Against targetting of Prof.

NandiniSundar and Others in Chhattisgarh

We, the students of Delhi School of Economics, are dismayed to learn about the filing of an FIR
against Prof. Nandini Sundar (Sociology, Delhi University), Prof. Archana Prasad, (Informal
Labour Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University), Vineet Tiwari (CPI and Joshi Adhikari Institute of
Social Studies), Sanjay Parate (Secretary, Chhattisgarh CPI- M), Mangalram Kalra and Manju
Kawasi (CPI) among others for the murder of an Adivasi local, Shamnath Baghel, from Sukma
district. Serious charges have been levelled against them, which include IPC section 302
(punishment for murder), 450 (house trespass), 147, 148, 149 (rioting and participation in
unlawful activity), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), section 25, 27 of Arms Act. Also, sections 23,
38(2) and 39(2) of the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act have been invoked against
Prof Sundar, Prof Prasad, Tiwari and Parate.
These allegations are part of a series of attempts by the State to target and intimidate those who
have been bringing out facts about the atrocities being committed against local Adivasis by the
state apparatus in Chhattisgarh. Most recently in May, when a team of activists and academicians
including Prof. Archana Prasad and Prof. NandiniSundar went for fact finding to various villages
in Bastar, they were falsely accused of inciting the Adivasis against the state. Prof. Sundar has
especially been involved in a long legal battle against SalwaJudum, an armed militia promoted
by the state. In the landmark judgement that followed, the Supreme Court indicted the state and
termed the Judum unconstitutional, calling for its disbanding. It should be borne in mind that the
filing of charges against Prof. Sundar and others comes close on the heels of a CBI report which
hauls up Chhattisgarh Police for the burning of 160 houses in Tadmetla village of Sukma (then,
Dantewada) district in March 2011. Prof. Sundar had questioned the account of the police in this
case, which blamedNaxalites for the arson and killings, following which the Supreme Court had
asked the CBI to probe into the matter. In the lawless drama theatre of Bastar, IGP Kalluri, who
was the SSP of Dantewada at that time, not only audaciously dismissed the CBI report but went
on to claim responsibility for directing the Tadmetla operation. In a craven display of bias,
members of CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police resorted to burning of effigies of NandiniSundar,
Bela Bhatia, Archana Prasad and other activists only weeks prior to the framing of these charges,
after the CBI had submitted its report to the Court.
It is clear that the Chhattisgarh police has taken to a vindictive use of legal institutions in falsely
framing NandiniSundar along with others, given their relentless struggle for holding the state and
its institutions accountable to constitutional values. The state apparatus, along with the various
vigilante groups that it has nurtured in Chhattisgarh, are continuously forcing academicians,
journalists, rights activists into a battle of attrition to tire them out and thus maintain a veil of
silence over Bastar. Prof. G.N Saibaba of Ram LalAnand College, Delhi University, who was
arrested over suspected Maoist links, and was later subjected to torture and harassment in jail,
stands as a grim predecessor to this vindictive application of law. Conforming to this pattern,
journalists MaliniSubramaniam and Prabhat Singh, social scientist Bela Bhatia, and lawyers of
Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group (JagLag) have all been subjected to harassment and intimidation by
the police and the vigilante groups over the course of this year.

In her public statement, Prof. Sundar has already clarified that she has not visited Bastar in many
months and was certainly not present in the area at the time the aforementioned crime took place.
A teacher to many of us, Prof Sundar has been inspiring as an academic who has honored her
responsibilities towards the people she has done her research with. At this juncture, we want to
impress upon the fact that it is the local Adivasis of Chhattisgarh and the tribal populations of
Central and Eastern India that are paying the real cost of this war. According to the estimates of
Ministry of Home Affairs itself, already this year one hundred and seventy sixcivilians have been
killed across the country due to this conflict. Scores have been sexually abused, raped, and
tortured. The horrific violence committed in the frontiers of this war has been followed by an
indifferent silence across the country. It is precisely for trying to break this culture of indifference
and silence and seeking to ensure the basic dignity and rights of Adivasis as equal citizens of this
country that civil society members like Prof. Sundar are being persecuted. In this dark hour, we
share the grief of the victims of this war and express our shame for not being capable of doing
more.
Under such circumstances as prevail, speaking truth to power is an act of courage and dignity. In
an increasingly constricting social and political environment in India, we resolve to stand by
these and other voices who are fighting to defend the ideals of democracy and justice, which are
not the preserve of a few but the inalienable right of every citizen. We stand in complete
solidarity with Prof. Sundar and other dissident activists and journalists who refuse to bow
despite serious threats to their lives and freedoms. We demand a withdrawal of all these
concocted charges against Prof. Sundar and others and call for conducting a fair inquiry into the
murder of Shamnath Baghel by an unprejudiced authority. We further call upon the government
to show the decency and maturity to work towards a political solution to resolve this conflict,
instead of shooting the messengers.
Edit: Latest reports coming in suggest that the wife of the deceased has not named any of the
people against whom the FIR has been lodged. Initially the police had claimed to file the FIR
against the said persons on the basis of the account provided by the victims wife. Though the
obvious farcical nature of this FIR is already being exposed, what must be kept in mind, as Prof.
Sundar has also said in her statement, that innocent Adivasis are routinely implicated falsely and
often are left to face the worse. It is of the utmost importance that the police forces in
Chattisgarh be held accountable to the rule of law for the excesses committed by them for there
to be any genuine redress.
Students and Alumni Signatories, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University

