IN PROTEST AGAINST THE RUTHLESS REPRESSION OF ADIVASIS, SUPPRESSION OF THEIR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS, INCREASING MILITARIZATION AND BRAZEN LOOT OF RESOURCES AUGUST KRANTI - TIRANGA YATRA DANTEWADA TO GOMPAD (SUKMA) 9TH - 15TH AUGUST 2016 Today, Bastar is among India's and the world's most talked about names. The same Bastar which was once known for its diverse indigenous cultures and vibrant lifestyles is now infamous for the inopportune deaths of its inhabitants, adivasis and other dwellers alike, thanks to incidents of rampant violence - All of Bastar is reeling under the tremendous state sponsored repression it is being subjected to currently. Hundreds of villages have been emptied of their innocent Adivasi inhabitants under the guise of fighting the Maoists. Adivasis who have protested against this have had their houses robbed, even burnt. Women have been gang-raped by security forces. All this is being done simply to ensure that corporations are able to get their hands on Bastar's rich endowment of minerals, land, forests and water. In Bastar, 1 armed security personnel is stationed for every 50 civilians. 40,000 armed securitymen populate an area inhabited by 20 lakh. These security forces are present not for the protection of any ordinary civilian, but obviously for the dacoity of Bastar's resources under the administration's umbrage, and for mass curbs on human rights in the area. Democratic rights of those fighting against this state repression, be they individuals, socio-political collectives or journalists. Soni Sori's burnt face represents the tortured face that Bastar dons today. An intolerant environment has been created by the state-police nexus against lawyers and human rights defenders working with innocent adivasis and against the repression, forcing them to leave Bastar. With the clear guidance, and umbrage of the administration, groups such as 'Samajik Ekta Manch', 'AGNI' etc. are being set up to further the unconstitutional functioning of the police. All of Chhattisgarh's jails, including Bastar's, are packed with innocent adivasis. 778 adivasis have been arrested in 2015-16, out of which 662 were arrested in just the last 6 months! 377 Maoists have apparently surrendered, even though there are no records indicating their Maoist lineage for 270 of those. In spite of hefty and robust evidence of exploitation of adivasis, including sexual abuse, in sensitive areas such as Dantewada, Bijapur and Sukma, no proceedings have even been initiated against guilty security personnel. Responding to this, various social and political groups are organizing a 180 km long foot march starting on the forthcoming International Day of the World's Indigenous People on 9th August at Dantewada and ending on the 15th in Sukma's Gompad village. It must be mentioned that it was this very Gompad that Madkam Hidme, a minor Adivasi girl who was killed in a fake encounter by security forces on June 13, 2016, and for whose cause various social and political groups and individuals, including Soni Sori, fought from Gompad till the Bilaspur High Court. The state, trouncing the democratic rights of these workers, stopped them from going till Gompad, time and again. We appeal every citizen to join the August Kranti Tiranga Yatra, from Dantewada to Gompad from the 9th to 15th of August, and lay the foundation for demanding peace in Bastar. The Tiranga Yatra will close on Independence Day, by unfurling the tricolor and paying tribute to innocent adivasis. This will happen in Gompad, where even after 69 years of independence basic facilities are not available to its villagers. - Sincerely - Bastar Bachao Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti Sarv Adivasi Samaj, Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh Gondwana Samaj Adivasi Kalyan Sansthan Chhattisgarh Aam Aadmi Party Communist Party of India (Marxist) Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (ML) Red Star Communist Party of India (ML) Liberation Bastar Patrakaar Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti PUCL Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakarta Committee) Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan Chhattisgarh Mahila Adhikaar Manch Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha Jan Mukti Morcha Bharat Jan Andolan Chhattisgarh Christian Forum Chhattisgarh Christian Fellowship Buddhist Society of India All India Confederation of SC ST Organizations .