The International Press Institute is a global network of media professionals and the International Federation of Journalists represents 6,00,000 journalists in 141 countries.
New Delhi: Two media freedom organisations have issued a joint call to Indian authorities to stop using sedition laws in an effort to silence independent journalists.
In a joint letter the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the International Press Institute (IPI), urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to take immediate steps to ensure that journalists can work without harassment and fear of reprisal..and to direct the state governments to drop all charges against journalists, including those under the draconian sedition laws, that have been imposed on them for their work”.
The International Press Institute is a global network of media professionals and the International Federation of Journalists represents 6,00,000 journalists in 141 countries.
This is not the first time in the course of the last few months that the IFJ has spoken against the charges against Indian journalists. In May it had said that the “trend suggests that state governments of India” were trying to “silence the critical voice” by lodging FIRs against journalists.
The editor of a Gujarati news portal, Dhaval Patel, was charged with sedition and questioned by the police after he published a report that suggested the chief minister could be changed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party due to rising number of coronavirus cases in the state.
He was also accused of spreading false panic under Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act (DMA).
The letter also notes the case of Chhattisgarh editor Kamal Shukla who was charged with sedition for sharing a cartoon on Facebook that referred to the Supreme Court’s decision to reject petitions calling for an independent investigation into Judge Loya’s death in 2014.
The letter also mentions the case of Vinod Dua, who was charged with sedition by Himachal Pradesh police.
These are not the only cases where journalists have been unfairly treated due to their work. On April 20, the J&K Police announced that it had filed an FIR against Kashmiri photojournalist Masrat Zahra under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The same act was used to charge senior Kashmir journalist Gowhar Geelani.
The joint letter states: “The number of cases filed against journalists have increased enormously after the spread of the pandemic. The health crisis is being used as an excuse to silence those who have exposed shortcoming in the government’s response to it, while on the contrary it is important for both citizens and the public authorities to have factual information about the situation in order to best respond to the pandemic. A free media is essential to a successful public health response.
“The use of sedition laws to harass independent, critical journalists is not only a gross violation of the country’s international commitments, it is also an attempt by the government to silence any criticism. Journalistic work cannot be equated to sedition or undermining security”.
With the local police treating the incident as one of ‘personal rivalry’ rather than press freedom, one of the politicians has filed filed a counter complaint against the journalist
New Delhi : The leading Chhattisgarh journalist Kamal Shukla, who is editor of Bhumkal Samachar magazine and head of the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti was beaten on Saturday afternoon in Kanker (North Bastar) district of Chhattisgarh. According to local journalists, the incident took place in the afternoon when Shukla went to the local police station after hearing that a journalist, Satish Yadav, had been assaulted by local municipal corporators belonging to the ruling Congress party.
“This has been done in a very planned manner as we have been raising a voice and reporting about the wrongdoings of local politicians belonging to the ruling Congress,” Shukla told The Wire from Kanker. “As soon as I stepped out of the police station, I was attacked by these people,” he added. Shukla claimed that his attackers were irked by his reportage and social media writings “as it has been causing loss to them”. Apart from Shukla and Sathish Yadav, another reporter – Jivand Haldhar – was also been attacked.
Shukla alleged that inside the police station, Ghaffar Memom, a representative of the local Congress MLA, Shishupal Shori, waved a pistol at him, saying Kamal Shukla should be killed as he is the real culprit. “I was targeted because I have written about Shori’s involvement in sand smuggling and in this work Ghaffar and others are helping Shori,” Shukla alleged. Protesting the incident, local journalists are staging a protest at Ambedkar chowk of Kanker town.
Confirming the assault incident, the superintendent of police, M.R. Ahire, told The Wire that an FIR has been registered in the matter under sections 294 (public acts of obscenity), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). As per the local police, Jitendra Singh Thakur, Ghaffar Memom, Ganesh Tiwari, Maqbool Khan and others have been named in the FIR. However, the police have described the assault as a clash between two groups due to some ‘aapsi ranjish’ (personal rivalry).
A counter complaint has also been registered by one of the accused, Ghaffar Memon. “We have also received a counter complaint against Shukla but it is yet to be converted in an FIR,” the Kanker SP told The Wire. In his complaint, Memon has alleged that it was Shukla who abused him and threatened to kill him. According to Memon, the incident started when Shukla abused him for not paying for an advertisement published in his magazine. “Given that Shukla is a ‘criminal minded’ person and has a sedition case pending against him, I am afraid that he might do something untoward against me,” says Memon’s complaint to the police demanding strong action against the journalist.
