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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEARTLAND OF DANTEWADA (30th Dec 2009, 1520 Hrs) – Continues…

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEARTLAND OF DANTEWADA (30th Dec 2009, 1520 Hrs) – Continues…

While Ruchika’s molester DGP Rathore is on the verge of being punished severely after 19 years with Government of India, Supreme Court, Media, Activists, Public and Leaders actively involved, who will give JUSTICE to the tribal woman Ledha Bai, who was repeatedly RAPED by Balrampur Superintendent of Police, Sitaram Kalluri? Who will empathize with the trauma she is living every single day of her life? Will Chidambaram, Moily, Supreme Court, Media Channels, Activists, Public and Leaders fight for Ledha Bai’s chastity, which has been razed repeatedly by Indian Police Force Superintendent? I am sure, a rich girl’s molestation has more importance than a poor tribals’s rape in our INDIAN DEMOCRACY!!! So Ledha Bai has to fight her battle in silence for another 100 years or may be till she dies to live just another day in INDEPENDENT INDIA… while demons like SOP Sitaram Kalluri will rape many more helpless Ledha Bais under the safe protection and commendation of Chidambaram, Moily and the Indian Government… - Johnny D

By Priyanka Borpujari

On Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:53:46 +0530 wrote:

‘Am I protected?’

On Monday, December 28, Himanshuji entered the third day of his fast and was joined by Tanushree Gangopadhyay, a freelance journalist based alternatively between Bengaluru and Baroda. Himanshuji was beginning to look pale and exhausted, and his hands were moving slowly. He was reading a big fat book and I chose not to disturb him much. But he received phone calls all day long – well-wishers expressing solidarity and trying to gauge the situation with, “Is it safe for us if we get there?” Himanshuji replied to each of those calls with his idiosyncratic benevolence. But my reply would be, just come. If your heart tells you that you need to be here by his side then listen to none other.

Around 10 am, the seven police personnel who had been guarding Himanshuji came up to him to say that they had received an order to back out from his protection. It was indeed a good sign, and just like any other day, they were offered the breakfast-time tea. However, about half an hour later, the chief who had left earlier, returned to state that there was a miscommunication and that the protection over Himanshuji’s shadow would continue. Himanshuji indeed is a much-loved man!

The day was quite uneventful, except that VCA’s volunteers – about 12 of them who had been working in various villages – gathered for a monthly meeting. I had the chance to interact with them, to understand how they individually got associated with VCA. Some of them had been working within the Salwa Judum camps, bringing about a sense of hygiene amid the dirty environs. They were of the opinion that the camps were indeed full of small tents where 15-member families had to squeeze in together. “The people are thankful to be alive, but they have been stripped of their dignity. In crammed tents, the situation is nothing short of living in a stable.”

The fourth estate

The volunteers asked me whether I came here after I had read news about atrocities in Dantewada in Mumbai. It was now my chance to flash that smile of surrender, as I explained how advertisements by companies that are the indirect perpetrators of the violence here, were sacred in the boardroom of media houses. So of course, it is easy to ignore the news stories of many rapes and murders and mutilations in a tiny village amid teak trees in Dantewada, in order to get those few extra lakhs of advertisements, which will fuel the New Year and Holi and anniversary parties of the media companies.

Now the volunteers smiled. They said, “There is such disparity in the news reports in the local media about what is happening here. No two reports of any incident are the same. How is the common man here, who goes to work on his scooter and gets back home in time for evening tea and biscuit, supposed to make a judgment?”

The sun set and questions as potent as these lingered on. But Vora of Swarajpeeth had to leave abruptly to address a crisis back home. Tomorrow is another day, that’s what we all harbour in our mind when we try to sleep comfortably inside two blankets. Sleep eludes us all. And we know the reason, but have been searching for the cure.

‘I was raped because my husband was a Naxalite’ – Ledha Bai, Surguja Village

Later in the evening, during the course of some conversation, the weather was beginning to get eerily cold with new revelations and gory stories. Himanshuji told us about a woman called Ledha, whose story curdled my intestine, yet left me feeling optimistic, by the end of it.

Two years ago, Surguja resident Ledha Bai was “allegedly” raped by Balrampur Superintendent of Police, Sitaram Kalluri. Her fault - Being the wife of a Naxalite, who had almost surrendered! She was “allegedly” abducted by the IPS officer and raped repeatedly. When she tried to file a case in the Bilaspur High Court with the help of an advocate and human rights activist, a case of abduction was instead “allegedly” filed against the advocate by Kalluri. Later, her family was “allegedly” abducted; she was threatened to change her lawyer. She was given a public prosecutor, and a day later, she told the Court that she wanted to take back the case against Kalluri. When the Court asked her for reasons, she broke down saying, “Don’t ask me anything.”

Today, Kalluri is IG of Anti-Naxals wing of the Chhattisgarh police of Dantewada range, while Ledha Bai is trying to bring justice to women in the capacity of a social worker, in Surguja.

ALSO SEE:
Himanshu Kumar's fast enters Day 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq3zbukPiP8
Himanshu Kumar's fast Day 4 - Risk to Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4sat8MOrT4

Priyanka Borpujari
9820741992
www.priyanka-borpujari.blogspot.com

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