However, in other reports that have emerged since the said encounter took place, journalists alleged that though the security forces have claimed that they killed one Kosi Sori, it was actually Podiyamii Jogi, a resident of Jarpalli who was killed. In an interview given to this writer, Linga Kodopi claimed, “We can prove her identity, but what proof the security forces have that they killed Kosi Sori? We do not even know who Kosi Sori is.”

Linga has raised some crucial questions in the video. “It does not look plausible that an encounter between security forces and Naxalites has taken place here. Why would the Naxals be residing in a home and not forests? Moreover, there was not even a meeting taking place. If at all a meeting was taking place, why people from only these few houses would be participating in it?”

Following the encounter, a fact finding team comprising the Adivasi leader Soni Sori, journalists Linga Kodopi, Pushpa Rokde and Nitin Rokde, and block head Punem visited the area.

Podiyami Jogi was 18 years of age. Her mother had died and her father married again. Just like other villagers, she would help anyone who would visit from outside. She would give them food and water, which is usual for any Adivasi household. She also worked on fields.

As per Linga, the villagers said that on December 15, 2017, Podiyami Jogi, a resident of Jarpalli village in Bijapur, was visiting a relative namely Madavi Ayate in another village Hempuram, not too far from her residence. She left the next morning at around 9 am, carrying a bag on her shoulder. Reportedly, this is when the security forces surrounded her from all sides. Scared, she started running. Linga is anguished, “The terror of security forces is so paramount that anybody will run. Even I am scared of them”. This is why Podiyami kept running. After running for about 500 metres, as Podiyami was going to enter a house, the security forces allegedly fired on her. The villagers told Linga, “On hearing the sound of gunfire, when we reached the spot, we saw that the policemen were hurriedly wrapping up a woman’s body in plastic.”

Illustration: Sushmita
​
The villagers had to struggle even to take the dead body, says Linga. They were beaten up by the policemen and the body was taken to Pamed police station on a cot. After a couple of hours, a group of women from the village reached there.

The villagers told Linga and Soni Sori that they were beaten up when they asked for the dead body. Though the women returned, the boys who went to the police station were not allowed to leave. They were released only on the next day. The boys returned and told the villagers that the dead body was in Bijapur, so the villagers went to collect it on December 16. The villagers preserved the body for 6 days in the hope that someone will come and investigate the encounter, said Soni.

“It is not the security force’s prerogative to house-search every household to look for Naxalites. If they want to search then they can roam in the forests. The bullets that I have shown in the video, have all been fired on houses. What sort of encounter takes place in the ambit of one’s house?” asks Linga. Usually the police say that encounters take place in forests because they get scared and fire for fear of their life. However here the situation was different. He further adds, “If you see the open field and the houses, it is hard to imagine a situation in which a circumstance for the said encounter could have been created.” He questions about the need to carry out such an ‘encounter’ when the security forces could have easily shot Podiyami on her feet if their intention was to stop and catch her. He says that by labelling Adivasis  killed in this manner as Naxalites, the security officials make themselves eligible for prize money and other accolades.

Soni Sori says, “When I visited the spot, I saw that Podiyami’s dead body was preserved by the villagers.” They told her, “We will not carry out the last rites of the dead body. Our culture and traditions are getting destroyed because of this fight. Today, we can’t even perform our rituals and customs to send off our dead.” She mentions, all of the 2500 odd villagers who had gathered, said that we will preserve our culture while simultaneously fighting this war. Finally, waiting for justice, Podiyami Dul, the deceased’s father buried the body on December 21. He has highlighted that Podiyami was the sole bread winner of the family and was looking after him and her brother.

As if all this was not enough, the police officers have allegedly threatened the Adivasis not to enter the forests. “CM Raman Singh and others do not get tired of claiming that they are finishing off Naxalites, but what they are actually doing is finishing off Adivasis.”

Related Articles
— NHRC Holds 2007 Salwa Judum Ops to Account, issues Notice to Chhattisgarh
— Is Vinod Verma’s Arrest Just the Tip of the Iceberg?
— How the Salwa Judum Looted and Killed Villagers in Kondasawali Village in Chattisgarh
— Not just Muslims, Adivasis have also suffered at the hands of ‘Gau Rakshaks’

The post Kosi Sori is Podiyami Jogi: Another fake encounter in Chhattisgarh? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In a letter dated 16 June 2017, The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directed the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (Chhattisgarh) to make further inquiries into a complaint it had received regarding the looting and burning of huts and the killing of seven persons of Kondasawali, a village in district Sukma of Chhattisgarh.

Sometime during the years 2006–2007, there was an increase in the presence of the members of Salwa Judum, a local militia aimed at “countering” Naxalite violence, in the hills surrounding the Kondasawali village. According to the testimonies collected, they regularly harassed the villagers; looted and burnt village property; beat up the villagers; and sexually assaulted women. Because of this, most of the villagers fled from their homes. While a few went to Bailadila, Andhra, and other nearby areas to look for work, the rest lived in the forest. Those living in the forests survived on whatever the people from nearby villages gave them, and the little that they could forage in the forest. A number of them died because of the harsh living conditions there. Around 2009–10, when Salwa Judum was starting to lose its influence in the area, the villagers started returning. It is around this period that a group of about 60-80 Selwa Judum leaders, SPOs, and the state force, attacked, burnt and looted three settlements in the Kondasawali Gram Panchayat i.e. Karrepara, Kamaraguda, and Kondasawali.  About 95 huts were burnt and seven people killed. In 2011, the Supreme Court declared the Salwa Judum illegal and unconstitutional and ordered its disbanding.

By 2013, the surviving villagers had returned and were well on their way to rebuilding their homes and tilling their lands. Because enough time had passed since the last incidence of violence, the villagers felt that it was now safe enough to file a complaint against the perpetrators who had pillaged the village and killed seven people. Finally, the then Sarpanch of Kondasawali, Sandam Sannu, filed an official complaint to the Collector on 12 July 2013. Following this, on 13 August 2017, Barse Nande, a villager, was attacked and killed by the security forces. She had been one of the key complainants in the case, as her husband, Barse Nanda, was one of the seven people who had been killed in the 2009–10 violence. Fearing that this was an act of retribution for filing the complaint, and worried about any further violence or killings against the complainants, Sudha Bhardwaj, on behalf of the Chhattisgarh chapter of PUCL, took up the matter with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The report, prepared by PUCL and submitted to the NHRC says, “A delegation of the PUCL also met the Inspector General of Police and Commissioner, Bastar Division, Jagdalpur on 13 September 2013, and apprised them of the case.” On 16 June 2017, the NHRC wrote to Sudha Bhardwaj, and asked her to visit Kondasawali as the General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh PUCL, and gather more information regarding the incident and the complaint. Being unable to visit the area personally, Bhardwaj request Soni Sori’s help, a human rights defender. Sori, along with JK Vidhya, a researcher, formed a fact finding team that could go to Kondasawali Gram Panchayat. Bhardwaj wrote to Sumedha Dwivedi, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of NHRC, informing her of the same.

