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Nearly 7,000 protestors, mostly adivasis, had gathered at Chhattisgarh's Sarkeguda village, Bijapur on the nights on 27 and 28 June, to mark the anniversary of the 2012 police shootout in Sarkeguda, and remember the victims of this act of brutality.
Many had walked for over a week to reach the site of the protests, carrying their rations and tents through the almost immovable terrains of Bastar’s forests.
The demonstration comes nearly two years after the Judicial Commission's rejection of police claims in 2019. The commission had observed that those killed at Sarkeguda were ordinary citizens, and not "Naxalites" – the narrative put forth by the police.
Munna Punem, hailing from Korcholi in Bijapur, is a student of Class 8.
Speaking to The Quint, Punem said, “Since the COVID-19 lockdown, that was imposed last year, I have been witness to police oppression. Earlier, my parents used to hide all these things from me and other children of my village. We were asked not to pay attention to these things and focus on our studies. But since this COVID lockdown forced us all to come back home, we have witnessed police oppression first hand."
On 28 June 2012, security forces had opened fire in Sarkeguda village, killing 17 people – three of whom were children. Later on, the security forces termed it a gunfight and labeled the dead as 'Maoists'.
Owing to the onslaught of public indignation, the state government ordered a judicial probe into the encounter, the report for which was submitted in 2019.
Consequently, seven years after the incident, the brand of ‘Naxalite’ was erased from those killed at Sarkeguda and the commission found security forces guilty of killing tribals in cold blood.
Joga (name changed) who walked along with 86 other fellow villagers from Singaram, Sukma for eight days to reach Sarkeguda said, “In 2016, security forces took my father from the home and killed him some 200-300 meters away from us. I have come to Sarkeguda to find solace for my loss. I am not the only victim of police oppression. There are many like me and talking to them, being with them makes me escape the pain.”
In Joga’s village, the sarpanch is the wife of the local police station-in-charge, which has made the situation worse.
Speaking about this, Joga says, “We are even terrified to talk to the sarpanch, let alone her policeman husband."
At the protests in Sarkeguda, a demonstrator lamented, “It has been close to two years since the Judicial Commission’s report on Sarkeguda termed the security forces guilty of killing innocent adivasis. Yet no FIR has been registered. The culprits and murderers still wear the uniform and the rampage continues. They are not determined to punish one of their own. It will expose them to the core and hence all pomp but no show."
The ‘Aam Sabha’, which was actually a ‘Khas Sabha’ to meet and discuss state oppression against the tribals, was organised by Mool Niwasi Bachao Manch. This young organisation emerged out of the Silger protest that escalated after security forces opened fire on the protesting tribals on 17 May 2021, killing three and injuring 17.
Led by young adivasis like Raghu Midiyami, Unga Mochaki, Gopi Lekam, Deepak Sawlam, Sunita Pottam and Soni Punem among others, the organisation is showing the path for the tribal fight against state oppression.
Speaking to The Quint, the president of the organisation, Raghu Midiyami said, “First of all, we are educated and that changes a lot. We know our rights, we know what we deserve. Killing, raping, and beatings are not on that list. We want schools, hospitals, colleges, we want our forests, our lands, and our rivers to be the way they are."
“This organisation has taken birth from a peaceful protest which was turned into a bloodshed by the security forces. What else is needed to prove that we adivasis are being tortured and killed in the name of Maoists?” he added.
The Aam Sabha president went on to assert, “We demand that all police camps are shut down and schools and hospitals be built in every village of Bastar. We demand an inquiry into the Silger police shootout and action against the security forces guilty of killing tribals, including children, and then branding them Maoists."
Munna Punem too had something similar to say.
“I am in class 8, I want to be a doctor. I want my village to have roads but not highways. Highway-sized roads are useless for the villagers. Do you see any of us driving trucks in our villages? These big roads are for the corporate guys like Ambani and Adani. They will use these roads to carry away our mountains and forests and leave us with nothing," he says, with anger in his eyes.
He asserts, "That is why, we are here at Silger and Sarkeguda. We are the next generations... we will fight. We will not tolerate another Sarkeguda incident or Silger incident.”
Reacting to the claims of protestors at Sarkeguda, Bastar IG P Sundarraj told The Quint, “With regard to the report of the judicial commission, the state is figuring out legal entanglements, and once it is done, appropriate action would be taken."
He added that the compensation has already been paid and that the state is doing all in its power to get things done.
He added, “This is the modus-operandi of Maoists, wherein they compel the villagers to do certain activities, failing in which results in heavy fines and even costs the tribals their life. We are pledged to solve the issue and eradicate the presence of banned CPI (Maoists) outfit so that people of Bastar do not live in fear."
The Aam Sabha has witnessed the participation of several social activists, lawyers, and politicians including Arvind Netam, former Union minister from Congress.
Addressing the press at Sarkeguda, Netam said, “All governments are duplicitous. They say something and do the other. Governments have been trying to sabotage tribal culture, tribal lives and they do not know its importance in tribal lives.”
Amid the protests, Bela Bhatia, a lawyer and activist in Bastar, also spoke to The Quint, saying that the state of affairs in the region is continuously deteriorating.
"Governments see armed strikes as the sole option to counter Maoists and have been ignoring the rights of tribals. It is a hurdle to get even an FIR registered in Bastar... to talk of actions and punishing the guilty would be absurd. People are here to fight against this behaviour of the government,” Bhatia stated.
Meanwhile, a local journalist requesting anonymity said:
He added, "The tribals are being exploited by both sides and they have to understand this, find their leaders and put an end to bloodshed from both sides."
According to the journalist, Mool Niwasi Bachao Manch has given a fresh life to the tribals' fight against police oppression and brutality. "However, until each and every household joins the fight, gets educated and understands the history of brutality on tribals from both sides, the struggle seems a long way from the end," he added.
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