Christians welcome SC order to disband Salwa Judum

Christians have welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to ban Chhattisgarh government's recruiting of tribals as special police officers (SPOs) also known as Salwa Judum.

A bench comprising Justice B Sudershan Reddy and Justice SS Nijjar on Tuesday criticised the government for supporting and funding of an armed civilian vigilante group.

There are about 4,000 SPOs, mostly tribals, trained by the Chhattisgarh government to fight the Maoist insurgency.

The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) said it welcomed the court's order and prayed the government would take practical solutions in dealing with the issue.

"Such outsourcing of forces is unconstitutional and would only lead to more violence and misunderstanding between tribal people. The actions of this group cannot be endorsed by any human community," said Christopher Rajkumar, Secretary of NCCI Commission on Justice and Peace.

"We are not endorsing violence by any means. Government cannot fight violence with violence. We need programmes in place that would engage people rather than disengage them from society. The only way forward is through positive dialogue and this can't be achieved with guns," he added.

The court said Article 21 and Article 14 of the Constitution have been violated, and would continue to be violated, if the Salwa Judum was not banned.

"It is also equally clear to us that in this policy, of using local youth, jointly devised by the Union and the states facing Maoist insurgency, as implemented in the State of Chhattisgarh, the young tribals have literally become canon fodder in the killing fields of Dantewada and other districts of Chhattisgarh," media quoted the Bench saying.

The court observed that the genesis of the problem lied in the flawed socio-economic policies of the governments. It therefore directed the Chhattisgarh Government to immediately cease and desist from using SPOs in any manner.

"I welcome the Supreme Court verdict. We already had a huge rally recently with about 3000 people calling for disbanding of Salwa Judum," said human rights activist Gladson Dungdung.

"I have visited villages in Dantewada and other regions. People have expressed anger on the police atrocities committed against them. Several mining corporations have usurped tribal land and have made people unemployed. Maoists used violence to stop these mining barons. But now even the government using violence does not help the issue. It only leads to social instability," Dungdung expressed.

Government officials meanwhile noted that the apex court's ruling will have a major setback for the Centre's anti-Maoist policy in different states.

CM Raman Singh said the state government would take a decision on the SPOs after studying the verdict.

Salwa Judum began in 2005 in the Bastar region of South Chhattisgarh. It has been responsible for a huge amount of violence in the state, which includes killing civilians, burning and looting of houses, and raping women. As a result of the violence an estimated 100,000 people have been displaced.