Civil society flags brutalisation of Honnavar villagers in Karnataka for opposing port project

Bengaluru: A fact finding report detailing the plight of the fisherfolk being displaced for building a port in Karawar's Honnavar has accused the government of unleashing police brutality on the community with activist Medha Patkar joining the civil society on Tuesday to urge the government to follow the law.

The project proposed by Honnavar Port Private Limited involves two separate works: The construction of a port and a road to connect the port to National Highway 66. The works will come up on the land belonging to five fishing villages: Kasarkod Tonka 1 and 2, Pavinkurva, Mallukurva and Honnavar rural.

Medha spoke after fisherfolk shared the "atrocities" they faced. "The report has to be seen in the context of the present development paradigm. Honnavar port is just another project which erodes the livelihood of common people, in this case a women-centred livelihood, and benefits the rich corporates," she said.

The activist pointed to the gaps in the assessments made to get clearance for the port and the road. She said an erroneous study was done to show that there were no turtles to make way for the project. "The road is located between high tide line and low tide line and is not permitted by the law," she added.

The fact finding report is the second and latest attempt by the civil society to document the "more recent human rights violations", including police brutality, registration of false cases and attempts to silence the fisherfolk trying to save their livelihood. Civil society had previously documented the lapses in the procedures adopted to give environment, forest and the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules. It had also documented the 'disturbing trend' of governmental and corporate disregard.

A major part of the new report focuses on the events surrounding the February 25 protest by the fisherfolk against the survey of their homes to make way for the proposed road. In the late evening previous night, police issued a warning via loudspeakers not to stage any protest the next day during the survey. When the fisherfolk stood their ground, "police violence" ensued and they were detained.

Apeksha, a 15-year-old person from the village, issued a video statement questioning local MLA (Fisheries and Ports Minister Mankala Vaidya) for failing to keep his previous promise on cancelling the project. She set a 4 pm deadline for returning all the detainees. Police arrived at her home at 3.30 pm and brutalised her brother Raju Tandel. The medical examiner refused to record his injuries.

The report documents the plight of Ganapati Tandel and Rekha Tandel who were named in the FIR registered for the events on February 25 though they were not even present in the village. In fact, they had come to meet the chief minister. "We met chief minister Siddaramaiah to submit a letter to him, asking for the withdrawal of the proposed port. But we have been maliciously charged for offences of conspiracy, rioting and unlawful assembly," he said.

G H Suleiman, another resident, said police brutally beat up a young man. Phones of the residents were confiscated and many were made to delete the videos.

Aishwarya R of the People's Union for Civil Liberties said about 25 cases have been registered against people in the village. She said the community's efforts to get judicial forums have failed. Court directions have largely deferred to competent authorities, she said.

The report includes an "error" committed by one such authority, the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM). The NCSCM gave a report stating that there were no olive ridley turtles nesting on the beach. However, the survey was done in August though "nesting typically occurs between October and April", the report noted.