Is there a breakdown of rule of law and the Constitutional order in Chhattisgarh? Some of India’s most respected civil society organisations certainly think so, though the State Government disagrees. Several citizens’ organisations have written to the authorities, the courts and even the Prime Minister, about police excesses during the ongoing Operation Green-hunt that the government forces, their paramilitaries and vigilantes have waged on the armed Maoists. (See links below)
Organisations like the Peoples’ Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), People Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) and the National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements (NAPM) have collected information on individual citizens’ cases of police torture and other atrocities. Obviously what is going on in Chhattisgarh is anything but the ‘healing touch’ and ‘real development’ which the Prime Minister had recently talked about.
What emerges from these reports is that the massive ground offensive is on in an atmosphere of information blackout. The security forces actively discourage media persons, human rights groups and civil society activists from visiting places close to their scene of action. Hence reporting of atrocities in the mainline media is minuscule and it is mostly done from the police handouts. In one recent case, a tribal woman named Sodi Sambo was able to go to a Delhi hospital for treatment of her bullet injuries only after the Supreme Court ordered the State Government not to obstruct her way. (Full details and the Supreme Court judgment cited below)
The links below show that the rule of law is a casualty of this ‘all-out’ war. While the Maoists are also accused of killing innocent people and using human beings as gun fodder, the government forces are using rape and torture as tactics in this so called war. Obviously the victims of this double torture are the tribal folks of Chhattisgarh.
Please see the links below for more details:
Open letter to the PM, http://sanhati.com/excerpted/1824/
Open letter to Prime Minister on breakdown of constitutional order in Chhattisgarh, PUDR,
http://www.pudr.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=210&Itemid=70
The strange case of Sodi Sambo, http://sanhati.com/news/2036/
http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=377
http://aidindia.org/main/content/view/1175/422/
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/print.aspx?artid=NNY|VsjVxWg=
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/01/10/stories/2010011050120400.htm
http://www.india-server.com/news/police-discover-maoists-marijuana-19022.html
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_government-draws-up-mega-plan-for-tribals_1330604
Weapons Of Mass Desperation by Shoma Chaudhury, Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 39, 03 October, 2009,
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne031009coverstory.asp
Taking on Maoists by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, Volum 26, Issue 22, 24 October-6 November, 2009, Frontline,
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20091106262200400.htm
Planned Military Offensive, Open letter to the Indian Prime Minister, October 10, 2009 Vol. XLIV No 41, Economic and Political Weekly
An Open Letter To Noam Chomsky by Nirmalangshu Mukherji, Outlook India, 22 October, 2009, http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262424
Stop Offensive, Hold Unconditional Dialogue-Call From National Convention Of Citizens Initiative For Peace, Mainstream, Vol. XLVII, No 45, October 24, 2009,
http://mainstreamweekly.net/article1710.html
Rent-a-quote liberals stand up for Naxals, 22 October, 2009, The Economic Times,
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Rent-a-quote-liberals-stand-up-for-Naxals/articleshow/5147216.cms
Gladson and Arundhati Roy on Naxalism: CNN-IBN Debate, October, 2009,
http://newswing.com/?p=3659
Maoists linking up with Tamil Tigers? 26 October, 2009, The Times of India,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maoists-linking-up-with-Tamil-Tigers/articleshow/5161476.cms
What Muslims were to BJP, Maoists are to Congress: Arundhati Roy, 26 October, 2009, The Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/What-Muslims-were-to-BJP-Maoists-are-to-Congress-Arundhati-Roy/articleshow/5159882.cms
Crushed in the middle by Ramachandra Guha, The Hindustan Times, 22 October, 2009,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Crushed-in-the-middle/H1-Article1-468074.aspx#
The Phantom Enemy by Ashok Mitra, The Telegraph, 23 October, 2009,
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091023/jsp/opinion/story_11635362.jsp
A Million Mutinies Within by Aditya Nigam, Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 26, 04 July, 2009,
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne040709a_million.asp