I am rising for an incarcerated tribal teacher Soni Sori , a woman who juggled several roles – a tribal journalist, activist, teacher, mother of three young kids. A woman who dared to speak against the interests of the Chhattisgarh State and mining companies. A woman who did not succumb to the emotional, physical, sexual harassment targeted at breaking her spirits in the jail. She, instead, knocked at the conscience of the world outside.
She began her fight against injustice in October 2011, when she was arrested on the charges of being a maoist supporter and brutally, physically and sexually tortured in custody by the Chhattisgarh police.
The announcement of the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on 63rdRepublic day of India in 2012 for Ankit Garg, the SP of Dantewada is a reflection of the sad state of the Indian Republic .. It was shocking to see that a police officer who was accused of brutalising and torturing the young Adivasi teacher, Soni Sori, was lauded by the State even after reports of perversity of the worst kind in the way he reportedly ordered the torture of Sori in police custody.
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE ONLINE
1)–Please sign a petition to president of India to take back his medal here
4)- Light a candle for soni sori and all women prisoners
This is an online action created by Barduari Studios, an anonymous group, who thought it appropriate to develop something that anyone can use to reffirm their support to the Soni Sori Campaign.
And do change your facebook coverpage for atleast one day to the ‘light a candle before the Supreme Court‘ given in the banner album. You can also directly take it from our facebook page at www.facebook.com/onebillionrisingforsonisori
If you have blog webiste please embed below widget, its on sonis ori blog as well
Light a candle for soni sori you can embed a widget on your blog, copy and paste below, share widely
She fought back! She went on hunger strike in jail and protested against the human rights violations and the treatment by the Chhattisgarh Police; she wrote letters tot he court about the situation in prison and continues to speak out whenever she can.
Even after more than a year, Soni has not received justice. Her struggle continues…
Soni Sori has become a symbol of mistreatment of all women prisoners .
Her fight for justice is not just for herself but also for others.
Her letters from Prison which spread like for fire for an International support on March 8th 2012
WE Rise for Soni Sori because:
Far from being an oppressed and downtrodden woman, as an outspoken critic of the state policies, the mining companies, and the Maoists, Soni Sori is being punished for exerting her democratic right to speak out indefence of her adivasi/ Indigenous community and their traditional lands rather than for a crime she has not even been tried for.
She is being punished by those who would not have the authority to mete out punishment even if she were guilty of a crime and the form of her punishments are not to be found in any penal code anywhere in the world.
If the Indian government is not willing to protect women from the illegal actions of its own agents when in their custody, then what message is it sending out to Indian men – that women are fair game just for going out or speaking out?
The Indian state not only seems to be failing to protect women from sexual and other types of violence, but is in fact sanctioning, indeed rewarding such crimes when they are committed by its employees and representatives to silence women who speak out in defence of human rights.
We Rise Because We Refuse To Support State Violence On Women.
We Rise Because Rape And Violence Against Women Under Any Circumstances is Unacceptable.
We Rise On This International Women’s Day To Demand Freedom for Soni Sori & Punishment For Her Perpetrators.
When: One Billion Rising on March 8th 2013.
Who: People of all gender with head, heart and a strong spine
Where: Here. There. Anywhere. Wherever we have such people.
What: Organise your own ‘One Billion Rising’ action in your city, school, university, work place. Organise it any form you like. Or check the list of events on this page and join the one you can. Don’t worry If you are unable to make it to the streets, there are several online actions: petitions, letters to Indian government. But whatever you decide to do leave a message here so that others can join.
इज़्ज़त तार तार किया सारा ,
पीसा , कुचला . जानवर सा मारा,
राक्षस की रूह को फिर धारा,
जानवर सा बलात्कार किया ,
उस बेसहारा !
कैसा ये सरकारी ख़ाता है ,
जो शिकायत ले थाने जाता है ,
अपनी आप बीती बताता है ,
मदद की गुहार लगाता है ,
वो आदिवासी कहलाता है ,
बेशर्म ! उसे ही नक्सली बताता है …
अपना ख़ाता साफ रखा ,
सब control है !! जनाब !!
