Devansh Mehta, Ramesh Kunjam, 1st October 2020
Soon after Joga Kunjam surrendered to the police in September 2019, his mother and sister in Gumiapal, Dantewada were given an ultimatum: Leave the village without your belongings and don’t come back. His mother showed some defiance and said she could not leave the village her husband had died in but was forced to pack up after a visit from Vinod Hemla, a divisional commander of the Maoists.
Joga Kunjam's father had died when he was just 12 years old, and he credits his mother with helping him complete 12th grade in 2013. Since the Maoists came to his village in 2004, he had run small errands for them, such as bringing supplies to top leaders from markets. His disillusionment with their movement began after they refused to let him take up a job upon completion of his education, saying he had to stay back and fight for ‘jal, jungle and zameen’ (water, forest and land).
“I have been with them for 10 years, the (Maoists) want slaves to do their work. They want uneducated people who stay with them, educated people understand their game and leave them,” said Joga in an interview.
The breaking point came in 2019 when Joga was asked to meet a rich contractor and extort money from him.
“Then I understood this is a business, they are not fighting on principle but instead it is a business for them,” he said.
On 12th March 2019, he surrendered to the police after suspicions began getting raised when he repeatedly questioned their sources of money. He was soon inducted into the police force, and his mother and sister received the threatening visit after word spread.
“How would the Maoists feel if we forced their entire family to leave their village and go live with them? That would make them realize how inhumane what they are doing is.”
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