In Chhattisgarh, the revival of Salwa Judum to fight Naxals remains a highly sensitive issue

Amid reports, that a few leaders associated with Salwa Judum came together to revive the movement, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday said that the issue of locals and villagers becoming the force to tackle the Naxals in the region is a “sensitive one.”

Raman Singh’s reaction came a few days after the Maoists in the region threatened backlash if any attempt to resume the Salwa Judum (The Peace March) movement was made.

Reports last week said that several leaders associated with Salwa Judum came together in the Maoist-hit district of Chhattisgarh to form Vikas Sangharsh Samiti to counter the rebels in the state.

Maoists in the region warned the villagers and the authorities that there will be a repeat of the 2013 Jiram Ghati massacre if the movement resumed. Naxals in 2013 killed the architect of Salwa Judum and Congress MP Mahendra Karma and 27 others in the Jiram Ghati of Bastar region.

“This Salwa Judum-2 is nothing but a Hindutva fascist BJP government-sponsored murderous goons gangster organization formed by the Congress Karma family and the goons of BJP and anti-people elements,” said CPI (Maoist) Danda Karanya Special Zonal Committee (ZKSZC) spokesperson Gudsa Usendi, in a press statement.

“It will act as a supportive organization to the Greenhunt (alleged anti-Maoist campaign by the government). All these initiatives are actually campaigns to repress the people. The Salwa Judum-2 in the name of peace and development is to sell off the natural property of the state to the domestic and foreign capitalists. It is to intensify a fascist military and repressive campaign on the masses,” claimed Usendi.

The Maoist spokesperson warned that “the revolutionary movement and the people’s war would avenge the present Salwa Judum-2 like it did to Mahendra Karma and the other goons of Salwa Judum (in Jiram Ghati attack)”.

When asked about the second phase of the Salwa Judum movement, CM Raman Singh told The Indian Express that if the state government had to form an army of villagers to fight the Naxals in Chhattisgarh it would have to ensure that they were protected.

“On the issue of garnering consent among people, making them ready and creating a certain atmosphere — there should be awareness among the people. If we stand up against Naxals on the streets and bring the villagers along, I have to ensure they are protected. How far we should bring villagers — to the forefront of our fight against Naxals – is a highly sensitive issue. Creating awareness among people and educating them is a major solution.”

Raman Singh, has been one of the supporters of the Salwa Judum movement in the past. The Chief Minister, who had said that Salwa Judum was the only answer to get rid of the Naxal menace in the state, told The Indian Express on Monday that under no circumstance Army will be deployed against the Maoists in the region.

“The Constitution does not allow deployment against our own people, and neither does my heart.”

Ironically, Raman Singh on Monday also sought battalions of Nagaland armed police force personnel, who are experts in jungle warfare, from the Union Home Ministry to take on Naxals in his state, PTI had reported.

According to reports, Chhavindra Karma, son of Mahendra Karma, with other leaders, announced last week (5 May) that a Salwa Judum Part II will be launched on his father’s second death anniversary. The developments also come around a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his visit to the Naxal-affected Dantewada district.

The Maoists demonstrated their anger by taking 400 locals hostage in a village not very far from the venue of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s programme when he visited Dantewada on Saturday last. They also killed a villager, reports said.

Chhavindra refused to term it as the “second phase of Salwa Judum” and said that this time along the movement will be peaceful.

Scores of villagers were forced to leave their homes and migrate due to the atrocities committed by the armed forces.

Speaking to The Hindu , CPI (Maoist) Danda Karanya Special Zonal Committee (ZKSZC) spokesperson Gudsa Usendi appealed to the people of Bastar not to fall for government’s “anti-repressive campaign on the people that would displace them from their jal, jungle, zameen (water, forest and land) and also to put a vigil on those who become part of it.”

Salwa Judum — loosely translated as ‘Peace March’ — was launched as a movement against the Naxal presence in the area. The militia consisting of the tribal youth and children, armed, financed, trained and supported by the government had become controversial for poorly using untrained tribals which resulted in human rights violations.

In 2011, the Supreme Court declared the movement illegal and ordered its disbandment after Professor Nandini Sundar and others moved a PIL against it. Mahendra Karma was killed, along with other Congress leaders and party workers, in a Naxal attack in Bastar in May 2013.

Mahendra Karma had launched the movement a decade ago and was termed as the Chhattisgarh government’s agent. Speaking to The Indian Express , Chhavindra Karma admitted that his father did commit a mistake by involving the police in the movement.

Parivesh Mishra of Firstpost quoted Alok Shukla of Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan as saying, “Thousands of tribals were killed at the hands of the fellow tribals at the behest of the government of the day simply because it wanted to clear the land for the industrialists to come and occupy it. How an announcement of the revival of a movement like this can be made on the eve of the Prime Minister’s visit without the implicit consent of the government?”