SC asks NHRC to file report on Salwa Judum

Supreme Court today directed National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to appoint a committee to investigate the human rights violations of Salwa Judum activisits in Chattisgarh and file its report within eight weeks.A public interest petition (PIL) moved by Delhi academicians had alleged killings and torture of innocent people by Salwa Judum activists armed by the state government and police to deal with Naxalism. The state government called it a "people’s movement" but the petition alleged that the Salwa Judum movement has been indulging in violence with police support.Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told a bench, headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, that the situation in Chhattisgarh was alarming and cause for concern for both the centre and the state government. He justified the Salwa Judum movement in the state under which private citizens are being armed to fight the Naxalites. He said no policeman was prepared to enter the jungles inhabited by Naxalites who killed people including policemen.The state government had earlier denied that Judum was a state-sponsored movement, and said action would be taken if any Judum activist transgresses the confines of the law. The PIL alleged that the conditions in Judum camps were bad and people involved in the movement should be allowed to go back to the forests in view of the upcoming sowing season. They are caught between Judum and Naxalites. According to the state, "Salwa Judum is a voluntary, peaceful initiative of the people...It is not a state-sponsored movement and appropriate actions shall be taken if any Salwa Judum activist transgresses the confines of law."
BS Reporter / New Delhi April 15, 2008
Wednesday, Apr 16, 2008
Business Standard