NOTE: These news about how tribals are harassed and then put behind bars for no rhyme or reasons are the standard ILLEGAL procedures of Special Police Officers (SPOs) in Dantewada... under the able guidance of Home Minister Chidambaram and Indian Government... However, you will never get to see such real news on your favourite News Channels AAJ TAK, NDTV, IBN7, CNN IBN, ZEE NEWS, STAR NEWS, DD NEWS or else read in any National Dailies... Pathetic but true... - Johnny D
A real life experience by this brave girl, who faced the wrath of Police Administration and Local Journalists in Dantewada…even putting danger to her own life for the sake of poor tribals, who are being slaughtered by SPOs in the name of investigation… who will protect INDIANS from INDIAN GOVERNMENT??? – Johnny D
STRAIGHT FROM THE HEARTLAND OF DANTEWADA (14th Jan 2010, 1555 Hrs) – Continues…
From Detention Drama to 'Dacoit' Declaration – PART - I
By Priyanka Borpujari
On Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:35:45 +0530 wrote:
Dantewada is such a huge practical joke! and hence it is all the more depressing...although I got back from Dantewada two days ago, it took me time to settle down in the claustrophobic Mumbai and gather my thoughts about what I was recently witness to... there has been quite a lacuna in the detailing of our detention... so here is "my" version, which is very long and elaborate and devoid of any interesting photographs... so you are warned in advance :-)
------------------------------------------------
From Detention Drama to 'Dacoit' Declaration
In my own “coy” ways, I would terrorise my friends and family. But thanks to the Dantewada police, I have been declared a dacoit. No, this anointment didn't come in easy – it took several hours of mayhem and confusion and conspiracy. And so the story of the practical joke begins....
On January 5, the inmates of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (VCA) in Dantewada woke up to find that Himanshu Kumar was missing. We panicked a bit, but realised that what he had done must have been the best. He couldn't afford to languish in jail for having raised his voice for the scores of tribals whom the government plans to eliminate to be able to hand over their land to profit-hungry mining companies. It was essential that the gory David versus Goliath battle for survival continue to be fought, and new ways had to be found. That's how we understood the rationale behind Himanshu's disappearance.
The seven security personnel outside the VCA, who had been posted for Himanshu's “protection” and constant vigil, were surely unaware about Himanshu's disappearance; for they seemed to be calm and staid, going about their usual activity of languidly sitting with their guns on their laps. But the inmates of the Ashram – about 10 of them – realised that there was no point in staying behind. By 7 am, the Ashram wore a deserted look and my preconceived notions of bravado, or the lack of it, as I saw it that morning, began to run in my head.
MORAL OBLIGATIONS: Nevertheless, four of us decided to stay behind – filmmaker Nishtha Jain, writer-journalist Satyen Bordoloi, law student and AID volunteer Suresh Kumar, and I. We took this decision as we were concerned about the four tribal women who worked as maids in the Ashram – we knew that if the cops learnt about Himanshu's disappearance, those four women would be the most vulnerable. Given Chhattisgarh's record of tribals disappearing after they are summoned for a genteel questioning, we didn't want four casualties right before our eyes. There was little we could actually do to fight off the protectors-turned-persecutors, but we couldn't elude ourselves from doing that very little too.
We planned to leave Dantewada for Hyderabad by a 5 pm bus that same evening, and it was decided that we would drop all the girls, along with their luggage, to one of their homes before we could leave the Police State. Around 3 pm, Satyen walked outside casually and got into a conversation with the young Special Police Officers (SPOs) who were guarding the Ashram. During the conversation the SPOs learnt that Himanshu Kumar wasn't in the Ashram anymore, and as Satyen later told us, the anxiety and cold sweat on their forehead was too conspicuous.
Read what happens next in PART – II…
A real life experience by this brave girl, who faced the wrath of Police Administration and Local Journalists in Dantewada…even putting danger to her own life for the sake of poor tribals, who are being slaughtered by SPOs in the name of investigation… who will protect INDIANS from INDIAN GOVERNMENT??? – Johnny D
STRAIGHT FROM THE HEARTLAND OF DANTEWADA (14th Jan 2010, 1555 Hrs) – Continues…
From Detention Drama to 'Dacoit' Declaration – PART - I
By Priyanka Borpujari
On Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:35:45 +0530 wrote:
Dantewada is such a huge practical joke! and hence it is all the more depressing...although I got back from Dantewada two days ago, it took me time to settle down in the claustrophobic Mumbai and gather my thoughts about what I was recently witness to... there has been quite a lacuna in the detailing of our detention... so here is "my" version, which is very long and elaborate and devoid of any interesting photographs... so you are warned in advance :-)
------------------------------------------------
From Detention Drama to 'Dacoit' Declaration
In my own “coy” ways, I would terrorise my friends and family. But thanks to the Dantewada police, I have been declared a dacoit. No, this anointment didn't come in easy – it took several hours of mayhem and confusion and conspiracy. And so the story of the practical joke begins....
On January 5, the inmates of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (VCA) in Dantewada woke up to find that Himanshu Kumar was missing. We panicked a bit, but realised that what he had done must have been the best. He couldn't afford to languish in jail for having raised his voice for the scores of tribals whom the government plans to eliminate to be able to hand over their land to profit-hungry mining companies. It was essential that the gory David versus Goliath battle for survival continue to be fought, and new ways had to be found. That's how we understood the rationale behind Himanshu's disappearance.
The seven security personnel outside the VCA, who had been posted for Himanshu's “protection” and constant vigil, were surely unaware about Himanshu's disappearance; for they seemed to be calm and staid, going about their usual activity of languidly sitting with their guns on their laps. But the inmates of the Ashram – about 10 of them – realised that there was no point in staying behind. By 7 am, the Ashram wore a deserted look and my preconceived notions of bravado, or the lack of it, as I saw it that morning, began to run in my head.
MORAL OBLIGATIONS: Nevertheless, four of us decided to stay behind – filmmaker Nishtha Jain, writer-journalist Satyen Bordoloi, law student and AID volunteer Suresh Kumar, and I. We took this decision as we were concerned about the four tribal women who worked as maids in the Ashram – we knew that if the cops learnt about Himanshu's disappearance, those four women would be the most vulnerable. Given Chhattisgarh's record of tribals disappearing after they are summoned for a genteel questioning, we didn't want four casualties right before our eyes. There was little we could actually do to fight off the protectors-turned-persecutors, but we couldn't elude ourselves from doing that very little too.
We planned to leave Dantewada for Hyderabad by a 5 pm bus that same evening, and it was decided that we would drop all the girls, along with their luggage, to one of their homes before we could leave the Police State. Around 3 pm, Satyen walked outside casually and got into a conversation with the young Special Police Officers (SPOs) who were guarding the Ashram. During the conversation the SPOs learnt that Himanshu Kumar wasn't in the Ashram anymore, and as Satyen later told us, the anxiety and cold sweat on their forehead was too conspicuous.
Read what happens next in PART – II…
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