Surat: Two policemen have been suspended and a departmental inquiry ordered for beating two youths in the Udhna area here on December 31 night.

Udhna Police inspector H.S. Acharya told the mediapersons that the moment CCTV footage was available to the police, the action was taken against the two.

ઉધના પોલીસ મથક ની પીસીઆર વાન નંબર 11 ના પોલીસ કર્મીનો રાહદારી સાથે અમાનવીય વ્યવહાર…

રાહદારી ને રોડ પર ઘસડી લઈ જતો પોલીસ…@dgpgujarat @GujaratPolice @timesofindia pic.twitter.com/vjf4q6q90s

— Dhaval Patel (@the_wall9) January 1, 2023

The CCTV footage that went viral on Sunday morning in Surat, shows the two policemen dragging two youths on the road and beating them. The youths have alleged that the policemen demanded Rs 5,000, when youths refused they took away their ATM cards and forcibly withdrew money..

Police have refuted these allegations and claimed that two youths were in an auto-rickshaw, when the Police Control Room (PCR) van intercepted it and police constables tried to question them, after which they tried to flee.

Head constable Piyush Chaudhary and constable Ashok Chaudhary were two policemen who were suspended by the police commissioner Ajay Tomar.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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Tired of continued police oppression, Khargone’s Muslim women marched and protested on the streets on May 10, 2022. Videos and photos on social media show women thronging the streets and condemning the administration for their continued attacks against the community.

On May 9, The Wire reported how the local police arrested 182 people, including three main accused in violence that broke out in the Madhya Pradesh city during Ram Navami celebrations in April. Shops and houses were devastated when miscreants in the religious procession went rogue. There were reports of arson, riots, stone-pelting. However, shockingly, it was Muslims who formed the bulk of the arrested.

Sick of this administrative oppression, Muslim women finally took to the streets on Tuesday, asserting their right as citizens of India.

Speaking to news channels, women condemned the police for mutely watching the carnage when the violence took place in April. Further, they also condemned the media for failing to show the plight of the community and instead showing a “one-sided view”. Another woman pointed out that many Muslim children were arrested and yet this fact was not covered by mainstream news.

Miles2Smile Founder Aasif Mujtaba, who visited the Khargone region tweeted about the protests saying, “A large number of women from Kahrgone took to the streets to oppose the arbitrary arrest & detention of their family members. This government talks about empowerment of Muslims women but it does exactly the opposite.”

A large number of women from Kahrgone took to the streets to oppose the arbitrary arrest & detention of their family members. This government talks about empowerment of Muslims women but it does exactly the opposite.#KhargoneRiots pic.twitter.com/qusIGgV2Xf

— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) May 10, 2022

Similarly, social activist Amir Sherwani, who visited violence-hit area in Karauli, Rajasthan, amplified the protest on social media and tweeted, “Muslim women came out of their homes and resisting against police atrocities on muslims in Khargone, MP. Muslims houses, businesses and their properties were demolished by right wing goons and then state. And then victim community have been further incarcerating by the state.”

Muslim women came out of their homes and resisting against police atrocities on muslims in Khargone, MP. Muslims houses, businesses and their properties were demolished by right wing goons and then state. And then victim community have been futher incarcerating by the state. pic.twitter.com/yZv5Je3wyQ

— Amir Sherwani (@Amir_Sherwani) May 10, 2022

The visuals also circulated on Facebook with captions describing how local Muslims are standing up against targeted violence.

Earlier, Shaheen Bagh residents in New Delhi had also gathered in mass numbers when they learnt that their area was also set for an anti-encroachment drive. Their resistance delayed the bulldozers until MLA Amantullah Khan convinced authorities that there were no illegal structures in the region. Both of these are powerful instances of peaceful yet visual resistance.

Meanwhile, Jahangirpuri residents enjoyed a small win on May 6 when the former Station House Officer of Jahangirpuri police station was removed and Inspector Arun Kumar was appointed in his place.

According to Indian Express, a Rohini court on May 7 noted the “utter failure” of the Delhi police in stopping the illegal Hanuman Jayanti procession in northwest Delhi last month. It claimed that the issue “seems to have been simply brushed aside” by senior officers. Reports also talked about how police officers “accompanied the illegal procession” and the court said that their complicity needs to be investigated.

