How a loving mother Branded as a dreaded Maoist?

 

How a loving mother Branded as a dreaded Maoist? 

 

It was a sunny day on 7th May 2012. My stringer at Jajpur informed me that Jajpur police had arrested an aged woman Maoist from the district hospital. That alleged woman Maoist was getting treatment for the malaria in the hospital when the police nabbed her. She is none other than Sini Soy, whom I had wanted to meet for a long time. As soon as I heard the name; I prepared my crew and proceeded towards Jajpur. It was already afternoon when I started from Bhubaneswar. On the way I was just thinking of her, Sini Soy, 55, who was elected as the sarpanch of Gobaraghati in 1997, was one of the leaders of the anti-land acquisition movement in Kalinganagar. She had taken the lead in the protest against the big corporate giant Tata in 2006. On January 2 that year, 15 tribal were killed in police firing while protesting the construction of the boundary wall of the proposed steel plant. Her 25-year old son Bhagban Soy was one among them.

I got distracted when my driver suddenly stopped the car. We had already reached the hospital. We found there was a heavy police deployment. Policemen did not allow us anybody, not even the media, to meet Sini Soy. I, along with local reporters, requested the officer in charge and managed to convince him to allow us to meet her. We were allowed to meet her for five minutes, but only on the condition that we would not take pictures of her. I entered to the ward where she was getting treatment. There were many questions in my mind. I found her lying on the bed wearing a very simple cotton sari. She was looking very weak and pale. She could not recognize me till I reminded her. Before I asked her, she greeted me very politely, asked me to sit on her bed.

"Now a day I am not doing well. I have been suffering from malaria. So, I had to come here for treatment. The police got the information and took me into custody," she narrated before I could ask her. "I neither regret going to jail nor care about who is thinking what about me. I have chosen my path and I am quite satisfied that I am trying to give justice to my son's sacrifice," she continued. I could not think what to ask her in this situation.

She broke my silence and again started talking "Do you know how brutally my son was killed? He took the bullet on his chest and sacrificed his life while courageously fighting for our right over our land. I have seen the brutal killing of my young son, who died in front of me. You are a woman, tell me, can you see your child's body in pieces?" she asked.

"Police has not only separated us from our near and dear ones but has uprooted us from our own land and habitation .To save the interest of the big corporate houses, the government has snatched away our land and with it our livelihood.

In the name of compensation, they gave some money to the tribal. But can this ten twelve lakh of rupees bring my 25-year old son who was killed by them back to life? Of course not. All of our pain, sufferings and miseries have been inflicted by the Government. There is no way we can forgive them. I will not give up my struggle to fight for our right over our land and livelihood," she said in a steely voice. Before I could ask her anything more, my visiting time (five minutes) was over. I had to come back with a lot of questions in my mind.

 Police had arrested Sini Soy, branding her as a hard core Maoist. But she was always in my memory as a strong tribal woman leader who fearlessly fought for the right of her people. She was always in the forefront to protect the right of the tribal. I can't forget the day when I met her for the first time in Kalinganagar. It was Jan 2, 2006. Around 2 o'clock, in the afternoon, we got the information that there was a clash between the police and the tribal in Kalinganagar. The reports of deaths of tribal made many journalists to rush to the spot for news coverage.

I, along with my TV crew, went to Kalinganagar. When I reached there, it was already evening. We found that the firing had stopped, but the tribal and the police were still on their positions on both sides of the highway. One officer came to us and asked us not to go to the other side because the tribal were violent

and up in arms. But we did not care, just kept our vehicle in the police station and walked down to the tribal village at our risk. As soon as we entered to the village, we found ourselves surrounded by a group of tribal with bows and arrows. My crew members were scared. The tribals were furious and repeatedly asked us to go back. They didn't want to talk to anybody, not even the media. We saw them divided into several groups. One group was guarding and protecting the village by not letting the police enter to the village. The second group was collecting the body of the tribals’ killed in the police firing. My cameraman couldn't hold himself back after seeing this situation. Though it was already dark, he switched on the camera light and tried to take shots. The tribal who were around us became more furious and snatched away our camera. I could not think of what to do, what not to do. Many of them were drunk and not ready to listen to anything. Meanwhile, a woman, who was leading one group of tribals, appeared from the crowd. She came to us, convinced them not to harm us and returned our camera. She was none other than Sini Soy. We took a few shots with one sound bite using battery light and came back to Bhubaneswar, because we had to file the story.

In the Kalinganagar area, Tata Steel had been trying to build a large steel plant on 2,500 acres of land. This project will displace 15 villages and 15,000 people, who are tribal (Mohanto, Munda) and Dalits. During 2004 and2005, the anti-displacement movement was organized to oppose the project. Early on the morning of January 2, five or six bulldozers started leveling the land where Tata Company wanted to start its construction. The state government had sent a contingent of 2,000 policemen to the area. As soon as the word spread through the villages, 400-500 people had gathered by 9 am to protest the construction. During this protest, the villagers started running towards the police and the police opened fire, killing six of them on the spot and wounding another 50. Nine villagers died afterwards from their wounds. According to the Government, industries in this area will bring development for the people.