Apoorva Gautam
Burhan Qurashi
Trishna Senapaty
Dwaipayan Banerjee
Fahad Hashmi
Anirudh Raghavan
Aastha Tyagi

Rameez T
Aditi Saraf
Minati Dash
Chittibabu Padavala
Swatahsiddha Sarkar
Sophia Abbas
S.L. Lawrence Simte
Andrew deSouza
Pallavi Gill
Gangotri Kashyap
Aranta Talukdar
Aamna Ahmad
Priya Naresh
Mibom Takoh
C. Lalboy Doungel
Kritika Sridharan
Chandana Anusha
Fariya Yesmin
Sumbul Farah
Vasundhara Jairath
Anita Sharma
Aarushie Sharma
Nargis Vasundhara
Khushboo
Subhashim Goswami
Leki Thungon
Bhavneet Kaur
Hitesh Kukreja
Chandrima Chatterjee
Jyotsna Siddharth
Thanzeel Nazer
Sebanti Chatterjee
Tahiba Khan
Apurba Goswami
Shweeta Rani Khatri
Tushar Mehta
Neha Lal
Maya Ratnam
Minati Dash
Seram Rojesh
Ashawari Chaudhuri

Navjeet Babrah
Tanya Singh
Karandeep Mehra
Paankhi Agrawal
Sebanti Chatterjee
Noman Hasan
Nivedita Ghosh
Rinsophy Chamroy
Draghima Basumatry
Gowhar Fazili
Evleen Sidana
Jyoti Gupta
Sarbani Sharma
Chayanika Pal
Sonia Kumari
Prasanjeet Tribhuvan
Anita Sharma
Bembem Phanjoubam
Jasmine Kalha
Usman Javed
Jayati Narain
Milli Das
Pallav Deb
Akshay Raghupathy
Grace Mary Sukanya
Samiksha Bhan
Debajit Rajbangshi
Sonia Kumari
Gideon Mathson
S. Bharat
Haider Ali Askary
Asmita Aasaavari
Aaradhana Dalmia
Seema Chandra
Rekha Konsam
Asim Chowdhury
Neharika Mahajan
Ajaz Gilani
Siddarth Mehra
Ghanshyam Kushwaha
Malay Firoz

Angelina Chamuah
Arshia Chavi Thakur
Rajat Kumar Sonkar
Baidehi Das
Samhita Das
Mrigakshi Parashar
Siddhesh Gooptu
Tamineile Pame
Naseef MK
Thomas Monteiro
Madhura Arun Lohokare
Anupama Bhardwaj

R. Radhika

Priyanka Verma

Aastha Gulati

Aayushi Verma

Sumit Kumar

Karan Menon

Yoosuf Ali

Anshu Agarwal

Antra Sharma

Aparna Bhaumik

Heena Tokas

Pustika Sharma

Nikhit Agarwal

Sadaf Wani

Chander Gupta

Fatima Noora

Bhanisana Rajkumari

Sachin Sourabh

Krittika Shridharan

Aishwarya Sahay

Reet Yadav

Neha Yadav

Jasmine Bhalla

Soumya Lamba

Anwesh Patnaik

Anhad Hundal

Sweta Chowdhary

Upali Bhattacharya

Alisha Kapoor

Yashasvi Chaurasia

Ilanchezian Durai

Saurabh Verma

Bhupendra

Nganthoi Wangkhem

Lallawmzuali