30 May 2024 Remembrance of Revolutionaries, Tribal Farmers, and Children Massacred in Operation Kagar

30 May: Protest Day

Demand an Independent Judicial Inquiry into the Fake Encounter..

Stop Operation Kagar..

Stop Fake Encounters..

While Modi is portrayed as Rama, Arvind Kejriwal claims to be Hanuman. Rahul Gandhi is compared to Buddha and Shiva, Mamata Banerjee to Durga, and Akhilesh Yadav says the Kashi-Ganga corridor is his contribution… This tribal massacre is occurring amidst the ruling classes grappling with caste, Hindutva, and fascism in Indian democracy. Realize that the parliamentary parties applauding the government for “killing 103 tribals” during these Lok Sabha elections are the protectors and servants of Hindutva-fascism.

In the last month, three fake encounters have resulted in the deaths of 29 people in Kankar district. On May 10, 2024, 12 tribal farmers were shot dead by the army in Bijapur district. Indian paramilitary forces killed five people from Pedia village and seven from Etawar village in a fake encounter.

The villagers, out to collect ‘Tendu’ leaves, fled in fear at the sight of the security forces. The forces shot them as they tried to escape. Many villagers were dragged from their homes and shot dead.

The security forces detained 30 tribals who protested this injustice. Speaking to the local media, the tribals revealed that among the dead were Sethu Kunjam, a class 5 student of Basaguda School, and Channu Avalam, who was mentally deranged. A man with three bullet wounds in his leg refused to go to the hospital, fearing he would be killed by the security forces.

This is not an isolated incident in Bastar. Bastar has a history of fake encounters by security forces and police. Especially in the last five months since the BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh, attacks on tribal farmers in the forest regions of central India have intensified.

The murders of Joganna (Chimala Narasaiah), Vinay (Kasaraboyna), Ravi, Mallesh (Undam Unkal), Sindhu Gadve, Saritha Jatti, Chilaka (Kosi Kunjam), and tribal farmers Mainu Karisa, Ramla Noroti, Lahu Kovasi, and Pardu Kovesi were brutal.

This hidden war is a genocide of tribal farmers under the guise of neutralizing Maoists. A wide range of weapons, including airstrikes by Israeli-made drones, have been used in the area. This January, the Air Force bombed villages in Bastar for the fifth time. The armed forces and police in this region have a clear objective in eliminating Maoists. Hindutva powers also aim to eliminate communist revolutionaries and tribal and religious minorities in India.

Kejriwal is celebrated for human rights amid these massacres that started in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections amidst praises of ‘great democracy’. At the same time, in the Bhima Koregaon case, a strange verdict required Gautam Nakhwala to pay security expenses during his house arrest despite being granted bail.

We need to break our guilty silence against this ‘democracy’ which is killing the tribal farmers of Bastar district who are protecting their land and water, celebrating harvest and cultivation on their soil, alongside the Maoist revolutionaries fighting against corporates, Brahminical Hindutva fascists, brokers, landlords, and mining mafias.

A tribal-free India—where tribals and Maoists are seen as one—is being envisioned through genocide. The government claims Maoists are being killed. “The majority of those killed were women, elderly, children, and sick people who attacked the army. Among them were blind and speech-impaired people who were Maoist messengers,” said the police, echoed by the media.

We strongly condemn the killing of tribal farmers labeled as Maoists and demand an independent judicial inquiry into this fake encounter. We call upon all democratically minded people to unite and condemn this genocide.

Manushyavakasha Bahujana Koottayma

(KERALA)