By TCN News
A group comprising of Sanjay Parate, Secretary State CPI-M, Vineet Tiwari, Joshi-Adhikari Institute of Social Studies and CPI, New Delhi, Archana Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru University and member AIDWA, and Nandini Sundar, Delhi University visited Bastar Division from 12 to 16 May 2016.
The visit covered Bijapur, Sukma, Bastar and Kanker districts. The focus of the visit was on the situation of ordinary villagers who are living through the conflict between the state and Maoists. In all four districts, the team visited villages chosen randomly, but with a focus on the most interior villages. In both Bijapur and Bastar for instance, they visited villages located in or at the boundaries of National Parks to try and assess the role of the revenue and forest departments. Our conclusions on incomes etc. are based on rough estimates, and proper surveys need to be carried out. In all they visited eleven villages.
The following is a summary of the report.
The team pointed out that this is a drought year and as a result, there has been a mass migration to Andhra Pradesh and other places for work. The team observed that there is no sign that the administration responding by providing rural employment as required under MNREGA. ” In Somanpalli village (the panchayat headquarters near the road) all villagers have ration cards, get about 45 days of MNREGS work (at Rs. 160 per day) and 15 days tendupatta work. While the official rate is Rs. 150 per saikda or 100 bundles of 50 leaves each, the traders give Rs. 50 extra, such that the villagers are getting Rs 200 for 100 bundles. They also sell about 50 percent of their paddy production and get a profit of Rs 2500 per acre. The average size of land is three acres. Overall the family makes about Rs. 1300-1500 per month. In another remote village, Tadmendri in neighbouring Sagmeta panchayat (at a distance of 14 Km on the forest road), the villagers have not got any MNREGA work and had not even heard of it. They also have to walk 14 km for their rations and were not able to produce anything from their land this year because of the drought. The households of this village barely make about Rs. 1000 per month,” the report said.
The team observed that as soon as one enters Kanker, it is clear that the conflict zone has arrived. “The whole division is heavily militarized with CAPF camps every 5 km, and in the villages around Raoghat in Kanker district, every 2 km. These are being set up in complete violation of the 5th Schedule, Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 1996 (PESA) and the Scheduled Tribes and other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (FRA), under which the consent of the gram sabha has to be taken and the villagers claims settled. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs Annual Report, 2015-16, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has given general approval under Sec 2 of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, to divert 1-5 ha in LWE affected areas, for developmental purposes. However, under this head it has also smuggled in “police establishments like police stations/ outposts/ border outposts/ watch towers in sensitive area” as well as two lane roads. It is not clear that this blanket permission is entitled to ride over the requirements of PESA and FRA. Just as irrigation facilities, schools, dispensaries etc. must be built in consultation with the villagers, so should police outposts,” the report said.
Reports of fake encounters, rape
Marjum fake encounter:
In first week of May, 2016 one police personnel died and one got injured in a cross firing between Police/Pamilitary forces and the Maoists near Marjum village in Dantewada district. After a few days, on May 7, the villagers of Junglepara went to Bheemapara to celebrate Beej Pandum, a traditional festival of the villagers. At around 12 noon, they were informed by the villagers of the neighboring village Chitrapal that there was a firing in the forest and two boys were shot. Two boys aged around 17-18 years, namely Markam Mangloo and Podiyam Vijja, who went to bathe in the nearby stream, were found missing from the group of the Junglepara villagers. According to the villagers, the patrolling force found them alone, shot them there and declared them Maoists.
At a press conference called on May 12, 2016 the villagers who were brought to the press conference accused the police of the fake encounter. Villagers said that both the boys had no connection with Maoists at all. Ms. Balmati, the Sarpanch of the village and the Anganwadi helper Aaiti were also present along with the family members, relatives and other villagers in the press conference who also confirmed that the police was making false allegations. The deceased boys and their families were well known to them and these were nothing else but the murders of innocent tribal boys. They also said that later that day, two more boys namely, Dewa and Podiyam were arrested from their houses in the village.
Across the four districts, villagers complained to the team about people 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 report said.
Alleged rape in Indrawati National Park
A rape case was alleged of a young woman, Phullo, of Chuchkunta village, while she was working on an irrigation pond. The villagers said she was not a Naxalite, but has been raped and then arrested as one. She was raped by SPOs and men from the district force on 17-18 January 2016. The Pharsegarh camp forces patrol the area frequently. The team asked the Camp-in-charge charge of Pharsegarh, Shivanand Tiwari, who said that she was from Platoon 2 of the local area Dalam, and denied any rape. He claimed that her father was kept along with her till she was taken to jail. She is now in Jagdalpur jail.
A visit to Etebalka resulted in the revelation of a case of a young girl being exploited by an SPO, Budu Ram, s/o Phagu Ram, attached to the nearby BSF camp. He regularly visited her house and raped the girl 2-3 times. When the girl protested, the SPO threatened her and said that “the reward for being a police informer and SPO is that he is free to do all these things”. The girl was married off to another person by her family in June 2015 without any knowledge of this incident. Her in-laws discovered she was pregnant and she was sent home with a demand that the husband’s family should be compensated. The SPO already has two wives. A Panchayat was called to settle the matter. It decided that the SPO should pay Rs 51,000 to the girl’s family, but only Rs 25,000 has been so far paid. The girl wrote a complaint to the district collector for which she has not got any response. There is no action by the BSF against the SPO.
“The existence of such camps and the authority it gives jawans and SPOs/sahayakarakashak/DRG leads to sexual exploitation, and makes all women in the vicinity vulnerable. also heard allegations of rapes, at least one of which resulted in death, in the vicinity of other BSF camps but the families were unwilling to talk,” the report pointed out.
Maoist violence
In villages in both the Kanger Park area and in Antagarh, the team heard stories of both police and Maoist killings in the past. For instance, in village Sarandi, in Antagarh, three men have been killed by the police in the past ten years. Four men have been killed by the Maoists, including Meghnath Dhuru Gond who was sarpanch for 15 years and was killed by the Maoists with an axe in 2011. For the past five years, however, the Maoists had not been coming to this area. However, as mentioned above, Maoist beatings and killings of so-called informers have gone up in parallel with state repression and co-optation of villagers.
Recommendations
The team recommended that 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. The parties should demand that the Centre and state government initiate a dialogue with all political parties and the Naxalites, and come up with a comprehensive plan that recognizes the rights and development needs of the people.
The BJP must allow opposition political parties to operate freely without arresting and intimidating their members. There should be a high level judicial enquiry on all the encounters, arrests, surrenders and rapes and other atrocities by police, security forces and Naxalites since 2005.
There should be prosecution of all these cases and compensation should be paid regardless of perpetrator. The forest rights, and land rights of the people should be recognized. No projects should be implemented, including mining, without the full knowledge and consent of the gram sabha. There should be a full accounting with on the ground verification of all works done under government schemes. In particular MGNREGA should be implemented, and all pending dues must be immediately paid. The harassment of political activists, scholars, journalists, lawyers and others fighting for adivasi rights must be stopped and their freedom of movement and security ensured.
The team also asked the Maoists to allow all development works to take place along with elections and that they should stop beating people, and killing so-called informers.