यह report दिखा !
26 जनवरी को लाल किले आ ,
प्रधान मंत्री को सलाम किया ,
पोलीस मेडल वही राक्षस ,
वही ले गया !!
सोनी सॉरी धकके खाती है ,
जैल से क्रांति चलती है ,
सबको क्रांति के लिए जागती है ,
अपना सच जैसे तैसे बतलाती है,
देश के अंधे क़ानून से ,
इंसाफ़ की गुहार लगाती है …
उठो ,
जागो ,
कमर कसो ,
इस छेदो वाली छाननी का ,
क्रांति से हर छेद भरो !!
“The Police Medal for Gallantry is for a specific instance … it is not like the award for Meritorious Service … Ankit Garg led one of the teams in the Mahasamund [encounter].” Vishwa Ranjan also added that “the Soni Sori case was a separate issue that was now sub judice.” Apart from Mr Vishwa Ranjan’s bizarre reasoning that it is legitimate to give a gallantry award to a rapist and torturer, as long as the awardee has shown his mettle in a separate incident, what is the real truth behind the Mahasamund ‘encounter’ where his supposed ‘acts of bravery’ have earned Mr Garg the award? The murky details of this ‘encounter’ were scrupulously laid out in the report Just a little collateral damage (Just_a_little_collateral_damage.pdf) by an All India Fact Finding team.
According to the report, “On 9th October, 2010, Saturday, various evening newspapers carried reports of a fierce encounter that happened on the same day, between the Naxals and the state police force at Padakipali [in the Mahasamund district], near the Orissa border, in which it was claimed that 8 Naxals were killed and 2 police injured. Later, it was admitted that 2 of the persons killed were actually villagers of Ledgidipa, who were said to have been caught in the crossfire. Inspector General of Police RK Vij told PTI that the two villagers were used as a shield by the Maoists in the gunfight (chhattisgarh-6-naxals-killed-in-encounter-58547). Reports also carried news of a large quantity of arms and ammunitions having been recovered after the encounter, including a ―huge cache of explosives (six-maoists-killed-in-chhattisgarh-encounter_100443592.html). The entire episode was hailed as a great achievement by Director General of Police (DGP), Vishwa Ranjan. chhattisgarh_police_kill_eight_maoits_in_encounter_N98249.htm.”
However it did not take long before cracks started appearing in the official version of the story. According to the report
“Two villagers had died in this encounter. Confusing and contradictory reports were presented in the media on the circumstances surrounding these deaths – from the initial allegations of the villagers being Naxals, to their being unfortunate victims caught in crossfire, to their being used as human shields by the alleged Maoists. By and large, most of the media reported the official version of what occurred during the encounter. However, around 12th October, different reports began to appear in which the responsibility of civilian death began to be laid on the security personnel.”
The Fact Finding Mission was easily able to track down the family of one of the victims, Gautam Patel. According to the family, “Gautam was eating his lunch in the aangan, being served by his wife Himadri [when] they saw Dau [a deaf and mute helper of Gautam] run inside the kitchen in a state of fear, and a huge commotion and sounds of firing from outside. Gautam reacted in fear by following Dau into the dark kitchen and hiding underneath the kitchen shelf. Meanwhile 50-60 police had entered the home following Dau. They accosted Uttam, the youngest brother, and asked him where they were hiding the Naxalites. Uttam pleaded with them that there were no Naxals inside the house; only Gautam, his brother, and their servant Dau….Despite Himadri‟s pleading and crying that there were no Naxals in their home, only her husband and Dau, four of the security personnel forcibly entered the kitchen and started shooting in the dark, killing both Gautam and Dau.”
The security personnel later told other members of the security force and the gathered villagers that “both Gautam and Dau had been killed by Naxals, but the family loudly refuted this, pointing to the particular force members who had entered the kitchen and killed Gautam and Dau.”
