Castling returns: High stake moves by Indian security forces in Bastar to checkmate the Naxal rebels.
The women commandos unit formed in summer 2017 mostly operates in Sukhma and Bijapur districts of Bastar region to carry out duties in all women units as well as mixed with male colleagues. The recruits are from existing local police force and are mostly tribal. Their initial duties have been in Road Operation Party (ROP) to provide security to the road construction workers in the interior regions venerable to militant attacks. They carry AK-47s, self-loading rifles and other automatic weapons.
The main reason for recruiting these women commandos was to fight the allegation of accesses by all-male forces during “area domination exercises” in the Naxal affected regions. They play a crucial role on the arrival of any police party in a village, as all men folks run away in the jungles fearing arrests. The village women who stay back are reluctant to speak to the forces, which is no more the case and a trust is being developed between the two sides, claim senior police officers.
At one time, the tribal youth were fascinated by the life with a gun. Naxal message brought through drama skits also had a powerful impact. Rural economy anyway provided little employment. However, the harsh life in their jungle camps did not take long to reveals itself. They are barred from marrying and meeting their family members and even had to undergo vasectomy. After minimal military training they got rudimentary guns to carry. In the end most get sick of running away from police.
The number of new recruits to Naxal ranks has gone down drastically in the last year. According to the police, instead of usual 500 villagers joining Naxal ranks in 2016-17 (monsoon to monsoon year) the number was only 141. The change is attributed to better education facilities in villages, better road connectivity, fear of security forces and realisation that Naxalism has no future.
A reward awaits every Naxal who chooses to surrender with their weapons. For those bringing in a Light Machine Gun can get Rs. 450,000 ($ 7,000). Many of those wishing to surrender delay their decision until they get a hand on a gun to carry along. Some negotiate with their former comrades in the police force to get them a similar deal, but now these positions are not on the table. Bijapur district already has 200 of them. Their knowledge of terrain has made them an invaluable asset during operations.
Police refutes the allegations of sexual assaults by security forces during their exercises in the villages. It has some strange and thought provoking explanations to offer. “After tracking for hours and being attentive to a possible Naxal attack at any moment, sex would be the last thing on their mind. The male organ would not work,” said a senior officer.
Isha Khandelwal, a young lawyer from Madhya Pradesh is the co-founder of Legal Aid Group for Bastar’s tribal women who have serious grievances against security forces. Very angry with the administration and filled with passion to work only in Bastar, she fears that her phones are been tapped and movements monitored. It is clear that administration considers her to be a Naxal sympathiser. In 2016 she left Jagdalpur district headquarters in the heart of Bastar after her landlord was allegedly picked up by police to ensure her and her colleagues ouster. She now operates from Bilaspur, 110 KM north for capital Raipur, where Chhattisgarh’s High Court is located. However, she still makes frequent trips to Bastar.
Security forces have a tough task at hand as there are many areas in Bastar that are too dangerous to venture and also deciphering between an innocent villager and a Naxalite is never easy. The stakes become even higher when these forces themselves become the primary target of the rebels. The number of security personnel, including those from Border Security Force, has increased to 50,000 and the stronger presence does make a difference on their moral.
Landmine resistant vehicles are a common site on the Bastar roads and are even parked at public places. They are supported by commandos carrying automatic weapons on motorcycles and even slow walking sniffer dogs to check for mines on long unwinding forested roads.
Situated between Bhairamgarh and Bijapur, this is a special showcase road for the police that deployed women commandos to protect the road workers from Naxalites. The rebels oppose roads as they bring security forces closure to their jungle hideouts and perhaps more so because these roads bring development to villages and connect them to the mainstream, in the process diminishing the influence of the Naxals.
Soni Sori has made serious custodial torture allegations against the local police, but strangely her house is protected by at least eight policemen who live in a semi-permanent camp at the front entrance of her house. A tribal school teacher who claims to have successfully negotiated with Naxals in 2008 to protect her school/hostel, Sori is now a politician for Aam Admi Party. She dismisses the left-wing propaganda that tribal do not want development. Everyone wants roads, schools and health centres, she insists.
Children from the interior areas of Bastar are now brought to study in the hostels, which is something that is not appreciated by the pro-Naxal activists. They allege that the government is snatching away their culture and making them just like the city dwellers. However, do tribal want an end to this practice? It does not look like so. The outsiders with romantic ideology may be trying to decide what is good or bad for the tribals.
One of the success stories of the administration talked about in the region has been a recent medical help provided to a pregnant women in a remote village of Bastar. With her life in danger, she was airlifted in a helicopter to the district hospital. It really won the hearts of the local population. Otherwise too, medical help it provided to the locals at the police camps.
With the population 5.5 million, the original Bastar district is now divided into seven districts – Kanker, Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Bastar. Though most carders fighting for Naxalism are from these districts, almost all their leaders are from other states, mainly Telangana.
Mud and thrash are still the most common material to make houses in the forested villages of Bastar. They however do not have to worry about attacks or nuisance of wild animals as there are none in Bastar, not even many birds. Some say, tribal kill them for food while according to others Bastar never had much wildlife despite rich and thick forests.
The grain storing baskets are indeed huge in Bastar, but for a backward region the price of Rs.600 ($10) seems rather steep. The grains they store have to be shared with the Naxal Guerrillas. There were allegations that sometimes the villagers also have to feed the security forces on area domination exercises.
With power yet to reach most villages in the forests the battery powered torches are in big demand in the weekly markets.
What the tribal come to sell in the market is a good indication of the resourcefulness of the inhabitants. Parts of Bastar, no doubt, remain the most backward region of the country. Some district headquarters don't have hotels for visitors. In Dantewada, there is only one really run-down hotel and no shop in the market sells toilet paper, though tissue papers are available.
Naxals also visit such weekly markets to purchase supplies for their jungle camps. Milk power, cashew nuts and resigns are among the top of the shopping list. Expenses are accounted for very minutely and any corruption is severely punished.
The much publicised cashless village of Palnar in the middle of Naxal affected poor tribal region is a sham. Mobile signals of most telecom providers do not reach and the free local WiFi, activated with several browsing steps, remains non-functional.
Dry fish are as popular as any other vegetable in the weekly markets.
SOME VIDEOS FROM BASTAR
Mahua trading in weekly market.
Security Personnel through a busy market
Jabali village scene
Bastar from roadside
Myself on the rural road near Behramnagar in Bijapur district of Bastar.
-Ends-
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