Gadchiroli: Tribal activist 'abducted' by police wins Zilla Parishad polls

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This saying aptly describes two tribal activists from Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. Defying pressure from the police and the civil administration, Sainu Gota and Advocate Lalsu Narote won the recently held election to the district's Zilla Parishad.

The activists have long been campaigning against iron ore mining in their district, and now, as members of the Zilla Parishad, they are in a position to do something about it.

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What makes the victory more remarkable is that Sainu Gota, his wife and two tribal girls were “abducted” from a lawyer's office in Nagpur last month while they were preparing a writ petition pertaining to the rape of the two girls, allegedly by policemen.

Their “abduction” infuriated the tribals of Etapalli taluka in Gadchiroli, and they vented their anger through the ballot. The tribals persuaded Sainu Gota and Advocate Lalsu Narote to contest the polls. Indeed, their nominations as independent candidates were filed while Gota was in jail. The twin victories, achieved without money and muscle power, have now become a talking point in Gadchiroli.

“The highlight of the election was the wholehearted support of the tribals to Sainu Gota and Lalsu Narote. Each person contributed a fistful of rice and Rs 20. That was all the candidates had in the name of resources to fight against the money and muscle power of other candidates. Yet, Sainu Gota was elected while she was still in jail,” said Advocate Nilabh Singh Rathod, who is fighting the legal battle for Sainu Gota and the two tribal girls before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court. It was from his office that they had been “abducted”.

Sainu Gota, Lalsu Narote and their associates have been fighting proposed iron ore mining at three places around Surjagad village in Etapalli. Gota and his associates claims that the mining will devastate the tribal community of the area as well as the rich forest, which is a source of livelihood for thousands of people.

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They have built a movement against the mining project and had passed a proposal to this effect in the Gram Sabha as well. “However, the project's proponents and the government did not pay heed to the opposition and tried to curb it using muscle and money power. When the administration tried to corner them, the tribals decided to fight back democratically, and gave a fitting reply to the civic atrocities,” Rathod said.

The tribal communities fielded their candidates for Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis in Etapalli, Bhamragad, Korchi, Dhanora talukas. The supporters of the candidates would walk hundreds of kilometres through dense forests to canvass. Their efforts paid off as Lalsu Narote won the Zilla Parishad seat from Arewada in Bhamragad taluka while Sainu Gota won from Gatta in Etapalli. “Sainu’s wife Shila, too, won a seat from Etapalli taluka. They have also got a majority in Bhamragad Panchayat Samiti by winning three out of the four seats. This is historical victory for the Gram Sabha, at a time when most elections are fought and won with money and muscle power,” Rathod said.

Rathod alleged that the Gadchiroli police were harassing innocent tribal people because they opposed the Surjagad mining project. “All these people are at the forefront of the fight against the Surjagad mining project. Sainu Gota, Shila Gota and Advocate Lalsu Narote are spearheading the movement. That's why Gadchiroli police are harassing them, physically and mentally,” he said.

The lawyer said after the rape of the two girls, allegedly by commandos of the Gadchiroli police, the local tribal activists had started a campaign to get them justice. “However, the Gadchiroli police booked them and impounded their vehicle on 24 January, when Sainu Gota, along with a local lawyer, Jagdish Meshram, went to meet the victims at Gadchiroli District Hospital. They were booked on the charges of creating a ruckus and obstructing police work,” Rathod said. The police had also alleged that Meshram was drunk when he arrived at the hospital.

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