Why she burns

Naxalbari located in the West Bengal district of Darjeeling lit a fire that spread across large parts of India and continues to burn today in the form of the Maoist movement Exacerbated by the landlordsrsquo exploitation peasants across the village banded together In the two years preceding 1967 cadres of the Communist Party of India Marxist sowed the seeds of rebellion in Naxalbari The CPIM a splinter group of the Communist Party of India CPI was convinced that a true socialist revolution could only be achieved if workers and peasants launched an armed uprising against the moneyed classesSeveral decades on Poulomi Basu transmedia artist photographer and actress travelled into the hinterlands of Chhattisgarh and parts of Odisha and Jharkhand the epicentre of the insurgency spending eight years there Her recently published book Centralia a work of docufiction explores the conflict but through the lens of environmental justice and feminism Shersquos one of the four photographers to be shortlisted for the Deutsche Boumlrse Photography Prize 2021 for her work on CentraliaBasu who is the first South Asian to be nominated for this award in its 25year history says that Centralia was as much a personal as it was a social endeavour ldquoI was born and raised in Kolkatarsquos College Street which at one point was the epicentre of the Naxalite movementrdquo she saysA box that she later discovered comprising her late fatherrsquos photographs and documents detailing his arrest for sympathising with the Naxalite leftwing guerillas led her to investigate further ldquoMy parents had witnessed violence unfold in front of their eyes They knew many people who had been part of the movement some died others were imprisoned Nobody spoke about it It was essentially something buried in historyrdquo she remembersWhile it was a political and ideological movement in Bengal in Chhattisgarh it became a militarised movement ldquoIt differed in different parts of India and seeing what role women played when pushed to the brink of extremes as well as how they challenged their own roles in society drew me to itrdquo she addsShe describes her journey of working on Centralia as one of understanding her own country democracy and putting it in a global context as well as understanding what this means for the future of the planet The book is an amalgamation of varied voicesmdashthat of Adivasi tribal activists Maoists many of whom were female guerrillasldquoThe women I met there were brave There were more stories to comprehend as well as more people to represent particularly their work and minds The bond I formed with the people there over a long period of time was priceless I met amazing activists like Bela Bhatia as well as a fascinating group of lawyers from the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group It was inspiring to see so many women working in so many difficult places and being able to commit themselves to that kind of environmentrdquoPoulomi BasuldquoThey were fierce and tough Though language was a barrier as most of them spoke Gondi I needed their voices in the book translated by them in their own language idiom and style of writing I also included some of the journalistsrsquo perspectivesrdquo she says adding ldquoI didnrsquot want to write a book about myself and my journey because it didnrsquot feel right It was critical for me to highlight all of these different elements in the book as well Some of the material I have isnrsquot even perfect but itrsquos beautiful because it has its own idiom and lyrical rhythm that is entirely theirsrdquo Basu explainsHer work also addresses the ldquodeeply underreported issues such as environmental justice and how it plays out not only in India but also globally where people have historically paid a price for progressrdquo ldquoAll of these genocides are linked to ecocidesrdquo she saysHer work which consists of photographic and archival material and a scifi short film is currently on display at the Photographers Gallery in London It has recently been permanently acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London where it is going to be displayed in the museumrsquos contemporary art sectionBasu admits that it was gruelling to work in these conflict zones ldquoThe biggest challenge was living and working as a woman for an extended period of time It was a very misogynistic environment in general Irsquove had a lot of male photographers try to talk me out of working there because they didnrsquot want another woman thererdquo Communicating with the scheduled tribes was another obstacle ldquoSince there was a language barrier I was already perceived as an outsider and with threat and speculation which is perfectly normal in my opinion But this also worked to my advantage because I got some good raw and candid pictures They were also perplexed by my presence especially when they saw me a young women carrying bigfilm camerasrdquo