Three Adivasis killed and over a dozen injured in an open firing by CRPF!

In a recent incident, CRPF opened fire at thousands of Adivasis of Bijapur, Chhattisgarh protesting against illegal construction of CRPF camp by destroying a large chunk of forest area.  

Since May 12, in Bijapur’s Silger village, thousands of Adivasi locals were protesting against the newly built CRPF camp in what was previously a jungle on the border of Bijapur and Sukma districts. But on May 17, the security forces openly fired at the Adivasi protestors at the campsite leading to the death of three people. According to the villagers the security forces were forcefully occupying their land and forests and continuously harassed them.

The locals also complained that some of the protestors were missing after that incident took place. Later on the Inspector General (IG) Bastar, P Sunderaj clarified that eight Adivasis were detained in the police station only for interrogation but on the night of May 18 the villagers reported that all of them have been imprisoned.

On May 19, it is being reported that after more than 50 hours of the incident, the district collector of Bijapur, Ritesh Agarwal has asked the Adivasis to give in writing that they won’t continue the protests as a precondition for the release of the arrested protestors.

Historically that land has belonged to the local Adivasi population and according to reports no prior permission was taken from the local Gram Sabha by the security forces before construction of camps. Therefore, the question arises, if the villagers didn’t want the camps, why is the government building them?

CPI (ML) Liberation demands unconditional release of the arrested Adivasis and that all the perpetrators of this brutality must be brought to justice.

We also demand to Congress led Chhattisgarh government to immediately intervene and stop illegal construction of camps.

Prabhat Kumar

CPI (ML) Liberation