Salwa Judum: War among Tribals

Salwa Judum: War among Tribals

…..She had been picked up while accompanying her brother on a bicycle, her brother was shot dead in front of her and she was first gang raped by the CRPF near roadside and then sent to local thana where she was held and gang raped for another ten days…..1,857 houses burnt by Salwa Judum...... More than 50,000 Adivasis have been displaced….. At least 10 security personnel, including 6 special police officers (SPOs), were killed in a Naxalite attack ….

Salawa Judum is anti-insurgent movement against Naxalites, which is said to be initiated by local tribals of Dantewara Distirict of Chattisgarh. The government and people called it a spontaneous peoples’ uprising against Naxalites. The government of Chattisgarh and the organizers of this movement, in their local Gond language, attribute the meaning of ‘peace mission’ to the title Salwa Judum. However one should know that an accurate translation of Salawa Judum is ‘purification hunt’.

It is interesting and important to know critically and analyze, why should there be an anti-naxal movement and what was the origin, how does Salwa Judum function - its organization, methodology and activities, who brought war among tribals?

Why Salwa Judum?

In 1980s, the Naxalites who were the ultra-left wing armed group, made inroads into Bastar region from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Then Madhya Pradesh government had little semblance of presence in the Bastar region. The plight of the dispossessed and exploited Adivasis provided the classical situation for starting a communist revolution. The Naxalites took over the tasks meant to be done by the State and provided protection to the Adivasis against exploitation by the corrupt officials, police, forest department officials, timber mafia, money-lenders etc. It was not difficult for the Adivasis to relate to the ideology of the Naxalites. Some tribals in the Naxalite affected areas do not necessarily share the ideology of the Naxalites. But dispossession, deprivation and exploitation against them provided the classical situation for the ultra-leftist uprising. The Naxalites gradually increased their influence day by day. At present, at least nine out of 16 districts of Chattisgarh i.e. Kanker, Dantewada, Bastar, Surguja, Balrampur, Rajnandgaon, Koriya, Kawardha and Jashpur are affected by low intensity armed conflict with the Naxalites. Now, “Red Corridor”, a 100,000 square kilometer tract of mineral rich land which is infiltrated by the Naxalites, is bereft of ‘development’, for government is not able to allot the land of tribals in this region to any industrial corporations.

Origin of Salwa Judum

During the summer of 2005 there were reports of ‘spontaneous’ ‘self-initiated movement against Maoists, known as Salwa Judum. Though the exact origin of Salwa Judum still remains unclear, according to one theory, it seems to have taken its origin around Kutur in Dantewara district of Chattisgarh, in order to combat Naxalites, where naxalites are not strong. It was understood, the movement was led by a section of local elite, contractors and traders and timber-mafia. Soon it came under the leadership of Mahendra Karma, a Congress MLA and leader of opposition in the state assembly.

June 2005 onwards meetings were held in different villages to mobilize people against Naxalites. Local tribals were forcefully mobilsed by security personnel and activists of Salwa Judum through the acts of arson. Mahendra Karma MLA, and K.R. Pisda, District Collector attended most of their meetings. They denied excesses committed by Salwa Judum.

The Operation is one of State sponsorship. There was an evidence of video in which the police do speak of ‘Operation Salwa Judum’. There were invitations and advertisements of Salwa Judum in local Adivasi paper, which were said to be issued by Sodi Deva. However, investigations revealed that a person by that name never existed and it was discovered that the press releases were emanating from the office of the Inspector General of Police in Jagadalpur.

There was also an official document – the work proposal for the peoples’ movement against Naxallites drawn up by the Collector of Dantewara – which manifests the design of Salwa Judum Operation. It also throws light on its leadership, funding, tasks to be conducted. In line with this the first task was to identify friendly villages. Salwa Judum activists are granted impunity to operate outside the law of the land with assurance of full protection.

This movement is mainly to oust Naxalites from the region, and bring the region under the control of government, in the process they make tribals weak in their existence. To fight Naxalites the government had recruited 13000 police men since three years, which is much higher than any state, to fight a meager number of Naxlites. Besides there are three thousand others who are specially trained in jungle warfare.

