Indians For Guns

Men away, women take up arms to fight Naxals
Santosh Singh
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 07, 2010 at 2319 hrs
Patna

While Operation Greenhunt makes headlines for tackling the Maoist menace, women in over a dozen villages in the worst Naxal-hit Madanpur area of Aurangabad have taken on the task of defending themselves and their homes, even equipping themselves with some “arms training”.

Emboldened by the current anti-Naxal operation by the CRPF and Special Task Force of the Bihar Police, these women patrol their village frontiers at night, armed with their licensed guns. With most of their men having left the state in search of employment, the women have taken up arms to protect their children and the aged, as well as guard their standing crop.

Most of these villages, namely Maranbigha, Aajan, Pilthu, Nagwa (Gaya), Pirwan, Aat, Devjara, Manika and Ghatrain, have seen a steady exodus ever since Maoists killed 47 Rajputs in the twin villages of Dalelchak and Bhagora in 1987 in retaliation to the killing of seven OBC men at Chutki-Hechani earlier that year.

The twin villages of Nagwa (Gaya) and Pirwan were the first to defy the Naxals when women of the villages procured licenced arms to defend themselves, about six years ago. They refused to bow to the Naxal diktat of providing food to 400-500 of them on an average when they passed through their villages.

They were punished for daring to defy them: their paddy and wheat crop was destroyed.

Phulmati (name changed on request), 55, from one of these villages, said: “As my husband would mostly stay away from the village, I had to train myself. With some help from experts, I can now wield a gun.”

“My land is the only source of livelihood. We cannot flee the villages. Those who fled the villages have lost their land to Maoist supporters,” she said, describing how she helped other village women to learn how to shoot. The women make it a point to move in sizeable numbers. So far, the Maoists have refrained from targeting them directly.

Additional DGP (Headquarters) P K Thakur said: “There have been examples of peoples’ silent movement against Maoists but we don’t want to reveal it.” The ADGP, while confirming the armed resistance by women in Aurangabad, said it would not be fair to identify individuals or even particular villages as they might be a soft target for Naxals.

Most of these villages, namely Maranbigha, Aajan, Pilthu, Nagwa (Gaya), Pirwan, Aat, Devjara, Manika and Ghatrain

The ADGP, while confirming the armed resistance by women in Aurangabad, said it would not be fair to identify individuals or even particular villages as they might be a soft target for Naxals.