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human rights abuses, and recommended that the government initiate
investigations. 141
Senior police officials from Chhattisgarh contend that Salwa Judum is a peaceful
movement but admit that some abuses occurred “initially.” 142 They maintain,
however, that such abuses are “no longer occurring.” 143 In response to Human Rights
Watch’s concern that abuses by Salwa Judum members and government security
forces are ongoing, the Dantewada superintendent of police said,
What is Salwa Judum? Can you define it? There are only people in
camps now. There is no such thing as Salwa Judum anymore. It is just
a name that has stuck on…. Initially there were some complaints of
SPOs bullying civilians and we have removed these SPOs. 144
Similarly, according to the director general of police of Chhattisgarh, during the early
days of Salwa Judum in 2005, “SPOs’ anger was high and they became unruly
because they had lost family members.” 145
Contrary to official claims that abuses occurred only in the “initial” stages due to the
“anger of SPOs,” villagers shared with Human Rights Watch stories of abuses and
reprisals by Salwa Judum members and government security forces (not limited to
SPOs) through December 2007. 146 Human Rights Watch also documented
extrajudicial killings by CRPF as recently as May 2008. Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, a
141 Independent Citizen’s Initiative, “War in the Heart of India, An Enquiry into the Ground Situation in Dantewada District,
Chhattisgarh,” 2006, http://rightsandresources.org/blog/WarintheHeartofIndia.pdf (accessed July 16, 2007); Asian Centre for
Human Rights, “The Adivasis of Chhattisgarh, Victims of the Naxalite Movement and Salwa Judum Campaign,” 2006,
http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/Chattis0106.pdf (accessed June 7, 2006); People’s Union for Civil Liberties et al.,
“Where the State Makes War on its Own People, A Report on Violations of People’s Rights during the Salwa Judum Campaign
in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh,” 2006, http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Human-rights/2006/Salwa_Judum.pdf (accessed July 7,
2007).
142 Human Rights Watch interviews with Rahul Sharma, superintendent of police of Dantewada district, Dantewada, December
10, 2007 (first interview); Vishwa Ranjan, director general of police of Chhattisgarh, Raipur, December 17, 2007.
143 Ibid.
144 Human Rights Watch interview with Rahul Sharma, second interview, February 1, 2008.
145 Human Rights Watch interview with Vishwa Ranjan, December 17, 2007.
146 See above, section IV, Abuses by Salwa Judum, and sections VA and VB for additional details regarding involvement of
government security forces.
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Human Rights Watch July 2008