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

I joined when I was 15 years old. I was working in the fields in the
evening, and they took me away. I was in Konta when a dalam came
and took me. I was alone. They said they wanted to train me. They
knew me from before because they had come to my village. They didn’t
say anything, but I thought they would beat me if I didn’t go. 459
Similarly, Tarrem Kosa was taken from his school with the assurance that he would
be sent back in 15 days:
I joined the military dalam when I was 13 or 14 years old. I was
studying in an ashram school [government-run residential school]—
eighth standard—when Naxalites came to my hostel…. They took four
[students] from my school, but after 10-12 kilometers, the other three
were sent away, and only I was kept. Two of them were in the eighth
and one was in the seventh. I don’t know why the others were sent
back.… After two or three days, I told them I wanted to go back to
school. The dalam leader said, “Don’t worry, we will send you to
school till the 10 th .” 460
Tarrem Kosa said that there were others from his dalam who had experiences similar
to his:
In the group of 90, there were about 30 or 40 my age—14 or 15. I don’t
know if the others left school to join our dalam. They may not have
studied. Some were abducted. I wasn’t told the truth about what
would happen to me after 15 days. Most of the others were also like
that. 461
Veera Etishan used to study in a residential school. Naxalites sometimes came to his
school for food. They often asked him and other students from his school to join
459 Ibid.
460 Human Rights Watch interview with Tarrem Kosa (pseudonym).
461 Ibid. The group of 90 also included cooks and guards. All 90 members seldom regrouped together. They were split into
smaller groups called local guerilla squads to conduct their operations.
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