A 24-year-old tribal woman was gunned down in an alleged maoist encounter in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh by District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel on May 31. The DRG claimed that they had found arms and ammunition on her, along with the bag and other essentials carried by Maoists. Her mother, however, claims that she was picked up from their house by the police and alleges that when the body was handed to them, it was mutilated. The mother also alleges that her daughter was raped.

Her mother has written to the station-in charge that in the early hours of May 30, her daughter was taken away by some female constables and also named 7 DRG personnel who forcibly took her with them. She states that they chased the vehicle for at least half a kilometre and the next morning when they approached the police they were redirected to Dantewada where they were informed that their daughter died in police firing. In the letter, the family also alleged their daughter’s body had injuries on her breasts, thighs and her hand, reported Indian Express.

The Sarpanch of the village supported the claims of the family and told IE, “She was to get married in June. She had been involved with maoists around five years ago, but had returned home a couple of years back. There were no weapons in their house, and she did not carry any on her either”. A senior police official told IE that the family was being forced to protest by Maoists.

IE also reported that Dantewada SP Abhishek Pallava stated the woman was a member of platoon No 16 and her name had come up in the interrogation records of all surrendered and arrested Maoists of Indrawati Area Committee of CPI (Maoist) and her platoon.

Further, Bastar IG P Sundarraj stated that DRG received a tip-off about the presence of Maoist cadres and an operation was launched in Gumalnar area. In the exchange of fire, the concerned woman died. “She carried a reward of ₹2 lakh. Two country-made weapons and improvised explosive devices IEDs were also recovered from the site,” he said.

A few weeks ago, Sukma District Collector directed an inquiry into the firing on May 17 that allegedly resulted in 9 deaths whereby security personnel claimed that they had 3 Maoists had died in the firing. Thousands of villagers had gathered to protest the decision to set up a security camp at Silger, Sukma and the police maintained that they were protesting under pressure from Maoists and that those who were killed were Maoists in the garb of protesting villagers.

Related:

Silger firing: Collector orders probe, requests protesters to return home
Chhattisgarh: Cases against 726 tribals withdrawn
Urgent action needed against spread of Covid in tribal areas!

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In light of the recent joint anti-Naxal operation[1] of the security forces in Bijapur and Sukma Districts in the South Bastar forests on April 2, the old debate on whether the two-pronged policy approach that combines Security and Development is required to address the cause and symptoms of left-wing extremism especially given the current situation where people residing in such conflict prone areas are fighting a battle of life and death against Covid-19.

This view has been further strengthened by the fact that the Maoists are strengthening their preparedness by taking advantage of the ongoing pandemic by regrouping[2] in regions like Andhra-Odisha Border region and by recruiting ground level forces[3] in the villages spread across Jagdalpur, Dantewada and Sukma districts. There exists a possibility that the Maoist are even offering money to the jobless migrant workers who are on their way to their villages that was the case during the last year’s lockdown[4].

Historically, the Naxalite movement originated in the late 1960s through a peasant struggle in the Naxalbari region of West Bengal that led to Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. The aim behind the insurgency is to overthrow the Indian state through armed struggle rather than democratic measures. In the past, these movements were restricted, based on characteristics[5] like demographic composition, percentage of tribal population and geographical isolation. This sense of exclusion from the national mainstream was the reason cited for the insurgency and that helped it gain the support of the local populace.

What needs to be understood is the reasons for the resentment of the Maoist through which support is garnered. Firstly, the argument for state violence perpetrated through law enforcement agencies and the military, the other being the historical exploitation and deprivation of the tribal sections of the society.

It is also believed that certain factors[6] have further extenuated the Maoist issues. To illustrate, the labelling of the Maoist as terrorists, whose aim is to overthrow the state for their own interests, and not the welfare of the people. Further, the lack of recognition by the state of the genuine problems of the local people such as the primary services like education, health and lack of opportunities of employment that has resulted in structural violence and has forced the people to join the armed struggle.

Overtime, this insurgency has transformed into a civil war that is clear from the attributes of what constitutes a civil war. In simple words, civil war is defined as [7] “armed combat taking place within the boundaries of a recognised sovereign entity between parties subject to a common authority at the outset of the hostilities”.

What this signifies is the challenge that the state needs to overcome between human and health security that means tackling the acts that are defined by the State and Central government as ‘terrorist acts’ and at the same time addressing the needs of the masses as a whole especially in the  present situation when the country is caught between the inability to control the disease  that has resulted in massive loss of lives as well as immense economic loss due to  absence of employment opportunities.

It cannot be over-emphasised that any kind of conflict situation has adverse effects on the health care provision and delivery. In simple terms, the interaction between health and human security, could be defined as focus on addressing security of ordinary people by ensuring their well-being and welfare. This does not mean that state security does not hold significance but it needs to be complemented by taking into its ambit human rights and public health to constitute full security of the people who are not a threat to the state.

As a result, what is required is to redirect the funding from non-critical services towards critical response sectors[8] to ensure the safety and health of the vulnerable populations living in these conflict zones. Historically, the factors[9] that have constrained such actions by state include state’s insecurity; repression; political instability; rights abuse and internal displacement of citizens.

Coming to the vulnerable population, the group of individuals that are most at risk are the women and children especially those who are either pregnant and those minors that are unaccompanied as well as the elderly and those with disabilities. This vulnerability is further exacerbated due to the decline in provision of public health due to violent conflict that damages the infrastructure of the society and results in lack of availability of health care personnel and diversion of economic resources from public health. 

Despite these hurdles and challenges, inspiration can be drawn from the conduct of doctors who put their lives at risk and reach such areas to vaccinate people. One such example is of Dr. Bhuneshwar Warma[10] who is responsible for vaccinating people in Chameli in Chhattisgarh, feels that violence has hampered the vaccination drive and as a result, majority of the people do not go the primary health care centres for Covid-19 vaccination and it is only when the doctors go to the interior areas that it becomes possible for people to get inoculated.