Ultimately, an eight member fact finding team — comprising Soni Sori (human rights defender), JK Vidhya (researcher), Lingaram Kodopi (human rights defender), Sukul Prasad (human rights defender), Danti Poyim (interpreter), Pushpa Rokde (journalist), Nitin Rokde (journalist), and Soni Sori’s guard and PSO — was put together. Due to various unavoidable delays, the team finally managed to visit the village on 21st–22nd August 2017.

Once there, they got in touch with the erstwhile Sarpanch who had filed the original complaint, and he sent word to all the villages in the Kondasawali Gram Panchayat that anyone willing to give their testimonies or speak to the team could come to a specific common ground the next day.

A sizable crowd had gathered there the next day. The report says, “After a brief discussion with everyone present, it was decided that each person who lost a family member during the incidents in 2009-10 and 2013 would testify on camera. Following their testimony, all those present from the three [settlements] where homes were burnt would testify collectively on camera. And finally, after that, all those present could speak up if they wished to do so.”

Among those who gave their testimonies to the fact-finding team sent by PUCL (Chhattisgarh), there were people who could name and recognise at least a handful of those who were responsible for the violence. One of the primary demands of the villagers is that these men be removed from their posts in the government and be punished for their role in the incident. The report lists other demands as well: “The villagers of Gram Panchayat Kondasawali gathered together and prepared a list of demands. They read out these demands in public which has also been recorded by the team. The team assured the villagers that the same would be conveyed to the NHRC though they did not all strictly pertain to the complaint that the team had come to enquire into.”

The team then submitted all their findings, testimonies, observations, along with all the videos and relevant documents, to the PUCL. A report detailing the entire matter, from the complaint originally launched, to the fact finding team’s visit, was written by Sudha Bhardwaj and JK Vidhya, and submitted to Sumesha Dwivedi, SSP NHRC. Al the findings of the fact-finding team, including the video testimonies, their observations, and other documents, were submitted along with this report.

 
The NHRC has come out with an order. It says, “The Commission concludes that these incidents had come to the notice of police, revenue and other officials of District Sukma soon after they had taken place but police and district officials had deliberately turned a blind eye to these killings and incidents of arson.”

(Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum)

The post How the Salwa Judum Looted and Killed Villagers in Kondasawali Village in Chattisgarh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The National Human Rights Commission has sought responses from the Chhattisgarh government on the anomalies by state officials, including police, over the alleged killing of seven persons and burning of houses by the now-disbanded Salwa Judum in Sukma district in 2007.

In a strongly worded communication dated October 26 to the chief secretary of the state, the rights body has asked it to respond within eight weeks. The communication of the NHRC may be read here. The incident pertains to the alleged burning of houses in Kondasawali, Kamaraguda and Karrepara villages and killing of seven villagers in 2007 by the special police officers (SPO) of Salwa Judum, a force created by the state to counter the Naxalite menace.

Responding to a complaint submitted by Sudha Bhardwaj, general secretary, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the NHRC said it was “unimaginable and unacceptable” that the incidents, on which a report was filed only in 2013, did not come to the notice of the village/block/police post/police station level functionaries of Sukma district. The NHRC has commented adversely on the fact that though the officials knew of the incident soon after they had taken place, but deliberately turned a blind eye to them. Not taking cognisance of the incidents for seven years strongly showed that these crimes had been abetted by the district or state officials and indicated that they had indeed been committed by the SPOs of Jagarguda base camp, it said.The rights body also observed that the objective of the state machinery, both the police and the magistracy is not to ascertain the truth as is amply clear in the manner the investigation being conducted and the manner in which the Konta tehsildar has conducted his enquiry.

A mere reading of the tehsildar’s inquiry report and the statements recorded by the investigation officers shows that his objective is not to dig out the truth and that he is only conducting a cover-up operation.

“These acts of omission by the public servants of state of Chhattisgarh constitute a gross violation of human rights of the deceased residents of village Kondasawali, Kamaraguda and Karrepara and of those residents of these villages whose houses/huts were burnt,” the NHRC observed. However, before it took a final view in the matter, it had decided to seek responses from the Chhattisgarh government to explain the anomalies of the officials. The commission also know the name of patwaries, naib tehsildar, tehsildar, block development officers and other officers who were posted in this region from 2007 to 2013, it said.

Background

In 2013, the villagers of Village Kondasawali, Police Station Jagargunda, district Sukma, Bastar Divison, Chhattisgarh had lodged a complaint with the Collector regarding the fact that a few years before that, in 2007, some SPOs and Salwa Judum leaders had come to their village, burnt 95 huts in three settlements in their panchayat, killed 7 people, and threatened the villagers against telling anyone about these incidents.  The villagers had been forced to leave their village after the arson attacks, and had only come back to the village after the end of Salwa Judum. In 2013, they (villagers) wrote a complaint asking for compensation and investigation to the Collector and NHRC, which was subsequently taken up by the Chhattisgarh PUCL and forwarded to the NHRC. The said complaint was registered with the NHRC as Case No. 657/33/3/2013.
 
Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, being General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh PUCL and the complainant in Case No. 657/33/3/2013 received a letter from the National Human Rights Commission dated June 16, 2017 in respect of the aforesaid case directing her to gather further information in the complaint which was filed on 22.08.2013 and for that purpose visit the villages under Gram Panchayat Kondasawali, Police Station Jagargunda, Block Konta, District Sukma, Chhattisgarh. She assigned JK Vidhya, Delhi and Soni Sori, on her behalf to visit the concerned area and gather information in regard to the case. Vidhya and Soni along with two other male companions, an interpreter, two journalists and the Personal Security Officer assigned to Ms Soni Sori were able to undertake the visit to the villages on 21^st-22^nd August 2017.  After which video testimonies of the villagers along with a report was submitted last month to the NHRC. It is following this complaint that the NHRC had passed the October 26 order.
 
In this order, the  Commission concludes that these incidents had come to the notice of police, revenue and other officials of District Sukma soon after they had taken place but police and district officials had deliberately turned a blind eye to these killings and incidents of arson.

 Further the NHRC states that ” In fact, the omission by the state and district Sukma Officer to take cognizance of these incidents for seven years is also a very strong circumstance to show that these crimes had been abetted by the district officials of Sukma/or state government officials of the State of Chhattisgarh.”
 
Besides, “This willful omission of taking cognizance of these incidents for such a long period is also a very strong circumstance indicative of the fact that these ghastly crimes had been committed by the SPOs of Jagarguda base camp as has been alleged by the complainant of case FIR No.10/2013 P.S. Jagarguda.
 
Thus, says the NHRC, “That the objective of the state machinery, both the police and the magistracy is not to ascertain the truth about these incidents but to gloss over these crimes is also amply clear in the manner the investigation of case FIR No.10/2013 P.S. Jagarguda is being conducted and the manner in which the Tehsildar, Konta, District Sukma has conducted his enquiry. A mere reading of the enquiry report of Tehsildar Konta and the statements recorded by the I.O. shows that his objective is not at all to dig out the truth and that he is only conducting a cover up operation. These acts of omission by the public servants of State of Chhattisgarh constitute a gross violation of human rights of the deceased residents of village Kondasawali, Kamaraguda and Karrepara and of those residents of these villages whose houses/huts were burnt.”
 