An outspoken journalist, Shukla has been at the forefront of the campaign demanding legislation for the protection of journalists in the state. In April 2018, the state Police had charged Shukla with sedition for sharing a cartoon on Facebook that allegedly made derogatory references to the judiciary and the government. He, however, insists he was falsely charged.
Meanwhile, calling it a murderous attack on journalists by Congress leaders, local reporters have written a letter to the governor of the state, Anusuiya Uikey, requesting her intervention. The global press freedom organisation Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the attack and demanded investigation against the perpetrators.
Condemning the incident, the Chhattisgarh unit of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) has demanded that the Kanker administration provide protection to journalists. In addition, the human rights body demanded an independent enquiry into the matter and strict action against the attackers. Moreover, the PUCL asked for an enquiry to examine the role of the local police, apart from passing an effective legislation to protect journalists in the state.
In 2016, the state chapter of the PUCL along with the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, in consultation with several journalists and lawyers, had proposed a draft act for the protection of journalists and human rights defenders in the state. This was done in the backdrop of a promise made by the then chief minister, Raman Singh, that there would be a law for the protection of journalists in the state.
Immediately after taking oath as chief minister in 2018, the Congress’s Bhupesh Baghel had issued a directive to prepare a draft as it was part of his poll promise. In October last year, a committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Aftab Alam had drafted a Bill for the protection of media persons in Chhattisgarh. However, the bill has yet to be passed by the cabinet or tabled for discussion in the assembly, let alone becoming law.
The Wire tried to contact the local Congress MLA, Shori, for his comment, but he could not be reached. This story will be updated when he responds.
The state has been in the news for attacks on media and journalists over the years.
New Delhi: A committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Aftab Alam has drafted a Bill for the protection of media persons in Chhattisgarh. The committee was formed in February to draft a Bill that would protect freedom of speech and expression of media in the state.
The Bill prescribes imprisonment of up to one year if a public servant wilfully neglects his/her duties required to be performed under it. If enacted, offences under this Act will be investigated by a police officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent and shall be cognizable and bailable.
However, according to a member who requested anonymity, this is not the final draft. “We will seek suggestions from journalists and media organisations such as the Press Council of India and Editor’s Guild of India before giving it the final shape,” he informed The Wire.
According to the draft Bill, which is called the “Chhattisgarh Protection of Mediapersons Act”, within 30 days of the coming into force of this Act, the government shall constitute a Committee for the Protection of Mediapersons. The state-level committee will deal with complaints of harassment, intimidation or violence, or unfair prosecution and arrests of mediapersons. It shall be comprised of a police officer not below the rank of additional director general of police, head of the department of public relations and three mediapersons of at least twelve years’ standing, at least one of whom shall be a woman. As per the draft, mediapersons will be appointed as members of the committee for two years and shall not hold office for more than two consecutive terms.
Chhattisgarh has been in the news for attacks on journalists and media over the years. According to a report published by media watchdog website The Hoot in 2017, police took action against 13 journalists in Chhattisgarh, the highest in the country. During the assembly election last year, the Congress party – then in the opposition and now ruling the state – had promised in its manifesto that a law will be brought for the protection of journalists if voted to power.
Concerns over delay
Commenting on the latest development, senior journalist and leader of Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti Kamal Shukla said, said he has not seen the draft. “Until we see the draft Bill, I will not be in a position to comment about it,” he told The Wire.
According to Shukla, there has not been any significant change under the Congress as far as the safety and security of journalists is concerned. He said that after Bhupesh Baghel became the chief minister, at least 22 journalists have been charged and six were sent to jail, of whom three were brutally beaten.
He expressed concern over the delay in the enactment of the law, pointing out that the Congress had promised to bring in the law within 100 days of forming the government. “It has nearly been a year and the law has not been passed yet. The committee has not met any local journalists before preparing the draft,” Shukla said.
However, a source close to the committee claimed that a team appointed by Justice Alam visited Chhattisgarh and interacted with local people. Ruchir Garg, media advisor to CM Baghel, who is also a member of the committee which drafted the Bill, said the government is committed to bringing in the law and is “seriously working towards it”. “There is no doubt about the seriousness. It is taking time because it is an important legislation and the committee is looking into each and every aspect of the matter,” Garg told The Wire.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Photo: PTI
‘Risk management units’
The Bill also prescribes the establishment of Risk Management Units in every district. These units will comprise the district collector, district public relations officer, the superintendent of police and two mediapersons of at least seven years’ standing, at least one of whom shall preferably be a woman, ordinarily a resident of that district. The collector and district public relations officer will act as chairperson and member secretary respectively.
