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This is an archive article published on May 3, 2009

The road begins here

This village in Bihar’s Naxal belt has been able to fight back—with progress

This village in Bihar’s Naxal belt has been able to fight back—with progress
About 10 years ago,red flags would go up in the village centre in Aanti,38 km from Gaya,and shopkeepers would quietly down the shutters. The Naxals held their janadalat (people’s court) here and villagers had no choice but to give in to their demands.
Aanti is in the Naxal belt,a village that’s surrounded by at least 100 such villages where the Maoists are in control. But over the years,Aanti has stood out for being able to fight back against the Naxals—not with guns but with development.

Sanjay Singh,a local contractor who is building classrooms at the Aanti higher secondary school,recalls his days as a student in the same school. “Men wearing lungis would enter the school,line up students and shout anti-government slogans. The school would then be dismissed.”
That was in the eighties. The Aanti higher secondary school remains the only high school within a 10-km radius and caters to over 600 students from 50 surrounding villages. Recently,the state government upgraded it to the plus-two level.
The village—with over 12,000 people—now has a market that caters to the needs of the surrounding villages. It got a bank some years ago.

The change began a decade ago when the village got a police station,the only one for over 100 villages. It wasn’t easy,though. The police station was blown up twice—the latest in 2004 and it hasn’t been reconstructed yet. The nine policemen and 18 Special Auxiliary Police jawans now work from the middle school building in Aanti.
The police have registered only six Maoist incidents last year and only two cases so far this year—all from surrounding villages. No case has been reported from Aanti.

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In November 2003,after a direct exchange of fire between the police and the Naxals,the ultras had to retreat. Ever since,they have been losing ground.

It was the road link that put Aanti on the highway to development. Last year,the state government sanctioned two roads—the road to Konch in Gaya is ready and work on the road to Rafiganj in Aurangabad district is on.

“We had terrible roads. The journey from Rafiganj to Aanti by tonga used to take two hours. Once it is laid,they tell us it will be a 20-minute ride,” says Rampravesh Ram,another villager.

Santosh Singh,the contractor,says the railway lines came as far as Rafigang but didn’t cross Aanti. If they had,Aanti would have benefited long ago,he says.
Aanti police station officer-in-charge S.N. Oraon says Aanti is surrounded by around 100 Naxal-affected villages. “To the east of Aanti are Kawar,Rajabigha,Kaithi,Mohammedpur,Simrauha,Jahana and Chanddeni; on the west are Tineri,Bham,Palaanki and Birnama. Aanti has Pandekhan and Kathautia in the north and Karmain,Khatnahi,Narsinghpur,Gauribigha,Kalyanpur and Adopur to the south. They are all ‘red villages’.”

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Rampravesh Ram says the blown-up police station serves as a reminder of the Maoists’ presence. Though there have been reports of Naxals demanding levy for road works,they have let the school and hospital buildings come up.
Bihar Additional Director General of Police Neelmani told The Sunday Express: “Aanti has presented us with a good model. With government support,the health and social welfare schemes in Aanti will be extended to other Naxal-affected villages in the area.”

But as the sun goes down,fear sets in. Night patrolling is risky,says Aanti police station officer-in-charge Oraon. “We avoid going out at night for the fear of walking into a Naxal trap,” he says.
Nandlal Yadav,an SAP jawan,says they can never be complacent. “The danger is never over. We can be attacked any time,especially when we are resting on the school verandah.”

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