Detailed Context of the Complaint
 In 2013, the villagers of Village Kondasawali, Police Station Jagargunda, district Sukma had lodged a complaint with the Collector regarding the fact that a few years before that, some SPOs and Salwa Judum leaders had come to their village, burnt 95 huts in three settlements in their panchayat, killed 7 people, and threatened the villagers against telling anyone about these incidents.  The villagers had been forced to leave their village after the arson attacks, and had only come back to the village after the end of Salwa Judum. With the situation improving, they felt confident enough to write this complaint to the Collector, which was subsequently taken up by the Chhattisgarh PUCL and forwarded to the NHRC. The said complaint was registered with the NHRC as Case No. 657/33/3/2013.
 
The undersigned, Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, being General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh PUCL and the complainant in Case No. 657/33/3/2013 received a letter from the National Human Rights Commission dated 16.06.2017 in respect of the aforesaid case directing me to gather further information in the complaint which was filed on 22.08.2013 and for that purpose visit the villages under Gram Panchayat Kondasawali, Police Station Jagargunda, Block Konta, District Sukma, Chhattisgarh.
 
Since I do not reside in their area, after making some preliminary enquiries, I wrote to Ms Sumedha Dwivedi, SSP NHRC on August 2, 2017 that I had been able to get the assistance of Ms JK Vidhya, Researcher and Ms Soni Sori, social activist and HRD and would depute them on my behalf to visit the concerned area and gather information in regard to the case.
 
Owing to various reasons including heavy rains, difficulty in arranging transport and intermittent inaccessibility owing to security operations in the area, Ms JK Vidhya and Ms Soni Sori along with two other male companions, an interpreter, two journalists and the Personal Security Officer assigned to Ms Soni Sori were able to undertake the visit to the villages only on August 21-22, 2017. I informed the Superintendent of Police of Dantewada and Sukma regarding the visit and requested their co-operation in the same.
 
Prior Information Available with Complainant
The present complainant had filed her complaint regarding burning of about 95 houses and killing of 7 persons in Gram Panchayat Kondasawali on behalf of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Chhattisgarh Branch on 5^th September 2013.

This complainant was a follow up of the original complaint of the then Sarpanch of Kondasawali made to the Collector on July 12, 2013, a copy of which had also been sent to the NHRC. The PUCL had been especially concerned because after the then Sarpanch had submitted his complaint to the Collector, Ms Barse Nande w/o Barse Nanda (s/o Lati) aged about 37 was attacked and killed by security forces on 13^th August 2013. She had been one of the complainants whose husband had been killed. Hence the PUCL, feeling that the complaint of the villagers might have invited retribution, felt the need to take up the case with the NHRC.

A delegation of the PUCL also met the Inspector General of Police and Commissioner, Bastar Division, Jagdalpur on September 13, 2013 and apprised them of the case. (Copies of the representations made are collectively annexed hereto as Annexure 1)

Further, when lawyer members of the PUCL in Jagdalpur followed up the case through RTI they obtained the following information:-

1. That on November 19, 2013, the Additional Collector, Sukma had written to the SP Sukma requesting for a copy of the FIR registered as well as the details of the loss of property so that a proper reply could be sent to the NHRC.
2. That after this, the complaint was first registered as a zero FIR at Police Station Chintalnar and subsequently transferred to Police Station Jagargunda as FIR No. 10/013 dated November 23, 2013.
3. That however, till July 11, 2014, the Additional Collector Sukma had not been able to disburse any compensation in regard to the killings to their families, ostensiblysince the Death Certificate and Post Mortem Reports of the deceased had not been made available. The Collector/ Additional Collector had written to the Superintendent of Police, Sukma on April 21, 2014 and July 11, 2014 requesting him to send these documents expeditiously.
4. That also it is apparent from his correspondence with the Sub Divisional Officer, Kontathat, till August 4, 2014, the Additional Collector Sukma had also not disbursed any monetary compensation for the losses of property. Letters of 26.07.2014 and 04.08.2014 from the Additional Collector to the SDM state that the names of the victims do not appear in the Electoral Rolls or List of Ration Cards, and exhort the SDM to provide a list of legal heirs of the deceased, their death certificates, post mortem reports, clear recommendation and opinion regarding grant of economic assistance, and signed panchnama of the affected people.
5. That on September 17, 2014 the Superintendent of Police, Sukma wrote to the NHRC stating the following:-

1. That after registration of Crime No. 10/013 dated 23.11.2013 every possible effort had been made for the identification, search and arrest of the “unknown armed persons” responsible for the killing.
2. That the complainant and other victims had not requested for any “police protection” or complained of any “Naxal threat” or “Naxal incident”. It was not possible to give them any protection unless they shifted to the Relief Camp at Jagargunda Base Camp of the security forces.
3. That because of the lack of Death Certificates it was not possible to provide compensation for the deceased. The SHO, Police Station Jagargunda had written to the Sarpanch/ Sachiv of Gram Panchayat Kondasawali to provide the same on September 8, 2014. The SHO, Police Station Jagargunda had also written to the Tehsildar Konta on September 8, 2014 to provide the Schematic Map of the area where the incidents had taken place.

1. There had been no further in the matter since then.

The documents provided to a lawyer of the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group and a member of PUCL under the Right to Information Act by the Public Information Officer of the Collector, Sukma are annexed hereto collectively as Annexure 2.

The Team
The members of the team belonged to various places and came from a range of backgrounds. This was the constitution of the fact-finding team:

1. Soni Sori, r/o Geedam, district Dantewada, human rights defender;
2. Lingaram Kodopi, r/o Village Sameli, district Dantewada, human rights defender;
3. J K Vidhya, r/o Delhi, research student;
4. Sukul Prasad, r/o Village Matenar, district Dantewada, human rights defender;

and

1. Danti Poyim, r/o Dantewada, interpreter.

The above team members were accompanied by:
1. Pushpa Rokde, journalist;
2. Nitin Rokde, journalist;
3. Soni Sori’s guard and PSO.
 
Methodology Followed by the Team
On the August 21, 2017, the fact-finding team of four people, an interpreter, two journalists and a PSO went to Kondasawali gram panchayat. This team of eight persons travelled from Dantewada town towards Palnar, crossing several CRPF camps, including Aranpur, and reached the border of Dantewada-Sukma district. The CRPF camps crossed housed the 111st Battalion at Aranpur and the final CRPF camp at the border was 231^st Battalion. The team left Dantewada at 1 pm and reached the border at approximately 3 pm. En route, the team, which was travelling in private vehicles, was stopped twice – once at the Aranpur camp and once again at the 231^st Battalion camp. At the Aranpur check post, each member stated their name and 5 members gave their phone numbers to the CRPF guards posted. At the final CRPF camp, the team was stopped and after instructions from higher authorities, the members were allowed to move further. The road has been constructed only up till the camp. The team members parked their vehicles near the camp and proceeded on foot. The general instruction was to continue walking ahead through the forest for another two kilometres in order to reach Kondasawali village.

