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police. 453 Another former dalam member, Tarrem Kosa, said that there were around
seven or eight underage members in his 45-member dalam.
Some children are inducted directly into other Naxalite wings without being trained
in bal sangams. Human Rights Watch spoke to six former Naxalites who were directly
inducted into other Naxalite wings when they were children—three became sangam
members, one joined a jan militia, and two joined a dalam. Subba Atish said that
villagers who were being inducted into dalams had to take an oath: “To join a dalam,
one has to take a public oath in front of all the villagers—‘I have no family any more.
You [dalam] are my family.’” 454 Naxalites also recruited school-going children to
teach in Naxalite-run schools. 455
In some cases, Naxalites approach parents and pressure them to send their children
to join the “people’s war.” In other cases, Naxalites visit schools and ask children to
join them. Subba Atish, a former Naxalite commander, said, “They go to school and
ask children to join a dalam. This has happened in the Jagargonda area. They don’t
force children but ask them.” 456 Typically, recruitment involves repeated visits to
homes to convince parents to send their children.
Given Naxalites’ brutal punishment of dissent or non-conformist behavior as
described above, a mere recruitment request to families creates tremendous
pressure on them. In some cases Naxalites simply note down children’s names
during meetings and ask them to join. 457
In two cases, two former dalam members told Human Rights Watch that Naxalites
abducted and inducted them into dalams when they were children. 458 Vikas Modhey
recounted how he joined a dalam:
453 Human Rights Watch interview with Subba Atish (pseudonym).
454 Ibid.
455 Human Rights Watch interview with Veera Etishan (pseudonym).
456 Human Rights Watch interview with Subba Atish (pseudonym).
457 Human Rights Watch interviews with Veera Etishan and Sushovan Banu (pseudonyms). Veera Etishan stated that Naxalites
noted down his name along with three other boys’ names, asking all of them to go for sangam meetings. Similarly, Sushovan
Banu stated that Naxalites called him for a meeting, noted down his name, and told him he was a sangam member.
458 Human Rights Watch interviews with Tarrem Kosa and Vikas Modhey (pseudonyms).
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Human Rights Watch July 2008