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

later on when I became a dalam member I trained other sangam
members. 474
Kripash Hari who also became a sangam member when he was a child said,
As a sangam member, I assembled people for meetings, cooked for
dalam members when they came to the village, and worked as an
informer. I had bows and arrows and was trained to use tiffin bombs
[bombs packed in tiffin boxes] and other types of wire-bombs. I was
also given training to use guns and rifles but was not given a rifle. I
was only a sangam member—sangam members do not get rifles. 475
Similarly, children who served as informers in jan militias received weapons training.
They each also had their own bag with different bombs which they had to carry when
they were accompanying dalam members. Veka Idma, who became a bal sangam
member in class four and a jan militia member when he was studying in class five,
said,
After I went with the jan militia people I had my own bag with tiffin
bombs [bombs packed in tiffin boxes] and wire bombs … I also
underwent training with AK-47 and Insas. 476
Two other youth, Tarrem Kosa and Vikas Modhey, told Human Rights Watch they had
been armed, received weapons training, and were part of armed encounters with the
police, all while still children. 477
474 Human Rights Watch interview with Sushovan Banu (pseudonym).
475 Human Rights Watch interview with Kripash Hari (pseudonym), former Naxalite, other details withheld.
476 Human Rights Watch interview with Veka Idma (pseudonym).
477 Human Rights Watch interviews with Tarrem Kosa and Vikas Modhey (pseudonyms).
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