Between a rock and a hard place

Welcome to heaven', proclaims a poster at the entrance of the Dronpal rehabilitation camp in Chattisgarh's south Bastar district. This is one of the 23 relief camps organised by state government-backed Salwa Judum.

 

Set up seven years ago as a refuge for hapless tribals terrorised by Maoist violence, a cursory look at the camp which houses nearly 35,000 frightened inmates, tells you that it is anything but heaven.

 

Inside Dronpal the tribals huddle together, not knowing what to expect. Promises of employment and housing in the last seven years have remained just that: promises. What is worse, security is slack and those who took the brave decision to live in these camps and annoy the influential and violent ultra leftists, now regret their decision.

 

Like 27-year-old Markum Dula, a tribal who carries a letter from the police certifying that he is 'Naxalite-hit'. The police letter goes on to describe that Dula, a resident of Borko Markampara, suffered at the hands of ultra Maoists when they killed his paternal grandfather, destroyed crops on his 10-acre farmland and whisked away a large number of his cattle.

 

"We were traditionally rich people but now live on the road because we believed the government. Now I cannot go back to my village because of Naxal fear and this relief camp is no good," says Dula.

 

Another resident of Dronpal, 50-year-old Marka Iddia who lives there with his three sons and their wives, says the government had assured housing and land but it has subsequently shown no intention of keeping its word. It is clear that the 8,000 tribal families housed in the relief camp have to organise their own rations and fend for themselves.

Confirms Jetu Azad, resident of Dronpal, "We have not received rations for the last three months and we have constructed our own houses."

 

Tribals living under the shadow of Maoist guns in Chattisgarh have fled in large numbers to neighbouring Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar and heavy padlocks hang on their village homes which once bustled with activity.

According to official police figures, since the Salwa Judum came into being in 2005, Maoists have killed more than 2,000 people, including 400 security personnel and 130 special police officers (SPOs). The ultras have launched deadly attacks on security personnel posted for the security of the relief camps and many innocents have been caught in the crossfire.

 

Most stakeholders admit that the state government basking in its slogan of'peace and development' may have won accolades elsewhere in the country but in reality except the chief minister, virtually no other VIP has shown the courage to visit the camps until high level VVIP security is organised. MLAs belonging to the area have stopped visiting Salwa Judum camps for security reasons – their vote banks be damned.

 

While the state government has claimed that it has deployed 14 battalions of police force in the worst-effected Dantewada district, a day-long vigil by The Sunday Indian (TSI) there revealed that not a single security personnel was in sight. There was no police force in evidence even in the refugee camps proving that those who once took the government offer of protection, are sitting ducks for rampaging, heavily armed Maoists.

 

A survey of three camps, Dronpal, Erabore and Bhairamgarh, showed that police bunkers were unoccupied and armed security personnel were deployed only for the protection of VIPs, including at the residence offormer MP Mahendra Karma and leader of Salwa Judum. There were no cursory checks at the barriers leading to the camps and no names asked. Naturally then, the camps are being targeted regularly by ultras who know that the refugees have no protection 

worth the name.

 

Camp inmates say that the police disappears by 5 pm into the safety of thanas (police stations) leaving them at the mercy of the elements. Just how bad things are can be determined by the comment of Chattisgarh DGP Naxal Operations, Ram Niwas, who admits that regular patrolling has stopped "because the jawans are apprehensive of underground explosives planted by extremists.''

 

Points out Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma, "Since there is no police force in the camps, the tribals are soft targets for Maoists."

 

Such is the Maoist terror that traditional businesses like the production of tendu leaves has gone out of the control of traditional cultivators. In an attempt to provide security in 2005, the government unveiled their massive protection programme. Given the circumstances, the villagers had two choices: either join the extremists or proceed to the refugee camps. A whopping 50,000 people from 650 villages opted for living in 23 camps set up for the purpose and many others joined them with time.

 

To set the right tempo, each family was promised rice at Re 1 per kg, employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), an assistance of Rs 35,000 for constructing homes as well as an education allowance.

 

The Maoists have, however, continued to pursue their agenda. Intensifying their violence to weaken Salwa Judum, attacks have been launched at various times: in Ranibodli 70 Salwa Judum supporters were burnt alive in March 2007 and in Dronpal, 30 sympathisers were killed in a land mine blast in June 2009.

 

Periodic attacks which have continued since then, have broken the morale of those living in camps, the underlying message being that the government and its police forces have been unable to provide security. As a result, a number

of inmates have returned to their villages and even government figures admit as much.

 

According to the Chattisgarh home department, there are not more than 22,000 refugees left in Dantewada and 8,000 in Bijapur.

 

The other reason for heightened fears is that SPOs who had earlier been armed by the government were disarmed on orders issued by the Supreme Court. Result: a number of them who were at the forefront of the anti-Naxal operations are now scurrying for cover under new identities. In this kerfuffle, clearly, the only ones not hiding their identities are the ultra Maoists. With the state government unable to act in cohesion, why should they?