One might naturally ask what the much feted Mr Ankit Garg had to say about this horror show, and for which he has won the much coveted gallantry award. According to the Fact Finding report, the authors tried to “meet the Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg, DSP DK Sharma and Collector (Ms) D. Alarmelmangai. However, none of them were available at Mahasamund on the day of our visit. We could only meet Shri Bipin Manjhi, Additional Collector, in charge of the magisterial enquiry, who did not share any information with us, claiming that he knew only as much as we did from media reports!”
If Mr Garg deserves the gallantry award for raping and torturing a hapless woman in his custody, and for supervising the killing of innocent people, the BSF soldiers who tortured an emaciated and helpless man, at the same time videotaping their enviable act of bravery (http://youtu.be/e5kBqutAcio) also deserve a medal for their extreme sadism, and for ensuring that the poor and the indigent of this great democratic country do not become too uppity and demand that they be allowed to live with dignity.
Sincerely,
Sanjeev Mahajan
365 Walker Drive A
Mountain View
CA 94043 USA
Colin Gonsalves- Soni Sori’s lawyer says ‘ If she knows president ahs given award to her tormentor she stopped raising National flag all faith in Constitution of India , democracy she too will also hope “.
Soni Sori, an adivasi school teacher and warden from Chhattisgarh, is currently facing trial in Chhattisgarh. Accused as a
Maoist supporter, despite evidence of her having being framed as one in several cases, she has been in custody in Chhattisgarh for about three and a half months.
The Perpetrator of Sexual Torture
S P Ankit Garg, who holds degree in ( ME Env Bot) B.E.D, is 2004 batch IPS officer who has been secretary of Chhattisgarh State Human Rights Commission though he has been involved in Ponjer massacre in which six tribal who were collecting Mahua were killed by axe, he saw a CRPF jawan who killed a two-year- old child and a lady in Cherpaal Salwa Judum camp, He also tried to save Matwada accused police officers and SPOs. He was the investigating officer in Dantewada in 2007, was promoted to the Rank of Superintendent of Police in 2008, as Bijapur S.P and he was S P intelligence Dantewada in 201oand took over as S.P Dantewada on 30th March 2011, in his tenurehe had initaited many anti naxal operations . On Dec 28 , 2011 a day after cadres of the CPI-Maoist blasted Geedam Police Station in Dantewada District, SP of the District, Ankit Garg, has been removed and attached with the PHQ.
GALLANTARY AWARD FOR THE PERPETRATOR OF SEXUAL TORTURE
What has been terribly shocking and perturbing is the fact that while in custody she has been subjected to gross sexual torture, by S. P Ankit garg evidence of which has come to light following a Supreme Court directive for medical examination in a government hospital in Kolkata. Compounding her crisis is the fact that despite this damning evidence, Soni Sori has remained in the custody of the Chhattisgarh police for all this while.
It is shocking to note that in spite of wide publicity and protests over SP Ankit Garg’s inhuman conduct by a large number of women’s and civil liberties groups, nationally and internationally, the government has deemed it fit to confer him with a gallantry award. It is even more baffling to note that this has occurred at a time when the Honourable Supreme Court itself has expressed anguish at the happenings and is still looking into these violations. Compounding the very serious charges of a heinous crime of sexual violence against Ms. Soni Sori that SP Ankit Garg faces, is that fact that this crime happened when she had been entrusted into his custody as a senior police officer. After the report from the Kolkata NRS Medical College and Hospital, this is no longer a case of mere allegations against the police, but there is also solid evidence by a government medical team to support her charges. However, none of this appears to have placed even a shadow of doubt on the gallantry of this Officer as far as the government is concerned. By giving an award in the face of these complaints which have not even received a cursory investigation, both the Central and State governments are condoning this sexual violence which is being perpetrated in the name of anti-Naxal operations.
26th Januray, 63rd independence day is the darkest day of the Indian democracy . While Ms. Soni Sori, the victim of this heinous torture languishes in the Raipur Central Jail, with a deteriorating health condition, and waits for her case to be listed in the Supreme Court, women’s teams who have been taking up the case of her torture have been refused permission to meet her. She is still under the custody of the same state police has that inflicted this torture on her.
