Stop corporates from taking over natural resources, atrocities in Chhattisgarh may one day reach Punjab: ‘Gandhian activist’ Himanshu Kumar

Bathinda: Gandhian activist Himanshu Kumar, who has mostly worked with tribals in Chhattisgarh, on Tuesday cautioned a gathering in Bathinda against natural resources being given away to corporates and multinational companies.
Kumar said "adivasis" (tribal communities) were being targeted in the name of Maoists in the jungles of Chhattisgarh. "This war against our own people will [in future] not be limited to the jungles of Bastar, but such misadventures could be seen in fertile lands like Punjab. To resist such moves being undertaken in the name of development, every justice-seeking person needs to rise and oppose it," said Kumar, speaking at a convention at Teacher's Home in Bathinda.
Himanshu has spent many years in the jungles of Bastar, claiming to have provided tribal communities there moral, social, and medical support. At present, he is living at a research institute in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, and is visiting Punjab to mobilise people against alleged atrocities being committed against adivasis. The convention was organised by the Democratic Front against Operation Green Hunt. Operation Green Hunt is the name used by media to describe the offensive by paramilitary forces and the states forces against Naxal operatives.
The event in Bathinda was organised to coincide with the day when freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the national assembly on April 8, 1929, to make imperial forces listen to them.
Kumar also elaborated on action against adivasis in the garb of Maoists, wherein many were killed in encounters or arrested. He said several adivasis had been killed since 2009, women raped, and villagers displaced. "Personnel from paramilitary forces have been deployed at every step as the entire area has been turned into a virtual cantonment, with choppers and drones being used to keep an eye on their activities," he said. He added if such moves were not resisted, they will reach Punjab, as the govt had already started showing its face by trying to crush the farmers' protests with the support of the Punjab and Haryana govts.