The Indian State’s attack on a renowned cultural, trade union and human rights activist, like Kaladas Dahriya, has only one purpose: to criminalise everyday activism and cause a larger chilling effect. The immediate reason behind this crackdown is that Kaladas, along with various civil society organisations in Bhilai, under the banner of Jan Sangarsh Morcha, raised their voice against fake encounters and extra-judicial killings in the Bastar region.

Groundxero | July 26, 2024

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the home of Kaladas Dahriya, an active member of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha Mazdoor Karyakarta Samiti and a cultural activist, in Bhilai in Durg district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, July 25. The NIA sleuths, after four hours of searching his home, left, after seizing with his phone, a long dead laptop, and a pen drive which contains a collection of pamphlets used for different programs.

Kaladas, resides in the workers colony adjoining the ACC cement plant in Jamul, Bhilai. He has long been associated with various workers’ struggles in Bhilai as part of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakarta Samiti). He is also a renowned singer of folk songs and associated with a cultural platform Relaa, a national coordinator of NAPM, and associated with the PUCL and Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan among many other socio political platforms.

A team of sleuths from NIA Ranchi along with local Durg police arrived at his home at 5.30 am in the morning, telling him that he is engaged in “Bharat virodhi gatividhiyan” (anti-India activities). For over four hours that the raid was going on at Kaladas Bhai’s house, several police officers stationed outside his home in their narrow lane prohibited any resident of the neighbourhood from stepping on to the road. The police even locked doors of some houses from outside, rebuked people from opening their windows and even stopped people from stepping out to fill drinking water from the municipal taps. The police even stopped a lawyer from visiting Kaladas to ensure that the raid was being conducted as per law. Even a complaint to SP Durg did not help, as he stoutly defended the NIA team, saying that lawyers are not allowed during raids and interrogation, which is a direct violation of the criminal code and several SC directives.

Kaladas Bhai owns 5 pen drives, 4 of which are full of folk songs and one has a collection of pamphlets of various programs, which were seized. After searching his entire house, the NIA team also picked up Kaladas phone after removing the SIM card, and also a non-working laptop used by Kalada’s daughter, who is a student in media studies at Wardha.

The PUCL National and Chhattisgarh State committee has strongly condemned the early morning raid of the house of Kaladas Dehariya, who besides being a popular cultural activist and respected trade unionist, is also a PUCL national council member and Vice-President of PUCL Chhattisgarh state unit. PUCL said that the NIA showed their disregard for the law and constitutional protections by not disclosing the reasons why they were searching his house, not permitting his lawyers to meet him, not showing the search warrant and not providing the hash value of the seized electronic items.

It was only when the NIA team handed over a Memo requiring Kaladas to present himself before the NIA Ranchi, in Jharkhand on 1st August, 2024, that he came to know that the search was conducted in connection with a NIA case of 2023, (case number RC- 03/2023 / NIA/ RNC, dt. 23/08/2023), u/s 10 & 13 of the UAPA Act, 17 of CLA Act. as a witness. It is not clear from these papers how Kaladas is connected to this case in Jharkhand. PUCL said that the NIA needs to explain how it is investigating the above case, when the FIR is only under u/s 10 & 13 of the UAPA, which relates to unlawful activities and not terror activity?

PUCL is of the opinion that this entire search and seizure is illegal and the raid was actuated by malice – not only to drive fear in the minds and hearts of Kaladas, his family and associates but also to intimidate and drive fear amongst other rights defenders, trade unionists and social activists.  

WHY TARGET KALADAS DEHARIYA? 

Kaladas is well known for his cultural activism. The cultural platform Relaa, put together by him has travelled all over the country, singing resistance songs, doing street theatre expressing people’s sufferings and their dreams. Since the 90s Kaladas has been associated with the trade union movement and with the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, (Mazdoor Karyakarta Samiti). Strictly adhering to the ideology of struggle and constructive work, when working with the poor, as laid down by the renowned thinker and trade-unionist Shanker Guha Niyogi. He is also a national coordinator of NAPM, and associated with Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan and the Jan Sangharsh Morcha, an alliance of many organisations to save natural resources and the people.

Kaladas had been a part of the larger protest against the proposed tree felling of the pristine forest of Hansdeo Aranya, by corporate interests, so he had sent off yet another memorandum to the state government, signed by scores of people. He had also been organising people and written to the government several times against the implementation of the four labour codes. He along with others had also taken up the issue of indiscriminate extra judicial killings of the villagers in Bastar, apart from the ongoing struggle with the cement wage board in ACC.

It is thus clear that Kaladas was a threat to both the Chhattisgarh state Government as also the Government of India, as an important dissenter against corporate projects which threatens environmental and livelihood security of Adivasis, workers’ rights to fair wages and good standard of life and violations of constitutional values. The Indian State’s attack on a renowned cultural, trade union and human rights activist, like Kaladas Bhai, has only one purpose: to criminalise everyday activism and cause a larger chilling effect, by causing intimidation of the workers, so that they don’t struggle even for a decent wage, said PUCL.

PUCL has demanded

• That the NIA does not drag him any further in the investigation of the above UAPA case.
• Returns the electronic devices seized from him and scrupulously follows the rule of law and the constitutional order.
• Stop criminalising everyday activism and dissent against government policy of struggling people…

Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), while condemning the witch-hunting of activists and their implication in false cases, has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the case against Kaladas Dehariya. It said that the crackdown on Kaladas should not be seen in isolation. In a press release, CASR said:

In Chhattisgarh, every voice against corporate loot and workers’ exploitation is being silenced. The genocidal war against adivasis, to ensure corporate loot, has intensified in Central India after the BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh State. Those who questioned this war against adivasis and workers’ exploitation are now implicated in false cases in the name of curbing anti-national activity. After Sarju Tekkam and Sunita Pottam, along with various members and office bearers of Moolwasi Bacchao Manch, were arrested, they have now targeted Kaladas to choke his voice against the war on people.

CASR alleged that the current reason behind this crackdown is that Kaladas, along with various civil society organisations in Bhilai, under the banner of Jan Sangarsh Morcha, raised their voice against fake encounters and extra-judicial killings in the Bastar region. CASR has urged all democratic minded people and organisations to come together and oppose this ongoing crackdown in Central India on activists and the general populace.