In order to fulfil  its commitments of ensuring the health  security of the people, there is need for the State to take concreate actions  and not rely on empathy through words , for which reliance can be placed on the 2008 report [11] prepared by an Expert Group for the Planning Commission of India  that is now called the Niti Aayog titled “Developmental Challenges in Extremist-Affected Areas” in which a separate chapter deals with State Response and emphasises upon the need to ensure social justice; equality; protection and local development among other things by removal of insecurities like livelihood insecurity and ensuring security against economic and social oppression for which one of the important aspects is to train the law enforcement machinery to protect and respect the fundamental rights and human rights of citizens residing in these areas.

Maybe by ensuring the development aspects like health, education, sanitation of the people reeling under conflict and Covid-19 is the way forward to ensure the security of these people by addressing their day to day needs that not only protects their lives from threats but also helps in securing their livelihoods.

*The author Abhinav Mehrotra (LL.M, LL.B) is a lecturer at Jindal Global Law School

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The Human Rights Forum (HRF) of Andhra Pradesh has called the recents raids by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at the premises of several Adivasi, Dalit and human rights activists in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, state action intented “to cast disgrace on human rights activism.”

The raids were conducted by the NIA on March 31-April 1, to investigate the activists for “alleged links with Maoists”. The agency seized the phones, computers, laptops, books and papers from most of the premises raided. According to HRF this was “part of a concerted attempt to diminish and delegitimise the very notion of human rights in the public eye”. The forum issued a media statement on Tuesday and said that “the intention of the government is to make the process itself the punishment, to endlessly harass those critical of the political establishment’s policies and practices”. It added that invoking “the UAPA, an enactment that is fundamentally incompatible with democracy and civilised norms and imperils political freedoms, is meant precisely to serve this purpose”. 

The HRA reiterated that the UAPA “mocks at established canons of jurisprudence and legal scholars have described it as an instrument of State tyranny” and the recent amendments add do that. During the search and seizure raid on the residence of VS Krishna, Human Rights Forum (HRF) AP & Telangana Coordination Committee member in Visakhapatnam last week NIA seized six hard disks, one mobile, three sim cards, three SD cards and a few documents. They also reportedly photographed his and family’s bank details and interrogated him for about eight hours at their offices in Vizag on April 1 and 2 stated HRF. Other searches were reported conducted at “31 locations spread across eight districts of Andhra Pradesh namely Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Prakasam, Srikakulam, Kurnool, Krishna, East Godavari and Kadapa and four districts of Telangana namely Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Medak.”

The HRF has shared that these raids were pursuant to a case registered at the Munchingput police station, Visakhapatnam district on November 23, 2021. The case contained charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), sedition, criminal conspiracy and various other IPC provisions. It has been alleged that the accused belong to frontal organisations of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) and are doing its bidding, and the NIA has been investigating the case since March 7, 2021. 

The HRF has once again reiterated that, “accusations against VS Krishna of Human Rights Forum and functionaries of several other rights, literary, and dalit organizations is clearly an exercise in intimidation intended to stifle lawful dissent and protest. We have no hesitation in stating that the contents of the FIRs are a litany of lies. In the Munchingput FIR, VS Krishna has been accused of influencing the Vakapalli rape survivors to depose falsely against the policemen.” It once again called  this “an atrocious allegation” and said  HRF, along with several other organisations provided the Adivasi women witnesses deposing before courts, with food and shelter when they come from remote areas. According to HRF, “it is because of this solidarity and sustained rights activism that the police are now seeking to intimidate VS Krishna in what we believe to be a clear case of vindictiveness.”

It has called charges brought about in the Munchingput FIR “a catalogue of fabricated and sometimes farcical accusations. There is a deliberate attempt at wrongful and malafide prosecution. It can only be termed as a rampant abuse of the criminal justice system. It is becoming evident now, following the recent NIA raids, that some kind of a story of a grand conspiracy of ‘urban Maoism’ is being sought to be orchestrated in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.”  

The HRF has questioned the seizure of hard disks, and mobile from VS Krishna’s residence and his without providing him with a cloned copy. According to the media statement when Krishna asked when he could get them back, “NIA personnel said that if no incriminating evidence was found, he could claim them from the NIA Special Court at Vijayawada”. However the forum says this is a long process and the seized hardware contains personal, and work-related data. “The seizure of personal digital devices and their contents during investigation results in not only a dispossession of valuable property of the activists but also of their right to livelihood, privacy and human dignity. This amounts to an infringement of Constitutional rights,” said HRF

The forum has demanded that “the NIA and the State governments of AP and Telangana drop the fabricated accusations against VS Krishna and members of other rights, dalit and women’s organisations. There must be an immediate halt to attempts at suppressing dissent. Seeking to criminalise our human rights work can never succeed.” HRF added that they “are not an adjunct of either the Maoists or any other political party” and will continue its human rights movement.

Related:

NIA raids activists in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for alleged Maoist links

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has submitted before the Special Court that Bhima Koregaon accused Anand Teltumbde assisted his brother Milind Teltumbde, an alleged Maoist leader, to expand the movement and shared “banned literature” from his international conferences with him, reported LiveLaw.

According to The Wire, Milind is known as a “dreaded Maoist” who carries a reward of Rs 50 lakh on his head, and has central and state agencies tracking him closely, as he is believed to be a top-rung leader of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation.

Opposing Anand Teltumbde’s bail plea before the Special NIA court, the central agency has claimed that he is an active member of the banned CPI (Maoists) and was “deeply involved in furtherance of its agenda”, as per a LiveLaw report.

Further, NIA has reiterated the allegations against Teltumbde, accusing him of being the Convenor of the Elgar Parishad conference on December 31, 2017, that ultimately led to violence at Bhima Koregaon the following day, which resulted in the death of a 28-year-old. As per some media sources, the Police alleged that there was a larger conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister and overthrow the government.

