“Being Neutral is Our Biggest Crime” - Global Coalition to Protect ...

ecruitment, but Naxalites pressure parents by repeatedly “requesting” that they
send their children into Naxalite ranks.
Most former Naxalites who served in sangams, jan militias, or dalams said that they
had received weapons training when they were children. Children who are recruited
into a dalam are given weapons and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and are
involved in armed fighting against government forces. Children in bal sangams,
sangams, and CNMs do not actively participate in hostilities, but are nevertheless
exposed to great risks during government anti-Naxalite combing operations. As
noted above, one SPO who participated in these operations described how the
police opened fire on a group of children allegedly because they were part of a CNM:
In Maraiguda we found a group of children wearing school uniforms
sitting and eating food. We … started firing at the group. We were sure
that it was a CNM and therefore did not check. We know because the
theater group also wears uniforms. The children started running. They
did not fire back. We did not bother to check if anyone was dead … We
fired and ran from there. 442
Even if the children were members of a CNM, it would have been unlawful to fire at
them.
Human Rights Watch does not have any estimates for the number of children
recruited and used by Naxalites, but notes that all of the former Naxalites who were
interviewed stated that they started working for Naxalites in some capacity when
they were children.
Recruitment into bal sangams
Naxalites usually enlist children between ages six and twelve into bal sangams. Bal
sangam is the village-level children’s association where children learn Maoist
442 Human Rights Watch interview with Mandavi Mohan (pseudonym).
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