(News of killing of tribal people by Kerala police attracted countrywide attention and became a live political issue in Kerala. A Fact Finding Team visited Kerala from March 12th to 16th, 2003. The team comprised of Com. Gummadi Narsaiah, MLA from AP, CPI(ML) - New Democracy, Com. Gade Diwakar, Treasurer, AIKMS, Com. Balasubrahmaniam, AIKMS, AP, Com. Bhalachandra Shadangi, Lok Sangram Manch, Orissa and Dr. N. K. Bhattacharyya, Convenor, Jan Hastakshep, Delhi. We are here reproducing the preliminary report released by Dr. Bhattacharya on behalf of the Team. – Editor)

An All India Fact Finding Team visited Kerala during the period 12th - 16th March, 2003 to investigate and report on the killing of tribal people on 19th February, 2003 in Muthunga Wild Life Sanctuary in Wayanad District of North Kerala.

The team first visited on 13th March the Calicut District Jail in which 21 persons were detained under various charges of IPC: sections 302, 307, 143, 144, 364, 342, 104, 120 and 114 etc. In essence the adivasis of this area were declared by the state as armed rebels, murderers, danger to national security and so on and therefore, the minimum punishment for them should be ‘hanged to death’.

The team met the leaders of the present movement in the jail: Ms. C.K. Janu of Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha and Mr. M. Geethanandan of Adivasi-Dalit Samara Samity. There were varied reports in the press about their arrest. One group claimed that the public around the Sultan Baithery spotted them on 22nd February, manhandled them and handed them over to the police. Another version was that they themselves surrendered to the police and the police as usual tortured them in custody. They were, however, to all appearances looking mentally fit when they talked to the Fact Finding Team. They were talking freely in the presence of the Jail Superintendent to various groups of people who went to meet them in the jail. They were, nevertheless barred from writing down anything. According to media report, Mr. Geethanandan was present at Muthunga forest when police started the mass killing, but Ms. Janu was not at the spot. She was somewhere else in the same forest.

Muthunga Forest

Mr. V.M. Sherif, a young press reporter of the Malayamam Daily, a regional newspaper, took the team to the spot inside the Muthunga forest on 14th March and showed us two distinct spots inside the forest. At the first spot we were shown a large number of burnt huts, ordinary broken utensils etc. Mr. Sherif told us that on 3rd January, 2003 the tribal people entered this forest informing the media. They told the government that as it had failed to honour the 2001 agreement, the tribal people were going to settle in the forest on their own. Around 1100 adivasi families entered the forest and we were shown the land where they started cultivation. The Govt. did not protest, rather state Govt. was continuously pressurized by the Central Govt. (Ministry of Forest and Environment) to throw out the adivasis from the forest. On 17th February, after around 45 days of their stay inside the forest, the tribal people caught hold of more than two dozens antisocial elements including official forest guards throwing burning elephant dung cakes on the bushes around the new settlement. This was to start a fire and to blame the tribal people subsequently for destroying the forest. The district magistrate was sent to the forest on 18th, he settled the matter amicably and set free the official troublemakers some of whom admitted the truth before the Magistrate. Thus till 18th February, there was no hint from the state Govt. to the tribal people that they should leave the forest. On the other hand we were informed by the local human rights activists that both BJP and local LDF activists with so called ‘environmentalists’ were demonstrating till 18th February against the Govt.’s policy of allowing tribal people belonging to Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha to stay inside a sanctuary (!). The settlers who had already encroached into the forest, had constructed beautiful houses on adivasi land, were now pretending to be environment lovers and asking the Govt. to evict the adivasis from their own forest! (Coffee and tea plantations area is, however, ever expanding.) A around 800 strong contingent of Kerala armed police entered the forest on 19th February early morning  and made public announcement that the tribal people should leave the forest. When the adivasis refused to comply with the order, police threatened to fire. The spokesperson of adivasis told the police of the cabinet decision of the same morning against the ‘firing’. Police officials were taken by surprise. However, as usual tear gas shells were thrown, lathis were freely used to threaten them but that failed to throw them out.

Negotiations went on and in the mean time police was informed that one badly injured police personnel and one forest guard were in the custody of the tribal people. Initially police asked the journalists present to negotiate and get the injured policeman released. However, both police and adivasis were adamant on their positions and the Govt., without any arrangement of either a qualified doctor to save the injured or settlement of the crisis, deliberately wasted the entire day to kill the policeman. Kerala police officials were entirely responsible for the death of a Govt. official on duty. Around late evening (5:20 p.m.) police asked the journalists present in the forest to go away and they started firing with their .303 rifles from a short range of 20 to 25 meters without any formal warning. No reporter was allowed inside the forest till 21st February. However, a cameraman of Kairali TV channel video recorded the brutal killing from a tree and it was shown throughout the country the same evening. Govt. claimed that one police person and one adivasi lost their lives in the incident and many people were injured and arrested (150).

