Salwa Judum
Encyclopedia
Salwa Judum refers to a militia in Chhattisgarh
, India
, which is aimed at countering the naxalite
violence in the region. The militia consisting of local tribal youth receives support and training from the Chhattisgarh
state government.
On July 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of India
declared the militia as illegal and unconstitutional. The court directed the Chhattisgarh government to recover all the firearms given along with the ammunition and accessories. It also ordered the government to investigate all instances of alleged criminal activities of Salwa Judum. The use of Salwa Judum by the government for anti naxal operations was criticized for its violations of human rights, use of child soldiers and poorly trained uneducated youth for counter-insurgency roles.
s, a far-left movement in some states in rural India that is designated by India as a terrorist organization on account of their violent Maoist activities in the state. Initially an uprising of local indigenous people in Chhattisgarh
, the Salwa Judum movement later received bi-partisan support from both the opposition and ruling parties. A few years later the state government adopted the Salwa Judum movement in order to restore democratic rule to the regions where the Naxalites had established themselves by force.
Chhattisgarh state has over the years trained a number of SPOs or 'Special Police Officers' (also popularly referred as Koya commandos), from amongst the tribals, who are part of Salwa Judum in the state, also with its formation the state witnessed a marked rise in success against Naxalite action, as a result in 2008, Chhattisgarh along with neighboring Jharkhand
accounted for over 65% of the total Naxal violence in the country.
With success of counter-strikes on Naxalite hideouts in south Chhattisgarh, Maoist
activities in the bordering districts of Orissa saw a rise in 2008, thus in Feb 2009, the Central government announced its plans for simultaneous, co-ordinated counter-operations in all Maoist extremism-hit states - Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, UP and West Bengal, to plug all possible escape routes of Naxalites.
Bastar
and Dantewada district
s of Chhattisgarh have traditionally been sparsely populated, rich in natural resources, and yet some of the poorest tribal regions. Here the Maoists (Naxalite
s) have continued to enlarge their control among the local tribals over the past two decades by force. The first movement against the Naxalites was the 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan', started in 1991 by Mahendra Karma
. This was mostly led by local traders and businessmen. This later collapsed, and the leaders had to seek police protection to survive. However, the second time around the state had signed the MoU's with the Tata and Essar groups, and was eager to flush the region of the Naxalites in order let the mining companies smoothly operate there. This was the beginning of the police support and military to the movement. A a local tribal leader, Mahendra Karma, a Congress MLA and the leader of opposition in the State Legislative Assembly, jumped into the fray as a political opportunity becoming the public front he took the Bijapur-based movement to Dantewada
, Katreli and other villages in the region.
Salwa Judum herded villagers and tibals in makeshift camps, where human rights abuses were rife. Salwa Judum became increasingly violent and out of control. Salwa Judum is also accused of burning and evacuating out 644 or more villages, making 300,000 people flee their homes. As the situation further escalated in the coming years, Human Rights Watch
reported atrocities at both ends, and reported large scale displacement of the civilian population caught in the conflict between the Naxalites and Salwa Judum activists with at least 100,000 people moving to various camps in southern Chhattisgarh or fleeing to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as of early 2008. By mid-2008 the figure grew to 150,000 tribals being displaced. There was also widespread report of rape and other abuses on women by the Judum.
