Human rights activists harassed, attacked in Bastar: Amnesty

Over the last six months, human rights activists in Bastar, Chhattisgarh have faced crackdown by the police and self-styled vigilante groups, Amnesty International India said on Tuesday

GN Bureau | April 19, 2016


#amnesty   #Chhattisgarh   #human rights   #Bastar  
Human rights activists harassed, attacked in Bastar: Amnesty
Human rights activists harassed, attacked in Bastar: Amnesty

The Amnesty International India report ‘Blackout in Bastar: Human Rights Defenders Under Threat’ describes how journalists, lawyers and activists have been harassed, attacked and locked up for investigating excesses by security forces and seeking justice for human rights abuses.

“Over and over again, Chhattisgarh authorities have stood by and watched as their critics are intimidated and attacked by groups which seem to enjoy police support,” said Aakar Patel, executive director, Amnesty International India.

“Even worse, the police have themselves arrested journalists on trumped-up charges. The ominous message the state government is sending to defenders is clear: shut up or face the consequences.”

Amnesty International India said that four journalists – Santosh Yadav, Somaru Nag, Prabhat Singh and Deepak Jaiswal – have been arrested on politically motivated charges since July 2015. Another journalist – Malini Subramaniam – was forced to leave her home in February 2016 following attacks on her home and police pressure on her landlord.

In February, Adivasi activist Soni Sori had a chemical substance thrown at her face by unknown assailants who warned her not to file a complaint against a high-ranking Bastar police official for an alleged extrajudicial execution.

Amnesty International India said that Bela Bhatia, an independent researcher, has faced intimidation and harassment from so-called vigilante groups called the Samajik Ekta Manch (Social Unity Forum) and Mahila Ekta Manch (Women’s Unity Forum), for helping Adivasi women file police complaints of large-scale sexual assault and other abuses allegedly committed by security force personnel.

Isha Khandelwal, a lawyer from Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group, said, “Chhattisgarh has become like a police state now. What the police can’t do legally they make these vigilante groups and what’s really worrying is that these vigilante groups openly and blatantly threaten and harass people.

Chhattisgarh has become a very dangerous place for those who question the government.”

“The state police continues to use abusive laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act to stifle the right to freedom of expression,” Aakar Patel said and added: “The Chhattisgarh government’s open contempt for constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms needs to end now.”

To know more read Amnesty International India's report

ALSO READ: Why Bastar women are scared
 

Comments

 

Other News

Climate actions being implemented to deal with impact of heat waves

India’s climate actions cut across various sectors and are being implemented through various programs and schemes of different union ministries, departments and state/ union territory governments.  The government of India through concerned ministries and departments organises workshops, exhibiti

Banks must hear borrowers before declaring their accounts as frauds: SC

In a judgment with far-reaching implications, the Supreme Court has held that the civil consequences of an account being declared as fraud under the Reserve Bank of India (Frauds Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Select FIs) Directions, 2016 or its Master Directions on Fraud amount to ci

India’s forest cover increases by 5,516 sq km in four years

The Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India (FSI), an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, carries out the assessment of forest cover biennially since 1987 and the findings are published in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR). As per the latest ISFR 2021, there is a

Steps taken to meet higher power demand of April-May

While the average growth of energy requirement in the country for 2023-24 viz-a-viz 2022-23 has been estimated as 4.9%, the months of April and May have been projected as high demand period. During the current year, the peak demand is expected to be around 229 GW during the summer period. The government ha

Millets to make comeback in army ration after half a century

As the UN has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, the Indian Army has steered introduction of millets flour in the rations of soldiers. This landmark decision will ensure troops are supplied with native and traditional grains after over half a century, when these were discontinued in favour

Central Bank Digital Currency has game-changing potential

When discussing digital currency, you might think of one or two well-known varieties. There is the digital representation of currency that you access with mobile and online banking services. This currency is the liability of a commercial bank. There is also cryptocurrency, a digital medium of exchange issu

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook    Twitter    Google Plus    Linkedin    Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter