Tears and suffering in ‘smiling’ Junglemahal, widows run from pillar to post for basic needs

JHARGAM: Parul Singh has been running from pillar to post to get a death certificate for her husband Debendranath Singh, who was abducted by a group of Maoists at gun point on November 20, 2010 when he was returning home and buried deep inside Masandihi forest in the remote Jhargarm area in Junglemahal.
Her husband, who was a teacher in a primary school under Nedabahara gram panchahayat and a member of the CPM’s local committee, is not listed among those killed during 2009-11, when Maoist violence peaked in the area. Since his body has not been identified after being found in 2013, she has not been given a death certificate.

Without a death certificate, she is officially not a widow and so she cannot get a widow’s pension. The 45-year old tribal woman is just one of the 300-odd widows whose husbands were killed in Junglemahal.

“We have not received any compensation from the gover nment. The government policy says that the kin of the victim would be given a job. We visited Nabanna thrice and the office of the district magistrate several times but to no avail,” said Singh, mother of three.

She alleged that a police officer asked for a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh to carry out a DNA test, saying that without the test report, the death certificate would not be issued. “Since we could not produce the death certificate, the school authorities did not release the provident fund,” she said.

While two of her sons are struggling to run the family by working as field labourers, the third has joined central police force. The family has now moved the Calcutta High Court seeking the DNA report.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has held a dozen public meetings in Junglemahal in the past few days, denouncing the Maoists and appealing to people to cast their votes defying the vote-boycott call by the Maoists. However, according to the local people she has displayed little sympathy for the victims of Maoist violence.

Most of the widows narrated similar tales of Maoist violence and official apathy, chiding the CPM for doing little to help the families of their members.

As per an estimate, at least 500 people were killed in Junglemahal during 2009-11, of which about 300 were CPM members .

Jhargram was the most affected block as it witnessed 265 killings and abductions while Binpur block that included Lalgarh ranked second.

Tulana Mahato, 52, who collects Kendu leaves from the forests to make bidi, said no CPM member visited their village since her husband, Tapan Mahato, the local committee secretary of the party, was abducted by a group of Maoists on Novemeber 22, 2009 and his body was found near the house next day. She has two sons, one of whom is visually challenged and another is a minor. She said she has been fighting for seven years for justice and “rightful” compensation, without any success.

Sandhya Mahato, widow of Dibakar Mahato, headmaster of a government school and the karmadhakya of the panchayat samiti run by CPM, is somewhat better off since she pleaded for and finally managed to get the job of group D staff in a local library. Her son has completed his B Tech and is now working in a private firm.

But she still shudders recalling the events of September 4, 2010, day before teacher’s day, when a group of masked men armed with sophisticated guns stormed into the classroom where Mahato was teaching. He was dragged out and shot dead, in broad daylight and in front of his students. One bullet hit him in the head while two others pierced through his chest.

The helpless woman had to plead for a job and finally got the job of a group D staff in a local library. Now, her son has completed his B Tech and is working in a private firm.

However, many others like Manik Mahato of Bankshole remain inconsolable. His father was abducted in 2010 and his body has yet to be found. The area has recorded more than 50 missing persons and their family members have been living in uncertainty for the past six years. A haphazard compensation programme has left many in want of even basic needs such as food and shelter.

Responding to the allegations, Dahareswar Sen, a CPM veteran and a district committee member told ET, “We tried our best to support the families. But we went through a very rough patch at that time. In two years, we lost more than 300 workers. We were devastated.”

While some of the victim families said a compensation of Rs 3 lakh had been deposited in their account by the central government, others said that they got just Rs 1 lakh, that too through the local police station. While the compensation policy includes a job for a family member, most of family members of those killed said they are still struggling to arrange for a regular livelihood.

However, Sukumar Hansda, MLA from Jhargram and minister for western region development and tribal welfare said, “We have not received any complaint regarding the compensation. And I have no idea about the compensation given to the victim families.”

Some of the affected families, backed by activist groups, are putting up a legal fight. A few others bank on the CPM’s comeback in the upcoming election. Yet another section looks to appeal to Mamata Banerjee to have a look at these families before she says again that Junglemahal is smiling.