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Photos: Salwa Judam’s foot soldiers left high and dry in Chhattisgarh
In 2011 when the Supreme Court banned Judum and ordered the Chhattisgarh government to stop using SPOs in counter-insurgency operations that involved Maoists, more than half of the SPOs were absorbed as assistant constables and are today staring at a bleak future.
Updated on: Sep 04, 2017 4:48 PM IST
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In 2005, when Salwa Judum – a government sponsored vigilante movement to fight Maoists was active, it mobilised 6,000 tribal youth in Chhattisgarh’s Maoist-affected districts to work as special police officers (SPOs). Abandoned by the state, they are now staring at a bleak future. In 2011, when the Supreme Court banned Judum and ordered the state government to stop using SPOs in counter-insurgency operations, more than half of the SPOs were absorbed as assistant constables. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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45-year-old Rama Jumde, a former SPO says, ‘We were under tremendous pressure. Refusing the order meant being declared Naxalites.’ He adds that Salwa Judum members threatened people with violence if they did not turn up for their rallies and processions. Those who attended these meetings had vermillion smeared on their foreheads as a mark of allegiance to the campaign. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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‘I cannot restart a life in my village because I am on the radar of Maoists. And the government that recruited me as an SPO now finds me useless,’ recalls Anita who works as a domestic help in a colony 20km from her native village. She added, ‘I thought I had joined Chhattisgarh police. I didn’t know I would be mortgaging my life.’ (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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Having stood out for taking a position against Maoists, these former SPOs now find their lives oscillating between uncertainty and terror. They do odd jobs, don’t go home because they fear for their lives, shudder each time they hear of former SPOs being killed by Maoists, and are unsure if the government will consider them for any jobs in the future. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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The Union Home Ministry had told the Supreme Court that the SPOs were to be the state’s version of the Maoist jan militia (people’s force). The then Chhattisgarh DGP OP Rathore had told a national daily that there was ‘no alternative’ to training local tribal people to defend themselves. Maoists killed 43 SPOs between 2010 and 2016, as per government data. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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Vivekanand, IGP, Bastar range told HT that more than 90 per cent of former SPOs have been absorbed as assistant constables and other positions. ‘You have to understand that there are many villagers who abruptly stopped coming on duty and now they have suddenly reappeared demanding jobs. We are still trying to accommodate as many of them as possible,” says the IGP. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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Chetraam Ataani was one of the faces of Salwa Judum movement when it was active. He joined BJP and is currently member of the Zila Panchayat, Kasoli in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. Ataani echoes the government--Salwa Judum was a people’s movement and no one was forced to join it. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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