Further, it said the contents of the FIR also indicate that the local police led by Inspector Rajiv Ranjan were “accompanying the said illegal procession” when they should have stopped it.

Related:

Persecuting Indian Muslims for crimes of ‘Muslim’ rulers

Shaheen Bagh demolition drive halted

What is the truth behind the ‘Chota Pakistan’ video?

Khargone violence: Administration a mute spectator, says CPI-RJD investigating team

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On Monday, February 17, the Delhi High Court (HC) issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi Police on a petition filed by a student of the Jamia Millia Islamia University seeking a compensation of Rs. 2 crore for injuries he sustained during the December 15, 2019 violence at the university, The Quint reported.

Shayaan Mujeeb, the petitioner, allegedly sustained injuries on both his legs due to the reported police brutalities in the Jamia library and said that he had spent Rs. 2 lakh on his treatment. He said that due to the attack, a metal rod had to be inserted in his right leg. In his petition he asked for interim compensation of Rs. 25 lakhs and a reimbursement of all related future medical expenses. To support his claim, he submitted MLCs, discharge summaries and photographs that demonstrated the severity of his injuries.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Hari Shankar asked the Central government and the Delhi Police to file in their responses by May 27.

Nabila Hasan, counsel appearing for Mujeeb said that the brutalities on him by the Delhi police had caused fractures in both his legs and would leave him limping throughout his life. The Centre, however, denied the claim to which Mujeeb’s counsel retorted saying that there was CCTV footage for the violence that happened in the library that day.

Videos of police violence on the students of Jamia are currently doing the rounds. The Jamia Coordination Committee released a video showing police charging students with lathis, which police claim to be ‘edited’.

Post the first video, the Delhi Police released new CCTV footage showing students purportedly entering the Old Reading Hall in the MA/MPhil Department of the university and carrying stones in their hands. In the footage, the students can be seen barricading the door shut with tables.

However, the sequence of events in a video by Maktoob Media show the extended footage of the video the police used to show ‘rioters’ had entered the library. This video shows that when helpless and unarmed students tried to exit the library police beat them up brutally.

@DelhiPolice and @IndiaToday came out with a video that shows student ‘rioters’ entering #Jamia library after clip shows police action on students. Video was cut off before footage shows how police enter room and attack them.

Watch the extended footage: https://t.co/M7Xzl15r9z

— Maktoob (@MaktoobMedia) February 17, 2020

Related:

Video shows Delhi Police assaulting students in Jamia library
Delhi Police’s clipped video trying to justify Jamia violence backfires

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Image: http://bharatduniya.org/
 
Ahmedabad: The Chhara community of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, was victimised by police on Thursday night and a force was deployed to raid all Chhara houses. About 30 people were arrested on the pretext of rioting, loot and attacking an officer on duty.
 
What is believed to be a minor scuffle between two Chhara community boys and a policeman has become a serious attack on the entire community residing in Chharanagar.
 
According to reports, two boys were counting some money on their bike when a policeman approached them. They had an argument and the policemen asked the boys to come with him to the police station. When they refused, a fight broke out where all parties involved were injured. In a couple of hours at around midnight, a force of 500 policemen entered Chharanagar and created a curfew. They raided and combed every house in Chharanagar to search for suspects.
 
In a report by The Indian Express, the assistant commissioner of police J P Raol said, “Our sub-inspector Mori, had gone there (Chharanagar) to conduct raids when at least 150-200 Chharas attacked and assaulted him and looted him. We then sent our vehicles and combed the entire area and rounded them up.” He said everything happened after midnight.
 
Aatish Indrekar or Aatish Chhara, an activist, was arrested by the police and relatives claim that he was not involved in any incident. It was also said that he protested against the police for vandalising his bike. The community claimed that the police was threatening them for no reason and were warned that if any of them ventured outside, they would be beaten up.
 