But the tribal didn't want to leave their land at any cost."In the name of development, the Government is supporting the big company and is trying to uproot us from our land and deprive us from the livelihood," they said. Fifteen tribal were killed in the firing on January 2.The next day, we again went to the place to do a follow up story because by that time this incident had hit the headlines of all national and international media. When I reached the place with my crew, I found villagers had put the dead bodies of the tribal on the middle of the road and had blocked the main roads. They were shouting anti-government

slogans. The air was heavy with grief, pain and all were crying. Many of them had lost their near and dear ones. I tried to speak to a few of them. I saw Sini Soy was sitting near the body of her son and crying. I spoke to her. "I could not do anything to protect the life of my son. Police shot at him and then dragged him to other side of the road in an injured condition where they mercilessly killed him. My son was the only hope for the family. After me, he was the only earning member. Now, I don't know how we will survive." She virtually broke down before me.

With a heavy heart, I returned to office to file the news. Two days later, I again went to the village when the dead bodies returned to the village after post mortem. The tribals again lost temper when they saw some of those killed had their palm cut off, supposedly to identify them. When Sini Soy saw her son's body, suddenly she stopped crying, as if tears had drained out of her eyes due to excessive pain. She was only looking at the body of her son .Being a woman; I can realize the trauma she was going through. After this incident, activists, political leaders and journalists from all over the country visited the place. During this period, I met and interviewed Sini Soy several times. I always found her calm and quiet, but sounded very firm in her speeches.

 Next, I met her in 2007 when they were observing the barsi (completion of one year) of the tribals who were killed in police firing. "We will never let the sacrifice of my son and our people go in vain. We will fight till our last breath and never allow Tata to take our land," she repeated this statement with quite confidence. Sini Soy is an illiterate tribal woman of a village. When I see her talking, debating and fighting for the right of the people, I really feel proud of her. For me, she

is truly an example of women's empowerment. Since 2007, I have never met her though I have tried a lot. I came to know from my sources that she is absconding and police is searching her. Meanwhile, many incidents have taken place in the Kalinganagar area. A few of them have agreed to leave the land and accept the compensation; some were forcefully evicted from the place and given compensation. Their houses were demolished and many families were displaced. Many of them fled and hide in the forest.

 

Children were crying for food, old people were asking for medicine. I captured all this and many more on my camera, but never met Sini Soy. And when I finally met her, she was in police custody. To find out answers to some of my questions that were tormenting me, I met Laxmidhar Soy (25), the younger son of Sini Soy, who now works as a fourth grade employee in the office of the District Magistrate in Jajpur town. "After the death of our father in 1999, my mother worked extremely hard to look after us. She is a very protective mother. My elder brother Bhagaban was a great support to my mother. He was just 25 years old when he was gunned down by the police while protesting against Tata's proposed steel project in Kalinganagar. I was just 18 years old and was studying in plus two. My youngest brother was in class VII. My mother's heart cried out at the sight of the bullet-ridden body of my brother”. Laxmidhar revealed .

“After this incident, I have never seen her cry again. A lot of people used to visit our house after the incident. I never ask my mother about this. In between, I got the job and also got 10 lakh rupees as compensation towards my brother's death. I last met my mother in 2007. After that, she went underground. I again met her for a brief moment in the hospital on May7th 2012. She was bedridden and there were police men all around. She called me out two three times. I informed her about my marriage and the admission of my younger brother Lalmohan Soy (18), who is now studying in Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology at Gunupur. She told me that she is fighting for a cause, so I need not worry about her," Laxmidhar   informed.

"But your mother was arrested as a branded woman Maoist, who was responsible for several subversive activities including killings, looting and damaging government properties. A police source says she recruited more than 20 women for the Maoists," I asked him feebly.

"She may be a Maoist for you and others; but to me, She is a caring, loving, kind hearted, responsible and protective mother, who never thinks a moment to sacrifice her life not only to give justice to her son but her tribe. I am proud of my mother." Laxmidhar could not hold back his tears and his voice choked when he said this.

Sini Soy, after languishing many years in Keonjharjail, she is now living in a village where her fellow tribes resettled after Tata takes over their land. Being a journalist who has faith in democracy and a believer in Gandhian philosophy, I might not approve of the violent path adopted by Sini Soy for any reason. But being a woman, I can certainly understand her trauma, the pain which she has undergone during all these years. I can't hold myself from paying respect to her sacrifice as a mother and as a woman .I don't dare to Judge Sini Soy whether she has done right or wrong. Can you?