Human Rights Watch says India backing violent vigilante group that has displaced thousands
AP - Wednesday, July 16NEW DELHI - Indian forces are collaborating with a vigilante group that carries out brutal attacks that have displaced tens of thousands of people in eastern India in an attempt to crush a communist uprising, a human rights group said Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch called on the Indian federal government and the Chhattisgarh state government to end their support for the Salwa Judum vigilantes and take immediate steps to protect civilians caught in the fighting.
“The Chhattisgarh government denies supporting Salwa Judum, but dozens of eyewitnesses have described police participating in violent Salwa Judum raids on villages _ killing, looting and burning hamlets,” Jo Becket of Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
The New York-based rights group also called on the communist rebels to end their attacks on civilians and stop recruiting child soldiers.
Federal and state officials were not immediately available for comment. In the past they have denied supporting the Salwa Judum.
The rebels, known as Naxalites, have been fighting to create a communist state since 1967 and are active in 13 of India’s 28 states. But Chhattisgarh, one of India’s most underdeveloped states, is the heartland of their struggle.
The rebels’ rallying cry of land and jobs for the poor resonates deeply with the population, many of them from India’s impoverished indigenous peoples and resentful at the authorities that mine the region’s rich natural resources with little benefit to the locals.
Since 2005, the Salwa Judum has been fighting the Naxalites and also forcing people from rebel-controlled villages into large camps, saying it is for their protection.
The government says the Salwa Judum is an independent movement that sprang up in reaction to the Naxalites, but Human Rights Watch said the vigilantes have deep connections to the state.
More than 100,000 people have been displaced in the violence, the rights group said. It called on the government to help resettle the people.
“Officials should help restore the lives of those who wish to return to their homes,” said Becket, one of the researchers for the 182 page report.
The report also slammed the Naxalites, who say they are inspired by Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, accusing them of attacking civilians and using child soldiers as young as 12 years old.