A Whatsapp forward and a few pictures uploaded on facebook suggest that the police broke whatever they could lay their hands on. They broke vehicles, cars and entered home, attacked men, women and children and broke household items too. They even attacked media persons and lawyers who tried to intervene.
 
A senior theatre and film director of Budhan theatre, Dakxin Chara, was also beaten up and his mother-in-law was attacked.
 
He said in a report by Scroll that the police “attack” on the residential colony was unwarranted. “The police have been raiding liquor sellers in our area for three months now, but last night it was not a raid – the police assaulted us,” said Chhara, who denied police claims of stone pelting on the part of the Chharanagar residents. “There was no stone pelting at all. An altercation took place between Mori and two Chhara boys, after which more than 400 policemen came to Chharanagar and began to assault anyone they saw on the streets.”
 
“The theatre artist added that the violence began around midnight and continued till 5.30 am on Friday. He claimed the police smashed vehicles parked on the streets and even barged into people’s homes and beat them up. “My wife and I were at my mother-in-law’s place and the police broke the door and came in,” said Chhara. “They assaulted my 75-year-old mother-in-law and literally threw her across the room. They started attacking my wife too, and I was thrashed with batons when I intervened,” the report added.
 
“None of the political leaders are available – their phones are either switched off or out of range. I called the CP Ahmedabad twice he didn’t pick up. This is like the attacks on Muslim colonies which used to take place while Modi was CM, now the Hindu Rashtra which they are building, treats not only Muslims like dirt, Dalits were treated like that too, now extending to denotified tribes,” the WhatsApp message said.
 
Abhishek Indrekar, an independent filmmaker and relative of Dakxin Chara, has been covering the entire ordeal on the ground through his Facebook page. “Gujarat Police are rioting Chharanagar badly. They have torned down all the vehicles. Its totally curfew now. They are not letting us go to our places not letting us out of our homes. They are beating every chhara person they see whether it’s a woman or a kid. They have already picked up hundreds of people for nothing. They are also pelting stones on people. This is called Dadagiri of Gujarat Police. This all comes from Upar se Order aaya hai, Saab ka! And we all know very well who is that Bada Saab! Note: All the policemen/women are drunk and they are enjoying by doing all this violence on the people of Chharanagar. #GujaratPoliceKiDadagiri #ViolenceInChharanagar #2019ElectionPreparation,” he wrote on his Facebook wall.
 
Through his live videos, he showed that men and even women who were passing by were lathi-charged by police.
 
He informed that many citizens and activists held a press conference in front of Sardar Nagar Police station where many people have been wrongfully detained on Friday. He also said that the electricity of Chharanagar was intentionally cut by the government.
 
Alpsankhyak Adhikar Manch reported that the police station authorities had beaten up many and arrested 40 people from the community. They also allegedly denied entry to social activists and media people.
 
The Chhara community is a denotified tribe and a section of the community is involved in bootlegging while many indulge in performing arts, theatre and films. It was included in the ‘Criminal Tribes Act’ by the British and the members of this community are still seen as ‘born criminals.’ The community has often been at the receiving end of police scrutiny.

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Photo credit: Hindustan Times

It was deeply painful to read about Irshad Ali, who was acquitted of terror charges by a trial court on December 22, 2016 but not before spending eleven precious years of his life in prison on false charges. First, he was forced to become a police informer and deployed on life-threatening tasks and after he refused to join a militant group across border on his wife’s advice, his angry handlers in the police implicated him in false terror charges.

In the eleven years he spent in jail, he lost his parents and an infant daughter. Despite suffering this mammoth tragedy, all Ali asked for was an apology in his interview with the Indian Express. Being totally aware of the fact that even your humble request of a mere apology is not going to be fulfilled, here, we say sorry.

We are sorry to the constitution-makers whose ideals of freedom, rights, justice and rule of law, we failed to implement.

We are sorry Ali:

On behalf of our constitution-makers who continued with the repressive colonial police structure which was formed to suppress our own people by our colonial masters.

We are sorry Ali on behalf of successive governments of India who had no political courage to bring much needed police reforms, which would have made our police citizen- friendly and not just an oppressive tool in their hands.