Since the inception of the movement in 2005, over 800 people, including some 300 security personnel, have been killed by the Naxalites, SPO deaths alone total 98 — one in 2005; 29 in 2006; 66 in 2007; and 20 in 2008, when the Maoists rebels continued their attacks, though now considerably more dramatic from the previous years, they were now splitting into smaller groups and specifically targeting Salwa Judum leaders and security personnel who were ambushed in weekly markets in remote areas, and their weapons stolen, also posters threatening Salwa Judum leaders continued to appear in villages across Dantewada and Bijapur. However by mid-2008, movement's frontliner, Mahendra Karma
announced that it will soon cease to exist, and end 2008, saw Salwa Judum which had controlled the lives of tribal people in camps and its influenced villages for nearly three years losing its hold in the region; the number of people living in the camps dropped from earlier 50,000 to 13,000 and public support was dwindled away. An NHRC report published in October 2008, said that Salwa Judum having lost its earlier momentum was only restricted to its 23 camps in the Dantewada
and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh
The Chhattisgarh state Police employs tribal youths as SPOs (Special Police Officers), which are essentially 4,000 youth, both ex-Naxalites and those drawn from Salwa Judum camps in the Bastar region, who are paid an honorarium of Rs 1,500 (Rs 3000 in 2011)per month by the state government, were trained by with mostly .303 rifles. In Feb 2009, the Supreme Court in India declared such arming of civilians illegal.
In 2008, there were 23 Salwa Judum camps in Bijapur and Dantewara districts of Bastar region where almost 50,000 tribals from over 600 villages had settled. The government has now discredited the Salwa Judum movement. Union Minister of Home Affairs
, P. Chidambaram
has praised the role of special police officers (SPOs) in fighting Naxalism and called for their appointment "wherever required.", while the Chhattisgarh
Chief Minister, Raman Singh
has stated that "Salwa Judum is the answer to get rid of the Naxal menace in the state..". On July 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Indian state of Chhattisgarh to disband a militia force founded to combat Maoist guerrillas who control large areas of the country. As reported in The Hindu
, the Supreme Court directed the Chhattisgarh police to “immediately cease and desist from using SPOs in any manner or form in any activities, directly or indirectly, aimed at controlling, countering, mitigating or otherwise eliminating Maoist/Naxalite activities” and directed the police to recall all firearms issued to these men.
On July 6, 2011 supreme court declared sulwa judum as illegal.
and that the Chhattisgarh Government had "officially recruited 4200 Special Police Officers (SPOs); many of them being easily identifiable as minors". The Asian Centre for Human Rights
(ACHR) also found that the Salwa Judum had engaged in the recruitment of child soldiers. Similar recruitment findings were also reported in the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
's "Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 – India".
has raised allegations that Salwa Judum is a government-backed organisation, supported by the Chhattisgarh
government, but a fact finding commission of National Human Rights Commission of India
(NHRC), appointed by Supreme Court of India
found out that Salwa Judum was a "spontaneous reaction by the tribals to defend themselves against the "reign of terror unleashed by the Naxalites." The report also said that, 15 years after Jan Jagran Abhiyan, an earlier attempt to deal with Naxalites, "local tribals once again mustered courage to stand up to the Naxalites, which only goes to show their sense of desperation". It also found out that allegations against Salwa Judum were distortions of truth by some biased human right organisations.
In December 2008, replying to a petition filed in the Supreme Court, the state government acknowledged that Salwa Judum and security forces had burnt houses and looted property but the allegations against Salwa Judum of killings were not found to be true by National Human Rights Commission.
In an order, the Supreme Court mentioned that people take arms for survival and against inhuman implementation of law depriving the weak, and not senselessly. The court pointed out the importance of formalized state police actions, in ways that do not ignore Constitutional values:
on similar lines. In 2006, Karnataka
raised a similar force employing tribals youths to fight Naxalism in the state, as did Andhra Pradesh
prior to it Jharkhand is another state that has been successfully using SPOs to counter Leftwing terrorists.
However, the Salwa Judum appears to have been abandoned in Chhattisgarh state, with Chief Minister Raman Singh describing the movement as "over", because it was counterproductive and "innocent people were being killed" Singh, however, said that a "peaceful campaign" to wean locals away from supporting Maoists would continue.
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, which is aimed at countering the naxalite
Naxalite
The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...
violence in the region. The militia consisting of local tribal youth receives support and training from the Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
state government.
