What kind of strategy is it where you create 50,000 "enemies" to kill 500? Was it an experiment for India Inc to get tribal land vacated or a counter insurgency strategy gone horribly wrong?
A group of retired judges has criticized Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks about opposition vice-presidential candidate B Sudershan Reddy and the Salwa Judum judgement, calling them 'unfortunate'.
Dr Nandini Sundar, who filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court asking for the disbanding of armed Salwa Judum, on Friday said that there has been a 22 per cent increase of Maoist activities since Salwa Judum was launched.
Maoists opened fire on Salwa Judum (anti-Naxal) activists located near camps of the Central Reserve Police Force and police, triggering a gunbattle, and set off an improvised explosive device in Dantewada district on Tuesday. However, there was no immediate report of casualty on either side in the face-off as intermittent exchange of fire continued late into the night, police sources said.
The Supreme Court asked the Chhattisgarh government some searching questions on disbanding the Salwa Judum, the anti-Naxal vigilante group accused of human rights violation in Maoist-hit tribal districts of the state, on Wednesday.
"I have heard about the Supreme Court's order and the state respects it. We are consulting legal experts on this issue," Chief Minister Raman Singh told reporters in Raipur. To a query, he said the Salwa Judum was a "self-movement" and not started by the government. Home Minister Nanki Ram Kanwar too echoed Singh's sentiments and said further action cannot be taken without legal advice
The incident took place when Chika Mazi was taking a walk outside his house located near a crowded market when some armed ultras fired at him, killing Mazi on the spot, Additional Superintendent of Police BPS Rajbhanu told PTI.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Chidambaram said his ministry, in consultation with the Law Ministry, is examining directions to the central government in the apex court ruling on Salwa Judum.
"You cannot give arms to somebody and allow him to kill," the Supreme Court on Monday said, while taking a serious note of a petition alleging that the Chattisgarh government was allegedly arming civilians involved in Salwa Judum movement to fight Naxals.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday declared his government's full support to Salwa Judum, the forest dwellers' peace movement against Naxalite violences, and promised to take steps to secure their livelihood. In his Republic Day speech after hoisting the national flag at Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar division, the Chief Minister said, "it was because of such people and their movement that the country's Republic is secured today."
These villages don't have citizens and hence there is no National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme for them or any health services or cheap rations.
The stage is set for a direct contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy for the vice-presidential election. The BJP-led alliance has a clear edge in the poll necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the Chhattisgarh government for furnishing 'vague' information about measures taken by it to tackle the Maoist menace and said it was 'holding a brief' for Salwa Judum, an anti-Naxal vigilante group. "The affidavit (by the state government) does not give full particulars about the steps taken by it and the information furnished is totally vague," a bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar said.
They said a 'mock poll' would be conducted in the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan at around 2:30 PM on Monday after the briefing on the procedure to vote in the vice presidential polls.
A profile of B Sudershan Reddy, former Supreme Court judge and Opposition's vice presidential candidate, highlighting his career, judgments, and contributions to constitutional law.
'His willingness to take the initiative to fight for truth and justice and his willingness to cross swords with anyone for a just cause.'
The stage is set for a direct contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy for the September 9 vice-presidential election. Nominations have been scrutinized and accepted.
Referring to the enactment of the Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Police Force Act, 2011 which created a trained force to aid and assist the security forces in maintaining law and order in the state, the bench said in its view it cannot be said to be an act of contempt of the order of 2011 passed by this court.
'Earlier, we used to talk about a deficit economy. There is a deficit in democracy' 'If you read superficially Gandhi and Ambedkar and Nehru, some misconceptions and misunderstanding come to mind, as if they were at loggerheads and they differed radically in their views' 'India is one nation. There is only one citizenship. No citizenship for South India and no citizenship for North India and another for the Northeast'
'Many of them are mutilated beyond recognition. Every day an encounter takes place.' 'Bastar has been burnt to ash.'
Former leader of opposition in Chhattisgarh assembly Mahendra Karma sustained minor injuries after his vehicle was blown up by suspected Naxalss in Dantewada district of the state, police said.
Asserting that neither the government nor any political party has anything to do with Salwa Judum, he said that people of the state have realised that they could not progress unless Naxalism was controlled.
Asking the Chhattisgarh government and the Centre to desist from appointing the tribals as SPOs and arming them for countering the Naxals in any manner directly or indirectly, the court said the appointment of tribal youths as SPOs is "unconstitutional". The bench said the eligibility criteria including the educational qualification and training of the tribals to combat Maoists goes against the provisions of statutes and the Constitution
The Naxal movement has such a complex history that several books have been written to understand it. Bastar: The Naxal Story seeks to reduce it to bullet points and stereotypes, observes Deepa Gahlot.
'The cities are not safe, Naxals will reach them very soon,' feels Mahendra Karma, the tribal leader who championed the controversial Salwa Judum against the Naxalites.
Banned outfit Communist Party of India-Maoist Tuesday claimed responsibility for the massacre of Congress leaders in Bastar region and demanded immediate suspension of all operations against it across the country.
Claiming responsibility for the deadly attack on a Congress convoy, Maoists on Tuesday said their main objective was to "punish" senior party leaders including Nand Kumar Patel and Mahendra Karma for their "anti-people" policies.
Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was released from the Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday after his acquittal in an alleged Maoist links case, said it's a 'wonder that he could come out alive' despite suffering the 'brutal' jail life.
The National Investigation Agency, which will probe the shocking Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh, is seeking information about an operative named Gaganna alias Ramesh. The preliminary investigation has revealed that Gaganna was the leader of the operation.
With Saturday's attack on a Congress convoy that killed party members and police personnel along with Salwa Judum founder Mahendra Karma, the Maoists have issued a strong political message.
A day after Maoists gunned down the founder of anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum, Mahendra Karma, Prasanna D Zore spoke with Rahul Pandita, author of 'Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement', for his insights into what he terms as the ageing Maoist leadership's "one final push to their war against the State in their lifetime."
Communist Party of India on Sunday condemned the killing of 27 people in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, saying that violence and killings do not have a place in democracy.
'This was long expected because Mahendra Karma was on the Maoists's hit list... I don't think the Maoists cared as much about the consequences as they cared about the fact that they had to get rid of Mahendra Karma. Whatever else they do or don't do now, they can say they have revenged Salwa Judum.' Sociologist Nandini Sundar on the Maoist massacre and its aftermath.
'The cities are not safe, Naxals will reach them very soon,' feels Mahendra Karma, the tribal leader who championed the controversial Salwa Judum against the Naxalites.
Reiterating that he does not condone any form of violence -- neither state nor non-state actors -- social activist Binayak Sen Friday said that the Supreme Court judgment on Salwa Judum will become "the foundation of our democratic polity."
'Can governments which consistently let their lawyers down, be trusted to uphold the rights of their people? How much longer will the State fight against its own citizens, inside and outside court?' asks activist Nandini Sundar.
The Apex court had in its order slammed the Chhattisgarh government for using tribals as Special Police Officers in its Salwa Judum counter-insurgency operation against the Maoists. It also asked the central government to ensure that its finances are not used for funding SPOs.
Bihar Police officials say that the strategy has clicked, as the SPOs have passed lot of vital information to the police leading to the arrest of top Maoist leaders.
The Supreme Court judgement on disbanding of Salwa Judum will impact on the anti-Naxal operations, says the Centre which is planning to call a meeting of chief ministers of Orissa and Jharkhand after Chhattisgarh's action on a new law on the issue.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances