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The Indian state has many faces. The well fed and privileged few in urban centers experience its benevolent side and feel implicated in its economic success story. Their faces are featured in it; it speaks in their voices and reflects their ambitions and vision of life. Who is it that really benefits in this self-proclaimed world's largest democracy? For many, from the North east and Kashmir to the jungles of Chattisgarh the state symbolizes not opportunity but brutal repression. Draconian laws reminiscent of colonial times give security forces the right to victimize the local population at will. Hence the opening line of Delhi Sultanate's lyrics 'CRPF could rape your daughter.' Who polices the police and where can people turn for redress when the state itself is an agent of injustice and freely operates outside of the law? If the people are denied peaceful means of redress, those who are sufficiently desperate and disillusioned will resort to violence. As Comrade Bant Singh sings repeatedly -- "We have seen your misdeeds everywhere / Our destination is the street where martyrs dwell."