Police Repression on the Adivasis in Narayanpatna (Orissa)
Tags: police repression, adivasi rights, human rights, land rights, civil liberties, police brutality, Narayanpatna, Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha
Related Issue: Right to life and personal liberty, Right to equality, Right to protection from torture, Right to freedom of speech and expression, Right to assemble peacefully, Right to protection of rights against arbitrary arrest, Right to property, Right to access to justice.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties expresses serious concern over the ongoing police repression and brutalities on the adivasis and members of Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha (CMAS) in Narayanpatna Block of Koraput district.
Based on observations during a short visit to the area by one of its members, in response to the police firing of 20th November, 09 (in which two people have been killed and several injured and the subsequent arrests and torture of adivasis living in the area) PUCL is of the opinion that instead of addressing the real issues for which the CMAS has been fighting for i.e., restoring to the tribals their land taken over fraudulently by the non-tribals, the government is adopting a policy of repression, torture and terror to suppress the legitimate aspirations of the adivasis.
It needs to be noted that the police firing of the 20th Nov. has been largely reported as a ‘self defense’ response of the police when a large number of adivasis came to gherao the police station and began ‘looting arms from the police station’. However, what is not being highlighted is the horrors of combing operation carried out by the CRPF in the area and that on that day the adivasis had in fact come to the police station to complain about it. In fact, a specimen of police brutality towards the adivasis was witnessed by the PUCL member during her visit to the area on the 23rd of Nov. While waiting in the vehicle for police permission, (now police verification and permission is required to move anywhere in Narayanpatna) PUCL team member saw three adivasi youths, one of them looked 14-15 years old, being mercilessly beaten up by the police/CRPF personnel in the premises of the Narayanpatna police station itself surrounded and watched by a huge number of police and paramilitary forces. The three youths, if accused of any crime, could have been easily arrested and put behind bars. However, it was observed that the police and the security forces in Narayanpatna have no hesitation in torturing the accused before the trial. If such torture could be meted out to the ‘accused adivasis’ so openly in the presence of civil liberty activists one could imagine what might be happening in the seclusion of police lockups!
A number of adivasi people interviewed by PUCL spoke of the harassments meted out to them during the combing operation by CRPF. It has been alleged that women have been molested and men were beaten up. Even children were not spared. Household items were either broken or taken away. They have been accused of joining the CMAS and helping the Maoists.
While the presence of Maoists has been the rationale for deployment of security forces and combing operations, and the people protesting the excesses of combing operations are met with bullets by the police, the question of land for the adivasis remains unaddressed by the government. It needs to be noted that the adivasis of Narayanpatna have been persistently demanding for the restoration of their land which has been taken away from them by the non-adivasis. However, the government has done nothing concrete in this regard and the Scheduled Area (Scheduled Tribe) Land Transfer Regulation of 1956 remains only on paper.
Even after the death of two people in police firing, the government, instead of assuaging people’s real grievances, has resorted to further repression. Following the firing, nearly 30 people have been arrested for participating in the gheraoing of the police station on the 20th Nov. Massive combing operations are on in the area to arrest many more. People are so scared of the security forces that even the injured are not brought to the hospital for fear of being arrested. They are scared to go out to the field and harvest their crops.
The PUCL demands that the government should immediately put an end to the ongoing repression on the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha and attend to the issue of land which has been the persistent demand of the Sangha. The government must initiate an inquiry into the firing of 20th November and initiate criminal proceedings against the culprits. The PUCL also appeals to all conscientious citizens to raise their voice against the police atrocities on the adivasis in Narayanpatna.
– Pramodini Pradhan, Convenor, PUCL Bhubaneswar