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Tribal athletes from hardcore Maoist area allege their coaches beat them, used casteist slurs
The students from Bijapur, one of the worst extremism-related violence-hit districts in the country, allege that the coaches habitually use casteist slurs against them and they kicked a girl out of the sports academy last year.
The Bijapur sports academy was set up in 2016 (Bijapur.gov.in)
Five national-level tribal athletes, most of them minors, have written a complaint seeking action against two of their coaches at Bijapur Sports Academy who had allegedly beaten them up. The complaint was lodged at Kotwali police station in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh on January 4 last week.
The students allege that the coaches habitually use casteist slurs against them and they kicked a girl out of the sports academy last year, according to The Quint.
They said the coaches beat them after they asked to be trained for upcoming events.
"He took a bamboo stick and started thrashing us and cursing us. We have the marks. I got hurt on my thigh," said Haniram Korsa, a national-level karate player.
"They even abuse girls and use casteist slurs. They said to one girl, 'You are a Gond Muria and you have come here only to eat, and we will not train you' and kicked her out," said another of the athletes.
The Bijapur Sports Academy was set up five years ago in one of India's worst Left-wing extremism-related violence-hit districts in the country. The district administration decided to invest in sports to bring children out of the cycle of violence. The sports being played here are were ten in total, including football, archery, badminton, volleyball and softball.
The Bijapur Sports Academy has produced several national-level athletes over the last few years. Maoists from the area reportedly ask people these days to refrain from sending their children to the academy.
