This could just be the decade of the activist in India. But the growing bunch of truth-and-justice seekers often treads a dangerous path — under attack both from the government and those on the seamier side
Anahita Mukherji | TNN
The protagonist of Richard Bach’s 1970s classic Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah carries with him a Messiah’s Handbook which says, among other things, that all messiahs are going to die a horrible death. The same may be true for activists in this country. And if you’re amongst the lucky ones to escape death, you can look forward to a session of torture and a few broken bones.
Activists nearly always find themselves in the line of fire. Mafia dons, gangsters and a host of assorted criminals aren’t the only ones gunning for them. Many are persecuted by politicians and the police.
Take, for instance, 72-year-old Right to Information (RTI) activist Bhagu Devani. He was stabbed in Porbander earlier this year. Those arrested for the assault include the brother of a local BJP leader whom Devani had complained against for constructing a hotel along the coastline where no construction is permitted.
Over a month ago, environmentalist and RTI activist Shehla Masood was shot dead from pointblank range inside her car as she was on her way to a rally in support of Anna Hazare in Bhopal. Both politicians and IPS officers are under the scanner for Masood’s murder.
“An activist’s job is thankless. You die like an orphan with no support from the authorities. In fact, the government is encouraging the killing of activists by not taking action against the killers,” says Stalin D, project director of NGO Vanashakti.
He and Debi Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group were assaulted while inspecting the destruction of mangroves in Dahisar. “No one was arrested despite the fact that we had footage of the people who attacked us,” says Stalin, adding that the very act of filing an RTI raising uncomfortable questions exposes one to the risk of being attacked.
While the Americans were once obsessed that the “commies’’ would run them over, authorities here are haunted by Maoists. Human rights activists across India are routinely arrested and tortured on grounds of being “Naxalites”.
Earlier this week, the Chhattisgarh police raided the Jaipur home of Kavita Srivastava — general secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties — accusing her of harbouring a “dreaded Naxalite”.
“They even searched the drawers ’’
says an incredulous Srivastava, who wonders how a person could fit in there. Srivastava has dealt with several cases of police atrocity and custodial violence. She believes cops are trying to intimidate her and break her will to fight “what is turning into a police state”.
“Human rights activists are much like doctors. We do not care about person’s ideology. We are only interested in people,’’ says Srivastava. “When we fought the arbitrary detention of Muslims after the Jaipur blasts and worked for the release of Pakistani prisoners, we were called ISI agents. Now when we work for the democratic rights of the poor, we are called Maoists.’’ The cases she has worked on include the arrest of Dr Binayak Sen on grounds of sedition.
In December 2007, six months after Sen’s arrest in Chhattisgarh, a social activist called Prashant Rahi was arrested in Uttarakhand on similar charges. The police claimed he was the chief commander of Maoists in the region.
He spent over three-and-a-half years in jails across the state. A couple of months ago, this newspaper caught up with him in Mumbai, soon after his release. “On December 17, 2007 I was assaulted and pushed into a car by men in plainclothes on a road in Dehradun. I thought they were criminals. I later realized they were cops. Officially, the police claimed they arrested me on December 22 from the forests of Haspur Khatta near Udham Singh Nagar,” said Rahi. “During the five days that I was illegally detained, I was stripped and beaten mercilessly in parts of the body where the pain is unbearable,’’ said Rahi, adding that the police even poured petrol into his anus.
“A police sub-inspector who had fabricated the evidence against me ended up in jail
with me for his role in an encounter killing,’’ said Rahi. His bail application says no arms or ammunition were recov ered from him. All that was found on him was “Moist literature (sic).’’ Activists hope the state’s understanding of insurgencies is a little better than its spelling abilities
Elsewhere, a group of Dalit musicians from Pune, part of a band called Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), have gone into hiding after its members were branded Naxalites One of them is currently languishing in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail.
Social activists, including filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar and veteran socialist Bhai Vaidya have thrown their lot behind the group, and have rubbished claims that they are linked with the Nax al movement. Many feel the youngsters are being targeted for their bold music and verse, which has often highlighted govern ment atrocities and corruption.
“In recent months, members of this group have been victimized by the state police and are being branded Naxalites The police have been pressurizing many new entrants to the group and using in timidatory tactics such as threats, ‘inquir ies’ and even arrests. Deepak Dengle (one of the members) has even been arrested by the police. Harangued by these pres sures, many key members of KKM have been left with no recourse but to live an ‘underground’ existence and sacrifice their democratic freedoms. I am one such member,’’ says Sachin Mali of KKM in a public letter to the media.
But Rakesh Maria, who heads Ma harashtra’s Anti Terrorist Squad, in sists that Kabir Kala Manch is associ ated with the Naxal movement. “After we arrested a group of Naxalites from Pune, including Anjali Sontakke, we found during the investigations that Kabir Kala Manch was being used by this group to indoctrinate new cadres We have got this in writing from people they had attempted to recruit,’’ says Maria as activists ask if the truth re ally sets you free in India — or bundles you up behind bars.
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