People's Voice condemns the arrest of film maker and rights activist Ajay TG by the Chattisgarh police in Raipur on May 4, 2008 and demands his immediate release.

According to the press note released on May 7, 2008 by Shri Rajinder Sail, President of the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) — Chattisgarh, Shri Ajay was a member of the state executive committee of the PUCL, apart from his other wide-ranging activities in the fields of film making and journalism.  He has been arrested under the draconian Chattisgarh Public Safety act (2005) which is being used to target human rights activists in the state, who have been opposing and exposing state terrorism including the creation and nurturing of the notorious Salva Judum.

It may be recalled that the trial of a respected activist of PUCL, Dr Binayak Sen, who has been incarcerated in the Chattisgarh jails for a year now, just concluded a few days back. Dr Sen is also incarcerated under the Chattsgarh Public Safety Act. During the trial, it became amply clear that the state had no real proof of any of the charges against Sen. The aim is to attack all those who are exposing and opposing state terrorism, by branding them as supporters of maoists. The same charge has been laid on Shri Ajay TG.

The latest attack on rights activists comes at a time when the entire policy of state terrorism unleashed by the Chattisgarh government in the mineral rich southern districts, to set the tribal people against each other through the notorious Salva Judum, has become completely discredited. In Chattisgarh, the Congress and BJP are working together to build up the Salva Judum as a counter insurgency organization. However, various organizations of the central state have been forced to question the efficacy or the legality of Salva Judum.

As a result of the work of rights activists, the Supreme Court has been forced to question the right of the state to create a private armed group like Salva Judum (something the Indian state has been carrying on for decades in Kashmir, North East and other places). The National Human Rights Commission has been asked by the SC to investigate the issues and concerns and submit a report within 8 weeks. A report of the Working Group of the Planning Commission headed by Dr. D Bandopadhyay condemns the Salva Judum as a violent and criminal organization set up by the state and calls for its immediate dismantling. The Administrative Reforms Committee of the Government of India headed by Veerappa Moily has also questioned the aim and purpose of Salva Judum.

It is in this context that we must see the state government’s stepped up attacks on rights activists. The situation demands stepping up the work for the dismantling of the Salva Judum, for the repeal of the Chattisgarh Public Safety Act, the release of all those incarcerated under this act and punishment for those guilty of state terrorism.