âBeing Neutral is Our Biggest Crimeâ - Global Coalition to Protect ...

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Sometimes the raid was preceded by a mandatory Salwa Judum public meeting. Explaining why her family members attended Salwa Judum meetings, Vasanti Kumar said, Judum people told them [family members] that everyone should go for the meeting or else they will have to pay a fine of 500 rupees [roughly US$12] for each member in the family. My sisters and mother had no money so two of my sisters went for the meeting. 62 A woman from Kothooru described how Salwa Judum members and government security forces came to her village, beat her, and forcibly took her to a Salwa Judum meeting. 63 Another woman from Neeram attended a meeting because Salwa Judum leaders had given a letter to a local sarpanch stating that if they did not come, then their village would be attacked. 64 One villager from Nambi described how Salwa Judum and government security forces went to the weekly market and intimidated villagers into attending meetings or relocating to camps. 65 In these public meetings, Salwa Judum leaders appealed to villagers to join Salwa Judum to fight Naxalites. A teenage boy who attended the public meeting in Basaguda in June 2006 recounted the speeches at these meetings: [They used to say,] “We [Salwa Judum] won’t keep Naxalites in this country. We will chase them away to another country. We will all form Salwa Judum together and chase Naxalites. Come and stay with us in the camps to help us fight Naxalites.” 66 November 29-December 8, 2007. These victims were consistent in their description of the nature of weapons carried by Salwa Judum members and government security forces. 62 Human Rights Watch interview with Vasanti Kumar (pseudonym), IDP from Pandiguda, location withheld, December 6, 2007. 63 Human Rights Watch interview with Sita (pseudonym), IDP from Kothooru, village K1, Khammam district, December 1, 2007. 64 Human Rights Watch interview with Mandavi Siddharth (pseudonym), person displaced from Neeram, location withheld, December 11, 2007. 65 Human Rights Watch interview with Kalma Pandu (pseudonym), IDP from Nambi, village W7, Warangal district, December 1, 2007. 66 Human Rights Watch interview with teenage boy (who chose to remain anonymous), IDP from Basaguda, village K2, Khammam district, December 2, 2007. 33 Human Rights Watch July 2008
Sometimes senior police officials, administrative officials, and politicians attended these meetings. 67 In some cases Salwa Judum members took away children and adults (both male and female) to attend meetings. In some others they took away only men and boys, leaving behind women, girls, and young children. Sometimes people who were forcibly taken to attend meetings were prevented from returning—to force the family to relocate to Salwa Judum camps. Explaining how the men who were taken away did not return, Mihika said, I waited for my husband to come back but he did not return at all. He was taken to the camp [by Salwa Judum] about two years ago [in 2005]. So I ran away and came towards [name of place withheld] thinking it would be safer here. 68 Mihika left her village and moved to another village with her five children who were all under age eight. She did not know where her husband was for a long time. She said that her husband eventually managed to escape from the camp and came looking for his family. 69 Several other people interviewed by Human Rights Watch described similar experiences. 70 Kaskul Naiyya said, They [Salwa Judum and CRPF] forced all the men to go with them [for the meeting], including boys. Judum took away boys his age [pointing to a boy who said he was about age 13] as well. If there were no male 67 Human Rights Watch interviews with T-1 (who chose to remain anonymous), government teacher in Bijapur, location withheld, December 14, 2007; IDP-1 from Lingagiri (who chose to remain anonymous), village K1, Khammam district, December 1, 2007; Santosh Poonyem, Bijapur district chief bureau for Dainik Prakhar Samachar (Hindi newspaper), Bijapur, December 14, 2007. 68 Human Rights Watch interview with Mihika (pseudonym), location withheld, December 11, 2007. 69 Ibid. 70 Human Rights Watch interviews with Madkam Dhairya (pseudonym), camp resident, Jailbada camp, December 13, 2007; camp resident (who chose to remain anonymous), Dornapal camp, December 12, 2007. “Being Neutral is Our Biggest Crime” 34
Page 1 and 2: India “Being Neutral is Our Bigge
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2008 Human Rights Watc
Page 5 and 6: VI. Plight of Persons Displaced by
Page 7 and 8: © 2008 John Emerson “Being Neutr
Page 9 and 10: Gram Panchayat/ Panchayat ICCPR ICE
