‘Stop atrocities against tribals’

Abhish K Bose Delhi

Worried over how the State has launched a brutal offensive in the tribal habitats of the country, several organizations held a protest at Chhattisgarh Bhawan in New Delhi on Thursday. The protestors- students and human rights activists condemned Chhattisgarh government for using tribal militias like Salwa Judum which has tyrannised
and killed tribals.

"To facilitate corporate enterprises, the tribals are portrayed as pro-Maoists. The so called 'red corridor' is rich in mineral wealth and it is this wealth which the government is eyeing," Ashok Chowdhary of National Forum of Forest People told Hardnews. He went on to add that it's the police which is doing maximum atrocities. The schools don't function in the area. The security forces and police hound the tribals and their sympathisers.

The protestors were also unhappy over how the Sodi Sambho saga unfolded. Sambho is the eyewitness to the killings of 9 tribals allegedly by the Chhatisgarh police and Salwa Judum in tehsil Konta of Dantewada district on October 1, 2009. She was herself brutally injured that day. Later, she was detained without any arrest warrant. It was only after the Supreme Court intervened that she was brought to Delhi for treatment and was virtually imprisoned in AIIMS where nobody was allowed to meet her.

"The BJP and Congress are behaving in a similar fashion on the issue of tribals. When
Gujjars protest, the government treats them softly but when adivasis protest, the government suppresses it with an iron hand," said Vijayan of Delhi Forum.

The agitators demanded that the government put an end to the excesses perpetrated by the armed forces and Salwa Judum against the tribals