LiveLaw reported that NIA also cited a letter written by one Prakash to Anand, that was recovered from co-accused Rona Wilson’s laptop. The letter allegedly mentions “Anand’s visit to Paris for Human Rights Convention to be held on April 9 and 10, 2018 and lectures on Dalit issues in order to give traction to domestic chaos.”

But in a major twist to the NIA’s allegations related to the material found on co accused Rona Wilson’s laptop, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm (Arsenal Consulting) revealed that an attacker used malware to infiltrate the laptop and place incriminating evidence on it. 

Another revelation was that the firm “connected the same attacker to a significant malware infrastructure which has been deployed over the course of approximately four years to not only attack and compromise Mr. Wilson’s computer for 22 months, but to attack his co-defendants in the Bhima Koregaon case and defendants in other high-profile cases as well.”

This compelled Rona Wilson to move the Bombay High Court demanding a probe into this revelation of the alleged planted evidence. 

Teltumbde, who is the grandson-in-law of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar has been in custody since April 2020 and filed his second bail application in January this year. In his plea, as reported by SabrangIndia, he has stated that he comes from a Dalit family and has worked hard to reach a position in his life but “the casteist forces in our society cannot digest this fact and has implicated him in the case in an attempt to belittle his own achievements and to humiliate the entire Dalit community”.

He has denied having any Maoist agenda and stated that he is critical of the Maoist ideology. He has also submitted that he has not met his brother in the last 25 years. His bail plea will now be heard on March 12, as reported by LiveLaw.

Related:

Bhima Koregaon: Anand Teltumbde files bail plea before Special court
Rona Wilson moves Bombay HC, demands probe into ‘planted evidence’
Primary goals were surveillance and incriminating document delivery: Arsenal Report

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A 16-member fact-finding team of All India Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) and GanatantrikAdhikar Suraksha Sangathan, Odisha (GASS) had been to Niyamgiri area and Vedanta Plant site, Lanjigada and spent three days from 26^th to 28^th April, 2019 there. All members got divided into two teams. One team visited various villages of Niyamgiri like Lakpadar, Belang Mandal and Dangamati to investigate violation of human rights in the region. Another team visited affected villages of Vedanta Plant like Chatrapur, Rengapali and Bandhaguda, met family members of Dani Batra died on by Industrial security forces on 18^th March at plant site. The team also went to meet British Kumar at his village Ghatikundru who was allegedly beaten by the SP of Kalahandi. The team members also met Inspector In-charge at Lanjigada police station and talked with the District Collector and the SP over phone.

Our findings :-

More violation of Human Rights in name of ‘Maoists’ :In Niyamgiri Dongaria adivasis who are in leadership of Save Niyamgiri Movement under banner of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti have been targeted more in post –gramsabha (2013) situation.  At Dangamati village Manda Kandraka died in an encounter by the security forces on 27^th February 2017 allegedly as ‘Maoist’. Since then none of the official has visited his village. Lado Sikaka of Lakpadar village has been picked up twice by the police without notice and had been released every time with a warning. In  a similar way 16 tribals leaders either have been put into jail in name of Maoist like in case of Dasuru Kadraka of Garata village or have been released with a confessional statement not to be associated with any joint activities. The midnight raid and arrest of Kuni Sikaka (17) of Garata village on 1^st May 2017 by the police suspecting her as ‘Maoist’ and when agitation happened then she was released under false confessional statement are undemocratic. Lingaraj Azad who is at the forefront of the struggle has been arrested and harassed by the police several times.
Adivasis of Niyamgiri and surrounding areas of both districts of Kalahandi and Rayagada have been dependant on the hill. It is their life and livelihood also. The existence of Vedanta Co. in this scheduled area has always been a threat for them. They have been demanding for more schools, anganwadi centres, healthcentresunder their banner of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti before the government. But in reply the government has been foisting false cases to pressurise them to leave Niyamgiri.

CRPF camp at Trilochanpur: Recently the govt. has converted Trilochanpur Panchayat office into a CRPF camp for the time being.

Construction of a new camp has already been started on encroached land of Layi Majhi of Belaguda village.The villagers did gramsabha in this fifth scheduled area and had opposed this plan of setting up of the camp. But none of the officials attended the meeting.  People were cultivating that land since generations and had applied for patta under Forest rights act. The administration has neither taken consent of gramsabha before constructing the camp nor has given importance to the application Layi Majhi under FR Act.

Death of Dani Batra:In this ‘alleged’ clashes happened on 18^th March 2019 at Vedanta Plant Gate site between the affected villages of Chatrapur and Rengapali and security forces, Dani Batra died due to heavy lathi-charge done by the Odisha Industrial Security Forces(OISF) engaged by the Vedanta Co. He was standing far from the gate as a spectator when security forces  beat mercilessly many people including Dani Batra. Later on he was found inside a pond. His brother-in-law who received dead body after post-mortem was telling that Dani’s hands and other parts of the body were broken.

Suspicious Death of Sujit Minz:The allegation is that the local villagers after death of Dani got angry and went on a rampage and destroyed company furniture. Then the villagers “violent in nature bound Hav Major Sujit Minz in the CCTV control room alone tied his legs and killed him by  setting fire” (as mentioned in FIR given by Ashok Kumar Raul, Inspector of OISF). The team finds his death as “suspicious” because;

1)The CCTV Control panel room is about 100 meters far from the main gate where dead body of Sujit Minz was found by the police. This was confirmed by the Inspector In-charge of Police. Also IIC says the villagers have not destroyed any other place on the way to Control Panel except that place. How a mob could go and tie Sujit Minz and set fire and come back just after a severe lathi charge?

2)The police version is that after post-mortem of dead body of Dani Batra, his family members received the dead body from Lanjigada Hospital and took the body to the Vedanta Gate. But this has not been written in the FIR. Mahendra Bibhar, brother in law of Dani Batra who received body from the police says that all of them came to the village in the night from the hospital and cremated the body on early morning of next day.

