The tribals of Anjedbeda village after having allegedly endured an assault by the paramilitary forces during a Naxal search operation, have written a complaint detailing the same, including molestation of a  minor teenage girl and assault on a minor teenage boy, amongst others.

On November 11, during a Naxal search operation by Paramilitary forces, the inhuman treatment given to innocent men and women as well assaulted them.

In the complaint, they have given a detailed description of the atrocities meted out to the villagers. A couple of jawans attempted to rape a teenage girl and in that bid molested her and pulled her to wards the forest when her mother intervened and even the mother was beaten up. A boy, about 16 years of age was kicked, tied up with a rope while they allegedly pulled his hair, beat him up with slippers and even tried to strangle him. Even his mother was allegedly not spared and was assaulted as she was beaten up by the butt of the rifle, kicked and grabbed by her hair and thrown on the ground. They also entered a few homes and vandalized them

When the jawans entered the home of a pregnant woman with their shoes on, she protested and one of them allegedly pointed the rifle at her chest and then scattered all the household items, enraged by her protest. The complaint states that the paramilitary forces entering adivasi homes with their shoes on physically and mentally harassing them has become a regular affair.

The complaint further recalls that on June 15, 2002 as well under the guise of Naxal search operation, adivasis were beaten up where one Guna Gop who is differently abled, was assaulted due to which he broke his legs. While a case was registered and the matter is subjudice, the family has not received any compensation and neither have the accused been nabbed and taken into custody.

Through the complaint the Gram Sabha Anjedbeda has demanded:

1. Institute inquiry into the aforementioned incident of November 11, 2022 and nab those security personnel who molested the minor girl

2. Adivasis are a peaceful community and we appeal to the district administration that innocent tribals should not be physically and mentally harassed in this manner

3. The victims of the attacks that have been carried out by the paramilitary forces on November 11, 2022 and June 15, 2020 should be compensated fairly and delivered justice at the earliest

4. In case of any such naxal search operations in the future the gram sabha should not be overlooked and should instead be kept in the loop by the security forces. If need be, permission be taken from the Gram Sabha before any such combing operation that requires searching houses of the residents. The villagers be treated with dignity during such operations. There is a barrier being created between the adivasis and security forces due to such incidents.

5. Take cognizance of this matter and register an FIR at the earliest

Anjedbeda’s villagers have written to the DC & SP with descriptive details of the violence. They have demanded that an FIR be filed against the perpetrators, action be taken in both the cases and violence against Adivasis be stopped. 1/n @HemantSorenJMM @drajoykumar @ChampaiSoren pic.twitter.com/gJ5yU8Ym8K

— Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (@JharkhandJanad1) December 12, 2022

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The post J’khand: Chaibasa tribals allegedly assaulted by security forces during Naxal search op appeared first on SabrangIndia.

(This piece authored by Fr Stan Swamy was originally published on Sept 15, 2017. It is being re-published today in his memory.)

“There are people who cannot take bail. There is nobody for them,” observed SC and ordered prisoners to be freed over trial delays.If a trial takes place, most would be acquitted… the trial deliberately delayed so they remain behind bars for years…                                                                    
 
The news was in the local print media recently. The startling news that after Jharkhand became a separate State, the highest number of arrests of alleged ‘naxals’ have taken place . It went on to say they are languishing in jails because they do not have the money to hire lawyers so they can come out on bail. Nor does the government’s ‘free legal aid’ ever reaches them. They are deliberately kept  in jail for years without trial because if speedy trial takes place, most of them would  be acquitted. The convenient tool the police use is to label them ‘naxals’, add more fake charges and prolong the trial process.

The Supreme Court, in its September 4, 2014 order mobilised judicial officers across the country to visit every prison in their district for the next two months to identify and release undertrial prisoners who have already underwent detention for half the maximum period of imprisonment their offence prescribes under law.

The media has however reported on September 21, 2015, that more than nine months after the Supreme Court deadline expired on the release of undertrial prisoners –all those who had completed half the prison term for the offence they were charged with should be released—the government still did not have any data (or was not releasing it, anyway) on how many such prisoners had actually been released.

Arrests and ‘Surrenders’ during 2015-16:  We get a glimpse of the arrests, the ‘surrenders’ as they appear in local print/electronic media: 1307 Jharkhandis have been arrested and 88 of them are supposed to have surrendered. (Source: Prabhat Khabar, Ranchi ed., 1 Sept. 2017).   