On July 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
declared the militia as illegal and unconstitutional. The court directed the Chhattisgarh government to recover all the firearms given along with the ammunition and accessories. It also ordered the government to investigate all instances of alleged criminal activities of Salwa Judum. The use of Salwa Judum by the government for anti naxal operations was criticized for its violations of human rights, use of child soldiers and poorly trained uneducated youth for counter-insurgency roles.
Origins
Salwa Judum started in 2006 as a people's resistance movement against the NaxaliteNaxalite
The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...
s, a far-left movement in some states in rural India that is designated by India as a terrorist organization on account of their violent Maoist activities in the state. Initially an uprising of local indigenous people in Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
, the Salwa Judum movement later received bi-partisan support from both the opposition and ruling parties. A few years later the state government adopted the Salwa Judum movement in order to restore democratic rule to the regions where the Naxalites had established themselves by force.
Chhattisgarh state has over the years trained a number of SPOs or 'Special Police Officers' (also popularly referred as Koya commandos), from amongst the tribals, who are part of Salwa Judum in the state, also with its formation the state witnessed a marked rise in success against Naxalite action, as a result in 2008, Chhattisgarh along with neighboring Jharkhand
Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
accounted for over 65% of the total Naxal violence in the country.
With success of counter-strikes on Naxalite hideouts in south Chhattisgarh, Maoist
Communist Party of India (Maoist)
The Communist Party of India is a Maoist political party in India which aims to overthrow the government of India through violent means. It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the People's War, and the Maoist Communist Centre . The merger was announced to the public on October...
activities in the bordering districts of Orissa saw a rise in 2008, thus in Feb 2009, the Central government announced its plans for simultaneous, co-ordinated counter-operations in all Maoist extremism-hit states - Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, UP and West Bengal, to plug all possible escape routes of Naxalites.
History
Bastar District
Bastar District is a district of the state of Chhattisgarh in central India. Jagdalpur is the district headquarters. The district has an area of 8755.79 km²...
and Dantewada district
Dantewada District
Dantewada District, also known as Dantewara District or Dakshin Bastar District , is a district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Dantewada is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bastar Division...
s of Chhattisgarh have traditionally been sparsely populated, rich in natural resources, and yet some of the poorest tribal regions. Here the Maoists (Naxalite
Naxalite
The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...
s) have continued to enlarge their control among the local tribals over the past two decades by force. The first movement against the Naxalites was the 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan', started in 1991 by Mahendra Karma
Mahendra Karma
Mahendra Karma is a politician from Chhattisgarh, India. He was the leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha from 2003 to 2008 and belongs to the Congress party. In 2005, he organised the Salwa Judum movement against Naxalites in Chattisgarh...
. This was mostly led by local traders and businessmen. This later collapsed, and the leaders had to seek police protection to survive. However, the second time around the state had signed the MoU's with the Tata and Essar groups, and was eager to flush the region of the Naxalites in order let the mining companies smoothly operate there. This was the beginning of the police support and military to the movement. A a local tribal leader, Mahendra Karma, a Congress MLA and the leader of opposition in the State Legislative Assembly, jumped into the fray as a political opportunity becoming the public front he took the Bijapur-based movement to Dantewada
Dantewada
Dantewada is a town and a nagar panchayat in the Dantewada district in the state of Chhattisgarh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Dantewada District....
, Katreli and other villages in the region.
Salwa Judum herded villagers and tibals in makeshift camps, where human rights abuses were rife. Salwa Judum became increasingly violent and out of control. Salwa Judum is also accused of burning and evacuating out 644 or more villages, making 300,000 people flee their homes. As the situation further escalated in the coming years, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
reported atrocities at both ends, and reported large scale displacement of the civilian population caught in the conflict between the Naxalites and Salwa Judum activists with at least 100,000 people moving to various camps in southern Chhattisgarh or fleeing to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as of early 2008. By mid-2008 the figure grew to 150,000 tribals being displaced. There was also widespread report of rape and other abuses on women by the Judum.
