Preliminary Report of the DSU Fact-Finding Visit to Narayanpatna, Odisha

Dear friends,

This is the preliminary report of the DSU fact-finding visit to Narayanpatna, Odisha between 11 and 16 April 2011, and which was released today on 26 April 2011 in a Press Conference at the Press Club of India, New Delhi. Prof. AMit Bhaduri, Sumit Chakravarti and Dr. Saroj Giri also addressed the gathering. DSU will soon come out with a full and detailed Report on the visit. We request you to circulate this preliminary report widely.

Democratic Students’ Union (DSU)
Delhi

A REPORT FROM GROUND ZERO:

PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE DSU FACT-FINDING VISIT TO NARAYANPATNA, ODISHA

A team of students from DU, JNU and IGNOU belonging to the Democratic Students’ Union (DSU) visited Narayanpatna Block in the Koraput district of Odisha from 11 April to 16 April 2011. The objective of the visit was to study the ground situation at present in the region where a militant mass struggle is going on for the last few years, and according to the media reports, has faced extreme forms of state repression. The aim was also to study the socio-economic aspects of the social life of Narayanpatna region, and to look into the factors that have contributed to the emergence of this important peasant struggle in contemporary South Asia.

Narayanpatna is inhabited by sixteen tribal communities including Kui, Parija, Jorka, Matia, Doria and others, of whom the Kuis are numerically predominant. The adivasis, who constitute more than 90 percent of around 45,000 people of Narayanpatna block, are interspersed with Dalit communities such as Mali, Dombo, Forga, Paiko, Rilli, etc. Dominant castes such as the Sundis and Brahmins are numerically small but are powerful and influential. Though the incursion of non-adivasis has a long history going back to the establishment of the Narayanpatna Raj centuries back, the Sundis have entered the district after they were driven away from Coastal Andhra during the Srikakulam armed struggle in the 1960s. The Sundis as well as a small section of Dalits from the Dombo and Rilli castes too have made money by exploiting the adivasis and selling them liquor. The non-adivasis are around 5000 in number, and the ruling elite of Narayanpatna belong to this group. It was also clear to us that the identities such as that of landlord, liquor trader, money-lender and politician are not separate or mutually exclusive, but usually coexist in the members of the dominant classes of the region.

Fact Finding Report of the Chintalnar Massacre, 11-16 March 2011, Chhattisgarh

80 years old Madivi Bheema beaten by Salwa Judum

Burnt House

Villagers living in fear and withuot Shelter

Woman raped by Salwa Judum (Koya commandos)

Woman raped by Salwa Judum (Koya commandos)

A 13 member fact finding team of Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations visited the Chintalnar Area of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh to probe into the incidents of atrocities perpetrated by the Salwa Judum and the state forces on the adivasis living in this area between 11th and 16th of March 2011.

The incidents was propagated by the police as an ‘encounter’ between the CRPF and Maoists in which, according to the police, 36 Maoists were killed. Also 3 SPOs were killed and 9 others were injured. The police had celebrated this incident in the media to prove their dominance over the Maoists in this region. Media persons and fact finding teams were restricted from going inside on the pretext that it is ‘war zone’ and the so-called war between the state and the Maoists are still going on, hence it is risky for any outsider to go inside. Most recently, the state home minister, Nankiran Kumar gave a written statement in the assembly stating that the Maoists had led the attack on villagers and burnt and looted homes in a bid to divert attention of the police who were in the area for ‘area domination exercises’.

Against this backdrop of serious crimes committed by the security forces and salwa judum and the cover up by the police and politicians, a fact finding team comprising various civil and democratic rights activists and other individuals, went inside this area on the 26th and 27th of March 2011 and visited Morupally, Timmapuram and Tadmetla villages. As members of the team, we spoke extensively to the villagers and the victims of the incident. We were shocked to find that once again, the police version propagated by the state is completely hoax and far from reality.   Source: Sanhati

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