Social activists Bela Bhatia and Jean Dreze have been “detained by the Bijapur administration at the Circuit House since last night,” according to information shared by people’s union for civil liberties (PUCL), Chattisgarh. Bela Bhatia accompanied by Jean Dreze have been stopped from meeting the villagers at Silger, in Bastar. Bhatia and Dreze wanted to meet families of victims and survivors of recent police firing. But they were stopped and were taken to the administration’s own Circuit House, where they are still reported to be. 

The villagers’ protests continue outside the camp, while police claim three Maoists were killed during the exchange of fire. “What does the government have to hide?” asked Bhatia in a social media post. 

Stopped from going to Silger (Bijapur) to meet victims of recent police firing. What does the government have to hide?@bhupeshbaghel

— Bela Bhatia (@Belaben) May 20, 2021

ICU patient in Bijapur district hospital who was shot in the back by the police on 17th May in Silger (on Bijapur-Sukma border). pic.twitter.com/U6XBq7N6pd

— Bela Bhatia (@Belaben) May 20, 2021

The two activists who have worked with the people of Chattisgarh’s tribal area for decades, were going to visit Silger village, where the Adivasi villagers are still sitting in protest against the setting up of a police camp on their land. According to the PUCL another group of Sarv Adivasi Samaj has also been stopped from visiting the area.

However, SP Kamlochan Kashyap, told SabrangIndia that the two activists have “not been detained”, adding that they have been asked to get tested for Covid-19 as they have come from “outside” the area. According to the SP, it is “mandatory to get them tested,” but he added that the two “were hesitant” and have thus been asked to stay in the guest house till they get tested. “The administration is in touch with them,” he added.

While PUCL has stated that as “lawyers and social activist they have every right to visit the villages and the sight of the police firing and meeting the affected persons and families,” the SP maintains the official response that apart from the Covid-19 protocol. “No one is being prevented from visiting anyone,” said the SP, adding that “Even we have to get tested when we go anywhere, or come from outside.” He, however, confirmed that the group of villagers continued to sit in protest even now but said that the “situation is under control.”

According to P Sunderaj, IG Bastar Range, the area needs to be “cleared” before it is “safe” for the activists to visit. “The situation is tense, hence we have requested them to stay… we have provided the accommodation at the rest house,” Sunderaj told SabrangIndia, adding that there was also a bandh announced in the area. He further said, “They can go but we need to clear the areas first. We are responsible for peace.”

So is there still a threat of violence in the area which the SP has said was “under control”? And when asked why the activists had been detained the IG also said the activists were “not detained”. However, he said, “Today the naxals target activists and media persons. People fail to appreciate that it is not the villagers but it [referring to the protest and the violence that ensued] is a big conspiracy by Naxals.” According to the IG, a number of “naxal” cadres have come from other areas in “civilian camouflage” and have blended in with villagers, he accused the “Left Wing extremists and Maoist supporters,” of instigating, and even threatening the villager to protest the camp as it brings “development, education, healthcare, roads” into the are and thus weakens the “[Maoist] strong hold”. 

According to the IG, the collectors office has been in touch with Bela Bhatia and Jean Dreze. He added that a group of 15-20 villagers met him as well and that the residents of the village had some apprehensions “which were cleared.” When asked why the massive violence and firing that led to many deaths ensued if this was the case, he said “Naxals were instigating villagers to protest. The Naxals got people/cadres from far away places, their sangathan members…” 

According to the IG “none of the people who died were from Silger” and added that they were from “Naxal central organisation cadres”. He said the security forces “fired in retaliation” to “firing” by those he said belonged to the “People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) cadres who were there in civilian camouflage.” When both senior policemen were asked if the Covid-19 tests had been done for Bela Bhatia and Jean Dreze, so they could then leave the Circuit House, they said the District collector was in touch with the activists. Meanwhile, Collector Ritesh Agarwal has not been reachable on phone so far. 

Related:

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Image Courtesy: GettyImages
 
Ranchi: Noted economist Jean Drèze and two other activists working to ensure Right to Food, were detained by the Jharkhand police at Bishunpur police station in Garhwa district for two hours today, allegedly for organising a meeting without permission.
 
The activists alleged that the police initially said a case would be filed against them for breaking the law. They were eventually released without any charges.
 
