Speakers:
Soni Sori, Human Rights Defender, Bastar
N. Venugopal, noted Telugu poet, translator, and editor of Veekshanam, a Telugu monthly journal of political economy and society
Understanding the Current Level of State Violence in the Lead-Up to the Deadline
This session will provide a grounded overview of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Bastar, where the state has intensified militarised operations in pursuit of its declared "Maoist-free" deadline.
Soni Sori, Adivasi human rights defender from Bastar, will speak from lived experience of the Indian state’s escalating war on Indigenous communities in south Chhattisgarh. She will offer a grounded account of how Bastar has been transformed into a militarised zone, with expanding security camps—especially around mining sites—reshaping daily life, culture, and political expression. Her intervention will expose the intensification of violent state action: extrajudicial killings branded as "encounters", aerial bombings, arbitrary detentions, and sexual violence. She will also speak to the systematic repression of Adivasi movements, the criminalisation of dissent, and the deepening assault on constitutional and collective rights. Through her testimony, the session will foreground both the scale of repression and the enduring resistance of Adivasi communities confronting this existential assault on their future.
N. Venugopal, writer, editor, and long-time political commentator on Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, will offer a critical analysis of the prospects for peace between the Indian state and the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Placing the current escalation in historical context, he will assess the political conditions required for any credible dialogue and examine why past negotiations have failed. His intervention will raise urgent questions about the state's intentions, the militarised framing of "peace", and what meaningful resolution could look like for Adivasi communities on the frontlines.
Note: As ground realities continue to evolve rapidly, we will update this session’s framing closer to the date.
Image Credit: Malini Subramaniam