Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Romila Thapar & Others Vs Union of India & Others dated 29/08/2018 regarding arrest of activists for their alleged Maoist links. Apex Court directs that the activists be kept under house arrest at their own homes. The next date …
On August 28, senior police officers and forest department personnel of two contiguous districts in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka held a joint meeting to combat the growing Naxal presence in forest areas. Erode in Tamil Nadu, one of the two districts in question, had not far back been the hunting …
Thousands of tribals in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district are on the run after they were allegedly attacked by the local administration and upper caste landlords. On April 19, 2007, tribals in Ghateha village, bordering Uttar Pradesh, were evicted from the over 400-hectare (ha) forestland by a large contingent of police …
Ethnic conflicts have dogged India since independence. The problem has attracted a lot of scholarship. Amarjyoti Borah talks to two eminent academics who have looked at the problem. Ram Dayal Munda, currently chief advisor, Indian Confederation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, puts the problem of tribal people in the country …
Following one of the fiercest attacks by Naxals in Chhattisgarh, in which at least 55 police personnel were killed in Bastar, the state government has announced the setting up of an expert committee to look into the Naxal problem in the state. "We want a new strategy on Naxalites to …
with the killing of three forest officials in Orissa's Kandhar forests in Dhenkanal district triggering panic over the past fortnight, forest officials in the state are queuing up for voluntary retirement from their services. The forest officials were reportedly killed by Naxals in the last week of January. The Naxals …
Did all the human rights groups and journalists who investigated the Salwa Judum-Naxalite conflict raging in Chhattisgarh for over two years get it wrong? The state-backed anti-Naxalite tribal militia isn't responsible for the forcible displacement of thousands of people in Dantewada district. It hasn't looted and pillaged villages, burnt homes …
the police in Keshkal, in Chattisgarh's Bastar district, has opened a can of worms after releasing 19 surrendered naxalites, on January 11, after declaring that no cases are registered against them. Earlier, on January 3 in Raipur, 79 alleged naxalites surrendered in the presence of chief minister Raman Singh. The …
maoists in Orissa may contest the forthcoming panchayat elections by proxy in the strongholds of Malkangiri and Gajpati districts. The elections will stretch from February to March. There are reports that hectic preparations are on in Poplur, Elkanur and Tekguda in Malkangiri district, bordering Andhra Pradesh. The Maoists are convening …
DR. RAMAN Singh became the second Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the State on December 8, 2003. An Ayurvedic doctor by profession, he entered politics in 1976. While Chhattisgarh was still a part of Madhya Pradesh, he was Member of the …
Militia minors The state of terror Errabore relief camp, Dantewada, September 2, 2006: Ramesh carries a .303 rifle. He’s not sure of his age. “Maybe 16,” he says doubtfully, and adds that he hasn’t really shot anyone yet. The teenager has had only a week’s combat training at the police …
The Errabore camp was set up in February to shelter tribals fleeing the Salwa Judum-Naxalite conflict. It had about 4,500 refugees packed into a little over a square kilometre. The numbers vary as people come and go. Many have moved to districts like Konta and Jagdalpur, or crossed over to …
With the upsurge of Naxal activity, there has been a rethink on development and land reform programmes. Some efforts are being made, especially by the centre, to push the programmes in tribal belts. The perception that Maoist violence is not just a law and order issue is gaining ground. In …
the Salwa Judum movement, an armed counter-Naxalite campaign in Chhattisgarh comprising of local tribal and non-tribal people backed by the state, is precipitating a deeper crisis in the state instead of solving the problems posed by extreme Left insurgency. Involving civilians directly in the fight against armed insurgents (mostly local …
The Chhattisgarh government has suspended Salwa Judum, launched as a people's awareness campaign to oppose naxalites, in the wake of the killing of several of its activists in Dantewada district and the spurt in naxalite attacks on civilians. The movement had become controversial after the exodus of tribal people from …
DEEP in the jungles of Bastar, a few kilometres off the dirt track that runs between Bijapur and Gangalur, in the adivasi village of Irullipallan, it is almost noon. Marvinda and his family have just arrived from a refugee camp at Shevnaar, about 10 km away, to inspect the old, …
The iniquitous development agenda pursued by successive governments at the centre and the state has rendered several tribal groups in Orissa, who reside in some of the poorer, more inaccessible districts of the state, largely marginal to the governance process. Arguably, it is this alienation and underdevelopment that has afforded …
pressured by frequent naxalite attacks across the state for control over forestland, the Karnataka government is trying to denotify 12,141 hectares (ha) of the total 55,847 ha of Kudremukh reserved forest area. The state's information minister B Sivaraman recently told the media that 43,706 hectares of the forestland will remain …
as talks between Naxalites and the Andhra Pradesh (ap) government focus on land reform, a roadblock is imminent. It is the Forest Conservation Act (fca) that prohibits settlements and even restricts collection of non-timber forest produce. This triggers local discontent that the armed Naxalite groups exploit to spread their influence. …
