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The police, after questioning him, offered protection if he switched sides. He still fears for his life: Life is very difficult in this region. If we don’t help Naxalites, they punish us. And if we do, the police punish us. I told the police that I did not want to help Naxalites, but they trouble us. The police chief asked if I would help the police instead. I agreed, and because of information that I could provide, two Naxalites were arrested. But since then I have been scared. Naxalites will know that I was questioned and that must have led to the arrests. They will kill me. 332 The most frequent complaint against Naxalites is their extortion of food and money. One villager complained that Naxalites demand food grains from them even when they do not have enough to feed their families: The people from inside [who live in the jungles—Naxalites] used to visit my village two years ago, even before Salwa Judum started. They used to ask us for food grains and if we said we didn’t have, then they would threaten us with guns and force us to give grains. It didn’t matter whether we had food to eat for ourselves, but we had to give them. 333 In another case, Pradeep Rao saw Naxalites extorting money from his sarpanch-uncle: When I was in class eight [around 2002-2003], I went to my uncle’s house and stayed overnight at his house. At night, Naxalites came and beat my uncle and took everything from home. They demanded 50,000 rupees and said that they would kill him if he did not give them the money. My uncle gave them 50,000 rupees and that is why they did 332 Ibid. 333 Human Rights Watch interview with Prateek (pseudonym), IDP from Sankanpalli, village W4, Warangal district, November 30, 2007. 103 Human Rights Watch July 2008
not kill my uncle. They threatened and warned me against telling anyone else. They also stripped me of all my clothes and went away. 334 Naxalites collect fines from families that do not attend their meetings. Some villagers complained that they were forced to pay fines of 50 or 100 rupees (roughly UD$1-2) out of their meager income. 335 Said one villager, Everyone has to attend meetings. They take down names of those that don’t attend. Those people have to offer proper explanations. They are also fined 50 rupees which is a lot of money for a villager, but they pay because they are scared. Then they have to beg for forgiveness. 336 B. Use of landmines and IEDs Naxalites use landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to attack government security forces. Casualties from Naxalite use of landmines and IEDs increased after Salwa Judum began in June 2005. Human Rights Watch gathered information from news reports, NGOs, and government sources on approximately 30 landmine and IED explosions between June 2005 and December 2007. 337 These explosions largely targeted government security forces, usually using remote trigger mechanisms. However, such explosions have also killed and injured civilians on numerous occasions. 334 Human Rights Watch interviews with Pradeep Rao (pseudonym), IDP from Chinch Dongri, other details withheld. 335 Human Rights Watch group interview with Oyam Suresh and Kadti Soman (pseudonyms), camp residents, other details withheld. 336 Human Rights Watch interview with villager (who chose to remain anonymous), other details withheld. 337 Chhattisgarh police, “List of Naxalite attacks in 2006-07,” (unpublished); Landmine Survivors Network, “World Landmine News,” May 19, 2005, http://www.landminesurvivors.org/news_article.php?id=488 (accessed March 29, 2008); December 22, 2006, http://www.landminesurvivors.org/news_article.php?id=718 (accessed March 29, 2008); January 16, 2007, https://www.landminesurvivors.org/news_article.php?id=733 (accessed March 29, 2008); “Two injured in Chhattisgarh blast,” India eNews, May 15, 2007, http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20070515/51757.htm (accessed March 29, 2008); “CRPF jawan killed, three injured in IED blast,” Sahara Samay, May 18, 2007, http://www.saharasamay.com/samayhtml/articles.aspx?newsid=75691 (accessed March 29, 2008); Naxalite Watch, “Naxalite blast kills 3 in Bastar,” post to “Naxalite Terror Watch” (blog), June 6, 2007, http://naxalwatch.blogspot.com/2007/06/Naxalite-blast-kills-3-in-bastar.html (accessed March 29, 2008); Naxal Terror Watch, “Two policemen injured in a blast in Chhattisgarh,” post to “Naxalite Terror Watch” (blog), June 17, 2007, http://naxalwatch.blogspot.com/2007/06/two-policemen-injured-in-blast-in.html (accessed March 29, 2008); “Maoist landmine blast kills 10 policemen in Chhattisgarh,” November 2, 2007, http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia- 30297320071102 (accessed March 29, 2008). “Being Neutral is Our Biggest Crime” 104
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India “Being Neutral is Our Bigge
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Copyright © 2008 Human Rights Watc
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VI. Plight of Persons Displaced by
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© 2008 John Emerson “Being Neutr
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Gram Panchayat/ Panchayat ICCPR ICE