The Bill also says:
“It shall be incumbent on every member of a Risk Management Unit, immediately on receipt of complaint or information of threat of harassment, intimidation or violence to persons in need of protection, to relay the complaint or information to the District Collector or the Superintendent of Police, who shall then, without any delay – a. institute such Emergency Protection Measures as may be required, and b. convene the Risk Management Unit.”
According to the draft, after “the Risk Management Unit has determined that protection measures will be required, it shall formulate a Protection Plan to safeguard persons who require protection at the earliest and in any event within 15 days of receipt of the complaint or information.”
It also prescribes that the Protection Plan and the Emergency Protection Measures “will be deployed in consultation with the person who requires protection except where the nature of risk or threat to that person is so pressing that there is no time for consultation.”
Chhattisgarh has been in the news for attacks on journalists. Representative image. Photo: Reuters
Who will be granted protection?
The draft law says protection has various qualification for those who will be provided protection. It defines mass media as “any means of communication used regularly for purposes of dissemination of information and expression of views and opinions, including digital media, such as news portals, web magazines”. Protection will be granted to mediapersons who have published six articles in mass media in the preceding three months and also to those who received three payments from media establishments for compiling news in the preceding six months or took photographs that have been published in mass media three times in the preceding three months.
Columnists or freelancers whose work has been published six times in mass media in the preceding six months or, reported news or views for mass media six times in the preceding three months, will also be protected. Mediapersons who have a valid identity card or a letter certifying that the applicant is currently employed by a media establishment will also be granted protection.
Kamal Shukla, editor of ‘Bhumkal Samachar’ newspaper published from Kanker, was booked after a Rajasthan man lodged a complaint against him with the Raipur cyber cell.
New Delhi: The Chhattisgarh Police on Monday charged a Bastar-based journalist, Kamal Shukla, with sedition for sharing a cartoon on Facebook that allegedly made derogatory references to the judiciary and the government, PTI reported.
The cartoon commented on the Supreme Court’s decision to reject petitions calling for an independent investigation into the mysterious circumstances in which special Central Bureau of Investigation judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya had died in Nagpur were he had gone to attend a wedding. The late judge’s family, too, had demanded a probe.
“A case has been registered against Kamal Shukla under Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code with Kotwali police station of Kanker district on the complaint of a Rajasthan-based person,” Superintendent of Police KL Dhruv told the news agency.
Dhruv said the man from Rajasthan had filed the complaint against Shukla with the Raipur cyber cell, which transferred the case to Kanker police.
Shukla is the editor of ‘Bhumkal Samachar’ newspaper, published from Kanker.
Shukla told PTI that the cartoon he shared on Facebook related to the SC’s observation on the alleged mysterious death of judge B.H Loya.
On April 19, the apex court dismissed pleas seeking an independent probe into the death of judge Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. The accused in the case included BJP president Amit Shah.
“People across the country are expressing their views on the issue and so did I. Nothing was offensive about the cartoon and nor did it amount to sedition,” Shukla said.
Shukla, however, insisted that he was being “implicated”, and said he was undeterred and would continue to “write honestly on issues that interest people.” Shukla claimed the authorities were unhappy with hm for raising questions about fake encounters n Maoist-affected Bastar region, the Times of Indiareported.
Shukla also writes for several local and national news portals, and heads an organisation – the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti – which seeks a law to protect journalists in Bastar region, says a report by theHindustan Times.
Although Shukla could not be reached for comment, a post uploaded on his Facebook page claimed that he was targeted by right-wing activists in an attempt to prevent him from “exposing” the government ahead of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections. “I will continue writing (to protect) our democracy,” he added, according to Hindustan Times.
In Baster region, over 10 journalists have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including sedition, in the last few years. In March 2017, an FIR was filed against another journalist Prabhat Singh on charges of defamation among others for sharing a message on WhatsApp about interactions of the then Bastar police chief S.R.P Kalluri.
Earlier in 2015, two journalists, Somaru Nag and Santosh Yadav, had been arrested by Bastar police on charges of supporting Maoist rebels. They had denied the charges and alleged that they were being framed by the police for reporting on police excesses.