Drèze told NDTV that he was invited to a meeting for the right to food and pension, organised by a local non-profit, in Jharkhand’s Garhwa district this morning.
 
He said the organisers had sought permission in writing from the district administration 10 days ago. But as the administration did not respond, the organisers decided to go ahead with the meeting, since it had no direct connection with the election.
 
“If people are not even allowed to hold peaceful non-political meetings about issues like the right to food at election time, then democracy has no meaning,” Drèze told NDTV.
 
One of the activists later told reporters that the police had asked them to “sign a bond that says we have no complaints against the government”.
 
Social activist Vivek Kumar was among the three persons detained. They were detained for nearly four hours, according to The Indian Express.
 
Palamu Deputy Inspector General of Police Vipul Shukla told The Indian Express that the three were detained as the Model Code of Conduct is in place. “They were holding a meeting on social issues and did not take permission from SDO,” Shukla said.
 
Garhwa Deputy Commissioner Harsh Mangla told the daily, “When Model Code of Conduct is in place, Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code is imposed, so assembly of four or more [people is] unlawful. Drèze had asked for permission to hold a public meeting and it was rejected. We will look into it on why it was rejected.”
 
Vivek Kumar told News18, “We had applied on March 22 to Pradeep Kumar, SDO, Garhwa district, for permission. Later they had asked us to provide details such as the Aadhaar card of the head organiser. We had furnished all that was asked for but were never intimated anything.”
 
On March 14, several members of the civil society along with tribal rights activist Stan Swamy and Drèze came together under the banner of Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha to put out a people’s manifesto.
 
Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha has demanded all the political parties contesting 2019 Lok Sabha polls to exhibit explicit commitment on the following people’s issues in their manifesto.
 
59-year-old Jean Drèze is a Belgian-born Indian development economist and activist who has been studying several developmental issues like hunger, famine, gender inequality, child health and education, and NREGA since the 1970s. He had conceptualised and drafted the first version of NREGA. He has authored a number of books on development and policies in India, some of them with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.
 
He is known for his sharp criticism of the economic policies of the Narendra Modi government.
 
“The government should shed its obsession with economic growth and take a broader view of what development is about,” Drèze, who served as a member in the former UPA government’s National Advisory Council, had said. “Economic growth can certainly contribute to development, in the sense of a widely shared improvement in the quality of life, but it does not go very far on its own”.
 
In various interviews, he has also contended that the Centre is “abdicating” its responsibilities in many sectors and handing them over to the corporate, or to the state governments.
 
Jean Drèze studied Mathematical Economics at the University of Essex and did his Ph.D. at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. He has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics and is currently Visiting Professor at Ranchi University as well as Honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics. He has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public policy, with special reference to India.
 
His research interests include rural development, social inequality, elementary education, child nutrition, health care and food security. Jean Drèze is co-author (with Amartya Sen) of Hunger and Public Action (Oxford University Press, 1989) and An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (Penguin, 2013)”, and also one of the co-authors of the Public Report on Basic Education in India, also known as “PROBE Report”.
 

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Garhwa: Renowned economist and social activist Jean Drèze along with two others have been arrested by Jharkhand police in Bishunpura Garhwa area.
 
Right to food activist Vivek, Drèze and a third activist were taken to a local Bishunpura Garhwa police station.
 
According to sources, they were organising a meeting on right to food when the Jharkhand Police picked the activists and took them to the police station. “Nothing serious but if they get a call, they may allow the meeting to proceed,” a message by Drèze read adding that the police was trying to snatch their phones away.

The story is developing and more details are awaited in this matter.
 
Jean Drèze is a Belgian-born Indian development economist and activist whose work in India has been studying several developmental issues like hunger, famine, gender inequality, child health and education, and NREGA. He had conceptualised and drafted the first version of NREGA.
 
Jean Drèze studied Mathematical Economics at the University of Essex and did his Ph.D. at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. He has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics and is currently Visiting Professor at Ranchi University as well as Honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics. He has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public policy, with special reference to India.
 
His research interests include rural development, social inequality, elementary education, child nutrition, health care and food security. Jean Drèze is co-author (with Amartya Sen) of Hunger and Public Action (Oxford University Press, 1989) and An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (Penguin, 2013)”, and also one of the co-authors of the Public Report on Basic Education in India, also known as “PROBE Report”.
 
 

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