Report on my visit to KASOLI Relief Camp at Dantewada District

A Report On my visit to KASOLI Relief Camp at Dantewada District

Tribals are forced to live as refugees in their own country at

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS CAMPS IN THE NAME OF SALWA JUDUM CAMPAIGN

Date of Visit : 9th January, 2007
Stayed at the Camp for nearly three hours

Location of KASOLI Camp: The camp is located at KASOLI village on
the side of the PWD road.

KASOLI is a Gram Panchayat area also.

To reach KASOLI, one has to reach Jagdalpur and then to GEEDAM, which is a small town on Dantewada road. From GEEDAM, it takes about one and half hour drive to reach KASOLI relief camp. The camps are located at a little distance on the other side of the river Indravati from the 10 villages, from where practically all the villages have evacuated to reach KASOLI.

Name of the 10 Villages evacuated.

1. POLLYA. 2. NIRAM 3. ODSA 4. CHINGUR 5. KADKAWALA 6. DUNGA 7. PUSSAJAMA 8. TEKARWADA 9. KANKELARU10.SATWA

Our group consisted of 22 members with me, had given prior information to the District authorities, who had informed the officials at Geedam Police Station about our visit. With the police escort, we reached KASOLI at noon.

There are few more camps, which are also located in the Dantewada district, where also large number of tribals have taken shelter. We had program to visit one more camp but due to paucity of time, it was not possible.

Discussed with: Mr. Thakur. Nayab Tehsildar; B.M. Saha, Patwari.; Chetram Grampal, Kasoli;
Trainer at the handicrafts training center; Few policemen on duty at Camps and few of the residents at the relief camps.

It is briefly stated that 10 villages namely 1. POLLYA. 2. NIRAM 3. CHINGUR 4. ODSA, 5.DUNGA 6. KADKAWALA.7. PUSSAJAMA, 8.TEKARWADA, 9. KANKELARU and 10. SATWA. These villages are located at a distance of about 7 KM across the river Indravati on the other side of KASOLI RELIEF CAMP.

All the residents of these 10 villages have evacuated simultaneously in haste to reach KASOLI. 1272 of them had reached KASOLI on the night of Diwali festival, in the month of October 2005. At Kasoli, one person named as Chetram who is also the Grampal and a member of a political party received them. Chetram helped them to provide night shelter and other necessary assistance. They were put at the compound of Krishi Upaj Mandi.

The story of village KANKELARU as we have understood from the talks we had with few of the inmates at the camps and also our discussion with other persons at the Camps, which also includes trainer and trainees at the Handicraft training center are stated here below in the following paragraphs. It is stated here that the reality at the camps itself exposes much more than what the government of Chhattishgarh tries to hide.

1. On the late evening under the darkness at about 7.30 PM to 8 PM, on the night of Diwali, practically all the villagers deserted their villages in haste. Many of them poured water to put off the fire that cooked food in their kitchen and even left their half cooked food as it is. They could not carry their pets like goats, cows and poultry birds, nor any of their personal belongings. All of them have evacuated their village simultaneously at the same time and have reached KASOLI village, where they met Chetram, who is Grampal of KASOLI, provided shelter and made arrangements for them at Krishi Upaj Mandi compound and from there they were gradually shifted to different camps.

Here in the camps, they are living as refugees labeled as Internally Displaced Persons”. The camp is a row of houses with a narrow lane in between them, duly surrounded by wire fencing under police security, where no outsiders are allowed to go in nor is any inmate allowed to go out on his own, without the interference of the police on duty at Camps. In the name of earning their livelihood, they are paid trainee stipend @Rs. 600/- per head per month to them.

They are required to purchase the items of daily need by making a payment at a subsidized rate of Rs. 3/- per KG of rice and kerosene as a medium of fuel to cook food, which does not reach to them in time as well as it falls short of their needs.

At the camp, there are few structures with shed on top and all the four sides open. These have been named as School, Training center on weaving on handloom, Training center on Wood Craft etc. The residents are not at all interested to learn those skills. They want agricultural and forest based activities to make a living with their pets around them, in their natural habitat they are used to.

2. When we asked them, who insisted their pull out from the villages, they were answerless and were looking at each others face. When asked, what do they knew about Salwa Judum, they admitted that they did not knew what is Salwa Judum, but have heard about the same only after coming to KASOLI where they spent the night and made their temporary shelter. They were made to understand that soon they will go back to their villages as government is going to launch attack on Naxalites. Now they are expected by the authorities to take arm and kill Naxalites. They stated that they are feeling betrayed. Now they are enemies to Naxalites for their only fault that they came in sweet talks of some one who had asked us to leave or else, there will be killed on that night.

3. At the Hasta Shilpa Kendra stated that thousands of people from different areas have come to them and asked about their well-being. People from American, Japan, China and what not, I do not even remember the names of those places and who they were but no body has taken any care of us nor have done any thing which can bring back our life back to normal as we used to live. When asked, how they feel here in the camp, he categorically stated that they are going through the worst phase of their life. They do not know what their future is and are forced to forget their past. How it is possible he raised this question. About the living conditions in the camps, the immediate reply was what they will do here in these camps is nothing except to pass days to any how survive on a paltry sum of Rs. 600/- paid to them as their wages which was immediately intervened by the trainer as not wages but stipends. No ration supplied since last many days. The poor quality of rice, which comes from the government, is to be purchased by them at the rate of Rs. 3/- per Kg and it is difficult for us to manage on the little quantity and poor quality of ration.

