Wages of Counter-Insurgency

T

It was the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Reserve Battalion from Nagaland. With the anti-Naxalite government that strongly advocated the creation and counter-insurgency operations policy hatched by the promotion of “local resistance groups”, including village BJP-led NDA regime in place, the subsequent coming defence committees, and the recruitment-cum-training to power of a BJP-led government in Chhattisgarh and of special police officers, almost wholly at central govern-with the UPA government at the centre accepting the ment expense, as part of counter-insurgency policy in counter-insurgency policy, the stage was set for the “Naxalite-infested areas”. The idea was to build a network emergence of the Salwa Judum in May-June 2005. of informers and combatants among the civilian popu-Interestingly, in an alliance of sorts between the Congress lation in order to destroy the socio-political network of and the BJP, the leader of the opposition in the state the Maoists from the village level upwards. So, in each assembly, Mahendra Karma, soon emerged as its leader. of the Maoist stronghold districts, the district armed ‘Salwa’ is said to be the Gondi word for holy water police force, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sprinkled on a patient to cure the disease and, ‘Judum’ and the India Reserve Battalion were to be backed by an means collective hunt. The oppressors and exploiters armed civilian “local resistance group”. The present counter-have gone on a “purification hunt” to rid the tribal insurgency operation in Dantewada district, with the community of the disease of Maoism. But they obvi-Salwa Judum as the “local resistance group”, is perhaps ously need foot soldiers in this undeclared war. The last a test case for eventual implementation in the nine states seven months have witnessed violent attacks, looting, where the Naxalites are perceived to be a problem. intimidation, rape and killing on an unprecedented scale,

Dantewada, which was earlier a part of the Bastar accompanied by the mobilisation of the surrendered and district of Madhya Pradesh, has a border with the the displaced. In this undeclared war, entire villages have

been evacuated and thousands of displaced persons have been hounded into camps, now and then forced to attend Salwa Judum rallies. The Maoists have counter-attacked, but their crimes have been exaggerated out of proportion by the media. The BJP and the Congress have a common “security and development” policy. But the only visible sign of so-called development in Dantewada is the building of roads to secure the movement of the security forces and the Salwa Judum in their joint undeclared war against the Maoists. This is a mineral rich region, with the private sector, including the multinational companies, waiting to secure and exploit lucrative leases of the high quality Bailadilla iron ore deposits and other constituents of nature’s bounty. Given the pattern of development envisaged, the vast majority, the tribal poor, will only emerge as the victims of such a process. EPW

Economic and Political Weekly March 18, 2006