SPREAD OVER 4000 square kilometres in the south of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Abujhmarh is a hilly forest area covering three major districts – Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada. It is home to several Adivasi communities, including the Gond, Muria, Abujhmarhia, Madiya and Halba tribes. India’s 2011 Census puts the Adivasi population in Chhattisgarh about a third of the state’s 25.5 million people. The area remains highly militarised as it is a hub for the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, led by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
In recent months, Chhattisgarh is witnessing a massive crackdown, led by Indian security forces, called Operation Kagar – “Final Mission”. Operation Kagar has four strategic goals: establishing paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bases across Bastar, a hotspot of the insurgency that includes the Abujhmarh forest; deploying drones and satellite imaging for intelligence-gathering; setting up over 612 Fortified Police Stations on territory reclaimed from insurgents; and implementing a “surrender policy”, under which a reported 7500 Naxalites have already surrendered over the past decade.
But Operation Kagar has come at a heavy cost, including for Adivasis.
On 17 April, the CPI (Maoist) issued a public statement, with its North-West sub-zonal bureau calling for a one-month ceasefire and the formation of a joint representative committee comprising state officials and Maoist leaders to pave the way for a “permanent solution”.