3)Two FIRs have already been filed. On Dani Batra’s death though section 320 of IPC has been lodged but no action has yet been taken. But on ‘killing’ of Sujit Minz the Lanjigada police have promptly taken action and have arrested 6 people. The FIR copy says list of suspects as ‘villagers of Chatrapur and others’ but Police have circulated ‘27 names and 300 others’ which the team got from the villagers which shows more arrest would happen in near future. Why is there such discrimination in taking action then?

More Displacement by Vedanta Co: In between Vedanta Company has increased its capacity from 1MTPA to 6MTPA and has occupied land of Rengapali, Borabhattaand also Bandhaguda village for expanding its already made Red Mud Pond. The Co. has not yet displaced all of them though it has paid them compensation. The villagers are facing sever health problem because of dust coming from pond site. Thevillage like Bandhaguda (80 families) was  not in the earlier plan when the Co. started its operation.

Pollution in Lanjigada/Niyamgiri :The Red Mud Pond has already reached footstep of Niyamgiri. This would disturb entire eco-system of this plateau. The government should set up committee to evaluate impact on environment and before Titukurin-like situation happened the government should close down Vedanta factory.

Harassment of British Kumar by Kalahandi SP: British Kumar, a tribal activist and leader of ‘Khandualmali Suraksha Samiti’(Save Khandualmali Organisation) was picked up by Kalahandi police on 22^nd December 2018 while he was in Bhawanipatna town. British says he was taken to the SP office. At 8pm the SP came and asked about his association with Niyamagiri and Khandualmali struggle. The SP first threated him, ‘I would fire at you and kill you because you are supporting the Maoists’. British argued that this struggle is part of their rights. ‘Don’t brand it as Maoist.’ Then the SP beat him up inside his office and left with a condition that he would sign daily at Bijepur Police Station. British was going till State Human Rights Commission asked detail about the cases filed against him. It was learned that till that date no such cases had been filed against British Kumar.

Our demands:
 

• Closing down Vedanta Co.:The Vedanta Co. had its earlier plan in setting up alumina plant at Lanjigada and to mine bauxite from Niyamgiri. When in Gramsabha adivasis rejected its plan of mining in Niyamgiri and when the Supreme Court has already uphold decision of the Gramsabha (2013) then we strongly demand before the state government for closing down of the Alumina plant of Vedanta Co. immediately.
• No CRPF Camp:The setting up of CRPF camp at Trilochanpur goes against gramsabha resolutions. The government should close its down.
• Cases should be withdrawn: The government should withdraw all false cases foisted against the tribals.
• Demanding for Judicial Enquiry:A judicial inquiry should be done on suspicious death of Sujit Minz by the High Court sitting judge and till findings of that committee no such arrest should happen.
• Basic necessities should be fulfilled:The Adivasi villages have demanded for school, teachers, drinking water and health facility. The government should give respect to these demands and should give priority in providing basic necessities.

We conclude here that the state government has been treating Vedanta Co. as if first citizen of the Odisha. The way brutality of industrial Security forces have been suppressed at Plant site and repression by the paramilitary forces on tribals of Niyamgiri have been increased all these actions go against basic spirit of our democracy. The government should be attentive more towards its own citizens rather than the Multinational company like Vedanta Co.

Name of participating Organisations:

APDR, West Bengal ;  CPDR, Tamilnadu;  AFDR, Punjab
CLC, Telengana;  PUDR, Delhi and GASS, Odisha
Date : 29^th April 2019
Bhubaneswar

Courtesy: Counter Current

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On January 12, 2018, two weeks after Bhima Koregaon Yalgar Parishad program in Pune, the anti-terrorist squad of Maharashtra police picked up four workers of Reliance Infrastructure, one contractor from the same company and a casual worker. Their houses in the slum were raided in the midnight for hours before the arrest. A union activist was picked up a day before. The ATS squad questioned several other workers from the same company in the following days and finally arrested one more person from Reliance Infrastructure on 25th January. Interestingly, all the eight arrestees are migrants from Andhra/Telangana region. All of them have been charged under draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
 
The arrests of the activists in June and August, allegedly in connection to Bhima Koregaon triggered much controversy across India, leading to the Supreme Court of India to finally interfere in the case. The Pune police have been flaunting a set of letters which they claim to have confiscated from those arrested. However, the authenticity of the letters makes it hard to believe any Maoist conspiracy. The case of reliance workers, after 10 months of their arrest with no media attention and scrutiny of the police excess, is in limbo. 
 
Not many are aware of this case against the workers, which is the first case charged under UAPA in connection to the Bhima Koregaon violence. Several news reports appeared on the next day on this raid on worker’s home claiming theseto be the ‘arrest of seven Maoists in Mumbai.’ However, as the case unfolded it becameclear that the arrests had no connection to the Bhima Koregaon program except for using the claim for media attention, just like in the case of recent arrests.
 
Of the eight arrested, the five workers of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. Satyanarayan Rajayya Karrela, Babu Shankar Buchayya Vanguri, Shankarayya Lingayya Gunde, Ravi Rajanna Maarampalli and Saidul Narsimha Singapanga are the founders and committee members of the Mumbai Electric Employees Union as well (MEEU). 
 
The wives of the arrested have been frequenting the Mumbai City & Sessions Court and the High Court for the past 10 months – still in shock and unable to comprehend what and why has this conspired with them. “There were about 15-20 of them (policemen and women) in civil dress. I tried to stop them. But the women among them pushed me and came inside. They pulled out everything in the house and rummaged through all our belongings, making a mess. It was only at the end they told us that they are from police.” said Rajitha, wife of Sathyanarayana.  The ATS did not show them any arrest warrant or a notice justifying the raid. They were told that the men would be released by morning after questioning. But an FIR (CR No. 02 of 2018 at ATS Police Station, Kalachowki, Mumbai) was registered on January 13, 2018. They have been charged with a total of 11 charges including serious sections of the UAPA as also forgery (an ordinary crime under IPC). 
 
