State terrorism defende d: NHRC report on Salwa Judum, State militia of Chattisgarh

Statesman , October 10, 2008
edits Flawed report NHRC defends Salwa Judum in complete turnaround The report presented to the Supreme Court by a fact-finding team of the National Human Rights Commission exculpating the Salwa Judum is an extraordinary document. It is extraordinary not least because of the context. Just over a fortnight ago this team had submitted a report to the court and indicted this state-run militia formed ostensibly to counter the Naxals who operate in Chhattisgarh. Now it has done a volte-face virtually telling the court that the Salwa Judum is blameless, that it is indeed necessary and that the militia helps to protect tribals who are oppressed by the Naxals. What do we make of this? One will never be sure, of course, of what has transpired behind the scenes to bring about this astounding turnaround ~ but it inspires little faith in agencies that are connected to the state. Every independent observer who has gone to Chhattisgarh (with the possible exception of those patronised by the state) has had harsh words to say about the Salwa Judum. No less than the Naxals they are responsible for unleashing violence on the tribals, displacing them and pushing state agendas. Important among this, as the media has often reported, is to open up territory rich in forests and minerals for subsequent exploitation by rogue entrepreneurs. It is common knowledge that the Salwa Judum routinely and forcibly recruits child warriors ~ in the manner that they are pressed into war in failed states like the Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Even a team set up by the Planning Commission and led by the respected bureaucrat and land reform expert, Mr Debabrata Bandopadhyay, had posted a severe indictment of the Salwa Judum and recommended that it be wound up. Alongside, this exculpation of a patently illegal militia, comes a severe indictment of the Naxals, at whose door is laid the entire burden of blame of unleashing violence on the tribals of the region, with no recognition of the fact that the Maoists in Chhattisgarh enjoy wide backing of the tribals. This is not meant to be a defence of the methods used by the Maoists, but a recognition of the realities on the ground. It is only in passing ~ in the last paragraph ~ that the report mentions the socio-economic deprivation that has resulted in the ultra-Left phenomenon. One hopes the courts will reject these findings.  Read