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print versionPUDR conducted a fact-finding in the villages of Sarkeguda, Rajpeta, Kottaguda, Pusbaka, Basaguda, Lingagiri, Korsaguda, Kottagudem and Timmapur villages in Usur Tehsil of Bijapur District from 26th to 31st December 2014. The attempt was to document the principal concerns of the Adivasis and the reasons underlying these, by staying for a few days in the villages. This fact-finding confirm the insecurities and hardships of daily life in the war-zone—the low key, but ever present forms of repression routinized by the state through its forces and security camps.
The report War and the Lightness of Being Adivasi draws particular attention to:
1. The large number of ‘permanent warrants’ issued against the populace, of which a significant number is declared as ‘absconders’. A rough estimate indicates that as many as 15-35,000 people live under the threat and fear of these warrants in Bijapur alone.
2. The lawless conduct of the armed personnel and Special Police Officers (SPOs) who routinely raid, beat, loot, detain and compel the Adivasi villagers to perform ‘begar’ (free labour) at the security camps. Instances of sexual torture were also noted.
3. The impossibility of lodging FIRs against the security forces as against the rising number of arrests of villagers who languish in jails.
4. The intensification of armed presence on account of increased road building activity by the army for securing supply lines to the camps. Roads are opened only after road opening exercises by the forces followed by routine interception of passengers at frequent check-posts and road barriers.
5. The further harassment faced by villagers during travel on account of armed personnel in civilian buses plying between Bijapur and Basaguda. In flagrant disregard of international covenants, the security forces deliberately regard passengers as ‘human shields’ against possible encounters.
6. The impact of camps on the living conditions of the Adivasi villagers which have been severely affected. The decrease in agricultural activity is a definite consequence of harassment as is the fall in family income and wages. Besides poor health facilities, the existing school system which utilized local village helpers is being intentionally replaced by ‘ashram schools’ which aim to wrench the Adivasi children from their homes and village environment.
7. The intensity of the present situation is comparable to and a continuance of the Salwa Judum activities—eviction and mass displacement of villagers between 2005 and 2009. The present brutality has only underlined the earlier misery of displacement and attempted rehabilitation which the villagers were compelled to undergo.
8. Despite recurrent incidences of bomb explosions and targeting of the roads by the Maoists, the villagers fear the security camps as it is the armed personnel who punish and brutalize them.
9. In tandem with periodic massacres, the daily harassment is part of the dual strategy of the State’s war in the region.
10. The intention behind the present military initiative is to cleanse the area for redoubled mining activity. The effort is directed towards eroding the Adivasi will in resisting the State and in compelling them to be receptive towards official overtures.
Download and read the full report here:
- War and the Lightness of Being Adivasi: Security camps and villages in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh (PUDR, Delhi, Feb 2015)
- PDF version
