'Fake encounter': Among those killed 5th class student, mentally challenged

Counterview Desk 

The civil rights network*, Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as  condemning “the cold blooded murder of 12  Adivasis  by security forces in Bijapur, has demanded that the government should “stop the  genocidal war against its own people”. Among the killed persons is Sethu Kunjam, a 5th class student studying in Basaguda School, and another is Channu Avalam, who is of unsound mind, it said.

“This hidden war is a genocide being committed on the Adivasi peasants in the name of neutralizing the Maoists. The state has used advanced levels of weaponry in the area including aerial bombing by Israel made drones”, it claimed.

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On 11th May 2024, 12 people from Bijapur District, five from Pedia Village and 7 from Ethavar Village, were killed in a fake encounter by the paramilitary forces of the Indian state. These villagers were out to gather Tendu leaves, a long-term traditional agrarian practice for Adivasi peasants during this season. 

Seeing the security forces, they ran in fear of repression. The security forces shot them down while they tried to flee. Many of the villagers were dragged away from their houses and shot dead. Thirty Adivasis raising their voice against this injustice have been detained by security forces and  only 25 have been released. 

In conversation with local media, Adivasis disclosed that among the killed persons is Sethu Kunjam, a 5th class student studying in Basaguda School, and another is Channu Avalam, who is of unsound mind. One person was also injured after sustaining 3 bullets in his leg and is unwilling to go to hospital due to the fear of being killed by security forces.This is not an isolated incident happening in Bastar. 

There is a history of fake encounters by security forces and police in Bastar. Especially in the last 5 months since  the BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh, this assault on Adivasi peasantry,  which was already going on in the forested regions of Central India, has intensified.

This hidden war is a genocide being committed on the Adivasi peasants in the name of neutralizing the Maoists. The state has used advanced levels of weaponry in the area including aerial bombing by Israel made drones. This January, the state bombed villages in Bastar for the fifth time. In this area armed forces and police have a clear impunity in everything they do in the name of eliminating Maoist. All this happens because the Indian state wants to  facilitate the corporate loot of natural resources of Adivasi land.

CASR strongly condemns this cold blooded murder of Adivasi peasants, by tagging them as Maoists, and demands an independent judicial inquiry into this fake encounter. We also call upon all democratically minded people to come together and condemn this genocide.

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*AIRSO, AISA, AISF, APCR, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army,  bsCEM, CEM, CRPP, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity, IAPL, Innocence Network,  Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, , NAPM, , Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Samajwadi Lok Manch, Bahujan Samajvadi Manch, SFI, United Against Hate, United Peace Alliance, WSS,Y4S