Play

In her first public appearance following the recent attack on her, Soni Suri declared her solidarity with the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University. The activist and Aam Aadmi Party member had been attacked by an acid-like chemical on the night of February 20 and had to be hospitalised.

The men who attacked her told her to "stop complaining against the IG, stop raising the issue of Mardum... if you don't behave yourself, we will do this to your daughter as well."

Signs of that attack are still visible. Referring to them, she said, "This is the face of the fight in Bastar." She said her fight wasn't inspired by books but by the experiences of her own life.

In the video above, Sori describes the tortures she suffered at the hands of the Chattisgarh police while in jail in 2011, but says that these injustices don't weigh her down. Instead, they give her more strength to carry on with her fight.

Adivasis in Bastar are victims of the fight between the state and Naxals. She says we can't go to our jungles anymore, for when we do, we are labelled as Naxals and killed. We are not free even in our own homes. The police pick people up in the night and kill them, and report these as encounters. Women are tortured in custody.

"Where is our freedom? We don't feel free in our state. We too want azadi," she says.

"When we raise our voice against injustice, we are called anti-nationals. Now they are calling you anti-nationals too. You have our support and we have yours. We'll fight together."