Dantewada goes to polls in the shadow of alleged fake encounters in villages protesting Adani mine

On Monday, an assembly bye-election in Dantewada takes place against the backdrop of a widening police crackdown in Adivasi villages opposed to a new iron ore mining project involving the Adani Group. Over the last three months, the police have arrested five people from these villages on charges of working with the Maoists and presented three others as surrendered Maoists.

Two villagers were killed in a disputed encounter in September. Last week, activists who protested against the killings were booked in a police case.

The unrest began in June when thousands of Adivasis gathered in the town of Kirandul to protest against the project on grounds that the iron ore reserves were located on a hill that they worshipped as a deity.

In July 2018, the government joint venture company which holds mining rights to these reserves had selected Adani Enterprises, part of the Adani Group, as the mining contractor. But it is only when trees began to be felled in January this year that Adivasis living in villages near the proposed mining site say they discovered that the project had received forest and environmental clearances from the Union government based on documents showing their purported consent for the project.

The villagers claimed they...

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