Verification of Police Claim

We went to two adivasi villages in the periphery of the Muthunga forest. In the first village called Ullilan village when the villagers saw our jeep they were totally nervous. On our query of 19th  incident they told us that no one from that village went to the incident spot that day. But it appeared that they were hiding something. We saw only adivasi women and children and no male member was in their home. When we located some one coming from the field, he told us that he did not have any information of that day’s event. However, he disclosed that police visited that village a number of times and that may be the reason why male members went underground.  However, in the second village called Nulpura village the scene was quite opposite. Out of 14 families, 12 families participated in that day’s agitation and police arrested 4 persons from the village after 19th but they had not participated in that day’s agitation. No male member was available. Police had visited the village a number of times and had threatened the female members. They showed a number of houses where police tried to break the doors and tried to open them; the adjacent walls had number of cracks due to application of force by the police. Some elderly ladies enacted before us how police caught hold of their hair and thrashed their forehead against the floor demanding to know where their male members were. It is to be noted that Kerala police did forget that this illegal torture had to be carried on at least by a lady police person and not their male goons.

Someone from this village told us that she was in the forest that ‘horrible’ night and had found that a large number of adivasi dead bodies were burnt with petrol and sugar in the interior of the forest. Therefore, ‘one dead’ adivasi as claimed by the Kerala Chief Minister is ‘white lie’ and now lot of reports are coming that 5 adivasis died. 16 adivasis killed was reported to NHRC (Business Standard dated 21st March 2003) and so on. But from the above TV report of “Kairali” it is quite clear that at the time of firing when the reporter was present and taking photographs from a nearby tree, there were large number of adivasis – male, female and children and equal number or more police personnel with both rifles and lathis. Maximum distance between the police and the protesters may not be more than 25 meters when firing started and when adivasis started running inside the forest and police ran after them firing from their rifles, distance gradually increased to 50 or 100 meters, well within firing range of .303. So only 5 or 16 dead is totally unacceptable to any one. Neither the organisers of the Adivasi movement, Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha, nor the Govt. is bringing out exact list of persons present that day i.e. on 19.2.03 in the Muthunga forest from morning till the firing started.

When we visited both the spots after around 3 weeks we found it absolutely clean and kept by someone as a tourist spot with burnt huts all around and some broken utensils and plastic chappals here and there. The vegetable growing area was dry and clean; rather it had some marks of heavy vehicles. The use of bulldozers to carry the dead bodies and in cleaning of the area is not ruled out!

The team also visited Sultan Bathery Govt. Dispensary where 11 adivasis were undergoing treatment in ‘Judicial Custody’. When we asked the police personnel why they were there, they were simple enough to admit that due to police torture on 19th these people suffered various types of injuries. One of them had multiple injuries on hand, leg and head. Women had also head injuries. When we enquired from the doctor on duty about the patients, she was emphatic that all of them were suffering from malnutrition and were underweight. This was corroborated from the statement of Mr. Geethanandan in Calicut Jail that their movement for land for the landless adivasi started in 2001 after the death of 30 to 35 adivasis due to hunger and starvation. Thus the movement in Kerala on adivasi issue is a small sample of the bigger national problem of the millions of poor hapless adivasis who are silently dying every day in hunger and starvation despite the fact that Indian Constitution guarantees ‘right to life and occupation’. Is the Central Govt. listening? Have the paid servants of Indian Constitution in the Supreme Court of India, so many learned Judges, forgotten their oath taken while accepting the assignment of a Learned Judge to uphold the Constitution of the country?

Observations

This is the first time since 1947 that at least one adivasi was killed on the soil of  Kerala, which claims otherwise better human development index in the entire country. And till today Govt. of Kerala has not sanctioned a single paisa as compensation for this death, while Rs. 5 lakh was sanctioned for the dead policeman. Both UDF and LDF and now BJP too have been clearly exposed that none of them want the tribal people to resettle in the forest as promised in 1975 Act passed both by CPI and Congress when they were in power in 1975. BJP Govt. at the Centre was forcing the Congress Govt. in the State to throw out the adivasis and now when the State govt. acted accordingly, everyday some Central Minister is sent from Delhi to shed  crocodile tears for the adivasis. It appeared that HRD Minister was temporarily stationed there (it was while we were there) to help BJP gain confidence of the adivasis. Gujarat experiment to use adivasis against the Muslims is still fresh in our memory. The worst experience was when we visited the  second village on 14th March. We were told that CPI(M) activists were there in large number on 13th March and threatened them asking why they joined Ms. Janu’s Gothra Mahasabha? Thus tribal people are absolutely unsafe in the hands of these unprincipled and opportunist political parties.

Our Demands

1. 1975 Act should be implemented without any further loss of time. Going to Supreme Court to purchase some time is against the interest of the state Adivasis. All the provisions of Indian Constitution related to Scheduled Tribes are to be implemented in letter and spirit in Kerala and it should not be left any more to the mercy of local ruling politicians.

2. Immediate suspension of high ranking police officials and formal enquiry into police firing and torture on 19th and  on subsequent days.

3. Press freedom is in danger in Kerala. On 14th there was huge agitation of press people in Wayanad district. Press Council of India should intervene immediately.

4. Unconditional withdrawal of all cases against the adivasis and leaders of that movement.

5. Implement all other parts of the 2001 agreement of Mr. Antony and Ms. Janu other than land distribution which should be according to 1975 Act.

6. Payment of sufficient compensation to the families who have suffered at the hands of govt.