âBeing Neutral is Our Biggest Crimeâ - Global Coalition to Protect ...
âBeing Neutral is Our Biggest Crimeâ - Global Coalition to Protect ...
âBeing Neutral is Our Biggest Crimeâ - Global Coalition to Protect ...
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Chhatt<strong>is</strong>garh government uses its security leg<strong>is</strong>lation <strong>to</strong> impose curbs on the press,<br />
particularly newspapers and other media outlets that are critical of Salwa Judum and<br />
the police.<br />
San<strong>to</strong>sh Poonyem, a former Salwa Judum leader and Bijapur bureau chief of Dainik<br />
Prakhar Samachar, a daily Hindi newspaper, complained that he faced harassment<br />
from the police:<br />
I started reporting these incidents [abuses by Salwa Judum members<br />
and government security forces] <strong>to</strong> the IG [inspec<strong>to</strong>r general of police<br />
of Chhatt<strong>is</strong>garh], CM [chief min<strong>is</strong>ter of Chhatt<strong>is</strong>garh], and d<strong>is</strong>trict<br />
collec<strong>to</strong>r. The new [Bijapur D<strong>is</strong>trict] Collec<strong>to</strong>r Ken prom<strong>is</strong>ed security for<br />
me but nothing was delivered. The police <strong>to</strong>ok me <strong>to</strong> the police station<br />
in Oc<strong>to</strong>ber th<strong>is</strong> year [2007] and threatened <strong>to</strong> kill me. They showed me<br />
a gun, held me at gunpoint, and said I would be killed if I don’t say<br />
whatever they ask me <strong>to</strong> say in the newspapers…. I have two<br />
brothers—one <strong>is</strong> working in the BRO’s [block revenue officer] office<br />
and the other <strong>is</strong> in Raipur, working with the police. My brother who<br />
works in the BRO’s office was beaten up severely and was admitted in<br />
the hospital for four days. The Judum beat him. 167<br />
Kamlesh Paikra, a former journal<strong>is</strong>t with Hind Sath, a Hindi newspaper, was forced <strong>to</strong><br />
s<strong>to</strong>p reporting because of police threats and harassment. He said,<br />
I was a reporter for Hind Sath and publ<strong>is</strong>hed a news item about Salwa<br />
Judum—that they had burned Mankeli village in September 2005. After<br />
th<strong>is</strong> news item got publ<strong>is</strong>hed, my elder brother was taken <strong>to</strong> the police<br />
station and beaten, and they charged him with being a Naxalite. He<br />
was sent <strong>to</strong> jail. I also learnt that the police were planning <strong>to</strong> kill me in<br />
an encounter. So along with my family, I left our house in Cherpal—15<br />
kilometers from Bijapur … I do not report anymore. It <strong>is</strong> difficult <strong>to</strong> be<br />
167 Human Rights Watch interview with San<strong>to</strong>sh Poonyem, Bijapur d<strong>is</strong>trict chief bureau for Dainik Prakhar Samachar (Hindi<br />
newspaper), Bijapur, December 14, 2007.<br />
65<br />
Human Rights Watch July 2008