Narayanpur/ Chattisgarh- In the dimly lit empty room of Ambedkar Bhawan in New Delhi, we met Suneeta Pottam for the first time. It was October of 2023. This is before she, an adivasi rights activist, was labeled a “maoist.” Later she was arrested in June of 2024, exactly three months ago. 

When we met her –  she laughed, with a sound that seemed both of a release and defiance, and then she began talking, as if she was already familiar with this process—telling stories of what had happened and continues to happen in the forests of Chhattisgarh, recounting the atrocities her community (her forest and her people) had endured. 

"My name is Suneeta Potem, from Jila Bijapur, village Thana Gangaloor," she introduced herself. Her voice resonated with the identity of her homeland, Bastar. But it was in the words: “Thana Gangaloor” (referring to the “police station of Gangaloor”). The fact that she had mentioned her police station name in her introduction line, reflected the state of freedom and security in her region or the lack of it.

"I want to speak about Bastar," she declared with a determined clarity. For this young 25-year-old woman, the story of Bastar and its people was inseparable from her own. 

"In Bastar, even now, things are escalating to an unprecedented scale," she said, her voice steady but tinged with urgency.

Suneeta spoke of the ongoing turmoil in Bastar, the conflict that had shaped her life and the lives of many others. "Our situation is not very different from what it was during the time of Salwa Judum," she explained, referring to the controversial anti-Maoist militia that had caused widespread displacement and violence in the mid-2000s.

Chhattisgarh, among other states, has also been witnessing the Naxalite movement (armed resistance) in the region since the 1960s. This movement was inspired by communist movements to take a stand against the feudal landowners who had been oppressing and exploiting marginalized communities and their natural resources.

The Adivasi community in the region – under the banner of multiple organizations, the latest one being Moolvasi Bachao Manch –  has also been democratically protesting against multiple ongoing and proposed mining projects in the resource-rich region of central India, for years. The community reiteres, this has resulted in many innocent adivasi youths also being incarcerated or persecuted. 

Suneeta described to us the fear that gripped her community, the arbitrary detentions, the clashes between security forces and Maoist insurgents, and the innocent lives caught in the crossfire.

She spoke of their fight for survival, and their struggle to retain their land, environment, forest and dignity amidst the chaos. Her narrative was punctuated with stories of friends lost, families torn apart, and the indomitable spirit of her community.

In that small room in Ambedkar Bhawan, Suneeta Potem became the voice of Bastar, a voice that demanded to be heard, a voice that told a story far beyond her own—a story of an entire community's fight for justice and peace.

Her eyes darkened as she spoke of recent years. “In the past three years, police authorities have been abusing, assaulting, and raping women inside the forests,” Suneeta said.

“Rape is such a death-like experience, that we still haven’t been able to find ways to overcome it,” said activist Soni Sori from Chhattisgarh when we met her in Dantewada in April of 2024.  

“All young women I speak with say the same thing – ‘if we are being arrested or being shot at or killed, that could be okay with us, but rape is something perhaps we are not ready to deal with’”. 

Allegations of sexual harassment are not new in Chhattisgarh with numerous cases being reported over the years.

When we met Roshini Oyam, at Indravati Protest site, she explained how women have been subjected to sexual violence by the hands of security forces leaving them distraught and bringing forward the issue of sexual harassment that the Adivasi women have to face. 

The community members explained how sexual violence has been used as a weapon against the Adivasi women. 

“Women are stopped by the security forces in the garb of checking, made to feel uncomfortable or touched, sometimes inappropriately,” she said with rage in her eyes.

Sharanya Nayak, of the RITES Forum, part of regional feminist network Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) - said that violence, including rape and sexual violence has always been weaponized in armed conflict.

She highlights when local people are resisting against powerful forces, “they are not just fighting for economic or social liberation, but also from the patriarchal idea within which the current nation-state exists.”  She continues: “the ways in which forces go on the ground. It is just brutal, it is so cold-blooded and insensitive,” she explained.

She further said that violence is used as a form of “justification” in the protection of the idea of “Indian nation-state”.

“It is the same thing that plays out when Hindutva forces lynch Muslim traders or when upper caste men assault Dalit women. It is the same masculine power, a very disturbing idea of being the protectors and by decimating someone's body or by gouging out their eyes, or by cutting off their breasts, by thrusting pistols into the vagina, they feel empowered like they are actually doing this in the interest of the Indian nation-state,” she added. 

TIDES OF ARRESTS TARGETTING ACTIVIST

“Many fake cases are being made in our names,” Suneeta continued, her voice tinged with desperation. “How will the Adivasis live like this? Where will they go?”

Indian lawyer and human rights activist Bela Bhatia told us that mass rounding up of adivasi villagers has intensified in the past two years, however has been used by the authorities to attack the adivasi community for decades. 

“Villagers are picked up for interrogation regarding the Maoists. Often they are kept for days and beaten in detention without formal arrests. Later some are let off while rest are booked and presented before a magistrate,” Bhatia added.

