NEW DELHI: The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) has urged the Union Government to stop the anti-naxalite campaign, "Salwa Judum", in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh and ensure that civilians were not involved in conflicts with armed groups.

The Union and the State Governments must ensure that no counter-insurgency or security measures were undertaken, ACHR director Suhas Chakma told reporters here on Friday. He urged Maoists to stop attacking civilians and end indiscriminate use of mines and children in hostilities. He also urged the Chhattisgarh Government to order immediately a judicial probe into recruitment of "child soldiers" as Special Police Officers.

Releasing a report, "The Adivasis of Chhattisgarh: Victims of Naxalite Movement and Salwa Judum Campaign," brought out by a team of ACHR activists who visited Bastar and Bhadrachalam (Andhra Pradesh), Mr. Chakma said the aboriginal tribes had become pawns in the hands of naxalites and the State Governments. Members of a family were pitted against each other. Some of them were forced to become naxalites, while the others joined "Salwa Judum."

The report says that the conflict in Chhattisgarh has claimed as many as 227 lives — 47 security personnel, 30 alleged Maoists, 138 civilians killed by Maoists and 12 civilians by security forces and "Salwa Judum" activists — between June 5 last year and March 6 this year.

It points out that many adivasis in Chhattisgarh had joined "Salwa Judum" for recruitment by police. This spoke of the need for the tribals' economic uplift. The naxalite movement found support among adivasis because of systematic displacement, dispossession and violation of their rights, says the report.

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