Cook Killed, Teacher Thrashed as 'Maoist': The Crisis in Bastar Schools

In Bastar, schools, teachers, and children often pay the price of Maoism and conversely the state's war on Maoists.

Bhumkaal Chatravas in Rekawaya, deep inside South Bastar.

(Photo: Raunak Shivhare/The Quint)

In most parts of India, teachers preparing to welcome students back after summer vacations is a routine affair. But in the hinterlands of South Bastar—which is at the heart of a decades-long, three-way fight between tribals, Maoists, and security forces—reopening of schools after the break is as complicated as life itself.

Schools across Chhattisgarh were closed by the state government from 25 April for the summer break, which lasted till 14 June. The reopening of schools coincided with the advent of monsoon, arriving earlier than usual this year and cooling down the temperatures in the jungles after a long spell of scorching heat.

But with the State's ongoing war with Maoists, the impact on the delicate lives and futures of the children in the region is far-reaching.

Assaulted for Cleaning

In Bastar, schools, teachers and children frequently pay the price of Maoism—and conversely the State's action against Maoists.

After the advent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh in 2023, the war has escalated manifold, engulfing more schools, children, teachers and other education staff.

As per data submitted to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights by various rights-based bodies, at least 10 children died and five severely injured in crossfire, IED explosions, premediated murders and other war-related activities inflicted by both Maoists and the state forces between 2023-2024. Two more deaths of of minors have taken place in 2025, as per data collected by the reporter. The UN report also notes four government schoolteachers have been killed by Maoists in the last two years and Maoists have also reportedly closed multiple schools in the region. 

Take the case of the government school that once existed in Rekawaya village of Narayanpur district before much of it was reduced to rubble by the Maoists during the Salwa Judum era.

The school property was then taken over by the Maoists who operated it as a school till 2021. Post that, owing to the frequent area domination exercises by the security forces, the Maoists were pushed further deeper into the jungles, and the erstwhile school was abandoned.

In 2022, the villagers from 13 gram panchayats came together and reopened the school in a community-owned venture and named it ‘Bhumkal Chatrawas’. More than 100 children were enrolled in this school.

In 2024, after ensuring the school was in proper working condition, the villagers decided to hand it over to the government, urging the district administration to reclaim it. The latter decided to undertake the school’s operations in December 2024, marking it as the first Maoist-run school to be reclaimed back by the state.

A budget of Rs 14 lakh was sanctioned for the school building. The restoration of the school was widely reported by the media. Even Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai commended his government for restoring the school on his official X handle. 

The construction of the school building is under process and classes are being held inside a makeshift structure.

It was at this juncture that Laxman Podiyam, a local youth from Rekawaya who has been teaching mathematics to children since 2022, reached the school premises on 15 June, the first day of school after the summer break. He, along with two of his grade 5 children, Sameer and Manoj, started to clean up the premises. They took out the blackboard from the locked steelbox and hung it in the classroom. Suddenly they saw security forces advancing towards the school. The forces had purportedly been part of a search operation in the region. 

A few members of the force went to Podiyam and his group and surrounded him. One of them sternly questioned Podiyam if this was a Maoist-run school, to which he politely said no.

Laxman Podiyam has been teaching mathematics to local students in Rekavaya 

(Photo: Raunak Shivhare/The Quint)

Despite the assurance, the security forces physically assaulted him, alleging Podiyam was operating a Maoist school in the village. Terrified and perturbed, Podiyam kept pleading with the security forces to let him go.

As Podiyam narrated the ordeal to The Quint, he said, “The forces slapped me repeatedly, accusing me of being a Maoist sympathiser. I kept pleading that it is not a Maoist school. They even slapped Sameer and Manoj and broke the blackboard we had hung sometime ago.” 

A 'Fake' Encounter? 

The second tale is of Mahesh Kudiyam, a resident of Irpagutta village in Bjapur district, working as a peon and mid-day meal cook in the Government Primary School in Jhapadgatta. The school building in the village existed before Salwa Judum but was later demolished by the Maoists who alleged the school building is a potential refuge for the security forces.

After more than a decade, the school was reopened in 2022 with the help of funds from the District Mineral Foundation. An educated local youth from the village was appointed as the teacher with a fixed salary of around Rs 10,000 per month. Kudiyam was appointed with a fixed salary of Rs 2,000 per month.

