Note
Terror and Horror
CPJC
Chattisgarh today is
a land of terror. The state
security agency is regularly brutalising ordinary people to such an extent that it is more like Vietnam of 1970s. Even aged persons, women and children are being systematically terrorised—nobody is safe in this tribal region being the victim of corporate greed for its enormous mineral deposits. Campaign for Peace and Justice in Chattisgarh has long been trying to draw media attention without success.
On 11 December 2024, at approximately 8 AM, Pandu Madvi, a farmer, along with other villagers were working in the fields when security forces opened fire indiscriminately, forcing villagers, including Pandu Madvi, to flee for their lives. Pandu first sought refuge in his aunt’s house and later in another residence. Witnesses report that the police pursued him into the home, fired on him despite his being unarmed, and forcibly pushed away women with infants who attempted to intervene. The family shared pictures of blood-stained clothes with four bullet holes, worn by Pandu, as evidence to the journalists. According to them, after executing Pandu, the security forces stripped his body, left the clothes behind, and carried his body away wrapped in plastic. The police did a subsequent press release labelling Pandu a Maoist deputy commander and attributing the recovery of weapons to him.
Adding to the gravity of the situation, at the same time the security forces illegally detained seven villagers from Munga village—Bhogami Bandu (25 years), Bogami Managlu (14 years), Muchaki Vinod (30 years), Madvi Unga (70 years), Budram Uika (18 years), Rukmi Korsa (12 years) and Shanti Korsa (22 years).
These individuals were reportedly forced to carry Pandu’s body and have since been denied access to their families. Women who attempted to stop the security forces were brutally beaten.
On 12 December, more than 80 villagers, including family members of the deceased and the detained individuals, traveled to Bijapur partly on foot and hired vehicles to retrieve Pandu’s body and demand the release of the detainees. While Pandu’s body was handed over to his family, the relatives of the detained were not allowed to meet them or informed of their whereabouts. Nobody knows the fate of seven missing villagers.
The killing of Pandu Madvi and the arbitrary detention of villagers fit into a broader pattern of militarisation and impunity in Bastar. Security forces continue to operate under the guise of anti-Naxalite operations, targeting civilians, particularly Adivasis, labeling them as Maoists to justify extrajudicial killings and illegal detentions. This year has seen the most intense state-led violence since the Salwa Judum period, a time notorious for its human rights violations against the people in the region.
Adding to the crisis are reports of incessant bombings in Bijapur District, where bombs are dropped indiscriminately day and night. Recently, bombs have been dropped in Kondapalli, Battiguda, Gomguda Komatpalli and other nearby villages close to residences and agricultural fields damaging their homes. Unexploded bombs have reportedly been found inside villages, further endangering residents and deepening the climate of terror.
The region is witnessing extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions and incessant bombings, yet these atrocities remain glaringly underreported. This media silence allows the state to operate as if no one is watching, perpetuating a culture of impunity. This silence also perpetuates the marginalisation of Adivasi communities, leaving them invisible to the rest of the country and excluded from national conversations about justice and equity.
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Frontier
Vol 57, No. 28, Jan 5 - 11, 2025 |