Soni Sori wrote a letter from the Raipur Central Jail to her Lawyer Colin Gonsalves fighting her case. I read that letter for you, in Hindi and English, listen here
Women’s Groups Condemn President’s Medal to Ankit Garg, Soni Sori’s Torturer
We are deeply shocked and outraged by the conferring of the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on Ankit Garg, Superintendent of Police, Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. Ankit Garg has been named by the Adivasi school teacher, Ms. Soni Sori, in several letters to the Supreme Court, of ordering and supervising her torture and sexual violence against her, on the night of October 8th, 2011 when she was in his custody at the Dantewada police station.
In a case which is now before the Honourable Supreme Court, Ms. Soni Sori has written that while she was in police custody in Dantewada police station, she was stripped before the Superintendent of Police, Ankit Garg, and given electric shocks under his directions. Furthermore, not only did he use abusive language against her, he ordered three police personnel to “punish her” by sexually torturing her for disobeying his commands to name well-known social activists, such as Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar, as Naxal supporters. An independent medical examination carried out by the NRS government hospital in Kolkata under the direction of the Supreme Court has confirmed her sexual torture by recovering stones embedded in her private parts. This flagrant violation of Ms. Soni Sori’s person is what prompted the Honourable Supreme Court to reach the conclusion that she is clearly unsafe within the reach of Dantewada police, and needs to be transferred to the Raipur Central prison.
Is this, then, the “gallant” behaviour of our Dantewada police under the able guidance of SP Ankit Garg, which the government is now felicitating? Is this an award for ruthlessly torturing people? Does the government approve of these methods? Is this an accepted way of carrying out war against their own people in the name of anti-naxal operations?
It is shocking to note that in spite of wide publicity and protests over SP Ankit Garg’s inhuman conduct by a large number of women’s and civil liberties groups, nationally and internationally, the government has deemed it fit to confer him with a gallantry award. It is even more baffling to note that this has occurred at a time when the Honourable Supreme Court itself has expressed anguish at the happenings and is still looking into these violations. Compounding the very serious charges of a heinous crime of sexual violence against Ms. Soni Sori that SP Ankit Garg faces, is that fact that this crime happened when she had been entrusted into his custody as a senior police officer. After the report from the Kolkata NRS Medical College and Hospital, this is no longer a case of mere allegations against the police, but there is also solid evidence by a government medical team to support her charges. However, none of this appears to have placed even a shadow of doubt on the gallantry of this Officer as far as the government is concerned. By giving an award in the face of these complaints which have not even received a cursory investigation, both the Central and State governments are condoning this sexual violence which is being perpetrated in the name of anti-Naxal operations.
It is a dark day for Indian democracy today. While Ms. Soni Sori, the victim of this heinous torture languishes in the Raipur Central Jail, with a deteriorating health condition, and waits for her case to be listed in the Supreme Court, women’s teams who have been taking up the case of her torture have been refused permission to meet her. She is still under the custody of the same state police has that inflicted this torture on her.
We are also appalled to note that a majority of “gallantry” awards this year have been given out for anti-Naxal and counter-insurgency operations. Civil liberties organisations have been pointing out the widespread human rights violations that are taking place in these areas in the cover of counter-insurgency operations. This raises grave concerns and points to a movement in the direction of a military state, which can have no place in a democratic republic such as ours.
We condemn this action in the strongest words. There can be no excuse for torture and sexual violence in the name of anti-Naxal or counter-insurgency operations. To confer awards on a person accused of such heinous acts diminishes the respect and honour usually associated with a gallantry award.
(Issued by Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) — a national network of women’s organisations, other democratic rights organisations, and individuals — on behalf of groups all across the country which have been participated in the campaign to bring justice to Soni Sori. Please write to againstsexualviolence@gmail.com for more information.)
Annexed: Letter by Soni Sori to her Supreme Court Advocate, and its English translation
Kamayani Bali Mahabal says she is ashamed that the nation is giving gallantry award to a police officer Ankit Garg on the occassion of our Republic Day who is accused of torturing a tribal woman and the case is ongoing in Supreme Court. She requests all of us to protest this award.