Organization

There are five levels of hierarchy in the leadership. a.) Top Political Leadership: Mahendra Karma MLA(Congress Party) and the BJP backs the Political Leadership of Salwa Judum. b.) Camp Leaders: These are followers of Mahendra Karma, like Bhushan Kushwaha, Ajay Singh, Madhukar and others are non-tribal immigrants from UP, who work as contractors and traders. They have criminal records. Salwa Judum camps are under their supervision. c.) Special Police Officers (SPOs): These are mostly tribal youth, minor boys and girls. The Government has appointed them as Special Police Officers. Government recruited 500 such SPOs. These are paid Rs.1500 per month. These are the actual fighting forces against Naxalites. Many are aware of neither their job nor dangers that are in store for them. They merely joined under the lure of getting a ‘government job’. These SPOs have no uniform, carry no official identification. These are repeatedly told that they are enlisted in the service of nation to ‘get rid of the Naxalite menace’. But they are not trained in weapons and they are armed with only bows and arrows, obsolete World War II vintage rifles. So, during the attacks with Naxalites, these are more vulnerable to death. d.) Sangham members: These are surrendered Naxalites, are used as informers and to accompany during patrolling. e.) Ordinary triblas: Many of these are forcibly brought to Salwa Judum camps. These are taken to loot and burn the villages and become vulnerable to retaliatory action by Naxlites and the tribals, whose houses were burnt and relations are killed.

Violence and Terror

The only modus operandi of Salwa Judum is violence and terror. The Salwa Judum indulged in massive amount of violence, which includes killing the tribals, burning and looting their houses and raping women. Arson is used as practical strategy to coerce people to join Salwa Judum. So far 500 villages and 3000 houses were burnt. Estimates of those killed by Salwa Judum and security personnel are between 750 and 1000. Maoists have released a list of 31 women who were allegedly gang raped and severely brutalized by police, security forces and Salwa Judum. And there are many unreported incidents of violence. Civil Administration of Dantewarah District almost fell in to the hands of Salwa Judum.

Tribals Divided

Tribals siding between Salwa Judum and Naxalites, got them themselves divided. As per official figures, out of 1153 villages 644 amounting to 56%, are involved with Salwa Judum. The creation of Salwa Judum and the use of tribals to fight against Naxalites and those tribals supporting Naxalites, gave way for retaliatory action by Naxalites killing Salwa Judum cadre, who are mostly also tribals. This cycle of mutual retribution and revenge accelerated the division and war among triblas. In this fight between Salwa Judum(the government, political leaders, traders, timber mafia, industrialists) and Naxalites, the real victims are tribals, for they are fighting among themselves and killing each other for no reason of their own. In this chaotic ambience, existence became dangerous in their own land. So, many fled to neighboring Andhra Pradesh, where their existence became illegal. Others were forced to the camps conducted by Salwa Judum, which were like typical hamlets far from the fabric of tribal culture. Most of these camps face shortage of food and other basic amenities and are unhygienic, prone to epidemic diseases. As for official records there are 45,958 residents in 27 camps. These tribals have no touch with their lands. These are used only to attack Naxlaites. It’s unethical for the Chattisgarh Government to use tribals to combat Naxalites.

Media(o)cracy

The Indian mainstream media is either completely silent of this conspicuous unrest or biased in support of Salwa Judum through their fragmented reporting. Just recently Indian Express published the Interview of Chief Minister of Chattisgarh on the success of Salwa Judum. The local media is fully under the supervision of Salwa Judum.

Consequences

As this situation persists tribals in the region would wither away, in the sense they get displaced. Some may stay in the region, but their existence will not be of tribal in nature. Naxalites also would weaken as they may be left with no supporters. So government’s dream of control over the region which is very rich in iron ore, coal, gold and diamond reserves, would be realized. Now, government can indulge in ‘development’ of the region. Now, government can create SEZ and distribute to MNC’s and big industrial houses of India, of course always corruption involved in it. The Government has already allotted 5000 sq Kilometers of land to De Beers and other six international companies who are working on diamond reserves of the region. Dr. Raman Singh, the Chief Minister of the state thinks that the ‘development’ would create 50.000 job opportunities, wel, surely for the non-tribals by ousting tribals of the region. The ‘developmental’ cacophony of the region would end up only in looting the region and making the tribals landless. SO, WHAT CAN BE DONE???

- b.j.shailendra