We are sorry on behalf of our brutal police who picked you up at an age of 21, along with your father, and tortured him in front of you. Police forced you to join them as their informer who would risk his life in their assignments. First, they used you as a pawn in their cynical ambition of getting awards and rewards by falsely implicating Muslim youths and after sometimes when you refused to be a part of their sinister plan they implicated you also.

We are sorry on behalf of the entire judicial system which was unable to come to your rescue for 11 long years due to its slow moving pace; for public prosecutors who come on television to do chest-thumping after every terror conviction and invent “chicken biryani” stories to influence public opinion. Our judicial system abandoned you helplessly for 11 years, the same system which can be evaded by the rich, political leaders and businessmen by hiring expensive lawyers.

We are sorry Ali on behalf of the media which amplify every petty issue at their prime time shows but, as you said, in the year 2008 CBI's clean chit in your case fell on deaf ears.

We are sorry on behalf of the youth of India that while you spent your entire youth in prison, we were in the premier universities enjoying every aspect of life. All the learnings, pleasures, joyful moments with friends and meeting with our loved ones whenever we want are all now loaded with a sense of guilt that while we enjoy here many youths like you are thrown into the prison on false charges.

We are sorry to your dead parents, your young wife and your dead infant daughter. Your old mother died after knocking every door for your rescue. Your old father too died after spending life time and savings on attempts to secure your release. Your young wife and your kids were deprived of your love and care and had to face great hardships to make their ends meet. They were ostracised by neighbours, relatives and society.

We are sorry to your religion which might have been a factor in your ordeal. While authorities are asked to go soft on the accused belonging to a particular religion, the prejudices against your religion lead the same authority to be extra tough on the accused of belonging to your religion.

We are sorry to the constitution-makers whose ideals of freedom, rights, justice and rule of law, we failed to implement.

This story was first published on Two Circles.
 

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The violent attack upon a completely peaceful seminar at Ramjas College is unprecedented, not for the behaviour of the RSS affiliated student body, which is to be expected, given their long-standing attraction to violence and intimidation. It is unprecedented for the shameless impunity afforded them by the police, who allowed peaceful people to be assaulted with stones, a lady lecturer attacked and held under gherao for nearly 5 hours, with a chair being hurled at her, and numerous students and journalists manhandled, assaulted and abused.

The police is duty bound and empowered to take action, including arrest, in the case of cognisable offences such as rioting and causing injury. They could have acted on the spot, instead of which they allowed the criminal activity to go on for hours, treating the miscreants smilingly like mischievous children.

How can police officers stand by and treat rioters with kid gloves while peaceful citizens are being assaulted? Are they the hirelings of the Sangh Parivar?

The basic point is that there was no, repeat no, provocation by the participants of the seminar. They were merely speaking or listening. How can a Union government minister talk of this college becoming an anti-India hub? Has he investigated what slogans were raised?

This is an utterly irresponsible statement and shows the tendency of high officials of this government to justify violence in the name of their version of nationalism. Is it their job to encourage hooliganism? Did they see the agenda of the seminar and know in advance what was going to be said and discussed?

The ABVP today is not what it was some decades ago. When I was a teacher at Ramjas (1974-94) I remember ABVP boys attending my classes in Soviet history – perhaps they thought they would get a non-propagandist view of a heavily ideologised  past. I am also reminded of a seminar in early 1988 on the Tamas serial at which they invited me to speak. I did not do so, but my friend Purushottam Agrawal did speak, that too in the company of the East Delhi BJP MP and student leaders of the ABVP.

Agrawal gave a stirring rebuttal of their objections to the serial, but was respectfully listened to. Today he would be assaulted for what he said. Thereafter, in the face of many threats, we organised a meeting on Tamas in Ramjas, the story of which may be read here.

At the very least the ABVP boys those days showed a basic respect for their teachers. I can also say that during the course of the Ramjas struggle (1981-83) over the victimisation of Sita Ram Mali by the college administration, many of them changed their values spontaneously, without any prompting from us. I have never propagated any ideology to my students, aside from the value I place upon ahimsa and a respect for human life.