A round-up of news, both bad and good, on the rights front from India.
A round-up of news, both bad and good, on the rights front from India.
Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur. Credit: PTI
The ‘reasonable’ restrictions on free speech
“Journalism,” said George Orwell, “is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.”
T.S. Thakur, the chief justice of India, though, would beg to differ. At the second Justice J.S. Verma Memorial Lecture on September 21, he said that the media must operate within the reasonable restrictions of free speech provided in the constitution.
The Hindustan Times reported Thakur insisting that “If media wants to be free, it must be fair. If it ceases to be fair, it can’t remain free”, while emphasising the importance of ethical journalism.
Thakur’s concern seems to have been the conflict between freedom of expression and an individual’s right to privacy and to a reputation. But his assessment of contemporary journalism takes into account only one side of the story.
On the other hand, there are journalists like Prabhat Singh, who are prosecuted for not toeing the line. On September 19, Newslaundry reported that Singh, a journalist in Bastar, had gone missing for the past three days, while still out on bail. Singh resurfaced on September 20 and posted on Facebook that he was safe. In March, Singh had been arrested for a WhatsApp message, charged with sections 292 and 67 of the Information Technology Act. Singh maintains that he was arrested because of the “anti-state” line he took in a case that many believed was a fake encounter.
Before his disappearance, Singh had apparently told his co-worker, Kamal Shukla, that he was afraid he might be kidnapped and in a message on a WhatsApp group, Singh reportedly wrote that he suspected the Chhattisgarh government wanted to have him abducted. Shukla told Newslaundry that according to his sources, the police were planning to “drop” Singh in the middle of a protest by the vigilante group, Agnee, that purportedly intends to counter Naxalism in the state.
Bastar is difficult journalistic terrain with several ‘someone’s’ who don’t want things printed. Reporters have to deal with threats and intimidation, in addition to negotiating the slippery slope between the state, dissidents and vigilantes. Singh’s case, along with several others, evidently shows that there are ample restrictions on the freedom of speech and of print, without the judiciary adding to it.
Gujarat announces special court for Dalits
On September 22, Gujarat home minister, Pradipsinh Jadeja announced that the state would set up special atrocity courts for Dalits, The Statesmanreported. Jadeja said that this was to meet the “long-pending” demand of the Dalit community. The special courts are scheduled to be functional from October 1.
The announcement comes after a widespread and intense agitation by Dalit activists after two Dalit boys were flogged for allegedly skinning dead cows in Una.
With rising incidents of cow vigilantism, this is a welcome move to address Dalit interests. But the Gujarat government neglected to mention whether the courts would redress the Muslim victims of gau rakshaks.
On September 12, Mohammad Ayyub was chased and beaten to death by gau rakshaks in Ahmedabad for carrying calves in the boot of his car, according a report by The Indian Express.
Of the seven gau rakshaks involved in the case, three have been arrested while four are still at large. One of the accused had reportedly been arrested earlier for killing a Dalit.
Both Dalits and Muslims had united in protest in Una, last month. Yet the Gujarat government chose to address only one community.
Activists suspect that the announcement may be a token to appease the Dalit movement. Until conviction rates rise, it will be too early to judge the veracity of the special courts.
The Polavaram project will submerge tribal rights
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Odisha’s ruling party, organised demonstrations across seven districts in south Odisha on September 20, against the upcoming Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh, The Hindu reported. The BJD has also approached the Supreme Court against the project, demanding that the permissions given by the environment ministry and tribal affairs ministry be revoked.
While the Centre has pushed Polavaram as a national project for irrigation, opposition to the project has been based on claims that the dam will submerge 7,656 hectares of jungle and agricultural land displace more than 6,000 people in Odisha alone. The BJD plans to intensify their agitation against the project from October 1.
Another report suggests that nearly 10,000 acres of common property resources, crucial to the livelihood of adivasis, will be submerged. The report alleges that land for the project has been acquired by a direct violation of the Forest Rights Act, under which tribals are granted title deeds to hold land.
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If you know of any other incident we should highlight in this column, write to me at titash@cms.thewire.in.
Santosh Yadav has said that an inmate was planning an attack on him and has expressed apprehensions of being killed inside the jail.
Santosh Yadav has said that an inmate was planning an attack on him and has expressed apprehensions of being killed inside the jail.
