In one of India's most violent internal conflicts, between Maoist rebels and government security forces, civil society activists appear to be collateral damage.
“Indian authorities and Maoist insurgents have threatened and attacked civil society activists, undermining basic freedoms and interfering with aid delivery in embattled areas of central and eastern India,†Human Rights Watch said in a report this week.
Through a broad swath of India, Maoist rebels, also known as Naxalites, have attempted to overthrow the government in an armed struggle that has its roots in a 1967 rural uprising. In the last two years, 1,611 people have died in a total of 3,968 incidents said to be related to the Maoist struggle.
As recently as last month, the police said they killed a group of Maoists in the dense forest of Chhattisgarh state, but civil rights activists demanded a judicial inquiry ove r what they called the slaughter of innocent tribal villagers.
The Human Rights Watch report said that grassroots activists who deliver development assistance and highlight abuses risk being targeted by security forces and Maoist insurgents.
“The police demand that they serve as informers, and those that refuse risk being accused of being Maoist supporters and subject to arbitrary arrest and torture,†the watchdog notes. “The authorities use sedition laws to curtail free speech and also concoct criminal cases to lock up critics of the government.â€
The Maoists, on the other hand, frequently accuse activists of being informers and warn them against implementing government programs, according to the report.
“The Maoists have been particularly brutal towards those perceived to be government informers or “class enemies†and do not hesitate to punish them by shooting or beheading after a summary “trial†in a self-declared “people's court †(jan adalat),†the report notes. It adds that this court in no way conforms to international standards.
The rights group said this report is based on more than 60 interviews with witnesses or those familiar with abuses in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, from July 2011 to April this year.
“The Maoists and government forces seem to have little in common except a willingness to target civil society activists who report on rights abuses against local communities,†said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Ms. Ganguly acknowledged that the government stressed that development was needed while undertaking security operations against Maoists to resolve the long-standing problem.
“However, the government has failed to stop local authorities and the security forces from attacking and intimidating civil society activists who are often implementing the very programs that could deliver development in these remote and long ignored areas,†she said.
