No Place To Call Their Own
Anjali, who reads this blog, and regularly sends me some great links, recently sent me a link to a heartbreaking article that she wrote herself-on tribals caught between the State and Naxals.
Chhattisgarh’s tribals are fleeing their homes and bountiful natural resources to escape both the Salwa Judum and Naxals, reports ANJALI LAL GUPTA
The Koya tribals we met one warm afternoon reeled off an amazing list of numbers and names of relatives and neighbours allegedly killed by the Salwa Judum. One after the other, these Koyas, who had fled to Andhra Pradesh from neighbouring Chhattisgarh, recounted the horror that had transpired after the creation of the militia. Judum, as Chhattisgarh tribals call it, is a squad aimed at eliminating Maoists. Allegedly supported by the government, it recruits civilians, mostly tribals, arms them and makes them fight Maoists, aka Naxalites.
Naxalites have been leading an armed movement in this area for over 30 years. Their aim is to overthrow the government and the local traders who they hold responsible for the economic exploitation of the tribals. In the bid to counter Naxalites, human rights abuses became rampant. Tribal men, women and children who refuse to leave their homes and relocate to government-run camps are either branded Naxalites or Naxalite supporters and are hunted down and killed.
Joga, a 60-year-old man from Regadgatha village of Dantewada district describes being in the middle of the lethal tug of war between Naxalites and the Salwa Judum, “People from our villages are forcibly taken to the camps. Once in camps, Naxalites come and kill us.”
In each of the four villages we visited in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh), tribal after tribal told us that staying alive back home had become an ordeal.
Read more here.
Thanks Ra for posting it on your blog! It will go out to many more people as your blog is popular and valued, with good reason!
Thanks for the link.
When will this awful state of affairs ever end?