Santosh Yadav. Credit: Amnesty International
Bastar-based journalist Santosh Yadav, who was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police in September and charged with taking part in an encounter with the security forces has now claimed a threat to his life in Jagdalpur jail, where he is presently lodged. Eighteen villager are already imprisoned on the same charges.
According to a report in The Hindu, Santosh conveyed a message through his father, who met him in the jail on Tuesday, that an inmate named Vicky was planning an attack on him.
Budhram, Yadav’s father, told the newspaper: “I went to meet Santosh today. He told me that some people were about to attack him last night but did not do so because of the presence of a security guard outside the barrack. He said a person named Vicky was planning to attack him. He expressed apprehensions that he might be killed inside the jail. He is extremely scared. He asked me to convey this massage to Kamal Shukla [the senior journalist who launched a campaign for the release of Mr. Yadav and other journalists from jail].”
While the police claim Santosh is a Maoist sympathiser, journalists describe him as a fearless writer who never shied away from reporting on human rights violations. They claim that he was one of the four journalists who have been allegedly framed in various cases since last year. While two of them are now out on bail, another one was acquitted by a court.
Following Santosh’s arrest last year, The Wire reported on how journalists and civil rights groups across India had criticised the police actions against him and another journalist, Somaru Nag.
Santosh, who has written for various Hindi newspapers including Dainik Navbharat and Dainik Chhattisgarh, was booked under the Chhattisgarh Jan Suraksha Adhiniyam, or Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA.
Following his arrest, the district police claimed he had supported the Maoists in an encounter that took place in Darbha on August 21. Bastar district superintendent of police Ajay Yadav even went on record to state that he did not consider Santosh to be a journalist. He said the police suspected he had links to local Maoist leader Shankar.
However, Amnesty International India claimed that Santosh was booked under special laws, PSA and UAPA, which made securing of bail difficult.
“Draconian laws are being used to silence journalists reporting from areas of conflict between security forces and Maoist armed groups in Chhattisgarh. Reporting the different sides of a story is a legitimate exercise of a journalist’s right to freedom of expression. The recent arrests in Chhattisgarh are a disturbing sign of the state government’s disdain for media freedom. These attempts at intimidating the media must end.” said Abhirr VP, a campaigner at Amnesty International India.
Santosh had earlier been booked in three cases in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. Amnesty had claimed that in June 2015 he had even been stripped and beaten up by the state police.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties had claimed Santosh was under the pressure of police to work as an informer. It said since Santosh was one of the first reporters to reach the spot of an attack on a Congress convoy in the Darbha valley in May 2013, the police had assumed he collaborated with the Maoists.
Incidentally, the tussle between the journalists and the police in the state has also been reported extensively by the international media. Earlier this year, the BBC did an elaborate report on how journalists are being threatened in Chhattisgarh and many of them have been forced to flee.
Prior to that, in March of this year, The Wire also reported on how Bastar was turning into a media black hole. Referring to the arrest of a journalist, Prabhat Singh, by the Chhattisgarh police during the same month, the report had dwelt on the issue of media freedom in the Bastar region, “where a civil war between Maoist insurgents and the security forces has claimed the lives of hundreds of people and led to allegations of widespread human rights abuse”.
In the forested adivasi areas of Chhattisgarh, the Constitution of India and the orders of the Supreme Court hold no sway over the government.
In the forested, adivasi areas of Chhattisgarh, the Constitution of India and the orders of the Supreme Court hold no sway over the government
An uncertain, fraught wait: Minpa villagers wait outside the Sukma thana for word of their arrested husbands, sons, fathers. Credit: Nandini Sundar
Sukma (Chhattisgarh): The forests of Bastar are teeming with people while the villages are deserted. The Maoists walk the forests, keeping watch on the security forces, who have now taken to camping in the jungles, ostensibly to keep watch on the Maoists. The villagers themselves spend sleepless nights wondering which direction the forces will take and who they will attack next. Across Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur, people have taken to sleeping in the jungle at night or migrating en masse to Telangana to escape dawn raids and the mass round-ups. It is freezing in the open; no one can light fires for fear of being found, and the few blankets they possess are really no protection. Most cover themselves only with a thin cotton lungi. If they don’t die in an ‘encounter’, many will surely fall ill with the cold.