Page 11 and 12: of villages in Bijapur and Dantewad
Page 13 and 14: Since 2006 local nongovernmental or
Page 15 and 16: Frightened, many villagers hid for
Page 17 and 18: Salwa Judum, particularly Salwa Jud
Page 19 and 20: of camp residents and other displac
Page 21 and 22: Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, People’s U
Page 23 and 24: egion between June 2005 and June 20
Page 25 and 26: through underground village committ
Page 27 and 28: health care. 17 Census data from 20
Page 29 and 30: The Naxalite problem has led to lac
Page 31 and 32: egular battalion to counter Naxalit
Page 33 and 34: NGO fact-finding teams have also ap
Page 35 and 36: The ‘Salva Judum’ movement is p
Page 37: persons also gave Human Rights Watc
Page 41 and 42: were sick we had to go and report i
Page 43 and 44: to our village had bows and arrows,
Page 45 and 46: All able-bodied men had to particip
Page 47 and 48: them with escorts. We go with them
Page 49 and 50: there [pointing to a location about
Page 51 and 52: V. Abuses by the State Although the
Page 53 and 54: and my sister’s in the fields. My
Page 55 and 56: camps. 109 Two SPOs came forward to
Page 57 and 58: Gangi, one of the villagers, said t
Page 59 and 60: weeks [from the first visit to the
Page 61 and 62: One of the boys got beaten a lot wi
Page 63 and 64: A woman from Nendra said she saw th
Page 65 and 66: member of the fact-finding team tha
Page 67 and 68: In 2006 the Chhattisgarh government
Page 69 and 70: under Indian penal law. 163 Many NG
Page 71 and 72: independent and report because ther
Page 73 and 74: eing beaten up by Salwa Judum membe
Page 75 and 76: the country, to liberty and freedom
Page 77 and 78: electricity, adult literacy centres
Page 79 and 80: only 10 health workers to attend to
Page 81 and 82: dependent upon the state for their
Page 83 and 84: camps were started. 233 Assuming th
Page 85 and 86: Impediments to return The Chhattisg
Page 87 and 88: villagers’ access to markets maki
Page 89 and 90:
1. Prior to carrying out evictions,
Page 91 and 92:
our huts. About 10 forest departmen
Page 93 and 94:
A volunteer with an NGO that provid
Page 95 and 96:
met with further retributive measur
Page 97 and 98:
Despite the court’s orders, fores
Page 99 and 100:
for at least 100 days a year. 303 T
Page 101 and 102:
In many places, displaced persons d
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Naxalites beat and kill villagers,
Page 105 and 106:
that they rubbed small stones [grav
Page 107 and 108:
Similarly, Naxalites beat and haras
Page 109 and 110:
not kill my uncle. They threatened
Page 111 and 112:
100 meters. The tractor driver—an
Page 113 and 114:
near the Boddiguda dam. We were abo
Page 115 and 116:
Errabore camp on July 17, 2006, whe
Page 117 and 118:
E. CPI (Maoist) Party statements Hu
Page 119 and 120:
for this reason we are compelled to
Page 121 and 122:
The Naxalites do not deny the recru
Page 123 and 124:
I have seen SPOs younger than me in
Page 125 and 126:
The recruitment process The nationa
Page 127 and 128:
I became an SPO last year in March
Page 129 and 130:
of them. My brother actually surviv
Page 131 and 132:
Maraiguda stated that he was ordere
Page 133 and 134:
The Chhattisgarh state government r
Page 135 and 136:
ecruitment, but Naxalites pressure
Page 137 and 138:
When he was part of the bal sangam
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I joined when I was 15 years old. I
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When Veka Idma was about age 12 or
Page 143 and 144:
later on when I became a dalam memb
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Naxalites’ policy regarding recru
Page 147 and 148:
IX. Impact of the Conflict on Educa
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other villages which do not have sc
Page 151 and 152:
The ITDA project officer for Khamma
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uses all authority at its disposal
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To the Chhattisgarh state governmen
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• Release complete information, u
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• Cooperate with UNICEF and other
Page 161 and 162:
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
Page 163 and 164:
) Chhattisgarh government assists t
Page 165 and 166:
protect the rights of the displaced
Page 167 and 168:
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
Page 169 and 170:
government investigated any allegat
Page 171 and 172:
“Being Neutral is Our Biggest Cri
Page 173 and 174:
We acknowledge with gratitude the f
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