After jail, Bastar scribe says will keep raising tribals’ plight

RAIPUR: Santosh Yadav, a Bastarbased journalist who was arrested for alleged links with Maoists in 2015 and released from jail after 17 months, said on Thursday he will continue to raise the plight of tribals.

Yadav was arrested by the state police in October 2015 on suspicions that he had links with Maoist leader Shankar in Darbha area of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar. He was booked on charges of rioting, criminal conspiracy, and associating with a terrorist organisation. The Supreme Court granted him bail on February 28.

“I want to devote my life to social service for the tribals of Bastar. Journalism is my passion and I will continue it until the end. Working in Bastar as a journalist is very difficult and dangerous but the voice of the tribals should reach the world,” Yadav said. “Patrakaaron ko Naxalion ka pratinidhi mana jaa raha, ye sharmindigi valee baat hai (Journalists are being treated as representatives of Maoists, which is shameful),” he said, adding “Innocent tribals are killed and jailed, branding them as Maoists, which should stop.”

Yadav was lodged in Jagdalpur jail but later shifted to Kanker jail after he reportedly protested against the substandard food given to the inmates.

“We demanded reading material and good food and started a satyagraha in Bastar jail. It was a 14-point demand list and I was leading the satyagraha for which I was badly beaten up and shifted to Kanker jail. There also a constable badly beat me. In Bastar jail, the condition of the inmates is very bad,” he said.

Yadav’s arrest led to a protest by journalists who organised a march to the chief minister’s house in Raipur.

Journalists, especially women, have been under fire in Bastar region. In 2016, Malini Subramaniam of Scroll was allegedly attacked by unidentified people and had to leave the area. The same year, Alok Prakash Putul of BBC was also forced to leave Bastar, where he had gone to report on a story.

THE ARREST OF SANTOSH YADAV LED TO A PROTEST BY JOURNALISTS WHO ORGANISED A MARCH TO THE CM’S HOUSE