Salwa Judum
| Salwa Judum | |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 2005–present |
| Active region(s) | Bastar and Dantewada districts of Chhattisgarh, India |
| Status | Active |
| Size | 4,000 |
Salwa Judum (meaning "Peace March" or "Purification Hunt" in Gondi language) was a militia that was mobilised and deployed as part of anti-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India, aimed at countering Naxalite violence in the region. The militia, consisting of local tribal youth, received support and training from the Chhattisgarh state government. While remnants of it may still exist in armed locals being rehabilitated, it has been outlawed and banned by a Supreme Court court order.
On 5 July 2011, the Supreme Court of India declared the militia to be illegal and unconstitutional, and ordered its disbanding. The Court directed the Chhattisgarh government to recover all the firearms, ammunition and accessories. The use of Salwa Judum by the government for anti-Naxal operations was criticised for its violations of human rights and poorly trained youth for counter-insurgency roles. It also ordered the government to investigate all instances of alleged criminal activities of Salwa Judum.
On 25 May 2013, its founder Mahendra Karma, who had become a senior Indian National Congress party leader was killed in a Naxalite attack along with other party members in Darbha Valley of Chhattisgarh, 400 km south of Raipur and 50 km from Jagdalpur.
Salwa Judum started in 2006 as a people's resistance movement against the Naxalites, a far-left movement with Maoist ideology in some states in rural India that is designated by India as a terrorist organisation on account of their violent activities. Initially an uprising of local indigenous people in Chhattisgarh, the movement later received bi-partisan support from both the ruling and opposition parties. A few years later the state government adopted the Salwa Judum movement to counter Naxalites in regions where they had established themselves by force.
In 2008, Chhattisgarh along with neighbouring Jharkhand accounted for over 65% of the total Naxal violence in the country. Chhattisgarh state had trained a number of 'Special Police Officers' or SPOs (also commonly referred to as Koya commandos), from amongst the tribals who were part of Salwa Judum.
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