Since the inception of the movement in 2005, over 800 people, including some 300 security personnel, have been killed by the Naxalites, SPO deaths alone total 98 — one in 2005; 29 in 2006; 66 in 2007; and 20 in 2008, when the Maoists rebels continued their attacks, though now considerably more dramatic from the previous years, they were now splitting into smaller groups and specifically targeting Salwa Judum leaders and security personnel who were ambushed in weekly markets in remote areas, and their weapons stolen, also posters threatening Salwa Judum leaders continued to appear in villages across Dantewada and Bijapur. However by mid-2008, movement's frontliner, Mahendra Karma
Mahendra Karma
Mahendra Karma is a politician from Chhattisgarh, India. He was the leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha from 2003 to 2008 and belongs to the Congress party. In 2005, he organised the Salwa Judum movement against Naxalites in Chattisgarh...
announced that it will soon cease to exist, and end 2008, saw Salwa Judum which had controlled the lives of tribal people in camps and its influenced villages for nearly three years losing its hold in the region; the number of people living in the camps dropped from earlier 50,000 to 13,000 and public support was dwindled away. An NHRC report published in October 2008, said that Salwa Judum having lost its earlier momentum was only restricted to its 23 camps in the Dantewada
Dantewada District
Dantewada District, also known as Dantewara District or Dakshin Bastar District , is a district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Dantewada is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bastar Division...
and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh
Development of Special Police Officers (SPOs)
In 2008, there were 23 Salwa Judum camps in Bijapur and Dantewara districts of Bastar region where almost 50,000 tribals from over 600 villages had settled. The government has now discredited the Salwa Judum movement. Union Minister of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs (India)
Ministry of Home Affairs , known as the Home Ministry or MHA, is an Indian government ministry. It is an interior ministry mainly responsible for the maintenance of Internal security and domestic policy.-Ministerial Team:...
, P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram or Chidambaram Palaniappan, sometimes written Palaniappan Chidambaram is an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress and present Union Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of India. Previously he was the Finance Minister of India from May 2004 to November 2008...
has praised the role of special police officers (SPOs) in fighting Naxalism and called for their appointment "wherever required.", while the Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
Chief Minister, Raman Singh
Raman Singh
Raman Singh is the current Chief Minister of Chhatisgarh, from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been chief minister since December 7, 2003.-Political career:Dr. Raman Singh holds a degree in Ayurvedic Medicine...
has stated that "Salwa Judum is the answer to get rid of the Naxal menace in the state..". On July 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Indian state of Chhattisgarh to disband a militia force founded to combat Maoist guerrillas who control large areas of the country. As reported in The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
, the Supreme Court directed the Chhattisgarh police to “immediately cease and desist from using SPOs in any manner or form in any activities, directly or indirectly, aimed at controlling, countering, mitigating or otherwise eliminating Maoist/Naxalite activities” and directed the police to recall all firearms issued to these men.
On July 6, 2011 supreme court declared sulwa judum as illegal.
Child Soldiers
There have been numerous reports that the Salwa Judum had recruited minors for its armed forces. A primary survey evaluated by the Forum for Fact-finding Documentation and Advocacy (FFDA) determined that over 12,000 minors were being used by the Salwa Judum in the southern district of DantewadaDantewada
Dantewada is a town and a nagar panchayat in the Dantewada district in the state of Chhattisgarh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Dantewada District....
and that the Chhattisgarh Government had "officially recruited 4200 Special Police Officers (SPOs); many of them being easily identifiable as minors". The Asian Centre for Human Rights
Asian Centre for Human Rights
The Asian Centre for Human Rights is a NGO dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Asian region. It is headquartered in New Delhi, India...
(ACHR) also found that the Salwa Judum had engaged in the recruitment of child soldiers. Similar recruitment findings were also reported in the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers is a UK-based non-governmental organization that was formed to prevent the recruitment and exploitation of children in warfare and to ensure their reintegration into larger society by means of research, advocacy, and capacity building...
