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Amnesty releases report on crackdown on journalists and activists in Bastar, Chhattisgarh

A 24-page report, Blackout in Bastar, called for immediate action by the state government to end the harassment of journalists.

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Image credit: Amnesty International India
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Global rights watchdog Amnesty International, on Monday, released a report on the gagging of the media and activists in Bastar by state authorities and called for the repeal of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Chhattisgarh Public Security Act. The development comes soon after local group Samajik Ekta Manch disbanded after the national media has started highlighting the situation in the state.

In a press conference held by Amnesty India’s head Aakar Patel, journalist Kamal Shukla, who is the editor of Bastar newspaper Bhumkal Samachar, activist Bela Bhatia, Jagdalpur Legal Aid lawyer Isha Khandelwal, the watchdog said that the recommendations are part of a fact-finding mission. 

A 24-page report, Blackout in Bastar, also called for immediate action by the state government to end the harassment of journalists, defenders and activists. The report also recommended that all politically-motivated charges be dropped against journalists.

The recent attacks on journalists also corroborate the attacks on tribal rights activist Soni Sori, her nephew, journalist Lingaram Kodopi, activist Bela Bhatia, lawyers of the Jagdalpur Legal Aid, Shalini Gera and Isha Khandelwal. This is also coincidental with the sexual assaults on tribal women; the sexual assault of Adivasi women in Kunna village, the gangrape of over 12 women in Nendra and Bijapur by security forces. 

Journalists arrested in Bastar since July 2016 include Somaru Nag, Prabhat Singh and Deepak Jaishwal. Malini Subramaniam, on the other hand, was forced to leave her home in Bastar. BBC scribe Alok Putul, too, was forced to leave while on assignment on a story.   

Shukla said that journalists who write the truth are routinely harassed while those who toe the line are awarded plum contacts. “If you are a honest journalist in Bastar, you have a high chance of landing in jail,” he said. 

As opposed to India’s jail occupancy rate of 118%, Chhattisgarh jails have an occupancy rate of 261%, with 15,840 people in jails meant for 6,070 people. In Kanker district, 278 people are lodged in jails meant for 60 people (428%), in Dantewada, 557 people in jails for 150 people (371%), and in Jagdalpur, 1,508 people in jails made for 579 people (260%).

“The jails in Bastar are overcrowded with young men arrested on various charges. They may try and scare us, but Bastar is my home, I am not leaving,” said Bhatia. 

Mahtab Alam, who is from the Amnesty fact-finding team, says that the situation in Bastar is one of impunity. “Think of a place without any law and order. The local dispensation in Bastar acts on their whim, there is no one to raise any questions,” said Alam. 

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