“Police asked if we were linked to Naxals...warned that if I continued protesting, I would be jailed,” said 17-year-old Madkam Dhanni, one of two minors arrested among 17 others after the Chhattisgarh government’s ban on tribal rights outfit Moolvasi Bachao Manch on November 8.
The whereabouts of the two minors were not known to their families for over 15 days.
On November 28, Budhram Madkam, father of 15-year-old Madkam Jogi, filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court of Chhattisgarh in Bilaspur. In response, the police claimed that Jogi was 19 and had been sent to Jagdalpur jail, and they had no information on her cousin Dhanni. But a day later, Dhanni was released from Bijapur Police Lines, while Jogi remains in custody.
The minors’ arrest at around 10 pm on November 12, from a protest site in Kondapalli, came four days after an official gazette cited “state government reports” to ban the Moolvasi Bachao Manch for one year under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, claiming that it was a threat to public order. The notice accused the outfit of “continuously opposing and instigating the general public against the development works” in the Maoist-affected areas and the security force camps “built to conduct these development works”.
However, members of the proscribed outfit and local activists told Newslaundry that the group has only been highlighting issues such as alleged extrajudicial killings, illegal construction, deforestation, and instances of sexual violence for the past four years.
So far, the police have filed at least two cases in Bijapur and Sukma. Police are looking for other suspects.
The ban after a protest
Nagesh Baaskar, a 22-year-old farmer from Budgiseri, and Jagdish Mandavi, a recent undergraduate from Kansali village, were the first ones to be arrested in Bijapur amid the protests over the alleged PESA violations by bypassing gram sabha approvals for the construction of the Kondapalli police camp.
The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, or PESA, gives special powers to gram sabhas, as a decision-making body, to manage and control natural resources, preserve culture, resolve disputes in scheduled areas.
Both Baaskar and Mandavi were en route to a protest site early on November 8 when the police nabbed them. Subsequently, three more members of the outfit were arrested from their homes in Gundidguda village: Joga Mediyam, Bhima Kunjam, and Ganesh Kattam, all in their early 20s.
The ban followed, and many were detained as well.
Dhanni of Puvarti village and Jogi of Kamwadaam were among the 29 members of the tribal outfit detained from the Kondapalli protest site on November 12. The outfit’s former president Raghu Mediyami told Newslaundry, of those detained, 27 were released, while the police gave no information about the two minors.
Speaking to Newslaundry, Dhanni said that she and Jogi were at the Kondapalli police camp for two days before being locked up in a room at the Bijapur Police Lines. “We were arrested along with other protesters around 10 pm on November 12. While they released the other protesters, they kept us in custody. We were held in a room at the police lines.”
The teenager said, “Throughout our detention, we were interrogated regularly.” The police questioned them about their motivations to join the Moolvasi Bachao Manch and whether they had links with Naxals. “On November 29, they informed me that Jogi was being sent to Jagdalpur Jail and warned me that if I continued participating in protests, I would be arrested and sent to jail too.”
Jogi’s father Madkam’s lawyer Rajni Soren told Newslaundry, “A habeas corpus petition was filed by Madkam mentioned that both minor girls were arrested by the police. The petition was filed on November 28. Police said in court that Jogi is 19 years old and has been sent to Jagdalpur jail, and they don’t have any information on Dhanni, and that she is not in their custody.”
Newslaundry reached out to Bastar Range IG P Sundarraj and Bijapur SP Jitendra Yadav on the matter several times but received no response. This report will be updated if they reply.
The others under arrest are Muya Emla, Ganesh Kattam, Joga Midiyam, Nagesh Baaskar, Bhima Kunjam, Arjun Sodi, Jagdish Mandavi, Rama Bogam, Sodi Deva, Nagraj Shankar, Doodhi Shankar, Gopal Shankar, and Aahul Mohan.
‘Not against development, but shouldn’t be at cost of Adivasi rights’
Formed in 2021, the Moolvasi Bachao Manch traces its roots to the night of November 12, 2020, when hundreds of police personnel raided Bastar district’s Kadiyameta village and picked up four villagers, including a minor, accusing them of Maoist activities.
Over the next five days, about 3,000 of the villagers gathered outside the Kadiyameta police camp in protest against what they claimed were “illegal arrests”. This marked the beginning of mobilisation against “systemic atrocities” in the village.
Moolvasi Bachao Manch’s former president Raghu Mediyami told Newslaundry that the organisation was “officially formed in response to the killings of four villagers, including a pregnant woman, in May 2021 in Silger village, located at the border of Bijapur and Sukma districts. These killings sparked a massive outcry, with educated tribal youth leading the charge.”
“We are not opposed to the development or construction of roads. Our fight is against the atrocities inflicted on our tribal people in the name of development. We oppose the illegal seizure of our land, the violation of environmental laws, and the disregard for gram sabha in PESA areas. Innocent people have been unlawfully arrested and killed in fake encounters.”
On November 22, Mediyami wrote to the Chhattisgarh home department, demanding the revocation of the ban. “It is wrong to accuse us of [being] anti-development. We want development that respects Adivasi rights, culture, and livelihood. We have always demanded schools, hospitals, and anganwadis in interior villages. We believe that it’s wrong to snatch away our forest, land, and livelihood in the name of development, but to improve the lives of Adivasis in Bastar, a lot of other development work is required.”
The letter claimed that the organisation is against “projects that are being carried out without the permission” of gram sabhas, such as security camps. “Bastar is a Fifth Scheduled area where the PESA and Forest Rights Act are enforced, and according to these laws, development projects can only proceed with the approval of the gram sabha.”
“It is entirely wrong to accuse us of disturbing public order or peace. Our organisation is made up of ordinary villagers who have come together to raise the issues of the tribals of Bastar in a peaceful manner. Local youth have played a key role in our organisation, and at no point has our protest been violent or caused any public disorder.”
Activists say organisation banned for ‘exposing govt’
A member of the outfit, on the condition of anonymity, told Newslaundry that the organisation has always protested in a peaceful and democratic manner. “It’s only us who can stand up for ourselves… Yet, we are banned as though we are engaging in anti-national activities.”
The Bijapur local said that another of its members, 25-year-old Suneeta Pottam, was arrested by the police and labelled a Maoist in June for “assisting tribals in navigating the legal system with her knowledge of Hindi”.
Bastar-based tribal rights activist Soni Sori told Newslaundry, “These young people are not opposed to development, they are against exploitation. They have been working tirelessly for the rights and welfare of the tribal communities. The real reason for the ban is that they are exposing the wrongdoings of the government and police forces within the jungles.”
Chhattisgarh-based activist Rinchin claimed that the Manch “has been targeted from the very beginning because the organisation has consistently protested against incidents of extrajudicial killings, wrongful arrests, environmental violations, and more. The timing of this ban seems deliberate, aimed at suppressing the many democratic protests happening across Bastar, especially as voices rise against false encounters.”
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