Today's ABVP has discarded the most basic values of respect for their teachers, some of whom are being abused and targeted by name. Is it part of Indian culture to assault and abuse your teachers, including lady teachers, all the while shouting Bharat Mata  ki jai? This is no longer the Bharatiya Janata Party, it is Modi's Janata Party. May God help Bharat.

Persons with objectionable ideas have the right to speak, whether or not we like those ideas. Under no circumstance should they be liable to violent assault. If people do not like certain ideas they are at liberty to question and even condemn the speakers. Under what law are they permitted to violently attack speakers and members of the audience? Is there some law under which you can commit violent crime by saying you are 'nationalists'? Is your so-called patriotism a permit to violate the law?

The Sanghi's were infuriated that students protested against this disruption by taking out a peaceful rally inside the campus. The rally also called for freedom ('azaadi') of speech and assembly – which slogan was deliberately misinterpreted as referring to secessionism. Now doctored videos are being circulated. The very use of the Hindi word for freedom has now been criminalised. Is the entire country and the use of language to be policed by the RSS? Will the home minister and the Delhi police commissioner kindly give us a dictionary of words and phrases acceptable to His Highness, the Sarsangchaalak?

How can police officers stand by and treat rioters with kid gloves while peaceful citizens are being assaulted? Are they the hirelings of the Sangh Parivar? Did they take an oath of office in the name of the Indian Constitution or to the government of the day? Every moment that a police official looks the other way when a criminal act takes place before his or her eyes contains the germ of fascist tyranny.

This is what happened in Ramjas College. I witnessed some of it on Tuesday February 21, when I was due to speak (at 3 pm) on the theme of the civic response to the massacre of 1984. I could not deliver my lecture because rioting was in full swing when I arrived on the campus. I have seen this kind of scenario many times when I was a Ramjas teacher. Stones were being thrown, glass shattered, abuses hurled. None of these activities could have taken place without instructions from the higher political controllers of the Sangh. Their activists are assured of soft handling – they know they can indulge in criminal activity and get away with it.

These are crimes against the law, and in a broader sense they signify an assault on our minds by activists of a totalitarian project. These persons wish to enforce their beliefs upon us, and to use political power as a cover for violent activity. It is our duty as citizens to protect our constitutional rights. More such attacks are to be expected unless we protest vigorously. We all belong to Ramjas.

A letter by a Ramjas student to a teacher: 
(Date: Thursday, February 23, 2017, 10:07 AM)
 
I have not been able to sleep at night… The incidents, the violent scenes in the college were on a loop in my mind. They have all videographed us and hv given us rape threats and acid attack threats. They are constantly trying to instill fear in us… But we will not back down! We'll be out on the streets… protesting today as well…amidst their violence…their abuses…their threats! We won't let this fire to die down. The beauty of this movement of resistance by Ramjas was that neutral students who dont associate with any student organization or political ideology have also joined in numbers against the ABVP hooliganism. And they were able to rationally engage with what was going around in the campus. And they were with us… And they became "US"… And it was not a left vs right struggle… as was out in the media.. It was Ramjas against ABVP goondaism. It was silence doing it's magic against violence.  We were peacefully sitting near canteen… fearful of the uncertainty looming around…

Questions of what next and who next… terrified us… traumatised us… as we saw friends getting beaten up… thrashed and manhandled by ABVP goondas…Our silence was hurting them… Our songs of resistance were pricking them… They came up with the national flag… and hurled abuses… chanted ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. We were silent. Although we were numerically less… Our silent mode of protest affected them so badly that they sporadically attacked us from different sides… trying to batter our strength. Although it was disappointing for a lot of us to silently sit there while they provoked us and we couldn't hit them back…  But still from the way we've carried out our protest yesterday… I've realized that sometimes silence works wonders! And it hit them at the right spot. As we were struggling inside … Our friends outside the gate were carrying out the protest that we were not allowed to carry out… They were beaten up… But they didn't back down! We will not back down… The social media is flooded with their violence… first hand accounts of what happened. We are brutally exposing abvp… And will continue to do so. And hopefully this is the beginning of something DU has never seen or felt before! 

(Dilip Simeon's blog).
 
