121 tribals rotted in prison for a crime they did not commit. Time for judicial reforms is now.
The acquittal of all 121 tribals in a five-year-old Naxal attack case in Dantewada is a sad commentary on policing and the justice system. A designated National Investigation Agency (NIA) court said on Friday, “No evidence or statements recorded by the prosecution was able to establish that the accused were members of the Naxal wing and were involved in the crime. No arms or ammunition seized by the police were proved to be found from the accused.” Yet, the unfortunate 121 had to rot in jail for five years; 13 of them will remain behind bars on other charges. Naxals, also called Maoists, on April 24, 2017, attacked the 74th battalion of the Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF), killing 25 troopers, including an inspector-rank officer. Chhattisgarh Police’s shoddy investigation proved to be painful for the accused but also for the fallen CRPF personnel who were denied justice.
Imagine spending five years in some dingy hole for having done nothing; over a hundred people had to undergo that ordeal. Just because a bunch of cops didn’t do their jobs properly. And even if they were incompetent or worse, why did it take over five years to get the accused out of prison? Couldn’t they be bailed out earlier? The plight of the accused tribals has underlined, for the nth time, the gulf between political rhetoric and ground reality.
Tribals, like Dalits and some other communities, are the people for whom our political masters’ hearts bleed all the time—or so they claim. No speech is complete without the expression of concern for these groups. The reason Draupadi Murmu has been chosen as a candidate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance for the Presidential election is that she is tribal. This is not to suggest that she doesn’t deserve to become the head of the state; she has been a senior leader and served as governor of Jharkhand. Hers is an inspirational story, but unfortunately, she has been chosen, and even some non-NDA parties are supporting her, because of her tribal credentials.
Tokenism plays a role in every democracy, but when this role becomes excessive, statecraft gets vitiated and large sections of society suffer. The political class keeps increasing its emphasis on identity politics and symbolism (like appointing people based on their caste and community). A concomitant development is less interest in governance. The poorest of the poor suffer the most because of the lost focus on governance. Like the 121 tribals. “Five years of their lives were wasted behind bars and they were brought to court hearings only twice during the trial when it is mandatory to produce the accused in person in every hearing. Bail was denied in the designated NIA court at the district level as well as the high court,” Bela Bhatia, a human rights activist and one of the defense lawyers in the case, told the media. Indeed it is about time we initiate comprehensive police and judicial reforms.