's "Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 – India".
Human rights violation
Some human rights organizations such as the People's Union for Civil LibertiesPeople's Union for Civil Liberties
People's Union for Civil Liberties is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights .-The indian emergency:...
has raised allegations that Salwa Judum is a government-backed organisation, supported by the Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
government, but a fact finding commission of National Human Rights Commission of India
National Human Rights Commission of India
The National Human Rights Commission of India is an autonomous statutory body established on 12 October 1993, under the provisions of The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 .-Functions:...
(NHRC), appointed by Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
found out that Salwa Judum was a "spontaneous reaction by the tribals to defend themselves against the "reign of terror unleashed by the Naxalites." The report also said that, 15 years after Jan Jagran Abhiyan, an earlier attempt to deal with Naxalites, "local tribals once again mustered courage to stand up to the Naxalites, which only goes to show their sense of desperation". It also found out that allegations against Salwa Judum were distortions of truth by some biased human right organisations.
State sponsoring of militia
In April 2008, a Supreme Court bench directed the state Government to refrain from allegedly supporting and encouraging the Salwa Judum: "It is a question of law and order. You cannot give arms to somebody (a civilian) and allow him to kill. You will be an abettor of the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code."; the state government had earlier denied, Salwa Judum being a state-sponsored movement, later it directed the state government to take up the remedial measures suggested in the NHRC earlier report The Human Rights Commission alleged that Security forces collaborated with Salwa Judum in their fight against the Maoists.In December 2008, replying to a petition filed in the Supreme Court, the state government acknowledged that Salwa Judum and security forces had burnt houses and looted property but the allegations against Salwa Judum of killings were not found to be true by National Human Rights Commission.
In an order, the Supreme Court mentioned that people take arms for survival and against inhuman implementation of law depriving the weak, and not senselessly. The court pointed out the importance of formalized state police actions, in ways that do not ignore Constitutional values:
Effects
Encouraged by the highly positive results of the movement in the region, the government is planning to launch a people's movement in insurgency hit state of ManipurManipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
on similar lines. In 2006, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
raised a similar force employing tribals youths to fight Naxalism in the state, as did Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
prior to it Jharkhand is another state that has been successfully using SPOs to counter Leftwing terrorists.
However, the Salwa Judum appears to have been abandoned in Chhattisgarh state, with Chief Minister Raman Singh describing the movement as "over", because it was counterproductive and "innocent people were being killed" Singh, however, said that a "peaceful campaign" to wean locals away from supporting Maoists would continue.
In media
- Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Unreported World telecast a program titled "India's Hidden War" in October 2006, on the MaoistCommunist Party of India (Maoist)The Communist Party of India is a Maoist political party in India which aims to overthrow the government of India through violent means. It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the People's War, and the Maoist Communist Centre . The merger was announced to the public on October...
war against the state and people of India
Further reading
- The Adivasis of Chhattisgarh: Victims of the Naxalite Movement and Salwa Judum Campaign, by Asian Centre for Human Rights. Published by Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2006.
See also
- NaxaliteNaxaliteThe word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...
- Compact Revolutionary Zone
- Naxalite-Maoist insurgencyNaxalite-Maoist insurgencyThe Naxalite-Maoist insurgency is an ongoing conflict between Maoist groups, known as Naxalites or Naxals, and the Indian government.In 2006 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the Naxalites "The single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country."...
- Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
External links
- The Adivasis of Chhattisgarh: Victims of Naxalite Movement and Salwa Judum Campaign
- Unreported World: India's Hidden War
- Naxal Issues
- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Anti-Naxal_Salwa_Judum_faces_axe_over_rights_abuse/articleshow/3504703.cms
- Economic and Political Weekly Article on NHRC report
- Report of the IAPL Fact Finding Mission
- Video Documentary (20 mn.) on Salwa Judum Camps