Unconstitutional Means Replaces Democratic Processes in Chhattisgarh

A civil war like situation has engulfed the southern part of Chhattisgarh, a small state in Central India. A government sponsored anti-insurgency movement called “Salwa Judum”, or peace campaign, has been initiated since June 2005 to stop the Maoist (naxal) violence from spreading and over- taking the rest of the state. The right wing Bharatiya Janata Party government has for the first time connived with the Leader of the Opposition, Mahendra Karma (leader of Congress party), to take this campaign forward by making the indigenous people raise arms against the leftist forces who have left the villages out of fear. According to confirmed government reports, there are presently 50,000 people displaced by this movement who have been rehabilitated in 27 government-run camps. The government calls this a law and order problem where a civilian population has been used to cure its own internal strife.

Since the local media are gagged by a recently implemented draconian Act called the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005, not much news was coming to the surface on how the government was treating a socio-economic problem as a law and order issue. This prompted an Independent Citizen’s Initiative of eminent academics and journalists – B.G. Verghese (Chairperson, Executive Committee, CHRI), Harivansh (Executive Member, CHRI), E.A.S. Sarma (retired bureaucrat), Farah Naqvi (writer and women’s activist), Nandini Sundar (professor of sociology of Delhi University) and Ramchandra Guha (historian and columnist) – to visit the Dantewada area of Southern Chhattisgarh from 17-22 May 2006.

The details of the interim report brought out by the team proves beyond doubt that the government has master-minded the raising of retaliatory forces of Salwa Judum activists and special police officers (SPOs). Under the Police Act of 18611 the qualifications of a special police officer remains ambiguous. The study team has found that the 3,200 SPOs appointed by the state government have no identification and no accountability to anyone. The SPOs are armed with .303 rifles and are accompanied by Salwa Judum activists which the government says are people who have spontaneously joined the campaign to prevent the Maoists from taking over. The team found the “civil administration on the point of collapse and a situation frighteningly close to civil war” and that the “government has ‘outsourced’ law and order to an unaccountable, undisciplined and amorphous group”. The team found evidence of killings, burning of homes, and sexual assaults on women.

On the other hand, the attacks by the Maoists have regularly been on innocent indigenous people with apologies sent out after each incident where there was a “mistake”. The government has meticulously recorded the violence by the leftists but killings, lootings and acts of impunity carried out by the Salwa Judum or the SPOs have been ignored. Not much information is coming out and Nandini Sundar has pointed out that there is “a total blackout” as the press is sufficiently intimidated after the implementation of the draconian Act.

The team has met senior government officials and appealed for immediate suspension of the Salwa Judum so that the groups may be brought under control. It also recommended that those officials who are sensitive to the issues of the indigenous people may be appointed in the area so that they are accountable to protect the lives, security and dignity of the people. The government must facilitate the safe return of those staying in the state run camps and for this to take place a cease-fire is an absolute necessity from both sides. The team has also appealed to the Government of India and to the Government of Chhattisgarh, to institute a full and impartial enquiry into the incidents of violence by Maoists, as well as Salwa Judum in Dantewara in the last year. Also to dissolve the conflict, the only way possible according to E.A.S. Sarma is to initiate a truthful dialogue process, for if Nepal can do it, why can’t India? The team felt that the naxalite issue can only be solved through constitutional means and to treat the issue as a law and order problem by militarising the community and purchasing weapons is undemocratic.