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An all India team
looking into the reality of the alleged violations of human rights and its
impact on people’s lives in the course of the Salwa Judum in Dantewada district
conducted an investigation between 28th November and 1st December. The 14 member
team met local people in camps as well as in their villages, people arrested
during the operation, leaders of Salwa Judum, Police and Civil Administration
officials (Collector, SDM).
Following are the
main findings:
1. The Salwa Judum is
far from the spontaneous uprising of tribals against Maoists that it is claimed
to be. It is an organized, state managed enterprise that has precedents in the
Jan Jagaran Abhiyans that have occurred earlier under the leadership of Mahendra
Karma. The Collector himself has been part of 75% of the Salwa Judum meetings
and security forces have been backing the Judum’s meetings. The main cadre of
Salwa Judum are comprised of Special Police Officers who are being paid and
armed by the state, at a rate that is standard in counter insurgency operations
across the country.
2. The Salwa Judum
has led to the forcible displacement of people throughout Dantewada, Geedam and
Bijapur areas, under police and administrative supervision. According to
official estimates approximately 15,000 people from 420 villages are living as
refugees in temporary camps. People have left behind their cattle and most of
their household goods. The entire area is being cleared of inhabitants even as
new roads are being built and more police and para-military stations are being
set up. The region is being turned into one large cantonment. In many places
regular economic activities like weekly haats have stopped.
3. We observed a
pattern in the dislocation: when Salwa Judum meetings are called, people from
neighbouring villages are asked to be present. The meetings are accompanied by
heavy security forces. Villages which refuse to participate face repeated
attacks by the combined forces of Salwa Judum, the district force and the Naga
battalion. In addition, there are separate raids by the Naga Battalion. These
raids result in looting, arson and killings in many instances. In some villages,
the raids continue till the entire village is cleared while in other cases, only
old people, women and children are left. Many villages are coming to camps to
avoid these attacks in the first place.
4. Once in camps,
people have no choice but to support the Salwa Judum. Some of them are forced to
work as informers against members of their own and neighbouring villages and
participate in attacks against them, leading to permanent divisions within
villages. Individual families are sometimes being split between Judum supporters
and those who wish to remain in their villages. We also came across instances
where young people were taken away from the village by the Salwa Judum and their
families are unaware of their whereabouts.
5. It is frightening
to note the collapse of civil administration in many parts of Dantewada
District. Salwa Judum members man check points on roads, search people’s
belongings and control the flow of traffic and buses. They enforce an economic
blockade on villages that resist coming to camps. They also try to force civil
officials to follow their dictate.
6. FIRs registering
the looting, burning, beatings/torture by Salwa Judum mobs and the security
forces are not recorded. We were told of specific instances where Security
Forces threw dead bodies inside or near villages. These killings are not
reported, and therefore hard to corroborate. Some reports suggest that 96 people
from 34 villages have been killed. However, the only killings that are
officially recorded are those by Maoists. In the period since Salwa Judum
started, it is true that the killings by Maoists have gone up substantially and
the official figure today stands at 70. Rather than being a "peace mission" as
is claimed, the Salwa Judum has created a situation where violence has
escalated.
7. The Salwa Judum is
strongly supported by certain sections of Bastar society. This section comprises
of some non-adivasi immigrant settlers from other parts of India, sarpanches and
traditional leaders whose power has been threatened by the Maoists, powerful
local politicians like Karma, and his network of supporters. Both the local
Congress and the BJP are supporting the Salwa Judum together.
8. Militarisation: We
have heard from several high ranking officials that there is an undeclared war
on in Bastar, and we fear that the worst is yet to come. There is a heavy
presence of the paramilitary like the CRPF and the Naga Battalion. This creates
a situation where forces from other states are behaving like an occupation army.
We ourselves saw a number of cattle and people being herded by the Naga
Battalion after a raid. In addition, people are being encouraged to carry arms.
Village defence committees are being created, SPOs are being trained and armed,
and the entire society is becoming more militaristic.
9. Although
Chhattisgarh is claimed to be a tribal state, adivasi society and culture is
being actively destroyed. People, for whom the earth of their village is sacred,
are being forcibly removed from it, and the whole social fabric is being torn.
We demand:
1. Stop
militarisation of society in Bastar/Dantewada, which is pitting adivasis against
each other as part of an anti-Naxal operation, and using people as a shield.
2. Hold a judicial
enquiry into all killings committed by the Salwa Judum/Security Forces combine,
which have gone have gone unrecorded.
3. The CPI (Maoist)
provide details of all persons killed by them.
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