Caught in crosshairs of Chhattisgarh’s police-Naxal struggle, 14 who surrendered

ON JANUARY 6, 28-year outdated Nanda Midiyami, one of many 14 tribals who the police recorded as a Naxal, was stressed, and scared. The subsequent day, they needed to current themselves on the SP’s workplace in Dantewada, and put their thumb impressions on a give up doc.
Gumiyapal is a village 45 km from the district headquarters in Dantewada. It is tough to entry the village, with the closest street a minimum of 25 km away.
The 14 males, aged 25-40 years, are subsistence farmers and develop paddy in small plots of land round their village, for private consumption. They had gathered on the outskirts of the village together with their gaayta (the tribal head), siyaan (the elders), ladies and kids, to talk with The Indian Express. Besides the police, the dozen-plus males additionally feared retribution from Maoists, who they feared would model them as police informers, working for the lure of cash.
Under an initiative launched final June known as ‘Lon Varattu’ (which in Gondi dialect means ‘return to your village’), the state police appeals to those that have turned naxals to return again house. They print pamphlets and nail posters within the partitions with the names and different particulars of those that are members of Maoist-affiliated organisations. Under the scheme, each surrendered individual will get Rs 10,000 in money, and that is talked about within the give up doc she/ he indicators within the police station. Naxals who carry money rewards on their heads, are paid that sum too.
There are, nevertheless, conflicting claims on two counts: whether or not those that give up are genuinely naxals, and whether or not they’re really paid the Rs 10,000 money promised beneath the scheme.
On January 7, moreover Nanda Midiyami, the opposite 13 males who surrendered had been: Somudu Kunjam, Mandavi Ura, Somulu Murami, Kowasi Hidma, Nanda Mandavi, Joga Wanjami, Lakhma Midiyami, Baman Midiyami, Deva Wanjam, Bhima Midiyami, Budhra Murami, Bhura Midiyami and Raju Midiyam.
The posters put up by the police described the 14 males as members of the jan militia or the Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sanghathan, an unarmed entrance organisation of Maoists, or the Chetna Natya Mandi, a cultural offshoot. “They left these pamphlets around our houses, nailed these on our walls or doors, as if we are some castaways,” mentioned 37-year outdated Kowasi Hidma, one of many 14.
Nanda, who cultivates paddy on round 0.10 acre for his household, and an alleged jan militia member, mentioned they had been advised by the police in December to give up earlier than January 10. “Security forces would accost us when we were out grazing cattle. One of them told me, I would be jailed for more than 35 years. He told me my children will forget my face,” he claimed.
“For my children, I borrowed money to go to Dantewada on January 7, to sign and get over with it. But I never got the promised Rs 10,000,” he mentioned. All others too claimed they didn’t obtain any cash.
Abhishek Pallav, Superintendent of Police, Dantewada, who’s the mind behind the Lon Varattu scheme, mentioned, “We collated a list including those accused in several cases, and those whose names came up during interrogation of naxals arrested earlier.” The listing has recognized about 1,600 individuals as naxals.
But village elders in Gumiyapal mentioned the 14 males weren’t naxals. “These men have been accused on the basis of hearsay. When we received the pamphlet, we asked the police to prove if these men were involved in anything illegal. But our village representatives were pressured to get these men surrendered,” mentioned Unga, a siyaan, or a village elder.
When pointed to those claims by Gumiyapal siyaans, Superintendent of Police Pallav mentioned, “All these people, who have surrendered, have been found to be involved in actively working for the banned organisation.”

According to Pallav, the concept is to get all of the working cogs of the naxal or Maoist drive to give up. “Many of these grassroots workers are fed up and disillusioned. We are giving them a way to join the mainstream. After surrendering, they can live with the law and prosper peacefully,” he mentioned.
But it might not be turning out to be a peaceable life for many who surrendered. They stay in anxiousness, fearing retaliation of some kind by the naxals. “It was not even a week since I surrendered that I started getting messages to come and meet them (naxal cadres). They think we have done this for money. I told one of the messengers I didn’t get any money,” mentioned Joga Panjam, 30, one of many 14 males, who the police alleged was a jan militia member.
The others too mentioned they didn’t obtain any cash thus far. “On January 7 when we surrendered, we were told we would get the money another day. We expressed it is difficult for us to come again, but we were shooed away,” Nanda mentioned.
What is hurting these males extra now’s the probability that naxals will demand the cash they supposedly acquired following the give up. Bhima Midiyami, 25, mentioned the Maoists wouldn’t solely need them at hand over the cash, however may additionally punish them by ruling in a jan adalat (a kangaroo courtroom of types).
“We have been getting messages to go meet them and attend the jan adalat. They might ask us to work for them, now that we have posed as naxals. They might also ask us to leave our village and go away if we want to save our lives, as they think we have turned police informers,” Midiyami mentioned.
Under the Lon Varattu marketing campaign, 320-odd individuals have surrendered thus far. Of these, over 177 individuals had been paid beneath the federal government coverage. The others, district officers claimed, didn’t give any financial institution particulars and thus cash couldn’t be transferred to them. “We give them Rs 10, 000 from our side in cash. Under the government policy, however, all this needs to be registered, and the money gets deposited directly into their accounts. Some of them don’t provide us with their account numbers, mostly out of fear,” a senior district official mentioned.
In Gumiyapal, villagers declare they don’t maintain financial institution accounts, and are additional scared to entry accounts even when they’ve one. Maoists nonetheless maintain sway in these areas, and may order the tribals to depart the village or at instances even be killed in the event that they discover their actions to be suspect.

SP Abhishek Pallav, nevertheless, believes the villagers are being compelled to lie, as he has paid Rs 10,000 money to every one of many surrendered cadre beneath the Lon Varratu marketing campaign. “The reason we pay Rs 10,000 directly is to counter this situation. The villagers take the money and then lie under pressure from the Maoists. I will still send my men and check what is the hold up in Gumiyapal,” he mentioned.
The scheme, Pallav claimed, has shook the militant organisation. He, nevertheless, believes a whole foyer is out to defame the marketing campaign. “We have managed to get several senior leaders to surrender. Earlier, these same people would get arrested again and again. The lawyers used to take hefty sums to get them off. We are now offering a better solution, which is why an entire lobby is against it,” he mentioned.