In heart of India, a little-known civil war

Villagers are caught between two unforgiving sides: a communist insurgency that's left much of the country ungoverned, and a tough-as-nails 'peace movement.'

from the May 1, 2007 edition

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But the enhanced security has come at the cost of the rule of law, say critics of the group. The line has blurred between the police and the people, and citizens recruited as Special Police Officers (SPOs) attempt to match the Naxalites blow for blow.

"The state cannot outsource law-and-order to underage, untrained, and unaccountable civilians," concluded a report last year by the Independent Citizen's Initiative, a group of activists and journalists.

A district torn apart

Suspicions run deep in Dantewada. On one side, those who come to the camps are cast as supporters of Salwa Judum. On the other, those who remain in their forest homes are labeled traitors and Naxalite conspirators. Caught in the middle are those wishing only to live their lives.

"The government suspects that we have given food and shelter to the Naxalites, but we have never given them shelter," says Kadti Budram, who says he was repeatedly harassed by SPOs when he did not leave his village.

After he was tied to a tree upside down and beaten last year, he at last came to the makeshift camp beneath the mango trees, which is not run by Salwa Judum. Now that he has left, he says, "Naxals will think that we are on the government side, and if we go back they will kill us."

A reserve police officer from another part of Chhattisgarh confirms that the treatment Mr. Kadti says he received is not unusual. He spoke only on condition of anonymity, because he feared reprisals if he talked to the media.

"Everyday, we are killing people," he says. "Otherwise, how will they join Salwa Judum?"

He estimates that his unit has killed 60 people this year. Asked if the dead were all Naxalites, he says he has no idea: He and his colleagues don't speak the local language so they rely on the judgment of the SPOs.

Though he says he has so far avoided killing anyone, he adds: "It's so brutal, and we can't understand what's going on."

While the superintendent of police in Bijapur, R.L. Dangi, says his officers have killed about 40 Naxalites in the past year he insists that "we haven't killed any civilians."

As for the incident in Santoshpur, Mr. Dangi says he has not received any complaints so far. Asked if he knew of a raid against Naxalites there, in which several people were killed, he said Naxalites often carry out attacks and blame them on the police.

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Rich Clabaugh – Staff