The police have submitted a chagre sheet running into 5000 pages in the court. But MM Abhyankar (treasurer of MEEU) who has gone through the charge sheet says all the charges are either baseless or framed. He says, “As per the charge sheet, the union activist named Krishna is associated with the banned CPI Maoist. He has helped few Maoists to get medical treatment 10 years back when they came to city injured.  The charge sheet says that the arrested workers have been helping him”. 
 
Contradicting the narrative, the charge sheet also says that the workers know Krishna only for the past 3 years. “Even if Krishna has helped some Maoists to help medical treatment 10 years ago, how are these workers (now wrongfully charged) supposed to know about it?” Abhyankar also explains says that the entire charge sheet is full of such un-corroborated stories. The police have listed literature like pamphlets and notices which call to fight for oppressed Dalits and to organise unorganised workers as ‘objectionable literature’ in the charge sheet. 
 
Another person named Prabhakar Machha, a school teacher by profession, and a close associate and sympathiser of workers’ union, very respected in his area, used to translate English literature into Telugu for workers; was also picked up on the night of January 12, but was released later and was not arrested. His is a truly tragic case. The police continued to repeatedly visit his house and interrogate him for hours, and he finally committed suicide on January 23, 2018 (eleven days later). 
 
One of the families thus targeted had to go back to their village in Andhra since the landlord (in Mumbai) asked them to vacate their shanty due to the frequent visits of the ATS squad! Of the 5 families, only one woman is employed, she works as a housemaid. The others are meeting the ends with the help of their relatives. They say even the relatives are not well off enough to send them money to meet the ends of the families living in a city like Mumbai.
 
 
The police have told the media that the posters of the Bhima Koregaon were found in the homes of these workers. But Bhima Koregaon posters could be found from anyone who is inclined towards the Dalit movement in Maharashtra. Lakhs of Dalit Bahujans visit Bhima Koregaon every year, and since this was the 200 year anniversary, multiple organisers had planned extended celebrations. Some of these workers have also visited Bhima Koregaon on December 31, a day before the violence occurred. But even this is only one among the hundred charges in the charge sheet alleging that these workers have Maoists links. 
 
“The police told the court that they are Maoists and living with false identities! But the lawyers appeared for them showed the proof that they were regular employees of Reliance Energy and that they were members of a registered trade union, Mumbai Electric Employees Union, having permanent addresses, Aadhar and PAN cards and being employed in service for 5 – 15 years,” said Susan Abraham, one of the lawyers representing the case.  
 
The stage is now set for framing of charges before the trial. Bail applications were filed in the session’s court which were also rejected. So now bail petitions are pending in the High Court.  Chances are weighed heavily against them, given the fact that draconian sections of the UAPA have been applied, a formidably long charge sheet stretching into 5,000 pages has been filed,  all of which will work to influence the court into assessing the case serious as a prima facie ‘serious’ case. Bail therefore seems a distant dream.
 
These workers from Reliance Infrastructure have been also active, both socially and politically, outside the Union as well. They have fought for the rights of all the workers to demand for necessary safety equipments while working, gloves, uniforms etc. Since, all of the workers arrested, along with other workers of the company, have been working for nearly two decades, they have been demanding permanency in the company. A court case articulating this demand has been filed since 2009 and is currently pending. “One can’t rule out the possibility of the company’s role behind the case. But we don’t know who took the initiative – the police or the company”, indicated N Vasudevan, the president of the Mumbai Electric Employees Union. 
 
The ploy used against the Reliance Workers is similar to the more publicised case of the arrested activists and lawyers too. Despite the fanfare on television, the police has not cited any ‘Maoist-connection’ or link to the ‘Bhima Koregaon gathering on Janauary 1, in the court. 
 
Is this one more ploy, like in the case of the activists and journalists, of the police playing to the tune of their political masters? All these workers, like the others have been committed to working with the marginalised. They are people who are known for their extensive work among the marginalised of the country. Like Sudha, Gadling or Arun who are lawyers representing many crucial cases in the court! In fact, Arun Ferreira is one of the lawyers representing the Reliance Workers case in the court till his arrest in August 2018. 
 
“This is the way in which the police and the government is trying to divert the whole issue of attacks on Dalits by the upper caste Hindutva forces led by Ekbote and Bhide. In order to cover up,
they have put up this inconclusive narrative in all these cases.” added Susan. 
 
“We cook one vegetable and the entire family eats it for 2 to 3 days. We don’t know how long we are going to live like this”, added one family member of an incarcerated worker, in tears. Shocked by the arrest of her son,  the mother of one of the workers passed away in two days after he has been taken into custody. All five families have children, from toddlers to school going children. They do not know where their fathers are. School going children had to drop out of their tuition centers as the fees are pending for months now. Ten months down the line, the families of these workers are clueless. There only hope is that their husbands might come home soon. 
 
According to reports from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB),two-thirds of those falsely charged in UAPA cases are subsequently released. This exposes the falsification of the investigation and prosecution. This is a high acquittal rate, even compared other criminal cases. The trials also take years to conclude. Through this inordinately long time of prosecution, personal freedom is denied, since under the UAPA, there are strict conditions for bail. The fact that there are no penalties for false prosecutions encourages the police to register such motivated cases even when they have no substantial evidence.
 
This has happened in a number of cases under UAPA, including that against Arun Ferreira in the past. If the case made out against these workers of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd turn out to be false, would the criminal justice system of the country ever compensate for the lost years in the life of these extremely poor and marginalised families?