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of villages in Bijapur and Dantewad
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Since 2006 local nongovernmental or
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Frightened, many villagers hid for
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Salwa Judum, particularly Salwa Jud
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of camp residents and other displac
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Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, People’s U
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egion between June 2005 and June 20
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through underground village committ
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health care. 17 Census data from 20
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The Naxalite problem has led to lac
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egular battalion to counter Naxalit
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NGO fact-finding teams have also ap
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The ‘Salva Judum’ movement is p
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persons also gave Human Rights Watc
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Sometimes senior police officials,
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were sick we had to go and report i
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to our village had bows and arrows,
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All able-bodied men had to particip
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them with escorts. We go with them
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there [pointing to a location about
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V. Abuses by the State Although the
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and my sister’s in the fields. My
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camps. 109 Two SPOs came forward to
Page 57 and 58: Gangi, one of the villagers, said t
Page 59 and 60: weeks [from the first visit to the
Page 61 and 62: One of the boys got beaten a lot wi
Page 63 and 64: A woman from Nendra said she saw th
Page 65 and 66: member of the fact-finding team tha
Page 67 and 68: In 2006 the Chhattisgarh government
Page 69 and 70: under Indian penal law. 163 Many NG
Page 71 and 72: independent and report because ther
Page 73 and 74: eing beaten up by Salwa Judum membe
Page 75 and 76: the country, to liberty and freedom
Page 77 and 78: electricity, adult literacy centres
Page 79 and 80: only 10 health workers to attend to
Page 81 and 82: dependent upon the state for their
Page 83 and 84: camps were started. 233 Assuming th
Page 85 and 86: Impediments to return The Chhattisg
Page 87 and 88: villagers’ access to markets maki
Page 89 and 90: 1. Prior to carrying out evictions,
Page 91 and 92: our huts. About 10 forest departmen
Page 93 and 94: A volunteer with an NGO that provid
Page 95 and 96: met with further retributive measur
Page 97 and 98: Despite the court’s orders, fores
Page 99 and 100: for at least 100 days a year. 303 T
Page 101 and 102: In many places, displaced persons d
Page 103 and 104: Naxalites beat and kill villagers,
Page 105 and 106: that they rubbed small stones [grav
Page 107: Similarly, Naxalites beat and haras
Page 111 and 112: 100 meters. The tractor driver—an
Page 113 and 114: near the Boddiguda dam. We were abo
Page 115 and 116: Errabore camp on July 17, 2006, whe
Page 117 and 118: E. CPI (Maoist) Party statements Hu
Page 119 and 120: for this reason we are compelled to
Page 121 and 122: The Naxalites do not deny the recru
Page 123 and 124: I have seen SPOs younger than me in
Page 125 and 126: The recruitment process The nationa
Page 127 and 128: I became an SPO last year in March
Page 129 and 130: of them. My brother actually surviv
Page 131 and 132: Maraiguda stated that he was ordere
Page 133 and 134: The Chhattisgarh state government r
Page 135 and 136: ecruitment, but Naxalites pressure
Page 137 and 138: When he was part of the bal sangam
Page 139 and 140: I joined when I was 15 years old. I
Page 141 and 142: When Veka Idma was about age 12 or
Page 143 and 144: later on when I became a dalam memb
Page 145 and 146: Naxalites’ policy regarding recru
Page 147 and 148: IX. Impact of the Conflict on Educa
Page 149 and 150: other villages which do not have sc
Page 151 and 152: The ITDA project officer for Khamma
Page 153 and 154: uses all authority at its disposal
Page 155 and 156: To the Chhattisgarh state governmen
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• Cooperate with UNICEF and other
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
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) Chhattisgarh government assists t
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protect the rights of the displaced
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
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government investigated any allegat
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“Being Neutral is Our Biggest Cri
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We acknowledge with gratitude the f
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