‘I know I will go to jail, but paying the fine would mean I did a wrong’: Dantewada activist
The incident dates back to September and October 2009 when 17 tribals, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed and many injured and their houses destroyed in villages of then Dantewada and now Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.
Activist Himanshu Kumar claims he would not pay the “exemplary” fee of Rs. 5 lakh that the Supreme Court imposed on him on Thursday in response to his petition for a review of claims of torture and extrajudicial murders committed by security personnel in 2009 during anti-Maoist operations in Dantewada.
“I’m sure I’ll end up in jail. Paying the penalties would entail acknowledging that I made a mistake, said Kumar, who for 17 years oversaw operations at the Dantewada-based Vanvasi Chetna Ashram NGO. The 57-year-old was allegedly driven from the state in 2010 by threats following his Dantewada charges.
The incident happened between September and October 2009 in villages in Chhattisgarh’s then-Dantewada and now-Sukma districts, where 17 tribal people—including a 12-year-old girl—were killed, and numerous others were maimed, and their homes were demolished. When the tribal people were killed, Kumar and a number of locals blamed the security forces, but the Raman Singh-led BJP administration at the time charged the Naxals.
Police retrieved seven bodies from the borders of one of the villages, Gompad when Kumar addressed the court in 2009.
The Supreme Court on Thursday denied his request for an investigation into the fatalities and requested that the CBI and state police look into the possibility that he had intentionally filed the PIL to harm security personnel and aid Left Wing Extremists. In order to avoid authorities taking “necessary procedures” for recovery, Kumar was given four weeks to submit the Rs 5 lakh fine for the “frivolous” lawsuit.
The court further requested that action be taken against Kumar, stating: “We emphasise that it shall not be restricted to the offence under Section 211 of the IPC” (false charge of offence made with intent to injure). It’s also possible that a case of the criminal conspiracy or any other IPC-related offence will emerge. We defer to the superior judgement of the State of Chhattisgarh / CBI to act.”
While officials of the Congress government in the state said they were “examining the order”, the BJP hailed the Court decision. Raman Singh, who was the Chief Minister at the time of the deaths, said: “The Supreme Court has clarified that our forces were not wrong at the time. Himanshu Kumar and others made so much noise about innocent tribals being killed by security forces. We have been vindicated by this order, in a way, and the action against him is justified.”
Kumar says he has been in the crosshairs of authorities since the time he filed the petition in the Supreme Court. He had to flee “overnight” from Chhattisgarh, he adds. The Vanvasi Chetna Ashram was later demolished. “My co-petitioners (family members of some of those killed and eyewitnesses) were abducted and I was not allowed to speak to them despite the court’s order. Eventually, I was informed by some of my friends that the state was ready to take extreme measures to silence me and that I should leave.”
