Second-life surgery | Surrendered Maoists in Maharashtra reverse vasectomies for family life

Janu and Sainu Somji Hedo have two children and a parakeet that yells “Mummy-Papa” at regular intervals. The family of five lives in a three-room house in Navjeevan Vasahat, a settlement of former Maoists in Murkhala village, Gadchiroli, which is one of the last Maoist-affected districts in Maharashtra. It is 44°C, and a narrow stretch of kutcha road leads to the house whose whitewash has been fading through the sun and rain since 2019-20, the year the house was built. Janu and Sainu fell in love and married in 2008, as young Maoists. They surrendered in 2015. Both hail from the Bhamragad region in the once-dreaded Dandakaranya forest. They were a part of the company which led some of the most violent attacks on the police in the 2000s. Sainu is among the 50 men who have undergone surgeries for the reversal of vasectomies since 2005 in Gadchiroli. As a part of the Maoist movement, young men have traditionally undergone vasectomies to avoid having families. After they started surrendering, the Maharashtra Police began helping arrange surgeries for them. So far, 13 of these 50 men have become parents. This year, the vasectomy reversal operations were conducted under Project Sanjivani, an umbrella of welfare schemes aimed at the rehabilitation of surrendered Maoists. A camp was held at SEARCH in Gadchiroli to reverse the vasectomies of 14 surrendered Maoists. SEARCH, founded in 1986 by Dr. Abhay and Dr. Rani Bang, is the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health, which has done pioneering work in rural health care and research. Living a family life The family is unbothered by the heat. A small fan revolves overhead. The couple sits on plastic chairs as their son jumps on the single bed-cum-sofa. They struggle to take away the mobile phone from the 5-year-old’s hands. He settles down to watch reels on social media. It is difficult to imagine that in 2009, they were part of a team that ambushed 16 police personnel in the jungles of Hattigota, an act which had shaken the security establishments then and has gone down in history as one of the worst attacks of the Maoist movement. Janu takes the lead in the conversation. Sainu looks at her every time a question is asked. When he answers, she gently fills in the years, the dates. Both of them currently work in different departments at a factory of Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited. A bus comes every morning to take them to work. The job has been facilitated by the Gadchiroli Police. “When he had undergone the surgery, we did not think much of it. If our commander said that we should not have children, we obeyed the order,” says Janu. She wasn’t informed before the vasectomy was performed on Sainu. He was taken away for two days and was brought back after the surgery. The question of consent did not arise for either Janu or Sainu. The flow of authority and order was strict. The commander was the one who spoke with the families when the two had fallen in love as teenagers. And they had to follow the order of the Dalam as a part of the Maoist movement. “Where will we keep children in the jungles? We were told that when you are a part of the movement, you cannot have children. They are a liability on the movement,” says Sainu. They speak Marathi awkwardly; their language is what they call “boli bhasha” (spoken language). They are happy to be giving both their daughter and son an English-medium education. Within the complex that extends across 13.67 acres, surrendered Maoists have been allotted 174 plots of land by the government. Each is 1,356 square feet, meant for them to construct their own houses. Janu and Sainu Somji Hedo’s is one of the oldest homes. It was built under the Shabari Gharkul Yojana run by the Maharashtra government. The scheme provides support to construct concrete homes for eligible people from a Scheduled Tribe. A practice from an old life In the same settlement live Sushila and Ashok Hodi, who surrendered in 2010. They say the last 16 years have been different. All the surrendered Maoists have been imparted skill training. Today, Ashok works as a driver, drawing a salary of ₹12,000 per month. His earlier gig as a mason did not earn him much, he says. Sushila has given up work to take care of their newborn baby and a daughter. In 2018, she had lost her son within three days of delivery. The couple now has two daughters. “When I was in the movement, I was a part of the Chetna Natya Manch (the propaganda wing of the Maoist movement). We used to sing and entertain people in various tribal hamlets. We had joined the movement in 2004, and used to travel to different places,” Sushila says, her smile warm, eyes twinkling. She hails from Pengunda, a tribal hamlet in Bhamragad taluka. She doesn’t remember any of the songs now. “It has been so many years,” she exclaims. Their modest two-room house, a basic structure without any paint, is a place full of joy for her, she says. “We find it difficult to sustain ourselves on only one salary n