A university colleague and I visited Sukma district from January 23-26. On the morning of January 24, a handful of shivering villagers from Minpa village arrived. They said the security forces had surrounded their village at 6 am and picked up 41 men. The forces rounded up anyone they could lay their hands on, sometimes an entire family of father and sons, taking them to Chintagufa thana. Later that day we visited Minpa, recording the names of those arrested. The women had already gone to the thana to try and get them back; we joined them the next day pleading with the thanedar and the CRPF to let them go or tell the family members what they were being held for. The wives, daughters and mothers of the arrested men kept vigil outside the police station for days, sick with worry, crying, holding out their husband’s election cards as proof that they were not naxals. All that the police would say is that they had orders from above and were ‘investigating.’
At least three other men, Kawasi Nanda of Duled, Podiyam Sukka of Minpa, and Sanna of Karigundem had been picked up on January 21 from Chintagufa market where they were attending a cock fight.
Women from Minpa wait for word of the arrested men outside the police station in Sukma. Credit: Nandini Sundar
Phone calls and a letter to the SP Sukma listing the men picked up and seeking their whereabouts yielded nothing. On January 29, however, the Bastar police under IG SRP Kalluri issued a press release claiming that on-going combing operations by the Cobras (Commando Battalion for Resolution Action), CRPF, District Reserve Guards (many former Special Police Officers) in ‘Naxal-infested’ Minpa on January 28 had resulted in the arrest of 12 men. Five were wanted for a firing on the police in June 2015, while another seven were implicated in a firing case from October 2014. Two days later, on February 1, the police put out a press release claiming another round of combing on January 31 had led to the arrest of 13 Naxals from Minpa, of whom six were responsible for firing on a poll party in 2014, and another six in a bomb blast of October 2015. Nineteen of those picked up are still in undeclared custody and will no doubt be produced at a suitable date and time, paraded as ‘inami Naxali’ (for whom there is a reward).
What is clear is that the police is carrying out sweeping raids as collective punishment, and fitting villagers to pre-decided crimes. They are charged with serious offences like rioting, possession of deadly weapons, attempt to murder, etc. Many will be in for years. Chhattisgarh has the highest rate of jail overcrowding – in 2013 this was 261% of capacity, in 2016 it will climb to even higher levels.
Killing sangham members
The security forces have been proudly putting out regular press releases of the number of Maoists they have killed along with photos of corpses. One of Kalluri’s most recent Whatsapp message to journalists says: “In Bastar range 23 bodies of Maoists have been recovered as part of ongoing Mission 2016 Bastar. Over past 3 months Bastar police has recovered 45 bodies of Maoists with no loss to security forces.” With one or two exceptions, most of the weapons recovered have been “bharmars” – country guns which can be recycled from encounter to encounter as evidence, wires, tiffin bombs, hardly the stuff of “fierce gun battles.”
In the first phase of Salwa Judum, which the Supreme Court banned in 2011, the security forces killed randomly and left the bodies to rot. Now they proudly announce their kill. For instance, on January 30, the police killed two women, Vanjam Shanti and Sariyam Pojje near Palamadgu village in Sukma. The police version is that while on combing operations, they found 2-3 children who were ostensibly standing sentry for the Maoists. They took them into custody. When these two women started to run and fell into a ditch, they shot them. There is no pretence even of firing in self defence. The local newspapers, which ordinarily report police claims without demur, have been skeptical, suggesting these were ordinary village women; certainly they were wearing sarees and not uniforms.
Minpa villege, supposedly a hotbed of Naxalism. Credit: Nandini Sundar
A woman from Minpa. Credit: Nandini Sundar
Representational image. Chhattisgarh government cancels tribal rights over forests to facilitiate coal mining. Credit: Nandini Sundar
Women wait outside the thana. Credit: Nandini Sundar
The wife of a Minpa man picked up by the security forces. Credit: Nandini Sundar
A typical dwelling in Minpa village. Credit: Nandini Sundar
Adivasi men returning to their village after spending the night in the forest. Credit: Nandini Sundar
Women on their way to join the vigil of Minpa villagers outside the Sukma thana. Credit: Nandini Sundar
Both in the first phase of the Judum and now, the police are especially targeting sangham members – the unarmed village level workers who carry out the developmental activities of the Maoist parallel government or janatana sarkar, as compared to the dalams or armed squads, who carry out military operations. Indeed, this is the month for collective work – we saw several work gangs leveling the fields of the poorest villagers and building bunds. They told us that every year they take up 3-4 households to help. By this yardstick, everyone in this area is a member of the Maoist mass fronts. But now being a villager in a Maoist area is itself seen as a justification for killing or arrest; a crime for which there is no definition in any Indian law.
