Tribal saga against injustice now a documentary

Can documentaries communicate better to the people on public issues than the stereotyped homilies by elders from the moral pulpit?

Precisely a year after a district court in Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu, in a historic judgment that stirred the entire nation (on September 29, 2011) convicted all 269 accused in the case against the atrocities on the tribals, a documentary on the Vachaathi tribals’ tragic suffering now addresses that query.

The accused including 215 living comprising 126 forest department officials, 84 police officials and five revenue department officials were convicted and sentenced for the “brutal raids, violence and sexual abuse” of hapless tribals in Vachaathi village as part of ostensible operations against the sandalwood smuggler Veerappan in June 1992.

Titled “Unmaiyin Porkural- Vachaathi”, this documentary released in Chennai on Sunday by the CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, seeks to uncover a two-decades long struggle for justice by the tribals of that village in Harur Taluk of Dharmapuri District, after being “brutalised” by an official machinery that could not care less, all under the pretext of an anti-Veerappan operation.

Karat hailed the film-maker Bharathi Krishnakumar for his documentary “in so effectively bringing out” the 20-years-long saga of the people of Vachaathi fighting for justice and a fair compensation for the still grieving victims. This “is an unprecedented case in our history as so many officials have been held responsible (for the atrocities on the tribals) and collectively punished to ensure that justice is given to the most downtrodden people,” said Karat. 

The Tamil Nadu Tribals Association led by P Shanmugham, the CPM, several women, students and other democratic groups had put up a dogged fight for the people of Vachaathi, even as a legal battle was waged in the courts for 19 years, Karat said. The combination of these two made the case unique, he said, adding, “several Vachaathis, big and small are happening today in our country, going by the onslaught on the rights of the tribals in virtually state after state.” The “tribals faced a direct threat to their livelihood as mining resources were thrown open to the private and multinational companies,” the CPM leader regretted.