 

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The Chhattisgarh government has submitted to the National Human Rights Commission a 6-point plan to ensure that human rights are adequately protected in the Bastar division of the state.

As part of the promised action plan, the state government has issued standing instructions to the Special DGP/Additional DGP (Naxal Operations) to immediately recommend action to the Additional DGP (CID) in any case of gross violation of human rights wherein the action is found to be slow, lacking or inadequate at lower levels.

The other measures include:

Director General of Police (DGP) to organise training and orientation of the police force posted in Bastar division to sensitizes them on the human rights issues and to ensure that human rights are not violated in the course of their duties;

All police officers to ensure that human rights are not violated in the course of their work, be it in Naxal affected areas or elsewhere. The officers must be warned that human rights violations will invite consequences. They would also be responsible for ensuring compliance among other police personnel under their command;

There will be a clear, separate entry in the Annual Performance Assessment of All Indian Police Services (IPS) and State Police Service (SPS) officers about their performance on human rights issues;

A district level Human Rights Protection Committee headed by a District Magistrate/Collector has been constituted in each of the seven Naxal affected districts of Bastar to receive complaints on human rights issues and to make suggestions to the state government for taking necessary action. This committee comprises six district level administrative, police, law officers and two- three eminent citizens;

A State Human Rights Protection Committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of secretary, General Administration Department. This will consider only those cases which has been not been disposed off at the district level or where the complainant is not satisfied with the action taken by the District Committee. This committee comprises seven senior level administrative, police, law officers and two-three eminent citizens/NGO representatives.

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The killings at Badkagaon, Jharkhand

In the last few weeks there were at least three gruesome incidents of killing of tribals or forest dwelling persons in different parts of the country.

In the first incident two persons from Muslim community were killed in police firing near Kaziranga National Park (KNP) of Assam on September 19, 2016. These people were peacefully protesting against their eviction drive carried out by local administration, which was implementing the judgment of Gauhati High Court related to evictions.

In the second incident two young boys were killed by police in the Bastar area of the Chhattisgarh, and following the long tradition of all such killings, the police claimed that they were Maoists.

The third incident occurred on October 1 in the Hazaribagh, Jharkhand where the police used its brutal power and killed four persons in an open firing. These people were peacefully protesting against land acquisition for a Thermal Power Plant, which would cause their displacement.

It is should be asked that why the State used its brutal power against one of the most marginalized sections of the society?

It is should be asked that why the State used its brutal power against one of the most marginalized sections of the society? Was firing on these unarmed and, at least in two cases, peacefully protesting tribal and forest dwelling people necessary? Could it be claimed by the state authorities that they fulfilled all constitutional obligations in the context of the demands of these people, in other words, could it be claimed by authorities that their demands were absurd and unconstitutional? Or would it be more correct to underline that tribals represent the marginal voices of the Indian nation-state, and mainstream notions of ‘national interest’, ‘internal security’ and ‘development’ have meager or no space for their claims or rights?

The background of Kaziranga killing is related to the orders of Gauhati High Court (1), which was based on its concern for the wildlife protection in the KNP. After hearing a suo motu case and many other related cases, the court ordered on October 9, 2015 that human population living near and within the KNP must be evicted. In its decision the High Court treated revenue villages settled near the KNP as part of the Park (i.e. as forest), but did not accept the argument to follow Forest Rights Act (FRA) to settle the rights of these villagers, most of them were Muslims.

Interestingly, the court used the idea of ‘national interest’ and since they were living near and KNP they constitute a ‘suspected community’ for the killing of wild animals. The court directed the villagers that  to follow their constitutional obligations (to protect wild life) they should leave their claims for the betterment of KNP and wild life. Following the court order, the administration issued notice to the villagers, who were ready to move to some other places but demanded a proper rehabilitation or at least alternative arrangement. They were peacefully opposing eviction drive by the administration. The administration, however, did not pay any attention to their genuine demand and the police opened fire to end their peaceful protest, which killed two persons.

