For the last six months the tribals and villagers of Nagarnar, Chattisgarh have been victims of continuing State Repression.

Following is hte report which will give you a background and details of the incidents.

Please could you fax your protest letters to:
1) The fax number for the President of India is (+91) -11- 301 72 90/ 301 78 24
2) Prime Minister of India + 91-11- 301 68 57/ 301 95 45
3) Chief Justice, Supreme Court +91 - 11- 3388922/ 3388942/43
4) National Human Right Commission- 91 -11 - 334 00 16
5) Chief Minister Ajit Jogi - +91 - 771 - 221000/1
6) Governor, Dinesh Nandan Sahay +91- 771 - 331104

For further details or clarifications you can get back to us
Chetna
India Centre for Human Rights and Law


The CLSS got news on 10th March that a meeting of village people in Nagarnar had been Lathi charged & numerous men and women had been taken into custody. Subsequently, we received further information that wide spread arrest of men & women, destruction of property, breaking into homes had taken place in Maganpur, Ammaguda & Kasturi villages around Nagarnar. These incidents continued till well past midnight and also on the subsequent day according to our information. On 11th afternoon Dr. Binayak Sen of CLSS met the Governor Mr. Dinesh Nana Sahay and handed him a letter of which a copy is attached. In this we mentioned that the people of the 4 villages had already entered into productive negotiations with senior Government Officials including the Commissioner of Bastar in the matter of land acquisition for the proposed Nagarnar Steel Plant, when the aforementioned events took place.

After the 11th March the Police and Administration in Nagarnar let loose a veritable reign of terror. A large deployment of Police was mobilized & village people have consistently reported that in numerous incidents they have been forced to accept compensation cheques against land acquisition after being severely beaten and at gunpoint. At the same time there were reports that about 250 men and women had been jailed. Considering the total adult population of the 4 villages this constituted a significant portion of those eligible for arrest & detention, while all of these people have been arrested under preventive detention. The question remains as to what these arrests were designed to prevent.

As reports continued to come in through the press and those opposing the land acquisition in Nagarnar, of continued terror by NMDC officials, state machinery, and plant supporter vigilantes, a CLSS team was constituted to visit the area, and accordingly the team spent the 15th and 16th of March in the area.

On 15th March 2002, the team members met with four of those detained in Jagdalpur jail. This group of four included three women. All of them had signs of having been beaten with a blunt object, and had swellings on their hands and feet. We were not able to examine them in detail under the circumstances of a jail meeting. Subsequently, since it was reported that 85 out of the 250 detained were to be produced in court that day, the team went to the district court. The group of 85 persons was brought to court in a bus and in handcuffs at about 1pm, and kept sitting in this condition in the bus until 7.30 pm. The warrants for their arrest could only be prepared by 7.30 p.m., and the warrants were served just outside the bus. The signatures/thumb prints of the accused were collected under the street light, and no effort was made to explain the charges to them. The CLSS team was witness to this entire process

On 16th March 2002 the PUCL team comprising of Dr. Binayak Sen, Ms. Sandhaya Khare & Mr. Akshay Sail visited Nagarnar and the adjoining villages where wide spread arrest of men and women, destruction of property and breaking into homes had taken place by the Police and the administration.

The PUCL team first visited Nagarnar, Kasturi, Maganpur & Ammaguda. In all the villages people who were involved with movement and were opposing the plant were no where to be found. It was very difficult to talk to anybody as most of the people had either fled the village or were arrested. Those who remained in the village were so frightened that they were afraid to talk and the matters were not helped by the constant roaming of the police officials and the supporters of the plant trying to further terrorize the villagers. In addition to the police jeep that was attached by the government to our team at their initiative. Very soon some young people on motorcycles and a jeep also started following us everywhere we went.

About 250 people have been placed under arrest and have been jailed. Those who haven’t been jailed have fled their homes leaving behind their children, homes and animals. Most of the people have been arrested under section 151 and in some cases under 107/16. The villagers confirmed the reports that the police severely beat up everyone including women, minors and in once case even a blind man. Mr. Neelaram who is blind since birth was badly beaten up by the police that he fainted. He still has injury marks on his body. In another incident Mr. Bhagwan Din who is 81 years old was also severely beaten up by the police

Most the affected villagers have been forced to accept the cheque as they were left with no choice. They are being given post-dated cheques of October 2001.

Mr. Balram Sethia of Maganpur village is really sadden by the fact that the villagers have been treated as local criminals and dacoits while they were fighting for their land which feeds them and their families. No amount of compensation can give them peace.

In basti of Ammaguda village where we were waiting to meet the villagers Mr. Banmaali Naag along another person came to meet us and told us that we should leave the village and go back as our investigation was not welcome. Seeing Mr. Banmaali Naag the villagers also didn’t come out of their homes hence we had to leave without meeting anyone. While on our way back we were stopped by the young men who had been following us for a very long time. Their numbers had increased. The Police including the TI Mr. Khan was also present. The young men started slogans in favour of the Steel Plant and only allowed us to pass through when the police intervened. The 2 young boys who had accompanied us from Maganpur were terrified not only of the local young men but also of the Police. When we were about to reach the National Highway we were once again stopped by the young men. The young men then proceeded to manhandle Dr. Binayak Sen and the young boys from Maganpur in the presence of the police. It was after sometime that the police reacted and restrained the hoodlums. After the incident when the PUCL team were returning they were chased by a Commander Jeep full of Hoodlums.

The CLSS team found in conclusion that there was clear evidence that the land acquisition process had been conducted under conditions of force and fear, that village people had been sent to prison indiscriminately, and that compensation cheques in many cases were handed over by force. The due processes of law had not been followed with regard to land acquisition. An atmosphere of terror had been let loose on the project (to be) affected villages by plant supporters, and that forces of law and order including the police collaborating in this. Such a situation held extremely dangerous portents for democratic dialogue on development issues.

(Dr Binayak Sen), State Conveyor.