Set up camps after Gram Sabha approval, say tribals of Bastar

Raipur: Tribal rights activist Soni Sori, Himanshu Kumar, PUCL along with organizations from Bastar have condemned the police atrocities in the name of setting up camps in interior regions of Bastar alleging that the villagers were being beaten up and harassed. The tribal communities and others have demanded to call for Gram Sabha under PESA rule before deciding to establish a security camp in their region.
Speaking to reporters in state capital, Sori accompanied by villagers from Sukma and Bijapur, levelled allegations that the tribals in Bastar region were being ill-treated and harassed in the process of opening security camps.
Sori said that any security camp that needs to be established in a village, should first have prior approval from Gram Sabha as per the PESA Act and the camp should be built only after the consent of people. This is how locals would know about “what’s coming” on the name of security, development and progress of their village for which the people are the best judge, Sori asserted.
“We also want schools, hospitals and roads in our villages but not on the name of lathicharge. Tribals are being treated like cattle when a security camp is opened in the village and they are answerable for everything to the forces, even for going to the market. People in Bastar are enraged for the rampant opening up of security camps in nook and corner,” Raghu a villager said.
Sori warned that the local people will now retaliate if they come under attack and give it back the same way.
“We are gathering in large number from today till January 10 at Burji in Bijapur district and the government and administration should come for talks with the tribals to know their plight. Burji is the place where a security camp was erected overnight on December 15 and many people were beaten up and thrashed who had to undergo treatment. The moolniwasi bachao manch has demanded for judicial inquiry in the matter,” Sori said.