the records seized by the police from the PC of Binayak Sen, both Dr.Sen and his wife Ilina Sen were linked with the activities of Shoma Sen and her husband Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya.
Maoist leader Prafull Jha was arrested by DD Nagar police, Chhattisgarh, in connection with CR.No.14/2008, under Arms Act, Telegraphy Act, Special Public Security Act, UAPA and Explosives Act. The police had also seized a pistol, walkie-talkie and wireless sets from the bag of his companion K.S.Priya @ Malti. These items were recovered while being dispatched to some important naxal contacts. Malti has admitted that she is the wife of prominent naxal leader Gursa Usendi @ Vijay who lives in forest and engaged in naxal activities. Binayak Sen’s computer records showed that he was in direct contact with such dangerous naxal leaders.
The cell phone of accused Piyush Guha was seized by the police on 6-5-2007 following his arrest in connection with his suspected Maoist links. Further investigation by the police in this regard revealed that his cell number 9732449150 was actually issued to one Ajit Biswas and that Piyush used to change his SIM card from time to time to avoid getting caught and to keep his naxal identity secret.
Prior to his conviction on December 24, 2010, Binayak Sen was released on bail by the Supreme Court on 25,05.09.The very next day a tripper was damaged by the Maoists at village Gulum kondo, 200 metres from Bodra nala on the main road. The culprits also left behind some Maoist pamphlets expressing happiness at the release of Dr Bnayak Sen and calling for intensifying the movement for the release of all other jailed comrades as well. The pamphlets also proclaimed opposition to imperialism, capitalism, Tata, Essar and Raoghat projects and slogans such as ‘long live CPI (Maoist)’.
In the print out taken from Binayak Sen’s PC, there is mention of Vijay @ Gudsa Usendi of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti saying that the police and other officers are engaged in a dangerous and violent war against the people. There is also a mention of the need for establishing a janata sarkar through a people’s war.
In print book No.15, on page 259 there is a copy of a letter written by Sen’s wife Ilina Sen, as given under.
Dear comrade,
I have recd comrade Kusumlatha’s letter. It is unfortunately not possible for me to attend the drafting committee meeting on March 26 at Mumbai. Contd.
Please stay in touch re further development in this regard.
Ilina Sen
As per the documents taken from Sen’s CPU, he sometimes calls himself Maha Sachiv, Project Director, General Secretary or State Convener. It is also found that many hardcore Maoist leaders like Amitab Shrivastav, Shankar Singh, Prafull Jha, Ganashyam and Malti were associated with the NGO ‘Rupantar’ in the past. The life sentence given to Binayak Sen may be disproportionate to his actual crime. But there is enough evidence to conclude the involvement of both Binayak Sen and Ilina Sen in Maoist activities and the NGO Rupantar as a Maoist front.
Campaign by western agencies to give an image boost to Binayak Sen
Before his arrest in May, 2007 in connection with his Maoist links, Binayak Sen was hardly known to anybody outside Chhattisgarh. But after his arrest, there were protest demonstrations organized by civil society groups in different parts of the country and even in some cities outside the country.
The declaration of Binayak Sen as the winner of R.R.Keithan Gold Medal by the Indian Academy of Social Sciences in December, 2007 and the Global Health Council’s announcement of Jonathan Mann Award for him in 2008, both while he was still held in jail, and the subsequent campaign by 22 Nobel laureates for Sen’s release to enable him to go to Washington to receive the Jonathan Mann award, were all well-orchestrated moves by the civil society groups and some government agencies in India to give a big image boost to Binayak Sen.
The wide-spread protest programmes by civil society groups in many West-European cities after Binayak Sen was sentenced to life on December 24, 2010 in connection with the sedition charges slapped on him, and the on-line protest campaign by 40 Nobel laureates demanding Sen’s immediate release were also part of a well-planned strategy to project him as an international celebrity.
It was thus the civil society groups, both within India and outside, which played a prominent role in transforming a non-entity like Binayak Sen into an international celebrity within a short span of time. By condemning and maligning the Indian courts and mustering the support of so many Nobel laureates for the campaign to press for the early release of Binayak Sen, the civil society groups in the western countries showed blatant disregard for Indian justice system, besides being guilty of gross interference in India’s internal affairs.
Why should so many Nobel laureates come together and launch a campaign for the release of an ordinary civil rights activist of India? Clearly some western agencies involved in promoting Maoism in India had played a key role in presenting a jailed Maoist doctor as a respectable international celebrity. The episode also demonstrates the eternal subservience of the Nobel laureates to the American and Norwegian political leadership. The Indian civil society groups also marveled in projecting how flawed is the system of dispensation of justice in India. It also showed how international awards can be manipulated to bestow instant stardom on any person.
The Indian government was also guilty of not only allowing a jailed Maoist leader like Binayak Sen to win a prestigious award, but allowing a Planning Commission Member to honour him ‘in absentia’ at a public function. The whole episode was a vulgar display of manipulative politics designed to project Binayak Sen as a celebrity doctor who selflessly worked among the tribals and was unjustly branded as Maoist and jailed because of our flawed justice system.
It was rather strange and funny to see an eight-member team of observers coming from the European Union to watch the proceedings at the Chhattisgarh High Court to see for themselves how the Indian court was dealing with Binayak Sen’s bail application, as though he was such a big international celebrity.
Sen’s new assignment with the Planning Commission
Within weeks of getting bail from the Supreme Court in connection with the charges of sedition, Binayak Sen was appointed by the UPA government as a member of Planning Commission’s Steering Committee on Health, which will advice the panel on the Twelfth Five Year Plan. The Centre apparently found nothing wrong or improper in appointing a life convict on bail as a health advisor under the Planning Commission.