Some independent studies indicate that 27 persons [22 in 2016 and 5 in 2017) were killed in so-called ‘encounters’ by the police. (Bagaicha, Ranchi, documentation)

The assumption that all under-trial prisoners are guilty of alleged crimes is wrong. A serious question that emerges is, about the norm laid by the court that undertrial prisoners who had completed half the prison term for the offence they were charged with should be released. On what basis has the court prescribed this directive is not clear. The underlying assumption that all the under-trials are actually guilty of accused crimes. The reality is that it is not true. Most under-trial adivasi prisoners are not guilty of any crime but simple village folk who are falsely implicated by the police. So there should be no question of serving half their jail-term for crimes they never committed.

A just solution would be to release all under-trial prisoners immediately and speed up their trial process within a specified period. And if the govt fails to do that, they all should be acquitted without any conditions.

A dangerous de-humanising process is on:Practically every day, as we open the news paper or watch local TV channels, we see one or more young men are standing with their faces covered standing behind seated police officers in front of whom there is a table with weapons that are supposed to have been captured along with the ‘naxals’. A write-up describing where and how these ‘naxals’ are apprehended. Rare are the days when this type of pictures are not printed or such descriptions not reported.                  
                                
Is the general public being taken for a ride ?  The sad thing is that the educated general public takes it to be true! But the fact is most of it is not true. Innocent villagers are just rounded up, taken to police station, put in jails, cooked up charges foisted on them.

‘Surrenders’ proven fake.  Fake surrenders is another plot by para-military & police forces to rob the poor Adivasis & Moolvasis and make money out of them.

A staggering 514 innocent tribal youths were made to ‘surrender as Naxalites’ in Jharkhand between 2012 to 1014. A report of the NHRC affirms that some senior Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers conniving with some Jharkhand police officers have been organising these ‘fake surrenders’ to take advantage of the attractive ‘Naxalite Surrender’ policy. This opens up possibilities of getting awards and even getting promotions for playing this fraud on the poor tribal youths. Some middle men were also roped in who contacted the simple innocent tribals, lured them with promise of jobs and in return took big sums of money from them. Many of the surrendered youths had sold off their family land to arrange for the money to secure the promised jobs that never came. This money was shared with CRPF and police officers. These tribal youths were then lodged in the old central jail of Ranchi who then discovered that there were many many more tribals like them were also cheated and trapped. A senior Officer who discovered this anomaly wrote to the Director General of Police pointing out the seriousness of what was happening. But no action was taken until NHRC brought to light this disgusting affair.

Such is the tale of anguish the 4000 Adivasis languishing in the jails of Jharkhand are trying to tell the rest of the world.

But, is anyone listening ?

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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. 

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Under the Surrender and Resettlement policy, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has approved the proposal to release grants to twelve naxals of the CPI (Maoist) and two rebels of another banned outfit who have shunned violence and surrendered to the police, the Hindustan Times reported.

According to the official statement by the Chief Minister’s Office, Nakul Yadav, the CPI (Maoist)’s regional committee member from the Chatra district and the zonal commander of the banned Jharkhand Janmukti Parishad, Rajendra Oraon of Gumla district will get Rs. 4 lakh each and 11 other former perpetrators will get Rs. 2 lakh each.

The state government has also announced an ex-gratia of varying amounts to eight CRPF personnel who were injured in an encounter with Maoists in Latehar in 2013. The CRPF personnel were injured during a search operation in Latehar’s Barwadih police area. Out of these, 5 jawans will get Rs. 1.50 lakh each, 2 jawans will get Rs. 1 lakh each and the remaining jawan will get Rs. 50,000.

Earlier this month, National Herald reported that the one of the most dreaded Naxal commanders operating in the Khunti and Bundu areas, Kundan Pahan who is accused of killing former minister Ramesh Singh Munda and two other commanders have been offered four lakhs by the Jharkhand government.

The Hitavada reported that in June, seven naxals, including a woman who were frustrated with the hollow ideology of the Maoists and impressed with the Surrender and Rehabilitation policy of the Government, surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district in the presence of 219 CRPF personnel.

In April, two surrendered naxals, Lakkha and Vekko from Chhatisgarh’s Sukma district made masks for the locals and police personnel. Lakkha had surrendered in August 2019 and Vekko had quit in 2018.

Under the guidelines for surrender-cum-rehabilitation of naxalites in naxal affected states by the Ministry of Home Affairs, persons eligible may be imparted training in a trade / vocation of their liking. They shall be paid a monthly stipend of Rs. 2,000 for a minimum period of 36 months. Also, the guidelines call for an immediate grant of Rs. 1.5 lakh to be kept in a bank in the name of the surrenderee as a fixed deposit which can be withdrawn by him/her after 3 years. Apart from this the guidelines stated that In the event of a surrenderee being able to secure any Government job, this amount shall not be given to the surrenderee. The guidelines also make provisions for payments for surrendered weapons and ammunition.

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