The team climbed down approximately 800 feet or 300 meters down the hill and reached the foot of the hill. On not finding a clear path, and without any natural indicators visible due to rainfall and cloudy skies, the team proceeded through the forest looking for a clear path to follow towards the village of Kondasawali. After walking through the forest for over two hours, along a nala or stream, anticipating possible habitation along or at the end of the stream, the team reached a point where a man was grazing his cattle. This man indicated a suitable path to follow in order to reach the village of Kondasawali. After walking for another hour the team reached the edge of the village of the Kondasawali Gram Panchayat but had to walk another hour before it reached the Kondasawali settlements. En route, the team introduced themselves as members of a team trying to reach the village of Kondasawali on the instructions of the National Human Rights Commission regarding the incident of killing and burning reported in a complaint made by the then Sarpanch of Kondasawali, Sandam Sannu.

The team reached the Kondasawali settlementat around 7:30 pm and the villagers allowed them to rest at one of their homes. They appealed to them to call the then Sarpanch of Kondasawali. In half an hour, the ex Sarpanch reached where the team conveyed to him that they were a team of people sent to talk to the complainants, record the testimonies and report back to the National Human Rights Commission on the basis of the complaint written by the villagers as well as by Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj of PUCL on the behalf of the people of Kondasawali. On hearing the purpose, the ex Sarpanch told the team to wait while he sent word to others in the various paras of Kondasawali Gram Panchayat. He told the team that the next morning (22^nd August) he would be able to reach out to the rest of the villagers. The team stayed the night at the very same home.

The next morning, the team waited to hear back from the ex Sarpanch and the rest of the village. The ex Sarpanch had indicated that this would take time for two reasons – there were several paras within the gram panchayat that were fairly far apart and sending word to each one would take time, and secondly, it was raining and that had been and would be a serious impediment to quick communication between the paras regarding our visit. The team waited at the house and conveyed to the villagers that they were open to simply talking to them, or if they permitted us, they could take detailed notes, and they could record their testimonies as audio recordings, or best yet, if they would allow the team to record their testimonies on camera for the NHRC to see.

By 12:30 pm the next day, the ex Sarpanch sent word that all the family members of those killed in 2009-10 as well as the 2013 incident, as well as some members of each para where homes were burnt had congregated at a common ground in a part of the village that was a short distance away. The team walked for half an hour and reached this common area. They found that approximately 300 people of the Kondasawali Gram Panchayat had congregated there and the crowd was slowly growing in size.

After a brief discussion with everyone present, it was decided that each person who lost a family member during the incidents in 2009-10 and 2013 would testify on camera. Following their testimony, all those present from the three paras where homes were burnt would testify collectively on camera. And finally, after that, all those present could speak up if they wished to do so. The order of those who testified was as mentioned chronologically in the original complaint dated July 12, 2013 to the Collector of Sukma. The videos of the entire testimonies (Videos A and B)are being submitted along with the Report and their summary is provided below.

Following the individual testimonies of the family members of those killed as well as the group testimonies of those whose homes were burnt, the team got to hear from the women in the village, the ex Sarpanch and even a collective demand put forward by the villagers after discussing amongst themselves once they got to know of the purpose of the team’s visit. This allowed the team a wide range of views across the gram panchayat, men, women and children, across ages, as well as a sense of the collective condition of the village. The testimony of the ex Sarpanch has been videographed as well as the reading out of the collective demand letter (Videos C and D respectively). These videos are also being submitted along with this Report and their summary is being provided below.

After recording all these testimonies, the team promised to find a way to communicate with the villagers the response of the NHRC at the earliest, and proceeded back to the home where they had spent the night. On the way back, the team crossed a small shed where a girl of not more than 8 or 9 years was lying on the floor with a paste of wild medicinal herbs all over her legs. On enquiring the team found out that a few days before we arrived, this young girl had been burnt by the bonfire lit each night. Her injuries appeared extremely serious and since she had no parents, her grandmother, her only relative was distraught. As the team could not help in any way at that time, they expressed their concern and conveyed to her that her best course of action would be to proceed to Jagargunda for medical care, it was clear that there was no primary health care available in the village. During the visit the team observed a few aspects of the Kondasawali village that were striking. The team crossed four hand pumps and tube wells but all of them were broken or in shambles, the people were using the accumulated rain water in and around the Jora nala as drinking water.  There was no school in the entire panchayat. The people of the village lived in very meagre conditions and consumed whatever they produced. There was no means of immediate communication with Jagargunda or any other part of the district, all routes in and out of the village were kachha, and motorized vehicles, with the possible exception of motorbicycles, could not move in the area.

Finally, the team returned to the home where they had stayed the night and bid the villagers farewell. A few of the young members of the village agreed to help the team find the shortest route back to the camp at the top of the hill. The team started their journey back around 4 pm and after a long walk and a strenuous climb back up the steep hill, reached the camp at around 7:30 pm. The team got on the bikes and returned to Sameli village, where they stayed the night, and proceeded back to Dantewada the next morning.

It is not at all surprising that almost all members of the team became severely ill after this trip. Ms Soni Sori and Mr Sukul Nag had to be hospitalised. Ms Vidhya was diagnosed with malaria of the falciparum type. The journalists Pushpa Rokde and Nitin Rokde were also ill. This shows the precarious conditions of health villagers are surviving in. It was also the reason for delay in submission of the instant report.
 

Testimonies of the Dead (Video A)
1.Madvi Bhima (killed 2009-10)
Family member: Wife – Masa, approximately 35-36 years old from Patelpara.
After spending nearly twenty years in jail, Madvi Bhima had finally returned in 2009-10 and the husband and wife had gone to tend to their land. After tending to their land, they left their cattle and were on their way home. When they were about to reach home, 60-70 people together arrived, fired at them, and killed him.

There was no prior warning. They were passing the hill and suddenly this firing happened. Masa returned home.
Since this incident, there has been no communication with the police, forces or any official. No one came to visit to enquire. Since the incident, the forces, police, or Salwa Judum has not harassed them.
She lives alone as her two daughters are married and have moved to other villages.
 
She says she has lost her husband and does not have any more children to care for and says that those who killed her husband should know that she strives to put in jail all those responsible for killing her husband. The perpetrators should be punished, she says.
She has nothing more to say to the NHRC.
 
2.Barse Nanda (killed 2009-10) and Barse Nande (killed 2013)
Family member: Son – Barse Somru, approximately 16 years old.
In 2009-10, his father had left the field for the day and was at home. The force that attacked first shut the door, fired at him and even hacked him with the chisel. In 2013, his mother had gone to graze the cows near Jagargunda and she was killed there.
 
The people who killed his father in 2009-10 include the following who are part of the police: Masa from Targude, Bhima from Janagude, Anda from Kamareguda. These three were SPOs.
He doesn’t know who killed his mother in 2013 as she was near Jagargunda grazing cows when she was killed. But he knows it was the police.
Since 2013, there has been no contact with any police, official or member of the armed force.
After losing his father and mother, he is living with his uncle’s son (his elder brother – cousin).
His demand is that the perpetrators should be punished. He has nothing more to say to the NHRC.
 
3.Barse Suklu (killed 2009-10)
Family member: son – Barse Nanda, approximately 18 years old from Karrepara.
In the incident that took place in 2009-10, his father was killed in the evening at around 4 pm.The police (SPOs) fired at him. The force came in large numbers during the time of Salwa Judum.After the incident, no one has tried to contact him and he has no information. There are four sons in the family, an elder brother, him and two younger brothers. They all still live in Karrepara. Those who have perpetrated this should be dismissed from their jobs and they should be punished.
He has nothing more to say to the NHRC.
 