K.R. Pisda, the collector who presided over Salwa Judum-I had conceded in a plan he prepared that “the sangham member is just an ordinary villager who like others, does daily labour to feed himself and his family. They have neither a uniform like the Naxalites nor any arms.” A police team sent by the NHRC to investigate the Salwa Judum in 2008 on the Supreme Court’s orders also accepted that sangham members were different from Naxalites and noted “these villagers were specifically targeted when Salwa Judum was on the rise. The enquiry team has come across instances where some of these villagers were even killed (no criminal cases were, however, either reported or registered). Though the State has taken action against SPOs in some cases for violations like murder and attempt to murder, but these cases do not pertain to the violence let loose on innocent villagers during operations against Naxalites.”
In 2011, the Supreme Court had ordered that FIRs be registered in all such cases, but filing FIRs in Bastar is another story altogether. In 2014, the Supreme Court issued a strict set of guidelines in PUCL vs. State of Maharashtra to be followed in any ‘encounter’ including an independent investigation, but the Chhattisgarh police is beyond the Constitution and courts of this country.
Rapes
Between October 19-24, 2015, 40 women of Peddagelur, Budgicheru and Gundam villages were sexually assaulted, beaten, and stripped by the security forces; two women were gang raped. On 12 January, six women from Kunna village in Sukma district were sexually assaulted and between 11 and 14 January, 13 women were gang raped in Belam Nendra village in Bijapur district. In all these cases, the rapes were accompanied by extreme physical and verbal abuse, and the looting of their homes.
Attempts by women activists to file FIRs in these cases have been met with delay and strong resistance. The FIR on the Nendra rapes was filed only on January 21, with the police refusing to record the names of those accused whom the women recognised. A gang of people led by Salwa Judum leader Madhukar Rao surrounded and threatened the rape survivors along with women activists both in Bijapur and in Jagdalpur, and warned them they could not enter Bijapur again.
While waiting outside Chintagufa thana, the police told us darkly that rape allegations were all a ploy by the Maoists to defame the security forces. Why else would they report the incident 10 days later, they said. Will someone explain precisely to whom the women are supposed to report rapes – the same police officers who carry them out or their seniors who supervise the combing operations and claim credit for fake encounters and fake surrenders? Nothing defames the police more than their unwillingness to punish those among them who commit crimes.
Fake surrenders
On our visit, we found that at least 32 of the 70 ‘surrenders’ by Maoists which were proudly announced by the Bastar police at Chintalnar on December 24, were ordinary villagers. At least two were police informers who fled to safety after the villagers discovered their activities. Even in the matter of fake surrenders, the police discriminated against adivasis, giving them only Rs. 1000 while the UP traders who ‘surrendered’ got 10,000. Where did the rest of the surrender money go and where are all these ‘surrendered’ Naxalites today?
In 2011, the Supreme Court ordered:“The State of Chattisgarh shall take all appropriate measures to prevent the operation of any group, including but not limited to Salwa Judum and Koya Commandos, that in any manner or form seek to take law into private hands, act unconstitutionally or otherwise violate the human rights of any person.”
In the last one year, however, the Chhattisgarh government has made a concerted effort to revive the Salwa Judum under various names, such as Jan Jagran Abhiyan (the original name of the vigilante group before it was rechristened Salwa Judum), Vikas Sangharsh Samiti, Samajik Ekta Manch and Nagrik Ekta Manch. These groups hold large rallies organized by the police in which Salwa Judum leaders like P. Vijay, Soyam Mooka, Madhukar Rao and others play a prominent role. Several of them face charges of rape and other heinous offences, but are given full police patronage. Vijay was named in an FIR for assaulting Swami Agnivesh but five years on, the CBI is still to give its report on the incident to the Supreme Court. Most recently, these leaders burnt effigies of AAP leader Soni Sori and Bela Bhatia, social scientist and human rights activist, for taking up the rape cases. They have also threatened journalists Malini Subramanian, Kamal Shukla and others for questioning the police version of encounters and surrenders.
As research scholar, Vani Xaxa, put it, Bastar is a liberated zone in more ways than one, and the responsibility for this lies equally with the Maoists and the police; the former for setting up their own parallel state, and the latter for disregarding every aspect of the Indian Constitution. As for the Supreme Court, it has never been more disregarded and held in contempt than it is in Chhattisgarh.
Nandini Sundar is a professor of sociology at Delhi University
