People gather in a village in Bastar to discuss atrocities by security forces. Credit: Raksha Kumar
I work as a reporter in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh is now home to the most militarized zone in India, Bastar, and has been mired in conflict for around three decades. The reason? The government wants to start work on one of the largest iron ore mines in India, among other industrial activity. The Maoists, a left-wing guerrilla movement that has operated in the country for more than fifty decades, are opposing mineral extraction in the region, as well as other forms of corporate industrialisation. The troops have been positioned in the state to contain the Maoist violence. However, as is the wont of militarised societies, the security forces are running havoc in the region. They are accused of extra judicial killings, fake arrests, pillage and sexual violence.
On the 7th of January, the National Human Rights Commission, a national statutory body tasked with upholding human rights, said that sixteen women were subjected to rape, sexual and physical assault by security forces in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh in October 2015. The onus is on the state government to prove the security forces did not overstep their duties. This is a step in the right direction, as rape in Bastar occurs so frequently that it is often ignored by the authorities, as well as the national media.
