[Reader-list] When Development Comes At Gunpoint – The Return Of Salwa Judum

[Asit Das]

10:39 AM (7 minutes ago)

When Development Comes At Gunpoint – The Return Of Salwa Judum
May 26, 2015
<http://www.antenna.is>


*By Devika Kohli <http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/author/devika_kohli>:  youth
ki awaz*
What do you think?

*The Revival of a ‘banned’ movement*
Chhavindra Karma the son of the Mahendra Karma (a Congress leader who
spearheaded the Salwa Judum in 2005 and was killed along with his party
colleagues in a Maoist attack two years ago) recently announced his plans
to launch Salwa Judum 2 in Bastar
<http://www.asianage.com/india/salwa-judum-2-takes-birth-bastar-village-721>.
The apparent objective of the movement
<http://www.asianage.com/interview-week/15-generations-have-been-deprived-basic-education-due-naxal-violence-685>
is to create “*awareness among the adivasis about how Naxals are playing
havoc with their lives*”. I say apparent because clearly Mr. Karma has
turned a blind eye to the fact that the Salwa Judum movement (launched to
curb the Naxal presence in the Chhattisgarh area) had been declared
*“illegal”* and *“unconstitutional”* by the Supreme Court under the charge
that the Salwa Judum militia had indulged in gross human rights violations
and had inflicted unaccountable atrocities on the people in the form of
extortion, mass killings, rape, burning of villages, forced displacement,
amongst other heinous crimes
<http://www.hrln.org/hrln/defend-the-defenders/pils-a-cases/1511-a-landmark-judgment-in-salwa-judum-case.html>.
Thus, Mr. Karma’s statement made during an interview with Asian age that “*our
movement will be peaceful and we will ensure that no harm is done to any
section of tribals, including those who are Naxal-sympathisers out of
compulsion*” comes across as hollow especially because Salwa Judum also was
propagated to be a *“peaceful campaign
<http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maoists-warn-of-another-jiram-ghati-like-attack-in-response-to-salwa-judum2/article7194113.ece>”*
at the time.
What do you think?

[image: salwa_judum]

*Why is the government silent?*
In view of the above discussed facts, the silence of the government over
the public announcement to revive the Salwa Judum movement under the banner
of Vikas Sangharsh Samiti or Salwa Judum 2 is rather befuddling, or is it?
The fact that this announcement comes at the same time as the government
signing agreements worth 24 crores for investment in the Bastar region
cannot be discarded as a mere coincidence
<http://cmo.cg.gov.in/hindi/user/News_Updates.aspx?guid=4564>. Nor can we
ignore the fact that the announcement of Salwa Judam in 2005 had similarly
coincided with the government signing MOU’s with corporate houses like Tata
and Essar the very same year
<http://thewire.in/2015/05/22/salwa-judum-ii-what-a-disaster-that-will-be/>.
What do you think?

*What is the truth about Salwa Judum 2?*
CPI (Maoist) Danda Karanya Special Zonal Committee (ZKSZC) spokesperson
Gudsa Usendi is of the opinion that the “*Salwa Judum-2 is nothing but a
Hindutva fascist BJP government-sponsored murderous goons gangster
organization formed by the Congress Karma family and the goons of BJP and
anti-people elements”*. He further adds
<http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maoists-warn-of-another-jiram-ghati-like-attack-in-response-to-salwa-judum2/article7194113.ece>
that “*All these initiatives are actually campaigns to repress the people.
The Salwa Judum-2 in the name of peace and development is to sell off the
natural property of the state to the domestic and foreign
capitalists.” *Shankar
Sodhi, a senior tribal leader from Bastar in his interview with *Firstpost
<http://www.firstpost.com/india/fallout-of-salwa-judum-2-abduction-of-300-villagers-could-mark-fresh-maoist-state-war-2236284.html>*
states that “*This is nothing but an attempt by the state government to
assure the industry of its determination to clear the area for them.*” He
goes on to add that “*Already thousands of MoUs worth thousands of zeros
are gathering dust in Raipur.*” Thus, tackling the issue of land seems to
have become of utmost urgency for the government so as to be able to honour
the MOUs which could not be implemented because of the threat of Naxalism
in the Bastar area.
What do you think?
*Wilful ignorance*
The fact that Mr. Karma blames *“the Naxal-sympathiser NGOs as well as the
Chhattisgarh government”* for the collapse of Salwa Judum which he
describes as a “*unique civil movement against insurgency*” is rather
disconcerting. What about the claims that were made by the State of
Chhattisgarh that it had the powers to arm, with guns, thousands of
illiterate or barely literate young men, who appointed as temporary police
officers, with little or no training to fight the battles against alleged
Maoist extremists
<http://www.hrln.org/hrln/defend-the-defenders/pils-a-cases/1511-a-landmark-judgment-in-salwa-judum-case.html>
and the resulting atrocities in view of which these so called “*naxal
sympathisers*” such as Dr. Nandini Sunder, had decided to take action and
file a petition in the court. Also his statement made to Hindu that “*We
are opposed to setting up mega industries in Bastar that will cause
large-scale displacement of tribals*” comes across as rather surprising as “
*more than 3, 50,000 tribals were forced to displace by Salwa Judum, the
state sponsored militia” .*What do you think?