On 5 June, Kudiyam decided to walk to the nearby jungle to collect firewood in preparation of the school reopening 10 days later.

Fate had different plans for Kudiyam though. Just about five km away from the spot where he was looking for wood in the national park area, an encounter had broken out between the state forces and Maoists. The former had acted on a tipoff about the presence of a central committee member, Sudhakar, along with his comrades in the region. Press release of the police claimed seven Maoists, including Sudhakar, were killed in the encounter.

Mahesh Kudiyam serving mid-may meal at the Government Primary School in Jhapadgatta.

(Photo: Raunak Shivhare/The Quint)

Out of the seven slain alleged Maoists, one was Kudiyam. The press release claimed Kudiyam was a member of the National Park Area Committee of the CPI (Maoist), carrying a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on his head. 

Mahesh’s widow Sumitra asserted her husband was not a Maoist—and that he was just doing his job. “Before leaving the house, he told me we would fetch some firewood and bathe the buffaloes in the pond," she told The Quint.

Hidma Velati, also from Kudiyam's village, said:

“Mahesh had already brought back a bullock cart full of firewood from the forest. He went again to get more. He was unaware that security forces had entered our village. He was surrounded by the forces and killed."

Sumitra Kudiyam with her children.

(Photo: Raunak Shivhare/The Quint)

Kudiyam's fellow villagers allege that he never returned to his village that evening, which left them somewhat worried. Upon sending the news of his disappearance to the nearby villages, one villager, Ramesh (name changed), informed them that he had spotted the missing man with his hands tied and surrounded by the security forces near the pond. Ramesh was on his way back to his village from Bhopalpatnam. 

Next day, the villagers went to the police station in Bijapur, seeking Kudiyam's whereabouts. The police, in turn, informed them that he was a Maoist cadre, and had been killed in the recent encounter. His body was handed over to the gathered villagers. 

Kudiyam is survived by his seven children. His bank account was with Union Bank of India in Bhopalpatnam.

His bank passbook accessed by The Quint shows that his salary has been credited till March 2025 by the office of Block Education Officer, Bhopalpatnam. 

Mahesh's & Laxman's Ordeal is the New Normal in Bastar

The news of the alleged fake encounter was first reported by Bastar Talkies, a YouTube channel on the evening of 21 June. A few hours after the news broke, Inspector General of Police, Bastar issued a press note, claiming that Kudiyam was an active member of the Maoists.

However, the note added that he was a staff member in the Government Primary School, Jhapadgatta, and that his salary had been credited till March 2025. The police are investigating how he was spotted with a Maoist central committee member at the national park region when the encounter broke on 5 June. The note concluded with an appeal to the villagers to not associate themselves with Maoists in any way as that could invite strict actions against them. 

There are multiple anomalies in the press note released by the police. For one, active Maoists cadres are not allowed to work as government servants.

Second, the Maoists are forced to undergo vasectomy and are never allowed to lead a so-called 'normal' life in their villages under any circumstances. The evidence in favour of Kudiyam strongly contradict the allegations of the police.

Human rights defenders and activists have urged the blood games at Bastar, which has reached its peak in the last year, be stopped. With a monetary award linked with each slain Maoist, the body-hunting spree by the state forces has been raging. An apparent bid to fulfill Home Minister Amit Shah's deadline for eradicating Maoists by 2026 seems to have spurred a spree of "fake encounters" and related atrocities upon villagers who allege the same.

On the other hand, Maoists have largely activated their fatal small-action teams who have been killing villagers upon mere suspicion. Multiple reports of children being killed and assaulted by the small-action teams have come to light. On 17 June, a group of Maoists reportedly killed three locals, including two children, and assaulted 12 others in the Peddakorma village of Bjapur. 

Jhapadgatta and Rekawaya villages are a hundred km apart and in two different districts of South Bastar. Government schools in both the villages were once demolished.

They have now been restored after almost two decades. Both these schools have been part of the government's claims of restoring peace and normalcy in the region.

But, in the quest of operating these schools, those in the frontline like Mahesh Kudiyam and Laxman Podiyam pay the price.