It is also noteworthy that since most of the villagers were Muslim, the administration was more hostile to them. Indeed, the demand for a proper rehabilitation before eviction was a just demand. The FRA also presents a clear procedure for the relocation of the population from the Park area. The court, however, overlooked its provisions and followed the provisions of Forest Conservation Act 1980 because its provisions are suitable for the protection of predominant idea of ‘national interest’ within the forests. It should also be noted that BJP government of Assam took extra interest in this eviction drive because the residents of the villages were mostly Muslims, who had settled in this area before notification of the formation of KNP.

On September 23, 2016 the police killed adolescent students in the Burgum police station of the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. The killed students Sonaku Ram Kashyap 16, and his friend Bijlu Kashyap, 13 were resident of Gadhda village in Dantewada, and went to Sonaku’s aunt house, 20 km away from their own village, to inform her about the death of one of their family members. They were killed by the police in an ‘anti-Maoist’ operation, which claimed that both of them were Maoists.

These killings were not new in the Bastar area of Chhattisgarh, where in the name of controlling the ‘biggest threat of internal security’ and to ensure ‘national security’ the police have been continuously killing young adivasis in ‘encounters’, for the last so many years. Earlier the Chhattisgarh state administration used, ‘Salwa Judum’ to contain Maoists; in that period too, the police force along with Salwa Judum militia used brutal power against tribal villagers, compelled them to leave their villages, killed many young adivasis on the mere suspicion of their linkage with the Maoists and many incidents of sexual violence against women also come up in different fact finding reports. Even though the Supreme Court declared Salwa Judum illegal and unconstitutional, the state government continued it as an ad hoc arrangement.

The most pathetic thing is that after such killings the police personnel get rewards from their department. In the above mentioned incident both the students were not trained terrorists, they were unarmed and could be easily arrested. The police, however, preferred encounter, which is a clear case of rampant human rights violation. It should be remembered that the people of Bastar, and many other Maoist affected tribal areas are compelled to live in a continuous situation of war on the name of ‘internal security’.

The third incident of the use of police force against forest dependent and tribal people occurred in Badkagaon, Hazaribagh of the Jharkhand. Here, people were protesting against the land acquisition by NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd). It had proposed to start the mining in the Karanpura valley, in East Singhbhum of the Jharkhand, over an area of 47 km. The idea of the land project and land acquisition for this purpose emerged in 2004.

Residents of this area opposed the acquisition of their land for the purpose of the project. Due to their incessant opposition the NTPC could not start its work. However, this year the forest department agreed to give 2,500 acres of land, out of proposed 17,000. The Forest Rights Act, however, gives local STs and OTFDs power to protect and conserve their land. It requires approval of the gram sabha in order to acquire forest land. The local communities had chosen innovative methods of protest. On the May 31, 2016 the villagers of this area started the Chita Satyagraha opposing the land acquisition without their consent. At that time the Government officials promised them to resolve the matter.

However, when no concrete steps were taken by the government they started Kafan Satyagraha. Their demand was to scrap the forest land acquisition by the NTPC because the procedure established by the law was not followed. The killings in Badkagaon happened in this context, when on October 1 the protesters were sitting peacefully in front of NTPC machinery. In the police firing four people were killed (though many unofficial sources claimed that at least seven persons were killed ) and more than 40 persons were injured.

In all three cases, the Indian State did not follow its constitutional and legal obligations towards the forest-dependent or tribal communities.

In all three cases, the Indian State did not follow its constitutional and legal obligations towards the forest-dependent or tribal communities. In the Kaziranga killings case, the demand of the protesting villagers was that a resettlement package should be given to them. Even if we overlook the legal contradictions of the Gauhati High Court judgment, it is very clear that without giving any other space to resettle, the forced eviction of villagers was entirely against the basic values of our constitution. In the case of Bastar killings too, it is clear that rather than following the more humane and reformist methods, the Chhattisgarh police followed the method intimidation, torture, rape and fake encounters. In Badkagaon, Hazaribagh the people were demanding very simple and genuine thing that authorities should follow the provisions of FRA before any kind of land acquisition. The state, administration, however, was not ready to follow the law passed by the Parliament.

