Tribal rights activist Soni Sori, who was attacked with an acid-like chemical in Chhattisgarh last month, said the condition of her face reflects the fight in Naxal-hit Bastar area.
Tribal rights activist Soni Sori, who was attacked with an acid-like chemical in Chhattisgarh last month, said the condition of her face reflects the fight in Naxal-hit Bastar area.
JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar introduced Ms Sori to the gathered students at the university’s administration block, which has been the venue of protests ever since he was arrested in a sedition case over an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Mr Kumar said he will lead the movement demanding release of two other JNU students who are still in judicial custody in the same sedition case. “Though I have got bail in the case despite both the government and police trying their best to delay it as far as they can, our fight is not over yet. Umar and Anirban are yet to be released. I will now lead the ongoing student movement,” said Mr Kumar.
He attacked actor Anupam Kher for his political stand. “The way you (Mr Kher) are attacking others is undemocratic and I continue to oppose you,” he added.
The JNUSU has called a council meeting on Monday night to discuss the onslaught on JNU and finalise the future course of action.
In a brief address to the Jawaharlal Nehru University students on Monday, Ms Sori said: “My face today is the face of the fight in Bastar, the condition is the same. I was also jailed in a booked under false case of being associated with the Naxalites, the same way Kanhaiya Kumar has been framed for his so-called terrorist links. I am glad that the JNU has started this massive movement which helped in getting bail for Kanhaiya.”
The 44-year-old tribal school teacher was arrested by the Delhi police’s crime branch for the Chhattisgarh police in 2011 on the charges of acting as a conduit for the Maoist rebels. During her imprisonment, Ms Sori alleged that she was tortured and sexually assaulted by the Chhattisgarh state police. By April 2013, the courts acquitted her in six of the eight cases filed against her due to lack of evidence.
She alleged that innocent tribals in Bastar were arbitrarily picked up and tortured by the police in false cases. “The police killed innocent tribals calling them Naxalites. When I exposed a killing of a innocent man, they (the police) threatened me with dire consequences. By using force, the state government is trying to break my morals, but I am going stronger day by day,” said Ms Sori.
“The government will not say anything when women are raped by policemen, but in this case they applied all their tactics but could not find a single evidence against Kanhaiya. The JNU students have always expressed solidarity with my fight since 2011,” Ms Sori added.
