Hunting with High Resolution: War against people with Indian Sattelite eyes

The Indian state, which is not able to provide drinkable water, minimal health facility, and basic education to majority of its population even after 68 years of independence from British colonizers, has employed its well equipped modern forces against most underprivileged population with full impunity. The people who are fighting to save environment, resisting illegal mining, rising up for the self-respect, speaking against injustice, dreaming a society without oppressors are  being labeled as anti-national, naxalites, and Maoist. Hence they can be murdered in fake encounters, raped, tortured.

In the deep forests of central India where so called world’s largest democracy never bothered to enter, where high growth rate of economy never made any changes. The culture of people living in these forests could not become part of Indian culture. The stories of resistance of these people to British colonist couldn’t make space in Indian history. Their struggle for freedom is still continue.

To counter people’s movement, fascist Indian State with hand in hand imperialist capitalist powers uses all dirty tactics. From fake encounters to fake judicial drama. And all this is being done in the name of democracy, development, and nationalism. State forces are hunting innocent people in the name of counter naxal operation. People have no human rights there. Armed defenders of Indian democracy come here to rape, torture, and kill innocent people resisting for neolibral loot of resources. Instead of looking for political solution, Indian state believes in power of gun to deal with people’s resistance whether it is J&K, North East, or central India.

As Indian state is preparing for genocide of Adivasis in Chhatisgarh using air forces, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is providing real time high resolution satellite images from conflicted area to security forces to track activities of rebels. Reportedly, the strategy is to keep an ISRO’s eye on limited number of natural water reservoirs in the forest to attack when rebels come there looking for water.

As a research student in same organization I feel ashamed the way scientific achievements are used to kill innocent people. In the country where thousands of people die in manual sewage cleaning, thousands of women killed in witch hunt, tens of thousands of formers are forced to commit suicide,black economy flourish like anything, science should have been playing a role to deal these problems to make a better society instead of monitoring natural water reservoirs to kill innocents. Who gives you the right to spy on natural water resources when you are not capable to provide them drinking water, enough food, and minimal health care.

We as a students come to join research institution dreaming that we will do something for our society. We see our dreams in the work to make a world a better society to live where everyone gets food, shelter, health and education. We come from villages thinking of research and capacity of science in betterment of society, then we face reality. This is horrible. You need to work for nuclear propaganda. You develop facilities to monitor natural water storage in jungles of Chhatisgarh to kill innocents.

I use to think that I work in a better organization which doesn’t make weapons of mass destruction or doesn’t do propaganda for nuclear energy. I felt proud of achievements like successful mars mission but disappointed by the way that success was presented. I wrote an small piece for it: Indian Mars Mission and its cheerleaders. I was wrong.

We must stand up to defend the idea of science to serve people. We must resist the use of our achievements in the engineering of genocide.  Don’t let your hand wash in blood of innocent people. Rise up for humanity. Resist Operation Green Hunt.