4. About education facility, the reply was that at a temporary shed, open from all the four sides, has been given the name of the school but where is the teacher. Only Anganwadi is functioning in the name of school. When some one comes and asks us question, police and armed persons stay around in the name of our security or your security, we do not know, but we are afraid to speak out our heart, or else we shall be no where from this point onwards as we are now enemies of Naxalites for no fault of ours nor are friends to police as they are here only to earn their wages and are busy in getting their transfers elsewhere. We have heard that those police who do not have political connections or blessings are posted here just to give them punishment. Those police persons also share their grief with us and tell their difficulties. They stated that either police lacks courage or are not determined to tackle Naxalites.

5. When asked who the Naxalites are, immediate came the reply, police knows every thing as they have also their informers in the interior areas. Similarly the network of information with Naxalites is stronger than the police. He added that the information of your coming to this camp and the purpose of the visit and how much time you have spared here and with whom your team has interacted, will also reach Naxalites. They have now no hope of better living and asked that please recommend government to give us latest arms as the Naxalites have. We have now no choice except to fight them out from our area, which is the only way we can go back to our villages. Government is behind Naxalites. Police says Naxalites are behind us and they are protecting us. Who is protecting whom, we fail to understand. We were much happier in the village but now we are trapped. Government officials ask us to make a rally and kill Naxalites, how without training and enough experience, with simple bow and arrow, how can we fight well-trained Naxalites.

6. When asked about what is their hope on the government officials or policemen at their camps, they stated “ they must have committed great sins in their past lift, otherwise why their life has become full of misery and to suffer every day not to even freely move around. Even in the night there is a risk on their lives. The changes on the expression on their faces were clearly visible when they stated that have been cheated in the past and even now. They want to go back to their villages and live in their on way they are used and accustomed to live by making a living on agriculture and forest products. The liberty to roam freely in their environment has also been curbed now as they earlier when they were in their villages, Naxalites never bothered them but now here and labeled as Salwa Judum activists, Naxalites have become their enemy. It is now a situation of no return where do or die is the only choice left on us.

7. Asked what they think of their future, they regretted, what future, we have no present, we are forced to forget past and where is that atmosphere where we can think of tomorrow. We do not know when we will die. We are living under constant fear and do not know what is going to happen to us tomorrow.

8. Who has learnt the “Hasta shilpa” i.e. (Handicraft), stated that who is interested to learn all these things? Only those who have interest in such things are little bit interested. Majority of them are keen to make living on agriculture but now they are not allowed to go back to their villages and they also now fear retaliatory actions from Naxalites, who may not trust us any more and can be after our lives. Coming back to “Hasta Shilpa”, they candidly stated that they are not interested but government has made this program in which we are least interested. They added that the training program etc are nothing but instruments to pass time and earn Rs. 600/- per month. One of them said, After coming to the camps, I have only been able to learn some primary things. When asked, who can make an article of his or her own that can be sold in the market, immediate came the reply, no one.

9. Regarding sex abuse, the female members of our group separately met the women at the camps individually, who have been informed that there are no incidences of sex abuse nor there is any sexual harassment to any one of them. They added that they are informed in advance when some one is going to visit their camps and have been asked not to say anything against the government. When asked how they feel here in the camp, the immediate response from all of them was who wants to say here, we are not happy here, but what to do, we are in a fix. We do not know what to do. Asked what they think about their future, they said, what future, we do not know our present how can we think of future. Very strong sentiments against the political masters were coming out from their hearts. They stated only Mahendra Karma had visited them once, who was more busy with his people talking and instructing them and assured us that we should not worry, as very soon Naxalites will be driven away from our land. He stated that the government is taking best care for their security and providing them all the basic facilities to make better living for them.

10. About Naxalites breaking away their school building, the reply was that the school in the village was only a cement concrete brick structure which was poor in quality as when the Naxalites ordered us to demolish the same, it was destroyed within no time easily. When asked without school, what happened to their educational needs, they stated that it was only a structure but no teacher, who hardly came to the school as they out of fear of Naxalites, did not came to teach us or our children. Naxalites used to give us some primary education to write our names. When asked who is the most educated person in the camp from their village, one boy of 22 years was called for, who stated that he has passed class VIII, by staying at a Hostel at Orcha, which is at a distance from their village. Except this boy, all those persons with whom we interacted, no body was able to read or write. They stated that they have learnt to write their name, which is taught to them mostly by the Naxalites at their village.

Some unanswered questions

 How 1272 villagers who live in distant areas, have communicated with each other to evacuate their villages at a time on the night of Diwali, in October, 2005., when there is no communication net work nor there is any government presence in those villages.

 If at all, it is believed that tribals of 10 villages decided to evacuate their villages, how can it escape the notice of the Naxalites, who have their net work of informers in those areas. The argument gets heavier in the light of the fact that this is not the story of 10 villages, but nearly 800 villages have been evacuated forcing almost 80,000 tribals to live in camps as refugees.

 Even for argument sake, let us believe that the tribals have left on their own, then question raised is why they have left all of a sudden, leaving behind every thing including their pets and had to leave in haste, so much so that they had to pour water on the fire leaving half cooked food also. Who is the person, who has masterminded the pull out by ordering all of them to leave all of a sudden? How Chetram, a person with limited means could arrange for all these people within no time of their reaching to him.

 Who is going to be benefited by the mass evacuation of tribals from their villages, all of which are falling under Schedule Area, where the resolve of the Gram Sabha is supreme.

 Why SALWA JUDUM is practiced in Bastar only, when 11 Districts of Chhattisgarh and 9 states of India faces Naxalite problem.

 Is it a mere coincident that “SALWA JUDUM” has started immediately after the beginning of activities for the Industrialization of Bastar? The argument gets weight in the threat of Naxalites that they will not allow any mega industrial project, which will displace tribals.


Date : 5th February, 2007
Place : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

comments welcome at tribalwelfare@gmail.com