Away from Home: Faces of the Conflict in Chhattisgarh
DescriptionTraveling Photo Exhibits, Panel Discussions, Petition Signings, Movie and Documentary Screenings... US wide!!! RPI Union Building Campus Center, SUNY-Albany
Chicago: Oct 30- Nov 3 UIC Honors College, 103 Burnham Hall, Chicago IL 60607
This
series of events is to support the right of displaced Adivasis
(indigenous people) to return safely to their homes and lives in the state of Chhattisgarh, India. The photos in the
exhibit are taken by photo-journalist Javed Iqbal, who traveled around
extensively in Chhattisgarh, and these are some of the most
close-to-the-ground images from the region that we will ever get. We
hope that the exhibit will bring to light the current crisis situation
in this central province of India. Here is a brief description of the
crisis in Chhattisgarh. Historically, Chhattisgarh has been
one of the most neglected regions of India, where even the basic
Government facilities like schools, primary health care, public
distribution system, etc have been mostly absent since forever. Such a
regime of social deprivation had led to this region evolve into a
breeding ground of anti-State Maoist rebels. In order to tackle these
violent armed militants, the Government decided to raise its private
army, called Salwa Judum. People from the local villages were formed
into groups and provided with arms and ammunition aimed towards
“sanitizing” the area of Maoist rebels. But as is natural in such
situations, this doling out of arms to the civilians has resulted in a
civil-war-like situation in these regions. Instead of terminating
Maoist rebellions, Salwa Judum has only resulted in provocating more
and more people to join Maoist camps. People have been murdered, women
raped, villages burnt, foodstocks plundered, and all of this has been
given the name of “Encounters of alleged Maoists”. Since the
promulgation of the Salwa Judum in 2005, violence from both the Salwa
Judum and Maoist Rebels has escalated, and hundreds of thousands of
Adivasis have fled their homes in Dantewada and Bijapur districts out
of fear for their lives. There has been mass exodus of people from the
state into the neighboring states like Andhra Paradesh, etc. Those who
have dared to stay back are living under constant threat of life,
either from the Salwa Judum or the Maoists. The camps run by Salwa
Judum in the name of “protecting” people from Maoist attacks have
turned into concentration camps where rapes, beatings, and
psychological torture has become routine, leading to the destruction of
the social and economic constitution of the entire population. Over
the last 12 months, we were encouraged to see that with the support of
civil society groups such as Action AID, Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (VCA)
and Agriculture and Social Development Society (ASDS), some families
have gradually begun to return to their villages and are resuming
agriculture and other forms of livelihood. However, recent threats,
arson and murder in the vicinity of the rehabilitated villages has
spurred further displacement, and deterred those who were planning to
return to their homes. In particular the recent surge in violence in
Bijapur and Dantewada districts of Chhattisgarh is threatening to cause
a major setback to the ongoing rehabilitation. We sympathize sincerely
with the families of the victims of such violence. Given the
widespread displacement of Adivasis from their land as a result of this
violence, we urge informed citizens to pledge to support efforts that
aim to rebuild confidence amongst Adivasis, and help them return to
their lands and resume their lives with a sense of dignity. We
appeal to the government of Chhattisgarh to facilitate the process of
rehabilitation of displaced communities as per the Directives of the
Supreme Court, as well as the recommendations of the National Human
Rights Commission, by doing the following:
Provide rations and employment through NREGA (National Rural
Empolyment Guarantee Act) which will make food and daily wages
available to the villagers until their crops come to harvest Provide
compensation with which to rebuild and sustain their livelihoods We
appeal to the government of Chhattisgarh to take firm steps to end the
vicious cycle of violence in the region through de-militarization,
clearing security forces off schools and hospitals, and withdrawal of
the Salwa Judum. We also appeal to all parties - the Maoist Rebels,
the Government and the Salwa Judum - to refrain from any activity that
adversely affects the return and stay of the rehabilitated Adivasis in
the villages of Chhattisgarh. AID has been working with Agriculture
and Social Development Society (ASDS), Rekhapally, Khammam district in
their repatriation and rehabilitation efforts for the Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have taken refuge in Andhra Pradesh, a
state neighboring Chhattisgarh by means of both monetary and
non-monetary support. While earlier in the spring we received
hopeful signals from the 200 IDP families who moved back to
Chhattisgarh and were able to sow this season, we also have to prepare
for the thousands of families who face an uncertain future and continue
to live as refugees. ASDS work in the past year has helped people make
enormous strides in affirming their identity to stand up and be counted
as Koya refugees and to speak out to claim their rights to ICDS and
NREGA services. Some have also secured these but it is still a small
fraction of the total. They are also working with people to assess long
term plans for rehabilitation either in AP or by returning home to
Chhattisgarh, working with APVVU (agricultural workers' union) to
acquaint people with the labor market, etc. While supporting
the rehabilitation and rights process, ASDS plans to continue to
provide relief till 2011. We would sincerely urge you to support us in
these efforts of relief and rehabilitation. |
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