Jharkhand Maoists issue CDs against Tata, Mittal

Ranchi, Nov 20 (IANS): Maoist rebels in Jharkhand have come out with audio and video CDs against the Tata and Mittal steel companies.

The audio CD has seven songs in Khotha, a tribal language. The first song calls the steel majors plunderers of the state's resources.

"Mittal hai Jharkhand ke lutera, ekera ke bhaga debe re. Garib janata ke assu piye re Mitaal aur Tata ekere bhaga debe re. (Mittal is the plunderer of Jharkhand, we will force them to flee from the state. Tata and Mittal are drinking the tears of poor people, we will force them to flee from Jharkhand)," says the song.

Arcelor Mittal has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a 12 million tonnes steel plant in the state with an investment of Rs.400 billion. Tata Steel has been in the state for the last 100 years and is working on an expansion plan.

"Around 20,000 copies of this audio CD have been made and they will be circulated in rural parts of the state. The recording of the music album was done in Mumbai to keep it a secret," a source close to the Maoists said.

"Hamara raj dekh ke, hamar satta dekh ke, shosak shashak ghabara gaile re. Mohe ugrawadi bana dele re. (The government is scared of our rule and administration, so they have branded us extremists)," says the second song.

"Our Jharkhand is beautiful, the land emits gold and the jungle is silver but people are poor. This is the land of Birsa Munda and Siddhu and Kandhu who sacrificed their lives for the state. We will take our right on the land and forests by fighting the repressive class," says the third song.

The video CD shows the beauty of the state and how the government and industrial houses have spoilt it. The video CD also has a short film of 22 minutes, which shows how security personnel enter villages and harass people in the name of the anti-Maoist operations. It also shows how innocent people are branded members of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) and booked by the police.

Sources said around 50,000 copies of the video CD have been prepared. The video CDs will be shown in villages of the state to garner the support of people and instigate villagers against the police and government.

http://www.kalingatimes.com/business_news/news1/20071120-jharkhand-maoist.htm