Anti-Naxal and counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir [ Images ] and the northeast have drawn the maximum number of gallantry awards for police and paramilitary forces this year.
As a total of 97 police gallantry medals were announced by the government on the eve of the Republic day on Wednesday, more than half (about 52) have gone to those personnel who are either combating Left-wing extremists in various states or have taken on militants and insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.
1992-batch IPS officer Nalin Prabhat was awarded the gallantry medal a second time for conducting a daring operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in 2010 to eliminate Lashkar-e-Tayiba [ Images ] commander Abu Atif who masterminded the Indian Institute of Science attack in Bengaluru [ Images ] and the Rampur Central Reserve Police Force camp attack.
Young Chhattisgarh cadre IPS officer Ankit Garg was honoured with the bravery medal for spearheading anti-Naxal operations in Maoist hotbed of Dantewada as the Superintendent of Police (SP).
A Letter to Supreme Court Advocate Sir
On the night of Saturday, 8.10.2011, in the new police station in Dantewada which has been built next to the old police-station, I was tortured. That night, when I was sleeping, I was woken up by two policewomen. I asked them, why am I being woken? I was told that SP Ankit Garg has come. I was taken to a second room. In that room, SP Ankit Garg and the SDPO of Kirandul Police Station were seated. I was made to sit in that room for some time along with the women police.
After a while, the two police women were asked to go out of the room. They were told, “Whatever is happening in this room should stay in this room—if word gets out, you know very well what will happen to you.” The two of them said, “Yes, sir. We won’t tell anyone.” “Okay. Go,” they were told.
After this, Constable Mankar and Basant were called. He told Mankar. “Don’t be afraid. After all, I am here for you. What will this bitch do to you? Bitch, you should know that the plan was hatched by us together, and it looks like the plan is yielding success.” He told Mankar, “Son, you have acted very bravely. I am very happy with you.” “Bitch, do you know who I am? I am SP Ankit Garg … who used to be in Bijapur earlier, and am soon going to be promoted from an SP to an official of the big range.” He banged on the table and said, “Everything happens from here. Whatever we order will be carried out. We are the administration, authority and government. Do you understand, you bitch? How will you defame Mankar? He will now be given a promotion.”
For a long time, he verbally abused me and tortured me psychologically. I have referred to the verbal abuse in my earlier letter. Maybe you have received that letter. I can’t write about all the abuses in this letter. I was asked to sign on some papers and was asked to write down some things. When I refused, I was pressured through stern talk. I still refused, and then they started giving me (electric) current in my feet, legs and on my clothes. For some time, they stopped doing this and told me, “Do whatever we are asking you to do. Your well-being lies in this. You will be safe, do you understand? Write a letter saying that Himanshu, Swami Agnivesh, Prashant Bhushan, Colin, Lingaram, Kavita Srivastav, Medha Patkar, Arundhati Roy, Nandini Sundar, Manish Kunjam, Rama Sodhi, the owner of Essar company, are all Naxalite supporters. That Linga and I used to send all news from here to Delhi. That I went to Delhi since they had asked me to come. That Essar company officials used to always give money to Naxalites through Manish Kunjam, Rama Sodhi, and me. This is the way in which we used to help the Naxalites…” There were a lot of things. This is how they asked me to write a letter.
I did not write such a letter, nor did I sign the papers on which they had written. “Bitch, sign the papers which we have written!”—a lot of pressure was put on me. I told them that I am willing to die but I have not committed any crime and I will also not write about the people you are asking me to write about. I told them that it is better that they kill me. He said, “This also would have been done, but we can’t do it now since you have been arrested in Delhi. However, since you are not obeying my commands, I will send you back only after punishing you. You will be so ashamed of yourself; you will beat your head against the walls of the jail and die of shame. You are an educated woman; you will not be able to live with this shame.”