It is also strange that though in all three cases the police firing could be easily have been avoided, it was not. In Kaziranga and Badkagaon the protesters were doing their protest in peaceful manner and there was no need of firing. Similarly, Chhattisgarh police could easily arrest unarmed adolescent students, but the resorted to the method of fake encounter and killed them. If we compare the police conduct in tackling violent mobs in the state like Haryana (Jat violence for reservation), Gujarat (Patel’s violent movement for reservation) or Bengaluru (violence on the issue of Cauvery river water distribution) we can easily draw the conclusion that the behavior of police in tribal/forest areas has been consistently dominating and violent. My point is that the police must work with restrain and self-control. However, the fact of the matter is that in tribal areas police has been continuously working with more violent and inhuman methods.

The Modi government's policies for tribal areas are more aggressive than its predecessor.

It should also be noted that the Modi government policies for tribal areas are more aggressive than its predecessor. It is true that on the question of Maoist violence, the Modi government is following the policies of its predecessor. The present government has been, however, promoting more antagonistic stands toward peaceful movements too. It has given clearance to many investment proposals in forest areas and deliberately worked to make the FRA weak and redundant, particularly in the context of community rights given in this Act.

It is not a coincidence that BJP is the ruling party in all three states where these forest dwelling peoples were killed.

It is obvious from the above description of the three recent incidents that in tribal/forest areas the Nation-State works with its dominant idea about ‘national interest’, ‘development’ and ‘internal security’. In these dominant notions tribal or forest dependent communities have no place and Nation-state treats them as ‘suspected’/’dangerous’ communities, who could work against ‘national interest’ or create dangers for ‘internal security’ or work as the greatest obstacles on the path of ‘development’. Apparently the Modi government is more committed towards the idea of ‘national interest’, ‘development’ and ‘internal security’ and since tribal are suspected communities for all these three aims, they are on the receiving end of state violence.

Reference
1. Gauhati High Court (GHC) Judgment in the PIL (suo motu) 66/2012, and WP(C) 648/2013 and 4860/2013.

(Kamal Nayan Choubey teaches political science at Dyal Singh College of Delhi University).

This article was first published on Kafila.
 

The post Trigger Happy Police Shoot to Kill Tribals in BJP-ruled Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image from the Kashmir Valley, July 2016
 
Shah Faesal:
By juxtaposing my photos with the images of a slain militant commander, a section of national media has once again fallen back upon its conventional savagery that cashes on falsehoods, divides people and creates more hatred.

At a moment when Kashmir is mourning its dead, the propaganda and provocation being dished out from red and blue newsrooms is breeding more alienation and anger in Kashmir than what the Indian state can manage.

Personal vulnerability apart, the very fact of becoming a part of a ridiculous debate is something which has disturbed me very much. Have I joined IAS to do a job or to become a part of your sadistic propaganda machine? In fact, when I qualified this exam I never thought of spending my whole life scratching the desk and if this nonsense around me continues, I might prefer to resign sooner than later.

Image from the Kashmir Valley, July 2016

I am adding to what my younger colleague Yasin Chaudhary had said earlier in his Facebook post. Zee News, Aaj Tak, Times Now and NewsX are not going to tell you the truth about Kashmir. Please mind your head.

And then, when a state kills and maims its own citizens, it’s self-injury and self-decimation of the worst sort. No Government can distance itself from the pain of its people and all out efforts are being made to contain this crisis and reach out to youth. It is going to take time.

Image from the Kashmir Valley, July 2016

Till then we have to steer safe from spoilers who want to set Kashmir valley on fire just for the sake of TRP.

Image from the Kashmir Valley, July 2016

Let’s pray for those who lost their lives and their eyesight in the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir and stand by one another in this moment of truth. I didn’t have net access all this while and today once I saw my timeline, I realised it was the time to speak up.

Inalillahi wa Ina-ilaihi rajioon. (Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return).

(Shah Faesal became the first Kashmiri to top the civil services exam in 2010. The content above first appeared on his Facebook page).

Image from the Kashmir Valley, July 2016

Facebook Post from the Kashmir Valley, July 2016

The post TRP or Truth? Zee News, Aaj Tak, Times Now and NewsX on Kashmir Protests appeared first on SabrangIndia.