Besides Pottam, many other prominent tribal activists who have been dissenting were arrested this past year. 

Surju Tekam, a human rights defender and the convenor of the Bastar Coordination Committee of Mass Movements (Bastar Jan Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti) and the Vice-President of Sarva Adivasi Samaj, a collective of all Adivasi organizations in Chhattisgarh was arrested in April of 2024. 

He has been a vocal voice against the human rights violations by security forces, including extrajudicial executions, arrests of community leaders, and forced evictions. On 2 April 2024, he was arrested following a raid on his home by security forces. He is held under the regressive Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act and has been denied bail by the National Investigation Agency Court in Bilaspur.

Tribal rights activists and civil society groups have decried the growing culture of impunity, alleging that the security forces, including the District Reserve Guard Force of the Chhattisgarh Police, which is likened to the banned Salwa Judum, are involved in extrajudicial killings of Adivasis after branding them as naxalites.

More than ten activists of Moolvasi Bachao Manch – that includes Sunita Pottam, Ram Singh Kadti, Munna lal Oyam, Mangesh Oyam, Gajendra Madi, Joga kardti, Sankar korram, Kamlesh kursam, Lakma Kurram have been arrested detained and harassed. 

Hundreds of young Adivasis have lost their lives in the name of Naxalism as the security forces take out operations in what the government authorities call a move to ‘eradicate’ Naxalism from the region.

Inspector General of Police in Bastar Range of Chhattisgarh Sundarraj Pattilingam, on the other hand, called the claims of encounter by the Adivasi community ‘false’ and ‘baseless’ when we spoke with him in May of 2024.“All the allegations are false and have no base. The operations are conducted in a cautious and transparent manner,” he added.

He further reiterated that the allegations of “fake encounters” are spread by the Naxals. “This is done to boost the morale of their cadres. However, the local people fall prey to such misinformed narratives by the Maoist,” he said. Meanwhile, a press release by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 3rd September 2024, alleged that the organisation Maad Bachao Manch is being used by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) to spread their “ideology”.Maad Bachao Manch has been at the forefront of the protests against militarization and corporatization in Narayanurr’s Orchha Town. 

The investigation agency stated that it had raided the houses of suspected CPI (M) leaders at multiple locations, pertaining to a 2023 road blockage (protest) case. The NIA press release further said that the intention of these roadblocks were to “to ambush the police.” 

NIA also stated that since then “new camps have been set up” by the Maad Bachao Manch.

However, people claim that not only are civilians attacked by the Indian security forces, they are falsely identified as Naxals or Maoists. 

One such protest pertain to the death of the adivasi youth - Somaru Vedde, 35, he was injured by the security forces on February 2 this year when he along with his relatives was on his way to drink Sulphi - an underutilized Palm which provides traditional beverage consumed by the people in Bastar.

“We were on our way and stopped near a small water pond to drink water. It was then that the security forces, which were hiding in the bushes, ambushed us,” he said. 

It was by fate that Vedde was able to run away. However, he was injured when the bullet grazed through his neck. “But two of my other relatives were killed in front of me. I hid myself in the bushes, waiting for the security forces to leave,” he added.

The security forces picked up the bodies of the killed civilians and took them with them. Vedde said he along with their families have complained to the police and have registered a First Information Report (FIR) with the police.

“We take care of our lands. We know what to do with the forests. Then these corporations come only to destroy our land. When we try to save our land by protesting peacefully, we are killed or called Naxalites,” Raghu, a young Adivasi leader of Moolvasi Bachao Manch said.  

The fake encounters are a bigger part of oppression that the adivasi community is subjected to. Their land and livelihood under threat, the women become more vulnerable in this conflict as they are subjected to sexual harassment apart from targeted attacks from the security forces. 

Roshini Oyam, 19 has been part of the Moolnivasi Bachao Manch for at-least two years now, and lives next to the Indravati river. She wanted to divert the rage of the injustice that she has been witnessing since childhood into something meaningful. The Manch came as a medium for her to use art and tell their stories to the world. Roshini is part of the cultural unit and writes poetry. 

Moolnivasi Bachao Manch has been instrumental in bringing together Adivasi youth to fight back the powers that have oppressed the communities for decades.

Suneeta before her arrest reiterated the same. “They are clamping down on our protest sites and building camps every two kilometers inside our villages. They are building big roads for the travel convenience of mining companies in the region,” she said, her voice rising with indignation.

“Our people are still fighting to protect the jal, jangal, jameen (water, forest, land). But our demands till now have not been fulfilled at all. Our voice is also not reaching the right people.”

She paused, her eyes reflecting a mix of sorrow and anger. “Why are the people who are responsible not being punished?” she asked, her voice tinged with frustration. 

“Even after we go to jail, why are there no reports or any conversation about our lives?” Suneeta had said before she was arrested. Many rights organizations have called for her release, from around the globe. 

This story was produced as a part of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)’s Media and Visual Reporting Fellowship on Militarism, Peace and Women’s Human Rights.

-Authors Bhumika Saraswati and Nikita Jain are independent journalists.