He said these kinds of things and ordered that electric shocks be given. After repeatedly giving me electric shocks, my clothes were taken off. I was made to stand naked. SP Ankit Garg was watching me, sitting on his chair. While looking at my body, he abused me in filthy language and humiliated me. After some time, he went out and in a little while, he sent three boys. These boys started molesting me and I fell after they pushed me. Then they put things inside my body in a brutal manner. I couldn’t bear the pain, I was almost unconscious. After a long time, I regained consciousness and found myself in the room in which I had slept. By then, it was already morning.
On Sunday, 9-10-2011, I bore the pain quietly, all by myself. Whom could I tell; there was no one that was on my side there. On the morning of Monday, 10-10-2011, the women police told me to freshen up since I had to be taken to court. I told them, “Madam, I am feeling quite dizzy. I am not feeling strong enough. Please wait for a bit.” They said, “They are asking to have you ready quickly. Otherwise, they will shower abuses on us.” Then I asked for a cup of tea so that I could get some strength. I drank some tea, and slowly got up and went to the bathroom. After a while, I felt dizzy and fell down. I was anyway not fit enough to go to the bathroom, but I was pressured to go to the bathroom to freshen up. Maybe these people wanted to present me in a good condition in front of the court. But this could not happen. As soon as I fell in the bathroom, I became unconscious. Then, they took me from the Dantewada police station to the Dantewada hospital. After a long time, I regained consciousness. After regaining consciousness, my pains had increased and I could not stand up, nor could I even get off the bed. I was in a fully injured condition.
I did not mention my torture to anyone at that time. I had been threatened. Still, I kept looking for an opportunity to talk about my torture, but I was surrounded by police at all times. Then, around 2 pm, I was taken from the Dantewada hospital, lying down on the seat of the police vehicle, and brought to the court. For a long time, we were kept outside the court and were not taken inside the court. SDPO brought some papers from inside the court and asked me to sign them. I told him, “Sir, I want to give some testimony in front of the Judge.” He told me that all that will happen later. All these papers are to send you to jail, sign them. What could I do? I thought that going to jail is better than this. The Judge Madam did not hear me out, did not talk to me, and just sent me off to jail.
After the court, they brought me to Dantewada police station. Two people were already present in the Dantewada police station. In spite of all my difficulty, they started to interrogate me about Kavita Srivastav. I told them that I am not feeling well, I am not in any shape to talk. Please do not force me. By that time, my brother Ramdev had reached the police station along with my family. He started asking, “why have you brought my sister here? The court had given you the permission to take her to the jail.” Then, they immediately took me to the Jagdalpur. We reached the Jagdalpur Central Jail around 7-8 pm. On seeing my condition, the jail authorities refused to admit me. Then the guard (unclear) of Dantewada only got me admitted into the Jagdalpur hospital. They treated me. Then, on Tuesday, 11-10-2011, the doctor at Jagdalpur hospital referred me to Raipur. In the evening around 10-11 pm, we left for Raipur and reached Raipur on Wednesday morning, 12-10-2011. I was treated there. The Raipur guard forced the doctor and brought me to the Central Jail Raipur around 8-9 pm. I tried my best to tell them, “Sir, I am in a lot of pain. Please let my treatment continue.” Then also, they brought me forcibly and told me, “You will get better immediately on seeing the red gate.” I wasn’t in any condition even to walk. I managed to enter the gate of the jail with a lot of difficulty.
Applicant,
Soni Sori.
SONI SORI writes to her lawyer page 1 and 4
Soni Sori letter to lawyer page 2 and 3
The troops of the CRPF, deployed extensively for anti-Maoist operations, have not only been decorated with four of the top-notch President’s police medal for gallantry out of the total seven in this category, 14 other personnel of the force have got the medals for gallant action in the same theatre of operations.
Constable Bhoop Singh of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police was awarded posthumously for gallantry as he took on Naxals at the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border in January last year and succumbed to his bullet injuries.
Another special mention in the daredevils’ list is of Border Security Force constable Jai Kishan who in May last year, at the international border with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, battled and laid down his life while engaging two intruders in a gunfight from across the border while he was on the ‘naka’ (picket) duty.
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