Related Video Article:
 
https://cjp.org.in/how-pune-police-violated-the-law-on-seizure-and-raid/
  
https://cjp.org.in/attempt-to-undo-gautam-navlakhas-freedom-sudha-bharadwaj-still-not-free/
 

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Image Courtesy: Times of India

1) The women's movement for long has been stressing that retaliation
and revenge, whether by the State or by non state actors, do not
constitute justice for victims of sexual violence. An organized
military 'retaliation' of this kind is very very different, also, from
any spontaneous resistance or self defence by a woman victim herself.
Such retaliation by the Maoists perpetuates the same macho masculinist
logic that the State also peddles when it upholds death penalty for
rape. Such retaliation says 'We're man enough to avenge our women.'
Like the State, the Maoists might argue that such retaliatory violence
will be a 'deterrent' and so on. Again, women's movements have long
argued against the so-called deterrent potential of draconian
punishments or retaliatory violence.

2) The Maoists' rationale smacks of the logic of collective punishment
– I. E it does not claim to bring individual perpetrators of rape to
justice, or even the individual commanders who encourage and enable
such rapes; instead it kills one lot of CRPF men in retaliation for
acts done by other CRPF men.

3) By claiming the Sukma attack to be retaliation by [read: "against]
sexual violence by CRPF men in Bastar, the Maoists have undermined the
painstaking work by women's groups to seek justice for those acts of
sexual violence. There are women's rights activists and human rights
defenders putting themselves in considerable peril to bring such
instances of sexual violence to light and helping the victims or
victims' families pursue the cases. The Maoists' rationale for the
Sukma action undermines this immensely courageous work.

Finally, some journalists have flagged the possibility that some of
the CRPF jawans' private parts were mutilated in the attack. The
police and CRPF officials have so far denied this. The Maoists have
also denied inflicting such mutilation. So, in this particular case
there is no confirmation yet that bodies were mutilated. But for the
record let us reiterate what we have said often before – that
mutilation of bodies whether by State or non State actors would be
nothing less than an atrocity. If the State forces – police or CRPF –
are covering up an atrocity of this kind anywhere please hold them to
account.
 

(The author is Secretary, AIPWA)
 

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The Malappuram district court on Monday restrained the Kerala Police from cremating the bodies of two suspected Maoists, who were killed in an alleged encounter with police on last Thursday.

The court acted upon a petition filed by Sreedharan, the brother of slain Kuppu Devraj, a central committee member of the CPI (Maoist). Another Maoist leader Ajitha had also been gunned down in a brutal encounter that has drawn widespread condemnation, including from the alliance partner in the Left Democratic Front(LDF) government, the CPI (Communist Party of India).

In his petition, Sreedharan said his brother and Ajitha were killed in a fake encounter and the police have destroyed all evidence to hush up the killings. The only remaining evidence are the bodies of the victims and hence they should be preserved, he had pleaded.In an interim order, the court asked the police to preserve the bodies until Tuesday 7 pm. The court would again hear the petition on Tuesday.

Families of both victims had declined to receive the bodies from police after postmortem. People’s Union for Civil Liberties state secretary Advocate P A Pouran, who appeared for the petitioner, said they wanted the bodies to be preserved for at least a week.In between, they would move a petition in the high court, demanding a detailed probe into the fake encounter.

The brutal gunning down of two persons, on allegations that they were ‘Maoists’ has sent shock waves through Kerala and drawn criticism of activists and human rights groups.

“No government has a right to kill the voices that dissent,” said Kanam Rajendran, state Secretary of the Communist Party of India, in Alappuzha. “Such steps to do away with the people who raise genuine issues of the downtrodden should never be adopted by a civilised society. The CPI organ said:“…if Varghese’s custodial killing had shaken the entire civil society in Kerala 40 years ago, leading to the conviction of the police officer responsible for it, this time round it is the duty of the Pinarayi government to tell the people what really happened at Nilambur.”
 

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Image credit: Countercurrents.org

Following is the translated transcript of her speech delivered on October 1 in Mumbai:
 
My warm regards to everyone gathered here. I am extremely happy to be present before you all for such an important event commemorating Justice Suresh's 25 years in activism. His contribution is commendable, both as a judge and as an activist. Justice Suresh had recently travelled to Chhattisgarh. I was informed by one of the fellow activists about his visit. I did not know about Justice Suresh then.

Even when I was told he is a senior person, I thought of him as one of the several other activists and human rights lawyers who come from cities to support our cause. But when I saw him in Bastar, I was completely astounded that a man at such a ripe age wants to still travel to remote corners of the country to defend their rights. Although, he had managed to reach Bastar, I was not sure if he could take the travel ahead to those inaccessible villages in the region. When I suggested he should take it easy and not venture to far off villages, he promptly replied, "I have travelled all the way to examine the condition of Adivasi communities in this region, I will travel ahead." I, in fact, even tried to warn him of the possibility of long walks that he would have to undertake to reach some villages. He was very willing and asked me to not sweat over his travel. We went to one of the remotest villages which involved both travelling in a vehicle on the rickety road and then covering a long stretch on foot. But, nowhere did he appear tired. He was zealous and wanted to meet as many villagers as he could. When people got to know a retired judge had travelled from Mumbai to hear them out, they got hopeful. Villagers gathered in large numbers to talk to him and put forth their grievances. Justice Suresh patiently listened to each and every person gathered. He took note of every complaint made and patiently tried to address them one by one. His visit not only inspired people in general, but also helped some of them to take immediate steps.