A few days after the Planning Commission endorsed an advisory role for Dr.Binayak Sen, a study conducted at the UK’s Cambridge University termed his arrest as symptomatic of the problems faced by tribals in India. The study, funded by UK Economic and Social Research Council, criticized India for continuing with the sedition laws introduced by the British in 1870. It said that the tribals who first suffered at the hands of the British, continue to be the victims of exploitation, now by the Indian state and big business. The paper titled “Understanding the conviction of Binayak Sen” is coauthored by Lawrence King and Jonathan Kennedy. Western scholars continue to drum up support for Binayak Sen through such studies, etc. at regular intervals
UPA government’s support for Maoist and other militant movement
The UPA government’s over-enthusiasm in holding peace talks with Maoists, ULFA militants and Pakistan and its opposition to all tough anti-terror laws clearly indicated that the government wanted to follow a soft on terror policy. The spurt in jihadi terror and Maoist violence was the direct result of this soft on terror policy of the government. Allowing a jailed pro-Maoist leader like Binayak Sen to be felicitated at an official function with a prestigious award and later when released on bail, his appointment as a member of Planning Commission’s steering committee on health, showed the UPA government’s arrogant display of support for Maoism.
The UPA government's sympathetic approach to naxal movement had resulted in the sabotage of a major anti-naxalite operation in Andhra Pradesh in 2005. About 30 top leaders of the CPI-(Maoist) including State Secretary Ramakrishna and some top leaders from Chattisgarh and Bihar who were holding a secret meeting deep inside the Nallamala jungles in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh were encircled by special anti-naxalite Grey Hound Commandos on February 3 2005.
However the said operation had to be called off at the last minute because of an emergency directive from the Centre seeking an immediate halt to the operation so as to pave the way for a congenial atmosphere for peace talks with Maoists. If there was no such intervention from the Centre, the police commandos could have gone ahead with their operation and captured or killed all those top Maoist leaders which would have broken the backbone of the Maoist movement in the country.
The Manmohan Singh-led UPA government should be held accountable for all the subsequent Maoist violence and killings in the state. (http://naxalwatch.blogspot.com/2005/02/greyhounds-trap-notorious-ramakrishna.html)
It was only to get some sort of legitimacy to the UPA Government’s pro-Maoist stance that the Planning Commission under the UPA government had set up an expert committee in 2006 to make a detailed study about the Maoist problem and recommend necessary measures to tackle the same.
The 16-member expert committee consisting mainly of pro-Maoist civil society activists and former bureaucrats headed by D. Bandopadhyay, a retired IAS officer, submitted its report in April, 2008. The report described the Maoist problem as a socio-economic one and said that it should be tackled with sympathy and understanding and not with force.
On the other hand, the report was highly critical of the “Salva Judum” movement of Chattisgarh, and wanted a ban on it, despite the fact that Salva Judum was only an all-party people’s resistance movement formed in desperation by the villagers to defend themselves against the Maoist violence.
But the expert committee gave a clean chit to the Maoist movement, and sought a total ban on “Salva Judum”. Only two members in the expert committee, both former police officers, had expressed their dissenting voice against the conclusion of the committee. (http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/publications/rep_dce.pdf).
The UPA government accepted the expert committee report on Maoism and now formally considers the Maoist movement as a socio-economic problem. The government also gave Rs.25 crore each as special development assistance to sixty Maoist-affected districts for poverty alleviation programmes in 2010, which has now been raised to Rs.30 crore for the current year. (http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/60-maoist-hit-districts-to-get-rs30-crore-each_100508267.html)
As suggested by the expert committee, the government wants to adopt a conciliatory attitude towards the Maoists. Meanwhile there has been an unprecedented rise in Maoist violence in the country, especially in states like Chattisgarh and Orissa since last two years. In an ambush carried out by the Maoists in Rajnandagaon district of Chattisgarh, 30 policemen, including a superintendent of police, were massacred on June 12, 2009.
In another brutal ambush staged at Dantewada of Chattisgarh , 76 CRPF men ie almost one company of CRPF was wiped out on April 6, 2010. (http://www.aajkikhabar.com/en/news/672984/672984.html). In yet another ambush carried out by the Maoists in Narayanpur district of Chattisgarh, 26 CRPF men were killed on June 30, 2010. (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/maoist-attack-crpf-party-in-chhattisgarh-26-jawans-killed-34642).
While such killings continued at regular intervals in Maoist-infested areas, the government was still engaged in an academic debate over whether tough measures were really needed to curb the Maoist menace. The government was clearly divided over the issue with the National Advisory Committee members still advocating caution and patience. Thus while the government refuses to take a firm stand against the Maoists, the massacre of civilians and security personnel continues unabated.
Comments
There is nothing unusual about UPA government’s sympathy for Maoism. Pro- Maoist leader Dr. Binayak Sen is a prominent leader of the civil society. Sonia Gandhi, who has filled up her National Advisory Council (NAC) with civil society activists and supporters is the chief patron of the civil society activists. The UPA government, influenced by the civil society, has always been sympathetic to not only the Maoist movement, but all militant movements in the country.
The first major decision of the UPA government after coming to power in 2004 was the abolition of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), a move welcomed by all terrorist and secessionist outfits in the country. (http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/sep/18spec1.htm).
Since then, the UPA government had been showing extra-ordinary interest in holding peace talks with Maoists, ULFA militants, Kashmiri militants and also with Pakistan. There had been about 30 major jihadi terror strikes in India since last five-six years, including the 2006 serial train blasts in Mumbai and 2008 Mumbai terror strikes, in which hundreds of people were killed and many more hundreds were injured. But the UPA government continues to stick to its soft on terror policy. If our government itself supports all militant and secessionist movements in the country, how can our motherland survive as a nation?
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