She Goes to War: Women Militants of India by Rashmi Saksena

Author:Rashmi Saksena [Saksena, Rashmi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-10T00:00:00+00:00

Shanti Kunjam, Member, Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan (Revolutionary Tribal Women’s Organization), Jan Militia (People’s Militia)

It was a frantic dash. All Shanti could hear around her were panic-stricken cries of ‘vita, vita’ (run, run). She too ran. The entire village was fleeing towards the forest, leaving everything behind. Shanti turned back only once. It was a last longing look at the earthen urn in the hut in which grain was stored. There was no time to pick it up. Jangla village was in danger like hundreds of others of being burnt down by the advancing Salwa Judum militia if its people did not join them.

The people of Jangla had to make a choice. Stay and join the Salwa Judum or flee into the forest and into the bastion of the dada log. They were tragically caught in the crossfire between the Salwa Judum bands and the Naxalites. The Salwa Judum men were pressurizing them to confront the Naxalites. The dada log were urging them to take up guns against the Salwa Judum men or government agents as they were labelled by the Naxals. Both groups were at the doorstep of the cluster of huts that made up the village, both making a bid to recruit the villagers to fight their proxy war. While the leaders of the Salwa Judum movement were knocking on their doors, the Naxals came from the jungle in the dead of night, held meetings and recruited young boys and girls. Leaving behind stored grain, utensils and their meagre possessions, boys, girls and men were running to hide from both gangs in the forest skirting the habitation. Rumours were also milling around about the government sending the Naga battalion from the northeastern state of Nagaland, to the village. This filled them with fear. The Nagas had the reputation in India’s heartland of eating human flesh and being ruthless killers. The people of Jangla wanted to escape all three....the Salwa Judum men, the Naxals and the Nagas.

Twenty-two-year-old Shanti also ran, along with the rest of the village folk, into the forest. She did not to want to join either the Salwa Judum or Naxals or take part in the clash between them. Like the others she hid in the forest, not daring to step anywhere near her hut or even her field which she used to till. Wandering in the jungle for two months, braving the rain and scrounging for food, was tough. She was tired and desperate. When the dada log persuaded her to join them she had little choice. For her it meant security. The Naxals had camps in the forest and were getting in touch with all able-bodied boys and girls, motivating them to join their ranks.

These men, wearing army fatigues and armed with guns, were camping in the forest. They moved about and went into villages, urging the locals to fight for their rights over the bounty of the jungle, stand up against the domination of the forest guards and confront the security forces sent in by the government.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.