4.Kunjam Boda (killed 2009-10)
Family member: son – Joga, in his twenties, from Karrepara.
In 2009-10, his father had gone to collect Mahua. While doing that he was met with Anda, Bhima and Masa. These three brought more SPOs with them along with the force. They chased him and fired at him, killing him on the spot.
He recognises three of them but estimates that roughly there were 60-80 members in the force that attacked his father and the village.
He may not be able to recognise Anda, but he would be able to recognise Bhima and Masa. Since he was young when it happened, he isn’t confident he can recognise all of them definitely.
On that day, many were in their fields or collecting Mahua. This included old, young and even children. When the firing started, everyone ran away. Some ran to their homes, and others, to the hills. So, it’s hard for anyone to fully identify everyone who came.
Since the incident, no one has contacted him.
He felt that those three he recognised, at least, should be removed from their jobs and punished, as till those three exist, it will be a tough time for his village and its people as they are the ones who bring the force to the village.
 
5.Sudam Bhima (killed 2009-10) and Sudam Bhima (killed 2009-10)
Family member – Mangru – father of one Sudam Bhima and uncle of  the other from Patelpara (Parlegatta).
Wife’s name is Sanni. Ages of both young men were approximately 18-21 and both were married.
The young men were working on the local patel’s field along with him. In the morning the force came, picked them up and took them to Jagargunda. They were killed in Jagurgunda but he doesn’t know how they were killed (was it firing or some other means). He was never handed over the bodies and the two are still considered untraceable.
On the day the force came to burn the homes, that very day the young men were taken to Jagargunda. All three of them were in the field while their wives were at home. The force that came took the young men and told him to take his cows home and told him that they will take the young men to Jagurgunda and then leave them.
He has had no contact with any official since the incident and the young men were taken away. They used to come and beat the villagers up, roughly two hundred villagers have been beaten up, and so there is fear among all the villagers. So, they run at the sight of police and they don’t have any information.
He lost one of his daughters in law and now lives with his wife and the other daughter in law.
He says, they killed his young family members and now he doesn’t need cows. He can’t have children or grandchildren. So he has no needs. He just demands that those who did this be removed from their jobs punished and be given the death penalty.
He has nothing more to say to the NHRC.
 
6.Midyam Aiti (killed 2009-10)
Family member: uncle – Malla, her father Somru has died and was his elder brother from Kamarpara, Parlegatta para.
His brother’s daughter along with a friend had gone to the jungle to collect Basta (fresh bamboo shoot). Her friend managed to escape but she got caught in the firing. The force that came took her body away with them and never returned it.
He doesn’t think she was raped, as it seems she was fired at and the other girl had managed to run away. The SPOs and the force did the firing. When the incident happened, the rest of the family was at home. When they reached the spot, they (the force) had taken her body away.
The force used to come but every time they saw the force, they ran to the forests, as whoever was caught by them was badly beaten – irrespective of age or gender. So, in the meantime, they have not talked to any police, force or SPOs.
Aiti’s mother and father are both dead and besides her uncle, no one else from her family is alive.An adivasi man Madiyam Bhima was an SPO who fired first and then the rest of the force fired. This they found out later. He said he would be able to identify him as before he joined as the SPO, he belonged to their family.
He demands that the perpetrators be punished and they be removed from their jobs.He had nothing further to add.
                                                                                          
Testimonies of the Victims of Home Arson (Video B)
1.Karrepara There were 40 homes in Karrepara. After the coming of the SalwaJudum to the area in 2006-7, the SPOs and force came to the village and lit the homes on fire and moved on. Since then, all the people of Karrepara ran away out of fear. Besides their homes, all their grains, rice were taken or burnt. Cows, buffaloes, goats were confiscated by the forces and taken away. The people of the village had run away to the foot of the hill and spent time talking amongst themselves about what they should do.
Since 2006 till 2010, all of them stayed in the forest. They couldn’t get any food or water and so they asked people in nearby villages to help them and spent their days living on the food provided by these villagers. They used to eat the Kanda found in the jungles and survived those years.
They lived in the forest till 2010. They dared to return to their land from 2011-2 onwards and slowly each one spent time returning to their homes and had started rebuilding their homes. This they did by 2013-4. They started rebuilding their families and started tilling their land and slowly over a period of time they have resettled in their own land.
They refuse to leave their land. They struggled in the forest for many years, eating whatever they could find, they worked in Bailadila and Andhra and whatever they earned there, they used for food and water to survive. They know they won’t get  land anywhere else and know they can’t leave this land. So, they have returned and all the people of the village have decided that they won’t give away their land.
From 2006 to 2009, the people of the village faced a lot of violence at the hands of the Salwa Judum. Anyone who was found, old or young, men or women, even children were regularly picked up and beaten and harassed. At that time their entire para was empty and everyone lived in the forest. The force and SPOs had taken their cows, buffaloes and cattle and they had nothing with them.
The implements and cultural objects they had, the things they had collected for people’s marriages, drums, gold, silver, money and other such things were also taken away. The homes were burnt, looted and destroyed. Between 2006 and 2007, their homes were burned.
When the 7 people were killed in different parts of Kondasawali in 2009-10, the homes in the villages had already been burnt. When the killing happened villagers were gradually trying to move back to their homes. Among the things looted – pigs, chicken, goats, cattle, musical instruments, utensils, and anything the people had was taken away.
The people of Karrepara have now returned to Karrepara. All the gold, silver and things they had saved up since the time of their grandfathers, fathers and for several generations were taken away by the SPOs and the force. The people of the village feel that what is the point of asking the people who looted everything they had for compensation? The people feel that the suffering experienced by the people of Karrepara, the perpetrators should experience the same suffering and should be prosecuted for their crimes. This is their main demand from the NHRC.
Despite all this happening, they don’t know what the perpetrators will face. But they feel that the force and the SPOs should not come back to their village.

2. Kamaraguda In one day, 45 homes were burnt in 2006. The few that were left standing, the SPOs and forces returned and burnt them too. First they looted the homes, took away gold, silver and anything valuable in it, then, killed the cattle and took some away with them, and then, set the homes on fire.
The SPOs and force came together to the village and as soon as they came, started beating people up, most of the villagers ran away to the forest. When they were hiding in the forest, the SPOs and forces looted and burnt down their homes. So, they don’t clearly know how many came during this attack on the village.
After the attack on their village, they stayed in the forest for some years. They asked neighbouring villages for help and survived by working nearby.
The number of families that lived in the village is unclear. They couldn’t fully account for everyone as some ran to the forest and others went to Andhra. So, the exact details are unclear.
Since the situation appeared to improve after 2011 or so, the people started returning to their village by 2013-4 and rebuilt their homes and are now living there. Now there are 35 families (homes) in Kamaraguda that have been recently built. 45 were burnt.
When the 7 people of Kondasawali gram panchayat were killed, the people of Kamaraguda were either coming back to the village from the forest or still in the forest.
They saw the forces and SPOs burn their homes but as they ran away they won’t be able to identify anyone individually. Those who killed the people also quickly vanished.
The people who burnt the homes included people who belonged to Salwa Judum, SPOs and the force. They are able to identify three people specifically who were SPOs who brought the force to the village – Bhima aka Ramesh of Talaguda, Andal and Masa. They don’t know any of the others.
Now they are afraid of the forces who continue to harass them, detain them, and when they run away to the forest, declare them Naxals. Besides this, they have no other grievance.