Justice Suresh Hosbet. Image credit: The Indian Express

At the gathering, a pregnant Adivasi woman called Hurre had also come. She was heavily pregnant. Her husband Hunga was arrested a few days ago for his alleged involvement in a blast case. Hurre had pleaded for her husband's innocence before the police, but they did not relent. They took Hunga away, leaving Hurre distraught. The police had hit her on her stomach with the rifle butt when she tried to prevent Hunga's arrest. She had suffered a deep injury. Hurre knocked one very door in search of justice. When she reached the police station inquiring about her husband's arrest, the police claimed Hunga was taken to the court. When she reached the court, she was told her husband was locked up in the jail. So, she rushed to the jail. She aimlessly kept shuttling between the police station, court and jail for several days. Fed up, she contacted me and sought my help in finding her husband. Amidst this, she delivered a premature child. After the delivery, Hurre who was still frail and fatigued, insisted on meeting her husband. Hurre and I went to meet him at the Dantewada jail. After a lot of persuasion, we could finally meet Hunga in the jail. Hunga had not seen his newborn boy before. It was an emotional moment to see Hunga meet his son in the the jail. Hunga advised Hurre to not visit him in the jail and focus on making their thatched hut sturdy. He wanted the money they had painstakingly saved to be spent on the house as planned and not on travelling to visit him. Hurre returned to her village and a few days later she succumbed to the complications that developed due to the harassment by the police. After Hurre's death, our focus now is on her infant child.

Since Hunga is in jail and Hurre is no more, we had to find ways to keep their child alive and healthy. On Justice Suresh's suggestion, we decided to move to the High Court for arrangements to be made for the child's food. The court passed a favourable order and asked the collector to make necessary arrangements for the child. That one visit by Justice Suresh helped us find a way to help Hurre's family.

When I saw him there, helping our movement, I was reminded of my father. It is very courageous of someone his age to travel into the remote area and help people.

Seeing him, I was reminded of an incident from the time I was in the prison. My old father, who was shot in his leg, which rendered him handicapped would come to the court for every hearing, and stand at a corner. I would insist he didn't come to the court and keep standing like this. He would reply that he stood there since he cannot help me in any other way. He would say he had no money, no power to save me, but still the courage to stand by me. He once told me, "I want you to remember that your crippled father is standing here for you every day. I do not want you to lose hope. If I can stand under the scorching sun, you can't lose hope. You have to fight back." So when I saw Justice Suresh in my village, I was reminded of my father's efforts. There is a lot to learn from Justice Suresh and his undying spirit.

In Bastar, law has its own way of functioning. When a woman is raped anywhere in the country, the Supreme Court intervenes, asks for an immediate action, an immediate FIR and investigation. But this is not the case in Bastar. There is no law, no system, and no sensitivity in handling women in this region. Let the Supreme Court say anything, let the high court give any directions, the police here will do as they like. They do not care for law or for its people. If you take cases of sexual assault by the police in Bastar, you will find even after an FIR, the police do nothing. On the contrary, the victims live under constant terror here. And the police continue to unleash its terror on people here. If the state machinery continues to work like this and the government neglects lives here (Bastar), people will continue to die here. It appears that the system is built to harass people here and the police continue to operate with complete impunity.

Take the recent case of killing of two young school-going boys. One of them was sleeping in the house. When the armed force entered his house, he kept saying I am a school-going child. Look at my Aadhar card, look at my school I-card. I am not a Naxal. Even as he continued to beg, the policemen dragged him out of the house, thrashed him badly and took him far away from the house and gunned him down.
Even in case of such a brutal, cold blooded murder, there is no FIR against the police, no investigations. What law is this, which allows the state to kill without any accountability, with such impunity? If there is a justice system in place, if there are courts to deliver justice, then they should have to function too. Then why doesn't it work in Bastar? His family is running from pillar to post seeking justice.
 
Another villager called Karma was killed by the police and declared to be a Naxalite. His family produced his citizenry documents to establish he was a law-abiding citizen and had no link with the arms movement. If a person has lived all his life in the village, and has been publicly present, how can police then declare him a Naxalite and that too after his death? We ask when did he go underground, when did he pick up arms, when did he become a Naxalite, when did the government declare reward on his name? Even when they brutally murder our people, we still hold on to bleak hopes that someday, we will get justice. Instead, the same police officers unabashedly come and threaten us. They threaten women of dire consequences. They threaten to kill young boys of the family. What type of state is this which hates its own people?

Image credit: India.com

It has become so easy for Chhattisgarh government to declare anyone and everyone a Naxal. Those assigned with the task of upholding democratic principles in this country are busy killing it. Murderers are secure in this democracy, but the victims are not.

Women particularly are easy targets here. Young mothers in Bastar mostly step out to nearby areas to work as agricultural labourers. They time their work in such a way that they are able to take periodic breaks to breast feed their infants who are left back home. As these women take these breaks and head home, they invariably are apprehended by the police. The police interrogate them as if they were Naxals.

Even when these young mothers tell the police they are headed home to breastfeed their children, the police do not relent. To prove their innocence, the women are forced to bare their chests on gun point and squeeze out milk. Even after all the abuses she is made to wait, she cannot go and feed her hungry child. Can her frail body regenerate the milk once again in such a short time span? These daily abuses leave her humiliated and her child hungry. These abuses are not even accounted for. As if Adivasi lives are so dispensable that anyone can come and do whatever they like. There is no accountability of any kind.

We are not asking for some special protection for our people. We are only saying if there is an established legal system in this country, then the state should function within the limits. If the government wants our land and our wealth, doesn't it have the responsibility of protecting our interests too? Should development be an inevitable agenda, then the government should first have a system in place ensuring that every Adivasi life is protected and their interests secured. If government wants to procure our land, there is a law in place. Whether good or bad, the law exists and the government should at least try to stick to its own laws. How can this government kill Adivasis and speak of development? How can this be even termed as development? You cannot vacate villages, displace every one and claim that you worked towards development. If the government is really serious about development, it must focus on making lives of villagers better. There is no electricity, potable water, schools in most villages. Shouldn't the State focus on providing these things to the villagers instead of killing them?

The State is killing Adivasis in the name of development. Madkam Hidme of Gompad village is one of the recent victims of the State brutality. She was picked up from her house while she was sleeping, brutalised, gang-raped by policemen and then shot dead. We still decided to opt for a legal battle. On August 15, I along with her mother and sister went to her village and addressed the villagers and urged them to understand the values of democracy, their legal rights and the need to assert our constitutional rights. As planned, we looked for a place to hoist a flag in the village. We looked around entire village but could not find a single school or aanganwaadi there. We finally went to one open space and hoisted the flag there. This is state's development! They can send policemen to Adivasi houses, brand them as Naxals and brutalise them, but cannot set up a single school in the village.
 
