*Salwa judum a disaster for Chhattisgarh* http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/news/india/salwa-judum-a-disaster-for-chhattisgarh.aspx
*By SEEMA MUSTAFA* New Delhi, Oct. 17: Salwa judum, launched by the government to tackle the Naxalites in the remote districts of Chhattisgarh, has turned into a complete disaster, with official sources now admitting that the policy was ill-conceived and has exacerbated the problem. The violence has increased manifold since the salwa judum operations were launched in 2005, with Chhattisgarh now topping the statistics of states afflicted by Naxal violence. Government-funded institutions admit that salwa judum was a "major mistake", with any number of citizen initiatives drawing attention to the violence created by the salwa judum strategy of "strategic hamletting" as had been adopted in parts of the Northeast earlier. Under this, villagers are emptied from specific villages into camps with the security forces joining with locals to launch attacks on the rebel strongholds after cutting off their supply lines. This has created a virtual bloodbath in the area with innocent tribals being the victims of the salwa judum operations. An inquiry report prepared by the Independent Citizens Initiative observed that the meetings the authorities claimed were spontaneous were actually attacks organised on villages by the security forces and salwa judum volunteers who burnt the villages if the villagers did not join salwa judum. A report brought out by students and Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy and Anuradha Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University after a spot investigation stated, "The salwa judum is an armed vigilante group, killing and threatening all those who do not agree with them. Furthermore, they are unaccountable to anyone and the 'leaders' have large funds to manage the camps." The JNU team was threatened by salwa judum armed groups in the Dantewara district earlier. It is no secret that the salwa judum is sponsored, funded and trained by the government and administrative authorities but it does not find mention in any government document. The Citizens Initiative has pointed out that the government thus remains unaccountable for the salwa judum operations even though its members are "given impunity to operate outside the law of the land with the assurance of state protection". The reports record that under the salwa judum operations, over 50,000 villagers from 650 villages in the state are now living in 23 relief camps that are basically makeshift shelters with few amenities. Local Congress and BJP leaders are deeply involved in salwa judum, helping organise the attacks on villagers charged with being Naxalites or supporters. In just one year, 750 persons were killed in these clashes, with officials now admitting that the scheme has "not worked". In fact, Naxalites have grown in strength in the districts where salwa judum was launched with some fanfare two years ago with thousands of villages now homeless as their villages have been looted and burnt. The Campaign for Peace and Justice in Chhattisgarh, and other such civil society groups, organised public hearings on this in Delhi last month. These clearly brought out the atrocities committed against the people under salwa judum, with women being raped for not joining the government-backed operations and young boys being forced with the threat of violence to join these. The Chhattisgarh Electricity Board chairman has been quoted in the media as saying that electricity was being supplied only to those villages that joined salwa judum. Over 250 villages were now without electricity, with the power having been cut off by the authorities. Thousands of adivasis have migrated to neighbouring states, according to the JNU survey, with several local journalists pointing out that those who did not join salwa judum were branded as Maoists and targeted by the authorities. The failure of the salwa judum operations in Chhattisgarh has now made other states wary of copying what was earlier projected as a "model" strategy to counter the spread of the Naxalite movement. Sources here said that the strategy had failed, and while no one was willing to confirm this officially, experts advising the government on this issue admitted that the experiment had proved disastrous. However, as yet there is no effort to dismantle the security forces that have assumed extraordinary powers in the remote areas of the state despite the armed confrontation between the salwa judum "militia" as it is being referred to by the civil rights groups and the Naxalites. <javascript:window.print();> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality." - Dr BR Ambedkar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
