The spectacle of sections of the police force burning effigies of political and social activists in Chhattisgarh on Monday holds dangerous portents. Across towns in the state, auxiliary constables, many in uniform, informed the media about their protest and later shouted slogans and burnt effigies of politicians Manish Kunjam and Soni Sori and activists, Nandini Sundar, Bela Bhatia and Himanshu Kumar. Their complaint: That by highlighting human rights abuses by security forces in the region, these individuals were speaking on behalf of the Maoists. The trigger for this protest seems to be a CBI status report filed before a special court last week, where security forces have been blamed for burning down 160 houses of Adivasis in Tadmetla village. The state police had claimed that the 2011 incident was the handiwork of Maoists.
Vigilantism has been on the rise in Chhattisgarh and sections of the civil society, including the media, have been its victims. Government inaction in the face of such activities could lead to a breakdown of the rule of law and in the long run undermine the writ of the state itself. That can have devastating consequences for a people who have been exposed to brutal violence by state and non-state actors for years.