When Adivasis speak of development, there is no one to hear their voice. If they approach a collector for setting up of a school, they are sent away. The collector doesn't even give Tribals an opportunity to make an appeal. They want forest-dwellers to remain in the forest forever. They are not interested in our development. But when they want our lands and forests, they unleash terror on us and kill us.

After the gang-rape incident of Delhi, entire nation joined hands seeking justice for her. I am not saying that the incident was not brutal and we should not have come together for her, but such incidents happen every day in Bastar. Adivasi girls are assaulted every day in Bastar. But there is no one to fight with us. They rape us and then brand us as Naxals. But no one comes ahead in support of us and speaks against the State atrocities. What happened in JNU with Kanhaiya and Umar Khalid was terrible. But when it happened to those two young boys of Bastar, there was no uproar. The boys were simply killed and not one protested was organised anywhere outside Chhattisgarh. They were school-going kids. Imagine if this were to happen to some students in your college, how the entire nation would have joined hands against the state and demanded immediate justice. Why doesn't the youth of this country assert itself when children are killed in Bastar? Will the government not kneel, if a concerted effort is made? Our children don't deserve justice?

Just when I was leaving for Bombay, five Adivasi youth (from the same village where two school kids were killed) came to me seeking help. They are afraid, the police will kill them. We have moved a petition before the High Court. I asked them why are they so afraid. They said, the thanedaar has threatened them that on the first opportunity, he will get rid of them. Of them, three men have already been to jail. Other two have even surrendered under police pressure. Still they are not spared. The police now want to have them killed. Engulfed in fear, those men spend every night in the forest. Since police mostly strike at night, these men stay away during the night time. They go deep in the forest, wait for rains to subside, find some dry space and sleep. Such is the terror of police here. One can't sleep in their house, can't visit the market, and can't lead a normal fearless life.
 
Worst affected are young girls of 12-13 years of age. They are forced to tie mangalsutra around their necks. Hoping to be let off by the police, almost all girls are forced to move around with those black beads around their necks. Even then girls are not spared. The police continue to attack them. They are publicly humiliated, spoken to inappropriately in highly sexual tone, and many are even sexually assaulted.

This state claims to be protecting its Adivasi population. Is this the way to protect its people? In the name of Naxalism, they are openly brutalising us and will eventually wipe out our existence.
 
There is a dire need to have more and more participation of civil society from rest of the country. While people are actively working in other parts, it is essential that they pay more attention to what is happening in Bastar. Media has an important role to play here. You have seen how attempts were made to completely crush the media here. But that should not discourage us. If some journalist travels from Delhi or Bombay or Kolkata, our stories will defintely travel outside.

Representational picture. Image credit: NDTV

 An entire drama has been staged in the name of surrender. Young boys and girls are randomly picked up from villages and are shown as surrendered Naxals. These youths are given only two ultimatums, either to die or sign those papers. What do these terrorised youths know? They think signing those papers is a wise decision to make. Only to realise later that those papers declare them as surrendered Naxals.

As news spreads, the Maoists punish them. If the police let them go, the Maoists kill them. Adivasis are stuck between the police and Maoists. Either ways they get killed.
 
Another case of a boy named Arjun recently came to light. He was sent to jail in 2015. He was released on bail after spending few days in jail. On every court hearing, he would diligently be present before the court. Not once did he miss the court hearing. Suddenly one day, the police went to his house and arrested him. They declared a Naxal who carried three lakh rupees reward on his head has been arrested.

This boy Arjun, who was arrested in another petty case and was released on bail, was not even in hiding. If the police wanted, they could have arrested him much earlier. He was lawfully released on bail by the court. There was no mention of the reward amount until he was re-arrested. His sister, who tried to speak up against the police, is now taken into the custody. It has been over 15 days since her illegal arrest.
 
This is the condition of Bastar, of Chhattisgarh. No voice of dissent can be raised; no Adivasi can raise her voice for justice. This State is lawless. No law, no rule applies here. The law that applies and governs the middle class, the ruling class and the upper caste in the rest of the country, does not protect the Adivasis of Chhattisgarh.
 
I have personally suffered a lot in past few years. It is not possible to fight the might of this State. But I will continue. This is no more my individual fight. It is the fight of every Adivasi here. We are threatened every day, our voices crushed; but we will continue to fight.
 
The speech was transcribed by Sukanya Shantha.
 
(This article was first published on Round Table India.)

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Representational picture. Image credit: BBC
 
The court of Additional District Judge-III Ranjit Kumar Singh convicted 15 accused and acquitted 23 for lack of evidence.
 
According to the prosecution, the MCC killed 34 upper-caste people with blunt objects at Senari village under Karpi police station of Arwal, then Jehanabad, on March 18, 1999. The victims were forced out of their houses and lined up near a village temple, where their throats were slit, as per the news reports. Seven other persons had sustained injuries in the incident.
 
An Indian Express report quoted additional public prosecutor Ranjit Kumar Singh, “We presented a strong case with a lot of corroborative evidence. The police filed a chargesheet against 74 people in 2002, but trial against 56 took place while 18 remained absconders. Charges were framed against 45 people. Two persons died during the trial.”
 
The police filed the case on information provided by Chintamani Devi, whose husband was among the 34 victims. The Senari incident was the last of a series of case-related massacres, in which MCC and upper caste organisations such as the Ranbir Sena are suspected to have been involved. The Senari incident took place after the Lakshman-Bathe massacre, in which 57 Dalits were killed in 1997.
 
Seventy-six massacres took place between 1990 and 2000, in which over 350 people were killed. Districts of Bihar such as Gaya, Jehanabad, Aurangabad and Shahabad region of Bhojpur were the worst affected.
 

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