3.Kondasawali In 2006-7, 40 homes were burnt in Kondasawali. SPOs and forces burnt the homes. They used to come from behind the hill and enter the village and on the way back, they did the same and burnt more homes. The number of homes in Kondasawali has come down since then as when the villagers ran away to the forest and spent some years there, some of them lost their lives to snake bites and animal attacks as well as disease and ill health, some even went away to Andhra.
The people of Kondasawali started returning 3-4 years back and have rebuilt their homes.
 They (SPOs and forces) looted their homes, took away their gold and silver, even took away their cots, their rice, cattle, and whatever they could not take away, they burnt it.
They (the villagers) have not had any contact with the police or the administration of the state in the meantime but recently, the CRPF took two children, roughly 7-9 years of age, and detained them in their camp. This happened this year (2017) in June-July. They were taken to the Kondaguda camp near Palnar. The women of Kondasawali gram panchayat gheraoed the camp and got the children released. They don’t know why the children were taken. The children had gone fishing and they picked up the children with the fish they caught that day.
The force and SPOs still come on occasion at night, search for people and leave. They come at night expecting to catch people in meetings with Naxalites.They don’t come to investigate regarding the case or for anything official during the day. They only come at night and leave at night itself.
 
Testimony of the Erstwhile Sarpanch of Sundam Sannu
(One of the original complainants)(Video C) (Translation from Gondi)
In 2013 we had told (the authorities) that Salwa Judum should not be sent here. That a camp should not be setup here. We cannot go anywhere leaving our agriculture and land here. We cultivate here, we gather forest produce. Bhima and Sannu of Silenger; Handa and Masa of Jagargunda have caused us a lot of harm. Because of the camp at Aranpur, people are facing a lot of problem and harassment. We do agriculture on our lands, we cannot give our land to set up a camp. We were not in the village for 3-4 years, we were in the forest, we had run away there. When we came back, the camp people starting harassing us. When we came back there was nothing, there was nothing left in the village. We are surviving with great difficulty. We have rebuilt our houses. Where will be go leaving our houses, our families, our village?
 
Collective demands of the Villagers of the Gram Panchayat (Video D)
The villagers of Gram Panchayat Kondasawali gathered together and prepared a list of demands. They read out these demands in public which has also been recorded by the team. The team assured the villagers that the same would be conveyed to the NHRC though they did not all strictly pertain to the complaint that the team had come to enquire into. The said demands are reproduced verbatim in translation below:-
“1.       Those who have killed our brothers and sisters should be removed from their jobs and punished for their actions.
2.         The CRPF and police should not come into our village and beat up the villagers. In a village where the people are farming and surviving on their own, they should not be harassed in this manner. The people of the village should be allowed to live peacefully on their own lands.
3.         We do not want camps near our village. This is because the CRPF forces catch anyone moving around their own land and accuses them of being Naxalites. This is restricting our movement on our own land. Thus, we do not want the camps.
4.         Those who are responsible for the atrocities committed on the people of Kondasawali are the following – Madkam Bhima known as Bhima here and Ramesh now as part of the SPOs belonging to Junaguda village, Sundam Masa from Tarlaguda, Madvi Anda known as Anda here and Rakesh as part of the SPOs from Kamaraguda, Sodi Dasru from Miliampalli, Kosa Deva from Singer. These are the people who have been responsible for pushing the most marginalised of our village to absolute misery. They should be punished.”

Observations

1. People of the Kondasawali Gram Panchayat are prepared to testify.

It was evident from the manner in which the villagers responded to the team that both the relatives of the deceased and those who suffered and observed the burning of houses are ready to testify and are still very keen to pursue their efforts for justice.
This is very significant given the fact that the villagers have faced one more murder after the complaint was submitted to the Collector, and that they have not got any relief in the past 4 years rather they have faced apathy, harassment and hostility.
However it is very possible that the non-threatening manner in which the team approached them; the team being accompanied by well-known social workers like Soni Sori, Lingaram and Sukul Nag; and the fact that there was a non-threatening interpreter to render their expression verbatim were also important factors in such co-operation.   2. The lack of documentation cannot be used to deny justice to these villagers. It is equally clear that they have lost whatever documentation they might have earlier had, in the arson of their homes and during the period of their displacement. They do not possess death certificates, post mortem reports, election identity cards, or ration cards. However this reason alone cannot be the ground for denying the truth of the incidents they have suffered and rejecting their demands for justice.
   2. The incidents of arson and murder do not appear to be isolated but rather a strategy to displace the villagers from the area. After the incidents of murder and arson these villagers spent several years in extreme hardship in the forests. They lost many family members to illness, snake bites etc. They have repeatedly tried to return to their land and rebuild their homes. Whatever rebuilding they have achieved is through their own extremely hard labour.
This is also probably why there is no demand for compensation now, as originally voiced by them in 2013.They are only stressing that they want the persons who murdered their family members to be punished.
       3. From among the members of the force who murdered their family members and burnt their houses, the people recognise several SPOs. In the testimonies given by the villagers it is clear that large groups of the security forces had attacked and burnt their villages. However the people could recognise some of the adivasi SPOs who used to belong to nearby villages or are distantly related to them. It is apparent that these persons are being used as the lowest rung in the force and are carrying out the most brutal of atrocities. This very much vindicates the understanding of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the Nandini Sundar case when it had prohibited the use of such adivasi youth in counter insurgency operations. Despite the villagers recognising these SPOs, most of whom are surrendered Naxals, not only are they not being punished, but rather they are known to be rewarded for their role in encounters, arrests and surrenders; thus incentivizing brutality on their part.
   4. People feel that the police and administration is hostile and they are afraid of interacting with them since in their experience it has only increased their repression. No efforts whatsoever seem to have been made by the administration and police to record the statements of the relatives of the victims, to assess the damage they have suffered or try to assist them in rebuilding their houses and livelihoods. Even their sources of water and livelihood are of their own making. There have also been no efforts of the administration to provide them with necessary documents to substantiate their case. On the other hand, admittedly, the attitude of the police and administration is that they cannot approach these villages without 150-200 armed security personnel, as if they have assumed the villagers to be dangerous Naxals.   
   5.People from all the villages expressed their apprehensions from the nearby camps People from Karrepara told the team that currently there are several camps in the hills surrounding the village. The people of the village generally avoid the camps, particularly the young men and women. If anyone is spotted by the CRPF they said,then they are harassed, interrogated, stopped and threatened with dire consequences. Those who are returning to the villages, the CRPF calls them Naxalwadi.
 The villagers feel that the CRPF camps are not doing anything for their safety. In fact, when the villagers go to till their field they carry their sickle or to the forest to forage and hunt they carry their axe and bow and arrow, and when the CRPF see these with the villagers they harass them, beat them up and chase them away. Moreover, the CRPF attack the villagers even when they go out to the forest for latrine, and even attack them when they are bathing in the stream nearby. When people travel to visit their family or go the market to sell their wares, the CRPF harasses and beats them up. Thus, the camps are affecting their everyday movement and they wish it would be moved away from here.
 Similarly villagers of Kamaraguda expressed to the team that they feel that they don’t want the camps nearby as the more the camps there are, the more they will be harassed. They said that the camp in Jagargunda is enough and they wanted this to be conveyed to the NHRC.
 Villagers from Kondasawali also told the team that the camp on top of the hill should be removed and moved to the Jagurgunda camp. This is because when people go to the foothills for basta (bamboo shoots) and other things, the CRPF misbehaves with them, particularly the women, whom the CRPF sexually harasses as well. 
The villagers have heard that one more such camp will be set up soon and this is something they are against as when they travel in and around the area carrying their sickle and axe from their fields and back, they are picked up by the CRPF and harassed, accused of being Naxalites, beaten, killed or jailed on trumped up charges. That’s why they appeal to the NHRC to stop the setting up of such camps. They said they don’t know why these camps are set up and it isn’t for their security.
Some years ago, four of their villagers were picked up from the marketplace and accused of being Naxalites and jailed. Two were released while two are still in jail. They are fighting for their release. They appeal to the NHRC to look into this matter as well. The two in jail are Kosal s/o Sannu and Bhima s/o Bhida in Dantewada jail. They don’t know on what charges. The SPOs picked them up from the marketplace. 5 more people from Talaguda gram panchayat nearby were recently also picked up in this manner and taken to Jagargunda camp a year and half ago.
      6. Women seem to have experienced frequent cases of sexual harassment and sexual violence at the hands of security forces. The women did not speak individually to the team but collectively. Ms Soni Sori interpreted the conversation. This is a gist of what they spoke.
Our houses have been burnt, our cattle, all our belongings have been burnt, even the utensils. We will work and survive. We don’t want money from the government but we will not give our land. We don’t want a camp in our village. Please tell the authorities that the police people harass us a lot. We do not want a camp in Kondasawali village, we are all opposing it. The camp people come to our village and give us a lot of trouble. They threaten us and sexually molest and rape us. Even if we go to the bazaar they harass us. We feel afraid of going to the forest. If the camp is set up in the village, they will catch us, beat us and rape us. (When the team asked how many women had faced such a situation) they said that about 50 women in that Panchayat had been raped, some had been killed also. They said they felt very afraid to venture out anywhere.
It was not the mandate of the team to investigate into the details of these incidents of sexual molestation and rape. However the team came away with a distinct impression that the women have suffered greatly on this count and these cases also required to be followed up. If so directed by the NHRC, the complainant can attempt to do the same.
       7. The villagers are experiencing restriction on their normal life activities and mobility in the hostile environment created by the camps. The villagers are unable to access the forest, carry implements for agriculture or hunting, go to markets, celebrate traditional festivals, visit relatives or attend marriages; in short they are not able to conduct their lives in a normal and peaceful manner because of the hostile environment of the camps surrounding them. They have faced brutal violence in the past and are still extremely apprehensive of the same.

