The third wave of COVID-19 is on its way out, but it has left in its wake many anxieties in conflict-torn Bastar in the State of Chhattisgarh. COVID times may put a halt to many activities but it does not halt the militarisation that has been growing and spreading to new areas of Bastar division’s seven districts with corresponding actions that satisfy the paramilitary’s raison d’être. The Maoists for their part like to be heard through improvised explosive device (IED) blasts or similar actions with predictable consequences. In the absence of any appeal for a ceasefire from either side — from the State to the Maoists or vice-versa — at least for the duration of this crisis, arrests of local Adivasis, many in fabricated cases, continue as before after every fresh incident.
The lives of those arrested and their families, for a good number of years after incarceration, hinge upon the efficiency of the judicial system and good governance of jails. Jails and courts may not matter much for most people, but in conflict regions such as Bastar where many families have some members in jail at any point of time, jail conditions and speedy trials do matter. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, intermittent suspensions of court work and jail visits have created enormous hardships for prisoners and their families.
