"Breakdown" in discipline among security forces involved in anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh: NCST report

By A Representative
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) believes that there is a “breakdown of discipline” among security forces deployed on anti-Maoist operations in south Chhattisgarh. It said this in a report prepared following its probe into allegations of mass sexual violence against adivasi women, assaults and looting by police and paramilitary force in the Bijapur and Sukma districts.
Focusing on events October 2015 in Bijapur and in January 2016 in Bijapur and Sukma during the security forces’ anti-Maoist operations, an NCST report said, investigations into charges of sexual assault, including rape, were “unsatisfactory”, and there was “no progress” in identifying those who attacked the women.
NCST’s chairperson Rameshwar Oraon, accompanied by two others, visited the two district headquarters between April 3 and 5. They could not visit the villages to make spot inquiry as the authorities said it was “unsafe.”
The commission found that in the three cases it investigated, the district police had set up “special teams” of two or three members of police personnel to investigate the violence. However, though six months have passed following complaints, no arrests have been made, nor have there been any charge sheets.
The team was told about how, last year in October, in Pegdapalli, Chinnagellur, Peddagellur, Burgicher, and Gundam villages of Bijapur, three women, including a teenager and a pregnant woman, were gangraped by members of security forces. It was also told about repetition of such assaults from January 11 to 14 during anti-Maoist operation.
In all these instances, the villagers complained that security forces had also beaten them up, ransacked their homes and looted money food, and other possessions.
The NCST report, running into 15 pages, said that there was a delay in conducting medical examinations of the victims, pointing out that the FIRs were delayed despite a 2013 Supreme Court ruling that an amendment to India’s anti-rape laws makes it mandatory for the police to file a case as soon as a complaint of sexual violence is brought to them, it was pointed out.
In Bijapur, the team met lawyers and women activists, who had helped guide adivasi women villagers through legal procedures, apart from local police officials and the state government’s chief secretary and home secretary in Raipur, the state capital.
The report says that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has not been applied in the FIRs, despite the fact that all the complainants are adivasis.
It believes, conditions for sexual violence were “created” because the security forces lived in villagers’ homes during operations and the absence of women officers in the deployed units. It asks the government to “issue orders that security forces must not, under any circumstances, live in the homes of villagers while on an operation.”

NGO report finds human rights violations

In a separate report, a team of activists from the Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS), which visited the rural areas of Bijapur, said that “there has been a history of rampant looting and violence in these villages.”
In one such instance last year, during a large search and combing operation, the security forces entered village Itaavar, and camped in the house of Sukku Kunjam. “They took fish and chickens and one quintal of rice stored at the house and started cooking”, the report said, adding, “On the November 23, they picked one of Sukku’s sisters and dragged her away.”
It added, “The other sister followed to save her, but she was taken away by the forces as well. The women were dragged into the surrounding forests – they were stripped and beaten. For two days, they were kept in the jungle and later dropped off at the neighbouring village of Dowal Nendra.”
Sukku Kunjam himself was taken to Korcholi, from where he tried to flee along with other men of the village. “However he was shot and killed. His body was wrapped and taken to Bijapur Thana, where he was falsely declared a Naxal”, the report said.
In a search and combing operation early this year, the report said, a young girl, Mangli Pottam, who was out grazing cattle with her sister and friend, was attacked.
“Mangli’s clothes were torn and they threatened to kill her. They also threatened to kill Tulsi, her friend. Mangli’s sister, Somli’s blouse was ripped off. She was dragged by the hair and flung to the ground. They hit her on the stomach with a rifle butt”, the report said.

Comments

Countrywide protest by gig workers puts spotlight on algorithmic exploitation

By A Representative A nationwide protest led largely by women gig and platform workers was held across several states on February 3, with the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) claiming the mobilisation as a success and a strong assertion of workers’ rights against what it described as widespread exploitation by digital platform companies. Demonstrations took place in Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states, covering major cities including New Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Mumbai, along with multiple districts across the country.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

CFA flags ‘welfare retreat’ in Union Budget 2026–27, alleges corporate bias

By Jag Jivan The advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has sharply criticised the Union Budget 2026–27 , calling it a “budget sans kartavya” that weakens public welfare while favouring private corporations, even as inequality, climate risks and social distress deepen across the country.

'Gandhi Talks': Cinema that dares to be quiet, where music, image and silence speak

By Vikas Meshram In today’s digital age, where reels and short videos dominate attention spans, watching a silent film for over two hours feels almost like an act of resistance. Directed by Kishor Pandurang Belekar, “Gandhi Talks” is a bold cinematic experiment that turns silence into language and wordlessness into a powerful storytelling device. The film is not mere entertainment; it is an experience that pushes the viewer inward, compelling reflection on life, values, and society.

Budget 2026 focuses on pharma and medical tourism, overlooks public health needs: JSAI

By A Representative Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India (JSAI) has criticised the Union Budget 2026, stating that it overlooks core public health needs while prioritising the pharmaceutical industry, private healthcare, medical tourism, public-private partnerships, and exports related to AYUSH systems. In a press note issued from New Delhi, the public health network said that primary healthcare services and public health infrastructure continue to remain underfunded despite repeated policy assurances.

The Epstein shock, global power games and India’s foreign policy dilemma

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The “Epstein” tsunami has jolted establishments everywhere. Politicians, bureaucrats, billionaires, celebrities, intellectuals, academics, religious gurus, and preachers—all appear to be under scrutiny, even dismantled. At first glance, it may seem like a story cutting across left, right, centre, Democrats, Republicans, socialists, capitalists—every label one can think of. Much of it, of course, is gossip, as people seek solace in the possible inclusion of names they personally dislike.

Gujarat No 1 in Govt of India pushed report? Not in labour, infrastructure, economy

By Rajiv Shah A report by a top Delhi-based think tank, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), prepared under the direct leadership of Amitabh Kant, ex-secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Government of India, has claims that Gujarat ranks No 1 in the NCAER State Investment Potential Index (N-SIPI), though there is a dig. N-SIPI has been divided into two separate indices. The first one includes five “pillars” based on which the index has been arrived it. These pillars are: labour, infrastructure, economic conditions, political stability and governance, and perceptions of a good business climate. It is called N-SIPI 21, as it includes a survey of 21 states out of 29.

Gujarat agate worker, who fought against bondage, died of silicosis, won compensation

Raju Parmar By Jagdish Patel* This is about an agate worker of Khambhat in Central Gujarat. Born in a Vankar family, Raju Parmar first visited our weekly OPD clinic in Shakarpur on March 4, 2009. Aged 45 then, he was assigned OPD No 199/03/2009. He was referred to the Cardiac Care Centre, Khambhat, to get chest X-ray free of charge. Accordingly, he got it done and submitted his report. At that time he was working in an agate crushing unit of one Kishan Bhil.

Planning failures? Mysuru’s traditional water networks decline as city expands

By Prajna Kumaraswamy, Mansee Bal Bhargava The tropical land–water-scape of India shapes every settlement through lakes, ponds, wetlands, and rivers. Mysuru (Mysore) is a city profoundly shaped by both natural and humanly constructed water systems. For generations, it has carried a collective identity tied to the seasonal rhythms of the monsoon, the life-giving presence of the Cauvery and Kabini rivers , and the intricate network of lakes and ponds that dot the cityscape. Water transcends being merely a resource; it is part of collective memory, embedded in place names, agricultural heritage, and the very land beneath our feet. In an era of rapid urbanization and climate-induced land–water transformations, understanding this profound relationship with the land–water-scape is strategic for sustainability, resilience, and even survival.

Search This Blog