The Chhattisgarh government has banned the Adivasi organisation Moolvasi Bachao Manch for a year, eliciting criticism from activists and civil society groups who expressed solidarity with the group.
The ban was imposed on October 30 under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005. The government alleged that the organisation had been “continuously opposing and instigating the general public against the developmental works” being carried out in Maoist-affected areas.
The government also accused the organisation of instigating people against security camps built for these developmental projects. It said that the group was “interfering in the administration of law and promoting disobedience to the and facilitating disobedience to institutions established by law and thereby disturbing public order, peace and endangering safety of citizens, which is prejudicial to the security of the State”.
Activists and civil society organisations, however, described the ban on the Moolvasi Bachao Manch as arbitrary and accused the administration of silencing critical voices.
Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization, a platform of organisations and individuals working on human rights, said that the government was putting up a “facade of peace talks” with armed Maoists when it could not even engage in talks with an “unarmed democratic mass movement”.
The platform quoted activist Soni Sori as saying: “What is the basis of banning Moolvasi Bachao Manch? Who forced the Adivasis of Bastar to form it? If the government listened to the demands of the Adivasis, stopped mining and built camps instead of killing four people in Silger, MBM wouldn’t have been needed.”
Four persons were killed allegedly in police firing in May 2021 near the Silger village along the border of the Bijapur and Sukma districts. The firing took place after a group of Adivasis protested the establishment of a security camp in the area.
The Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization also alleged that several members of the Moolvasi Bachao Banch, including activists Suneeta Pottam and Surju Tekam, were arrested in fabricated cases.
In June, the police arrested Suneeta Pottam for her alleged role in Maoist activities. The police accused her of involvement in 12 cases of murder, attempted murder, and offences under the Arms Act, according to The Indian Express.
In April, the police also arrested Surju Tekam, also said to be a member of the organisation, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, according to Dainik Bhaskar.
The Moolvasi Bachao Manch has been holding a sit-in protest at Silger since the killings and has organised more than 30 protests in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar area against paramilitary camps, allegedly staged gunfights, the arrests of Adivasi farmers and aerial bombings.
Sociologist and activist Nandini Sundar on Monday questioned how the act of people sitting in protest in their own villages could be declared unlawful. She said that in contrast to the government’s allegation that the organisation was blocking development, it had in fact been demanding schools and health services instead of security camps.
Also read: Where is India’s forgotten war headed?