Chhattisgarh Govt Guilty Of Abetting Ghastly Salwa Judum Crimes, Cover-Up Ops: NHRC [Read Order]

The National Human Rights Commission has come down heavily on the Chhattisgarh government for abetting the ghastly Salwa Judum crimes in the state and turning a blind eye to severe human rights violations of the deceased persons and their families.The NHRC has made the observations in a case emanating out of a complaint lodged in 2013 by villagers of Kondasawali, Sukma district, with the Collector that a few years before 2013 (during the times when Salwa Judum was active in the State), some Special Police Officers and Salwa Judum leaders had come to their village, burnt 95 huts in three settlements in their panchayat, killed 7 people, and threatened the villagers against telling anyone about those incidents. The villagers had been forced to leave their village after the arson attacks with many fleeing into the forests. They could come back to the village only after the end of Salwa Judum and wrote to the Collector on July 12, 2013, with the help of sarpanch of Kondasawali Sundam Sannu about the Salwa Judum vigilante excesses upon residents of village Kondasawali, Kamaraguda and Karrepara.The seven villagers as named in the complaint are: Mandavi Bhima and Bharse Sukalu from village Kodasawali, Bharse Nanda of village Korapara, Kunjam Boda from Karrepara, Sudam Bhim Mangdu and Sudam Bhim Joga and also Mediam Ayyati from village Parlatta. Soon after the complaint was made, Barse Nande, one of the complainants who had complained about the killing of her husband Barse Nanda, was attacked and killed by security forces on August 13, 2013.The complaint was brought before the NHRC by People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Chhattisgarh, in September, 2013.The PUCL also expressed its concern about the safety of the ex-sarpanch in the wake of killing of Barse Nande.Simultaneously, the lawyer members of PUCL in Jagdalpur followed up the case through RTI which revealed that no compensation has been disbursed to the next of the kin of deceased since their death or post-mortem certificates are not available.Meanwhile, in a communication sent to NHRC dated August 8, 2016, District Magistrate, Sukma said the alleged incidents of killings and arson had taken place in the year 2007, no FIR was registered till 2013 and no post mortem was conducted and also that names of five out of seven deceased do not appear in the voter list of the year 2009-2010.Fact-finding team’s treacherous journey as NHRC looks for true pictureWith the state appearing laidback, in April 2017, the NHRC asked PUCL general secretary Sudha Bhardwaj to make a visit to the area and record the testimonies of the complainants.On Bhardwaj’s behalf, a fact-finding team comprising human rights activist and AAP leader Soni Sori, PUCL member and researcher JK Vidhya, human rights defender Lingaram Kodopi and Sukul Prasad left for Kondasawali. The team was accompanied by journalists Pushpa Rokde, Nitin Rokde and an interpreter named Danti Poyim. The team got delayed due to rains and finally undertook the journey, which involved walking on foot for several kilometres for hours through thick forests and climbing up and down the hills, and on August 23, 2017, the team met all people whose houses were burnt or whose family members were killed in 2009-10 and in 2013. Each person who lost a family testified on camera.While working on the complaint, the PUCL, in its report, also gives an idea of the pitiful state of residents of the area.While explaining the delay in tabling the report before NHRC, it goes on to state in its report, “It is not at all surprising that almost all members of the team became severely ill after this trip. Ms Soni Sori and Mr Sukul Nag had to be hospitalised. Ms Vidhya was diagnosed with malaria of the falciparum type. The journalists Pushpa Rokde and Nitin Rokde were also ill. This show the precarious conditions of health villagers are surviving in. It was also the reason for delay in submission of the instant report”.State’s cover-up, no notice for 7 yearsThe NHRC examined the report of the Tehsildar, Konta, district Sukma, and also the report of SP, Sukma according to which no case(s) was registered about these incidents because no one lodged a report with the police station having jurisdiction over these villages.The NHRC noted that, “In a district, the responsibility for revenue collection and developments vests with the District Collector. Similarly, the responsibility for maintenance of law and order rests on the shoulders of the District SP, who is assisted in this task by his various subordinate officials posted in police stations and police posts.“In order to discharge their responsibilities, the officials of the Revenue Department and the various development related departments such as block development officers, agriculture development officers, district social welfare officer and their subordinates are required to regularly visit villages within their jurisdiction and during these visits they get/collect information about events which...

Chhattisgarh Govt Guilty Of Abetting Ghastly Salwa Judum Crimes, Cover-Up Ops: NHRC [Read Order]

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