Attacks on tribals, activists in restive Bastar

Situation in the red zone turned worse after S R P Kalluri took over as inspector general of police

About three months ago, the Sarva Adivasi Samaj (SAS) called for a Bastar bandh to protest the allegedly fake encounters by police in Chhattisgarh’s restive red zone. In a small room in Jagdalpur, the divisional headquarters of Bastar, top leaders of the SAS were busy designing the strategy to ensure the success of the bandh. Then came a message: The Bastar police would ensure that the bandh failed.

Although the police denied its role, SAS leaders said they were threatened and trader groups asked not to cooperate. There was heavy deployment in each square of Jagdalpur, with guidelines to take stringent action against the protesters. The bandh failed, but the entire tribal community turned against the police. 

The situation was not so hostile three years ago. Soon after S R P Kalluri took over as inspector general of police in Bastar, police-activist confrontations in the region got a new dimension.

Kalluri has stated that a war is on in Bastar and that everything is fair in love and war. He has deposed before Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the promise that that the Maoist menace would be eradicated in Chhattisgarh before the 2018 Assembly polls in the state. He has allegedly been pulling strings to achieve his target.

Operations against Maoists gained momentum after Kalluri assumed charge. There has been no major attack by Maoists in the otherwise insurgency-hit region in the past one and a half years. 

The police’s alleged lack of tolerance has given rise to something else. Rights activists working in the interior areas have come under the police scanner for allegedly supporting the Maoists. 

Human rights activist, academic and researcher Bela Bhatia was intimidated and served an ultimatum by a mob to vacate her rented house in Bastar and leave Parpa village on the fringes of Jagdalpur town within 24 hours. Bhatia was among several rights activists, who were hounded out of the region in a similar manner. 

The men in the mob belonged to an allegedly police-backed vigilante group, Samajik Ekta Manch. Bhatia came under its lens as she accompanied a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team in the region to record the statements of rape and sexual assault survivors, who had filed FIRs against some security personnel. 

The NHRC report released earlier last month indicted security personnel of rape and sexual assault in 16 cases between October 2015 and March 2016. Bhatia had helped the team record the statements of the survivors. While the mob was intimidating her, the police allegedly watched as a mute spectator. Despite her complaint, the police allegedly did not act. 

Bhatia, a PhD from Cambridge University, has been living in Bastar since 2007, researching counter-insurgency. She was also a member of the Planning Commission panel that studied problems of governance in left-wing extremist-affected regions of the country.

Attacks on human rights activists, who have raised cases of police atrocities against the Adivasis, have become practically the norm in Bastar. Last year, journalist Malini Subramaniam, lawyers Shalini Gera and Isha Khandelwal and Aam Aadmi Party leader Soni Sori were intimidated, attacked and hounded out of Bastar by vigilante groups. 

Academic and activist Nandini Sundar faced similar wrath. Anyone raising a voice against the police or in support of the tribals was allegedly dubbed a Maoist sympathiser. 

“The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre and in the state are subverting democratic institutions and the rule of law,” said state Leader of the Opposition T S Singhdeo.

Chief Minister Raman Singh said violation of freedom of speech, a fundamental right of the people, was a serious issue. His statement came after a closed-door meeting with Bhatia during his visit to Bastar.

The state government is wary of a confrontation with rights activists, as it might snowball into an issue at the national and international level. Soon after the attack on Bhatia, state Principal Secretary (Home) B V R Subramanium along with state police chief A N Upadhyay called on Bhatia at her house. 

Local police officials were asked to stay back. Never before have the authorities approached rights activists or victims of vigilante group attacks as they did in Bhatia’s case. Finally, last Wednesday, Kalluri went on long leave on medical grounds.