Civil society groups in Chattisgarh stand in solidarity with Bastar Adivasis
By JOINT STATEMENT, CHATTISGARH
Accusing police of killing innocent tribals, civil society demands judicial inquiry into incidents
Ban on Moolvasi Bachao Manch is unconstitutional, a violation of fundamental rights
Bombing remote villages of Bijapur is illegal and must be stopped
Raipur: Various people’s organizations of the state participated in a pRess conference organized by the Chhattisgarh unit of PUCL (People’s Union for Civil Liberties) to express solidarity with violence-hit tribals in Bastar. Representatives of farmers, workers and social organizations questioned the series of recent encounters in Bastar in the buildup to the Home Minister’s visit to the area and demanded the government to immediately stop the violation of constitutional rights in the name of anti-Naxal operations.
The current year of 2024 has claimed the highest number of casualties in encounters by security forces (leaving aside the Salwa Judum era). More than 235 alleged Naxalites have been killed by security forces since December 2023 during police operations. Villagers have often claimed that many of these encounters are fake – that the people who have been killed had no dealings with the Maoist organization, or that the deceased had been unarmed and were not posing any threat to anyone. In response, the Maoists have also ratcheted up their levels of violence, killing more than 60 civilians in Bastar this year, accusing them of being police informers.
Just a few days before Home Minister Amit Shah’s arrival in Bastar, three encounters took place in Bijapur and Narayanpur on the 11th and 12th of December, in which security forces killed 10 alleged Naxalites. Of these, 7 people were killed in Abujhmad (Narayanpur) on 11.12.2024, one person named Pandu Madvi was killed in village Moonga in Bijapur on 11.12.2024, and 2 people were killed in village Nendra in Bijapur on 12.12.2024. All these encounters have been questioned by the villagers of the three villages, and out of the 10 people killed, only 2 people have been confirmed as Maoists.
Villagers in Kumman (Abujhmaad, Narayanpur) have told activists and local journalists that they were busy harvesting and threshing Kosara paddy in the fields, when around 8–9 am on 11 December, DRG jawans came on the scene and opened fire indiscriminately. Some people were killed on the spot, the rest ran towards the forest in fear. At least four minors were injured in police firing. Out of the 7 people who were killed in police firing in Abujhmaad, the villagers are claiming 5 as ordinary villagers living in the village itself.
Villagers of Moonga in Bijapur recall that Pandu Madvi was working in his field in the morning of 11.12.2024, when the forces arrived suddenly. He ran away in fear and hid in someone’s house, but the jawans followed him into the house and shot him in front of everyone. On 12.11.2024, Nendra villagers report that DRG jawans had come to their village, where they caught and killed 2 unarmed villagers. Around the same time, within the first week of December 2024, Maoists have killed 3 people in three separate incidents in Bijapur on suspicion of being police informers.
An atmosphere of fear and terror pervades Bastar. The villagers are insecure in their own villages, and encounters is not the only violence they face. News from Kondapalli and surrounding villages of Bijapur suggest that ever since a security force camp opened there 2 months ago, bombs are being continuously dropped on their villages. Earlier the bombings were only happening at night in nearby forests and fields, but now bombings are also occurring during the day and in populated areas as well. Villagers are so terrified of these bombs that they have stopped going towards their fields and have not been able to harvest their ripe crops. If these bombings are not stopped immediately, then famine will spread in these villages next year.
For last several years, Bastar youth have been organizing peaceful protests against security camps being built at various places without the prior permission of the relevant Gram Sabha as required by law. These protests have been crushed ruthlessly this year, and the youth organization “Moolvasi Bachao Manch” spearheading many such protests has been banned by the state government on 30 October 2024. The justification put forth by the Government for banning this organization under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act is simply that this group “opposes development work done by the government, and also opposes the security camps being built to conduct these development works” – which is unprecedented in itself. There is no accusation of involvement in any violent action; the only “crime” committed by the group is that it peacefully opposes the government policies, using its constitutional guarantee to freedom of expression. This ban completely violates the fundamental right of the people of Bastar to associate peacefully, and thus, deserves to be revoked immediately.
The civil society organizations of Chhattisgarh below believe that peace in Bastar cannot be enforced at gunpoint. For a stable and just peace, there needs to be an unconditional dialogue between the government on the one hand, and social, political parties of every ideology active in Bastar, on the other. Apart from this, we also make the following demands from the state government –
- A judicial inquiry should be set up as soon as possible to know the true facts of the above mentioned 3 encounters that took place in the month of December.
- An immediate and permanent ban should be imposed on the bombing in Komadpalli, Kondapalli, Tumirguda, Rekhapalli, Tikamgarh villages of Bijapur, and the damage caused to the villagers by this bombing should be compensated immediately.
- The ban on the Moolvasi Bachao Manch should be lifted, and other peaceful protests should not be disturbed.
Respectfully –
- People’s Union for Civil Liberties
- Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan
- Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha
- Guru Ghasidas Sevadar Sangh
- Sanyukt Trade Union
- Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait)
- Chhattisgarh Jan Sangharsh Morcha
- Pradesh Kisan Sangh