The Bastar Dream - Creating a Life from the Ashes of Conflict

Abhishek Sahu, 11th June 2021

After his uncle was murdered by naxalites, Mandavi (first name withheld) had been living his life under threat. Whenever, wherever he was–he was always under threat of getting killed by the Naxalites. The reason? His uncle worked as an informant for

the police and used to inform them about Naxalite activity in his area. When
Naxalites came to know about this, not only did they kill his uncle, but they also started doubting other members of his family and they thought of him (in his twenties) as doing the same job as his uncle. “They took me with them and asked if I was also working as an informant. They also
threatened to kill me. I somehow managed to run away from there and directly went
to Kirandul Police Station to file a complaint regarding the same” he said. Mandavi surrendered in the middle of 2020 and is now working with the police. Before this, he was part of the Jan Militia group that works for Naxalites and the group is considered to be their backbone. The Naxalites visited villages often and the youngsters were terrorized to join their group as they wanted one child from every
home to be in their group. Many villagers would never even know they were working for Naxalites, who would often take the help of villagers to do work that required them to be in the social space, such as getting goods from the market. 

He unknowingly joined the Jan Militia group at the tender age of 5. Before this, he didn't even have a proper home to live in. His father would sell wood and his mother would pick tendu leaves to sell in the market. This was the only source of income in their family, which was not even enough to get food twice a day. His parents somehow managed to make ends meet and later built a proper house in his village (near Kirandul).

“Naxalites are afraid that if people of these areas get educated, they will start
opposing them. Though the Naxalites didn’t want growth and development in our area, my parents still sent me to school," he said.

However, this became difficult after his father met with an accident and lost a leg. Since his father was the one earning most in their family, after his accident the responsibility was completely on his elder brother and his mother. But his brother was never serious about his family. “I somehow continued my studies but used to skip school on weekends” he said.
During weekends he worked with a carpenter of his village and started earning some
money for his family. Farming was another source of income for their family and with
the help of this money, he continued his studies.

 

“I am a Kabaddi player and have been to different districts across Chhattisgarh to
take part in competitions and tournaments. It was also a source of earning money for
me. Whatever amount I used to get by playing, I used to bring it home and help my
family to fulfill our basic needs. I still like playing kabaddi,” he reflected. After a pall of suspicion fell on him after his uncles murder, he had no other option but to go surrender to the police. He is now part of the District Reserves Guard (DRG)
group and has shifted to Dantewada with his wife and daughter. He is grateful for both earning enough money to raise his family and being able to contribute to his community through his work. “Naxalites killed three people from our village and after that, the government became
conscious about it and set up CRPF camps near our village. It has turned out to be a
savior for us. Now we can do whatever we want in our village, naxalites are afraid to
come to our village because of the CRPF camps." He only managed to move ahead in life due to his aunt, who helped him get admission into a college to complete a diploma. While he was studying, his father started having health issues and because of his drinking habits and had to go through an operation of his kidney. Her mother was the only person taking care of everyone at home, so she asked himto get married. He felt it was hard for anyone to have a supportive family in those areas where even the basic necessities are inaccessible and hopes to create a better life for his new born daughter. There were times when we didn’t have money to buy food so we had to eat Karil (made up of bamboo) and even in those situations my mom tried to arrange everything for us. I don’t want my daughter to have a childhood like that of mine. I would want her to
have a good life and I will send her to a good school and college, so she could
become a doctor or engineer” he said.

 

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