The Great Rebellion

This is more than a Santhal rebellion in the tribal interiors of Bengal. This is legendary people's resistance against organised police and State terror.

Nilanjan Dutta Kolkata

Lalgarh. The name, literally, means red bastion. Till now the media had reserved this epithet for the state of West Bengal, thanks to the Left Front government dominated by the Communist Party of India (Marxist-CPI-M) holding power for more than three decades. But it is not the sarkari Marxists who led the people of Lalgarh in turning this sleepy rural block into a veritable fortress, out of bounds for the state forces and even the ruling party's storm troopers. In fact, none of the parliamentary Opposition parties or their leaders could claim that distinction - not even West Bengal's indomitable didi: Mamata Banerjee.

For more than a month, it was the rule of "We, the People" in Lalgarh. For more than a month, they had cut off access of the police and administration to press for their demand - stop brutal police raids and attacks on citizens in search of Maoists. The place is a part of Jangalmahal, the forest-covered region in West Midnapore district. It is one of the most backward places in the state and a natural playground of the radical Left forces, more recently the Maoists.The developments in Lalgarh have shown certain features that are unprecedented in the history of political movements in post-colonial India.

Though the parallels with Nandigram are apparent, and the movement has definitely drawn lessons from Singur and Nandigram, it stands apart in some significant respects. Without any bloodshed, the movement, building its scaffoldings with sheer popular participation and a unique ‘organisation from below' (while keeping out all parliamentary political parties and leaders), has been able to force the administration to begin a conciliatory process. Though the national media paid little attention to the Lalgarh movement, it has attracted attention from various quarters. The Congress termed it as the "Second Santhal Rebellion", and Rahul Gandhi sent a team of his ‘Aam Admi Ka Sipahi' to make a field study.

However, the people of Lalgarh don't really like the idea of calling their movement a ‘Santhal Rebellion'. While it is true that the population in these parts is mostly tribal, and a large section of them are indeed Santhals, they would rather emphasise that it is a "people's movement", comprising all tribals and non-tribals as well. But it is also true that the powers that be, who do not hesitate to send in security forces to crush other people's movements in India, have not shown their habitual response in this case; they just could not risk sparking a tribal uprising across the land by rubbing Lalgarh the wrong way.

Police repression has been a part of life in Lalgarh for more than a decade, ever since a group of Naxalite youths made it their home. Their message of "liberation of the poor" from age-old oppression seemed to have struck a chord with the locals. The repression also seemed to have succeeded in either flushing out most of the radical activists from the place or driving the movement completely underground. In the last six years, there has been almost no news from Lalgarh of any "action", armed or otherwise. The police, engaged in anti-Naxalite operations, largely behave in the same fashion as the village chowkidars of the Raj days who would pick up the same old ‘thief' and beat him black and blue whenever there was any theft in the vicinity, without investigating whether he had had any connection with the crime in context. Hence, whenever any Naxalite activity has been noted during all these years anywhere in the district or even in adjacent districts, they have swooped down on Lalgarh.