SC issues notice to Chhattisgarh on promoting Salwa Judum

New Delhi, May 17 (UNI) The Supreme Court today issued notices to the state of Chhattisgarh on a petition seeking directions to the state government to refrain from supporting, encouraging or promoting in any manner whatsoever the activities of the security forces sponsored 'salwa judum' (jan jagran abhiyan) movement launched in Dantewada district of the state.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran on a petition filed by Nandini Sundar and others also directed the respondent to conduct an independent and impartial enquiry under the aegis of the apex court into the incidents of killings, abductions, rape, arson and gross violations of human rights by security forces and Salwa Judum activists in their attempt to counter the naxalites in the district as well as investigate the killings carried out by the naxals.

According to the petitioner, the Salwa Judum movement was launched to combat the naxal menace and it is a deliberate state sponsored strategy to counter the naxalites in Dantewada district .

Several independent NGO enquiries and the National Commission for Women have demonstrated against the manner in which the Salwa Judum is clearly funded and promoted by the state and intensified violence and utter lawnesses in the district is the result of this so called vigilant movement.

The petitioners have also alleged that in frequent raids on villages conducted jointly by the Salwa Judum and the security forces, suspected naxal sympathisers (sangham members) are beaten and brutally killed, their houses torched and live stock looted.

In some instances, the raids continue till the entire village is cleared and the villagers are compelled to move into Salwa Judum camps.

This is the outcome of the district collecter's proposal to make the movement a success and to weaken the rural base of the naxals in order to eradicate them from the state.

UNI