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Many schools buildings have been destroyed by Naxalites to prevent Salwa Judum
and police from using them for their operations. For instance, one villager said,
The Basaguda [Salwa Judum] meeting was conducted in the Basaguda
school. Tharrem school [10 km from Basaguda) was used as a CRPF
[Central Reserve Police Force] camp for three days. Maoists have now
destroyed the Tharrem school. 484
The Dantewada district collector confirmed that “[o]n police operations, police use
government buildings.” He further added that, “Naxalites target government
buildings—even if it’s a school or a health center—so many of these buildings have
been damaged.” 485 Villagers gave Human Rights Watch the names of around 20
schools that they knew were destroyed by Naxalites prior to February 2007; most of
them were destroyed after Salwa Judum started in June 2005.
In a public statement in October 2006, Naxalites defended their destruction of
schools:
As for destroying schools used by the CRPF as their camps, neither the
people nor our Party think it is wrong. The schools, once they are
occupied by these forces, are transformed into torture chambers and
concentration camps and there is no hope that they will once again be
used as schools in the near future…. Education of the adivasis [tribal
communities] is not affected by destruction of school buildings used
by the security forces but by the destruction of entire villages (up to
900 villages had been uprooted since June 2005) by the state police,
para-military forces and Salwa Judum goondas with active police
support…. We are curious to hear what you would say of hundreds of
484 Human Rights Watch interview with IDP-1 from Lingagiri (who chose to remain anonymous), village K1, Khammam district,
December 1, 2007. The Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF is a paramilitary police force deployed by the Indian central
government in the region.
485 Human Rights Watch interview with K. R. Pisda, district collector of Dantewada district, Dantewada, December 10, 2007.
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Human Rights Watch July 2008