Maoist rebels, rights abuses, and India’s ‘greatest internal threat’
Bloodshed and fear are common in resource-rich Bastar, Chhattisgarh state, where innocent villagers are caught in the crossfire of a fight over the region’s development
With magnificent waterfalls, mysterious forest trails and an exotic tribal population, the forest-covered, mineral-rich region of Bastar, in central India’s Chhattisgarh state, is blessed with the kind of natural resources that might, under the right circumstances, make it a must-see destination for high-spending tourists. Yet this is no place for a holiday retreat.
Bloodshed and fear are the hallmarks of this region 1,500km south of the national capital New Delhi. It is known chiefly for being India’s most militarised region, where there is a member of the security forces for every 16 residents.
Those security forces are frequently criticised for running amok. Just last month India’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) highlighted an incident in which 16 tribal women were raped, saying it had been “deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in Chhattisgarh” over the past year.
Within weeks, the government sent the top police official in the region – Inspector General of Bastar S.R.P. Kalluri – on indefinite leave in a tacit indictment of crimes perpetrated by security forces against tribal residents. Activists blame Kalluri for the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders that took place under his watch. “[Security forces] derived impunity because of him,” said Sushil Sharma, the editor of local Hindi newspaper Bastar Bandhu.
Indian police kill at least 21 Maoist rebels in forest gunbattle
Alongside Kashmir and Manipur in the northeast, Bastar is one of three regions where the Indian government is accused of blatant rights violations.