Suggestions
1.         The fact that the atrocities spelt out in the complaint were indeed committed on the people of Kondasawali Gram Panchayat has been corroborated and the people of Kondasawali are willing to testify to the fact.
2.         It is clear that there has been no positive assistance from the district administration and the police and security forces to the people of Kondasawali, rather the villagers have suffered apathy, harassment and outright hostility from them. Thus we suggest that the Investigation Wing of the NHRC immediately undertake an independent investigation of the same to ensure justice to the victims, rather than leaving it to the state authorities.
3.         That in carrying out such investigation, we suggest that the NHRC team should preferably not be accompanied by heavy armed force or members of the local force and SPOs who have been themselves perpetrators of atrocities.
4.         We suggest that the NHRC team requires to take into account that the villagers of Kondasawali have once lost all their properties and documents in arson of their houses, have been forced to take refuge in jungles and have only recently rebuilt their homes. It is thus not practicable to expect them to possess documentary evidence of their identities. The NHRC will therefore have to work out some other mechanism such as relying upon the statements of the erstwhile and present Sarpanch, and elders of the village or neighbouring villages etc. to verify the same.
5.         That the experience of many villagers who have tried to file cases against the security forces has been that they have been foisted with false cases, and the villagers in Kondasawali also apprehend the same. While they have been brave enough to state their testimonies on video, they are apprehensive that such videos, if handed to the local authorities, might result in the deponents being implicated in false Naxal cases.  Thus it is requested that the NHRC keep the videos accompanying the Report confidential, closely monitor the situation in the Gram Panchayat Kondasawali and direct that the police and the security forces inform the NHRC prior to any detention, interrogation, arrest, or other operation of the security forces in the said village.
6.         That in punishing the perpetrators in particular, the NHRC should also consider the role played by SPOs, particularly surrendered Naxals, in general in the counter insurgency operations and advise the State Government in this regard.
7.         That the team had observed that while in our criminal justice system, a crime is seen to be committed against individuals, by individuals, and is testified to by individuals; adivasi people are used to deciding and acting collectively. Thus it would be important to respect their collective will and gain their trust in order to work to provide justice to individuals.
8.         Finally, the NHRC is urged to communicate with the complainants (namely the original complainant Sundam Sannu and the present complainant) regularly and ensure that they are kept informed about any progress in the case in the coming days.
Submitted by: Sudha Bharadwaj, General Secretary, Chhattisgarh PUCL, JK Vidhya, Researcher, member PUCL
 
LIST OF ANNEXURES
 

1. Representations made by the Chhattisgarh PUCL on September 13, 2013.
2. Documents provided under the Right to Information Act by the Public Information Officer of Collector Sukma to Adv Parijata Bharadwaj, Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group and a member of the PUCL.

 
LIST OF VIDEOS SUBMITTED

1. Video A:          Testimonies of the family members of those killed.
2. Video B:          Collective testimonies of residents of various villages regarding burning                    of houses.
3. Video C:          Interview of the then Sarpanch Sundam Sannu.
4. Video D:          Collective demand letter being read out among the villagers.

The post NHRC Holds 2007 Salwa Judum Ops to Account, issues Notice to Chhattisgarh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A day after the report was released the Chhatisgarh Home Minister, Ram Sewak Paikra was quoted by The Times of India as saying that the three Delhi professors "anti-nationals" after they visited Maoist-hit Bastar, triggering a police probe into allegation that they asked villagers to support the rebels. Communist Party of India (Marxist) functionary Sanjay Parate accompanied the trio. 

The team has since dismissed the efforts of the state and police to discredit them and their efforts. “Are we mad dogs that after 10 years of condemning Maoist violence, we will start symathising with them” demanded sociologist Nadini Sundar to the TOI. Parate refuted all allegations made by the state and said Nandini Sundar from Delhi School of Economics had changed her name to Richa Keshav to enter Bastar. "Police are trying to implicate us to stop our movement in Bastar so that they can exploit tribals away from public gaze," he said.Sundar said she had to hide her identity to enter forests as police posed many hurdles during her trips to Bastar. "I went there in connection with a case of police atrocity pending in the SC."
Special director general (anti-Naxal operations) D M Awasthi said police received a complaint signed by two dozen villagers against the academics, and are probing the case.

