[Reader-list] CPJC Salwa Judum Meeting Tomorrow

[Shivam Vij]

Apologies for cross posting.  Please find below an invitation to a
public meeting being organised on salwa judum by the Campaign for
Peace and Justice in Chattisgarh, taking place tomorrow at Hindi
Bhavan, New Delhi.  The convention will start at 2 pm and is expected
to run until 5:30 or so.

Campaign for Peace and Justice in Chhattisgarh
Invites you to a
People's Convention
On
Salwa Judum: Civil war in Chhattisgarh

4th September 2007, 2 p.m. onwards
At
Hindi Bhawan, Vishnu Digambar Marg, New   Delhi

(Near Gandhi Peace Foundation, ITO)

Programme details:

Film screening:

India's Hidden War
Dir:James Brabazon

Voices from Dantewada:
Himanshu Kumar (Vanvasi Chetana Ashram, Dantewada)
Kawasi Lakhma (MLA, Konta)
Manish Kunjam (ex-MLA and Gen.Sec, Adivasi Mahasabha),
…and others

Discussion with Journalists and Members of Parliament:

Ajit Jogi (ex-Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh)
Sandeep Dikshit (Member of Parliament, Delhi)
Other Members of Parliament …

We look forward to your participation.

In Solidarity,
Campaign for Peace and Justice in Chhattisgarh

Background:

In the summer of 2005, news reports started appearing of a
'spontaneous', 'self-initiated',' peaceful', 'people's movement' in
Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh against the Naxalites, known as the
Salwa Judum. The district administration claims that upset with the
Maoist strike call on collecting tendu leaves and opposition to
development works like road construction and grain levies, people in
some 200 villages began mobilizing against the Maoists, going on
processions and holding meetings.

However, this picture of the Salwa Judum is far from accurate. The
fact is that the Salwa Judum is being led by sections of local elites,
contractors and traders, that it is officially part of the official
anti-naxal initiatives, being actively supported by the Chhattisgarh
Government. Far from being a peaceful campaign, Salwa Judum
'activists' are armed with guns, lathis, axes, bows and arrows. Up to
January 2007, 4048 "Special Police Officers" (SPOs) had been appointed
by the Government under the Chhattisgarh Police Regulations. They
actively participate in the Salwa Judum and are given military and
weapons training by the security forces as part of an official plan to
create a civil vigilante structure parallel to that of the Naxalites.

Though exact figures are not known, over the last two years, atleast
1, 00,000 people have been displaced and the lives of at least 3,
00,000 people from at least 644 "liberated villages" has been
completely disrupted, because of Salwa Judum. People are forcibly
picked up from their villages and are confined into 'relief camps',
where they face acute shortage of food, water and other basic
amenities. The condition of several thousands who have been forced to
migrate to neighbouring states and districts is even worse. All those
villages which have not come into camps are deemed "Maoists" villages
and denied all health, education and other facilities, including
access to markets. A large number of people have thus been denied
their fundamental rights.

There has been a complete breakdown of civil administration and the
rule of law in Dantewada district and Salwa Judum 'activists' have
become vigilantes who assert the right to control, intimidate and
punish anyone they consider to be a suspected Naxalite. Cases of
murder, loot, arson, rape and other violence and atrocities by Salwa
Judum go unreported. The Government does not accept responsibility for
the actions of the Salwa Judum 'activists', it sponsors, encourages,
promotes and assures them full state protection and grants them
impunity to operate as an extra-legal authority within the district.

The Government's only response to Maoist insurgency has been to
militatrise; step up police operations and to pit civilians, in the
name of Salwa Judum, against Maoists and against each other. By
resorting to such measures, the government has seriously challenged
the efficacy of democratic and constitutional means of finding
solutions to people's problems. It has completely failed to address
the root of the discontent, the deprivation and alienation of
Adivasis, which form basis of the Maoist foothold in Dantewara.  Even
according to states government's own figures, Salwa Judum has only
intensified the conflict.

About CPJC:

The Campaign for Peace and Justice in Chhattisgarh is a campaign group
formed by individuals and organisations who are deeply concerned about
the flagrant violation of human rights going on in Chhattisgarh in the
name of fighting "internal terrorism". We are extremely concerned by
the violence unleashed by the state backed Salwa Judum which has
pushed Chhattisgarh into a civil war situation and the repressive
Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 which is being used to
crush all voices of dissent in the state.

Contact us:

Email: cpjcindia at gmail.com; Website: www.cpjc.wordpress.com

Pravin Mote: 09313879073; Goldy George: 09958313838; Sridevi Panikkar:
09868099304