The delegation comprising of Sanjay Parate, Chhattisgarh State Secretary CPI-M, Vineet Tiwari, Joshi-Adhikari Institute, CPI member, New Delhi, Archana Prasad, Professor Jawaharlal Nehru University and CC member AIDWA, and Nandini Sundar, Professor, Delhi University visited Bastar Division from May 12 to 16, 2016 and have brought out a substantive report on the situation.

They visited the following districts: Bijapur, Sukma, Bastar and Kanker.  The focus of the visit was on the situation of ordinary villagers who are living through the conflict between the state and Maoists.

The report released by the team can be read here:

The press release by the team states that:

“The level of Maoist presence and scale of state repression varies somewhat across the districts. The worst affected at the moment appear to be Sukma district, portions of Bijapur district and the Darbha/Tongpal areas of Bastar/Sukma district, but fake encounters, rapes and arrests by police and security forces, beatings (by both police and Maoists), IED blasts and killing of informers (by Maoists) are a serious problem everywhere.

“Rise of a new form of SalwaJudum: The most recent and worrying development we observed was the manner in which villagers in and around the Kanger national park – in Tongpal and Darbha blocks – are being arrested and made to surrender by police, and then threatened and brutally beaten by Maoists. The police are holding Jan JagranAbhiyans (the original name of SalwaJudum), both threatening and distributing all kind of goodies to the villages, including cell phones, if they inform on the Maoists. This is very similar to the origins of SalwaJudum.  In Kumakoleng village, 50 persons were forced to ‘surrender’ in March, and are now living in different police and CRPF camps.

“On April 15, the police/CRPF held a Jan JagranAbhiyan in Kumakoleng. On 17th April, the Maoists beat up villagers, including women, for asking for a CRPF camp to come up near their village. Two-thirds of the entire village of Kumakoleng has now fled and is living outside the village for fear of Maoists.

“In neighbouring Soutnar panchayat, the villagers have resolved to keep the Maoists out and have been patrolling the villages with bows, arrows and axes for the last three months. In the past, the Maoists have beaten and killed people in the village, on charges of being informers. The villagers say the police have refused to set up camp, telling them that the Maoists will go away if they patrol, thus making them vulnerable in the first place and then leaving them to their own devices. We are extremely concerned that such developments will lead to large-scale divisions and displacement as happened during SalwaJudum and urge all parties to work in the best interests of the adivasi population.

“The fact that the police is not interested in any peaceful and honest approach to the problem is indicated by the planted “breaking news” they have circulated that our group asked the villagers to side with the Maoists and threatened them that their villages would be burnt by the Maoists if they did not do so. Nothing could be further from the truth. We feel a proper dialogue process and a genuine people oriented democratic model of development is essential for the well being of the people of Bastar. In the current context neither the State nor the Maoists are addressing this urgent need.

“Marjum fake encounter: On 12 May, villagers from Marjum and CPI leaders Manish Kunjam and Nanda Sori held a press conference in Dantewada, in which they testified that two innocent youth were killed, and passed off as Maoists by the police. The CPI is holding a demonstration on 19 May in Dantewada to press for a fair enquiry into the incident and registration of an FIR. In the first week of May 2016, two police personnel died in a cross-firing incident near Marjum village in Dantewada district. After a few days, on 8^th May, the villagers went to a nearby village to celebrate BeejaPandum, their main seed-sowing festival. Two boys, aged around 17-18 years, MarkamManglu and PodiyamVijja went to bathe in a nearby stream. The patrolling force found them alone, shot them and announced to the press that they had killed two Maoists. The villagers learnt around 12 noon that there was some firing near the river, found the two boys missing and contacted the police where they learnt about the death of the two boys. The sarpanch of Marjum, the anganwadi worker, family members and other villagers confirmed that the boys had nothing to do with the Maoists and this were nothing else but the murder of two innocent tribal boys by the police/security forces.

“Apart from these two major incidents, we came across a number of instances of arrests of ordinary villagers, some allegations of rape by police, and one confirmed instance of rape and sexual exploitation by an SPO/sahayakarakshak working in a BSF camp, resulting in pregnancy. We also learnt of instances in the past where Maoists had killed people, leading to severe disaffection among people.

“Broad Observations

1. The whole district is heavily militarized with CRPF/BSF/ITBP camps every 5 km, and in the villages around the Raoghat mines, every 2 km. These are being set up in complete violation of the 5^th Schedule, PESA and the Forest Rights Act 2006. No gram sabha permission is sought, camps come up at night, and people’s cultivation is taken over, without their rights being settled. There is massive destruction to the environment.
2. The whole emphasis is on building roads with a view to intensive mining and industrialization, with no concern for people’s welfare or rights.
3. In some places the camps have created a sense of security, with Maoist presence coming down, but in most places they have severely enhanced the insecurity of the villagers, due to exploitation and repression by the forces.
4. Across the four districts, villagers said that people were being arrested in large numbers. The villagers have no understanding of the legal system, are forced to pay high fees to lawyers, and their lives are ruined. The law is being used as an instrument of torture rather than of justice or peace-keeping. The jails are over-flowing.
5. The living conditions of villagers are at starvation levels. Average incomes are Rs. 1000-2500 per household per month, with the maximum cash generated by tendupatta collection and wage labour in Andhra Pradesh.
6. There is almost no implementation of NREGA despite this being a drought year. In many places we heard complaints that people had not been paid wages for NREGA work done seven years ago.
7. In this context, the vast amounts of money being spent on militarization, rewards to security forces, surrenders, and civic action spectacles amounts to a criminal diversion of money from the welfare of the people. The Maoists also bear responsibility for not allowing work on roads and use of panchayat funds, etc. but in areas where there are no Maoists, we found no evidence of the developmental state.

 
“It is imperative that all sides take the following steps on an interim basis to build confidence and enable a long-term solution to avoid the complete decimation of the rights of the people of Bastar. Our suggestions: 
“To Political Parties

1. An all-party delegation should visit Bastar, especially some of the interior villages, and initiate conversation with a wide range of stakeholders to suggest measures for conflict resolution.
2. The parties should demand that the Centre and state government initiate a dialogue with all political parties, including the CPI (Maoist), and come up with a comprehensive plan that recognizes the rights and development needs of the people. 

“To the Judiciary

1. There should be a high level judicial enquiry on all the encounters, arrests, surrenders, rapes and other atrocities by state-sponsored vigilantes, police, security forces and Naxalites since 2005. The enquiry should be held under the watch of the Supreme Court where there is an ongoing court case.
2. There should be prosecution of all these cases, under the supervision of the judiciary, and compensation should be paid regardless of perpetrator.

“To the Central and State Governments

1. The camps should be removed.
2. The police must stop mass fake arrests, fake encounters, rapes and other atrocities
3. The state must allow journalists, lawyers, researchers, activists and others to freely visit the area to get an honest assessment of the situation.
4. The forest rights and land rights of the people should be recognized.
5. No projects should be implemented, including mining, without the full knowledge and consent of the gram sabha.
6. There should be a full accounting with on the ground verification of all works done under government schemes. In particular NREGA should be implemented, and all pending dues must be immediately paid.

“To the Maoists

1. The Maoists must allow all development works to take place.
2. They must allow political activity such as standing for elections.
3. They must stop beating people, and killing informers.
4. They should indicate willingness to engage in dialogue.

 
The Hindi press release can be read here.

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