Q&A with Chavindra Karma -‘15 generations have been deprived of basic education’

Chavindra Karma, youngest son of slain Mahendra Karma — founder of anti-Naxal vigilante force Salwa Judum — is determined to carry forward his father’s legacy to free Bastar of Naxal influence. In an interview with Rabindra Nath Choudhury, he says that Naxalism can only be countered by a peaceful civil
movement and outlines his strategy to launch Vikas Sangharsh Samiti to create awareness among the adivasis about how Naxals have and are playing havoc
with their lives.

How do you see the May 8 incident of abduction of 300 tribals and the killing of one of them by Naxals in Marenga panchayat, Sukma district, on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the neighbouring district of Dantewada?

Naxals or Maoists have been opposing developmental works in Bastar fearing that their influence on the local adivasis will wane if roads, schools and bridges come up in the area. Hundreds of road construction machineries were burnt and workers engaged in laying roads were intimidated either by threats to kill them or by abducting them in the past one decade in Bastar.

Tribals who dared to engage themselves in construction work for employment, defying Naxal threats were branded as police informers and brutally killed by them. Naxals want to enslave the adivasis of Bastar by perpetuating their poverty and backwardness by stopping developmental works in the area. Naxals fear that their extortion economy currently running with levies imposed on tribal collectors of forest produce, forest and civil contractors and local industries will be derailed if Bastar gets developed.

The Marenga tragedy in which Naxals brutally killed Sadaram Nag, who worked as a supervisor in the construction of a bridge in the nearby area, in the presence of 300 villagers held hostage by them, is a clear instance of Naxals’ design to stop developmental works in the region. Tragically, the government still remains a mute spectator to the tribals’ tragedy. The construction of the bridge was taken up with the deployment of a Central Reserve Police Force battalion to provide security to the workers. But the security forces were withdrawn for deployment in Prime Minister’s security, leaving the tribals in the village at the mercy of the marauding Naxals.

Do you believe your plan to revive the Salwa Judum movement can free Bastar of Naxal menace?

My announcement to launch Vikas Sangharsh Samiti to oppose Naxalism has already sent a chill down the spine of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist). This is clear from the statement issue by Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DSZC) spokesman Gudsa Usendi, threatening to repeat the Jiram Ghati attack (in which 32 Congressmen were killed in Bastar on May 25, 2013) if such a movement is launched in Bastar again. The reaction is a clear sign of nervousness in Maoist cadre over the prospect of revival of Salwa Judum movement. The Naxals know fully well that it is only a civil movement that can root out Naxalism from the soil of Bastar. But I want to reiterate that our movement will be peaceful and we will ensure that no harm is done to any section of tribals, including those who are Naxal-sympathisers out of compulsion.

We have learnt a lot from the weaknesses of the Salwa Judum movement. We will not repeat the mistakes committed during the Judum movement. Naxals have threatened to eliminate me if I re-launch a movement in the line of Salwa Judum. But I am not scared of the threat. The warning clearly shows that it is the Naxals who are scared of the move to revive a civil movement against them in Bastar.

What led to the weakening of Salwa Judum movement in Bastar?

I blame the Naxal-sympathiser NGOs as well as the Chhattisgarh government for the collapse of such a unique civil movement against insurgency. Vested interests, at the behest of the Maoists, conspired against Salwa Judum to nullify a potent threat against the rebels. The movement was mischievously linked to excesses committed against the local adivasis by police as well as the Naxals to defame it.

The Chhattisgarh government is also responsible for premature death of the movement because it failed to defend Salwa Judum in the Supreme Court properly.
The movement got the sanction of the Bastar adivasis but could not stand the scrutiny of law owing to the conspiracy hatched against it by vested interests.
Besides, the movement that posed a real threat to Naxals suffered erosion of public credibility due to the association of the Chhattisgarh government with it at a later period. It was killed in a proverbial way — “give a dog a bad name and hang him”. In a nutshell, Salwa Judum paid the price for others’ sins.

But Salwa Judum faced charges of excesses like atrocities on tribals and extra-judicial killings?

Outsiders, who are completely oblivious of ground realities in Bastar, have levelled these charges while sitting in Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata. How can these outsiders assess the situation in Bastar? As far as charges of excesses committed by some Judum members are concerned, I can say that there is no record of a mass struggle in history of mankind that was completely non-violent. Even India’s freedom movement is replete with stories of violent incidents.

Why do you feel that a civil movement is still relevant in Bastar to counter Naxalism after the bitter experience of Salwa Judum?

I see hope of resolution of the Bastar imbroglio in a peaceful civil movement against Naxalism because a brewing revolt against the Naxals among the local tribals is clearly discernible. The whole Bastar population is desperate to see development — roads, schools and hospitals — in their areas. Schools, community centres and hospital buildings were destroyed by Naxals in remote Bastar areas, depriving the locals of basic amenities.

Almost 15 generations in Bastar have been deprived of basic education due to left-wing insurgency. For the first time in history of Maoist movement in Bastar, two dozen villages of Dantewada have decided to stand up to the Maoists by enforcing a ban on their entry. Who wants to live under perpetual fear of Naxal threats? Who wants their young men and women killed by the Naxals on charges of spying for police? Who wants to be deprived of his/her basic needs like health and education?

Tribals in Bastar desperately want peace and development, but are currently caught in the crossfire between Naxals and security forces due to prolonged insurgency. That, simply put, is the tragedy of Bastar. While Naxals fear for their existence in a developed Bastar, the corrupt government machinery thrives on insurgency. Neither desires restoration of normalcy in Bastar for their own vested interests as both are the beneficiaries of Bastar’s tragedy.

Don’t you think your plan to launch a movement on the lines of Salwa Judum will vitiate the already restive atmosphere in Bastar, pitting tribals against tribals, as was witnessed in the Salwa Judum days?

I have carefully crafted a strategy to revive the movement. I will ensure that my movement remains apolitical, where everyone, irrespective of their political affiliations and ideological leanings, is welcome to join the peaceful struggle to free Bastar from the vice-like grip of the Naxals. We will move from village to village to create awareness among the locals against the Maoists. We will wean them away from the influence of the Maoists by convincing them that it is in the interests of their future generations that Naxalism be rooted out of Bastar.

We will set out on the mission by launching Vikas Sangharsh Samiti on the occasion of my father’s second death anniversary, May 25, from my native village of Farsapal, Dantewada. We are opposed to setting up mega industries in Bastar that will cause large-scale displacement of tribals. We are in favour of development such as roads, health, education and drinking water facilities. Tribals can achieve sustainable development on agriculture and forest produces.
If there is peace and development in Bastar, then nearly seven lakh adivasis, who fled their villages following the Maoist violence as well as Salwa Judum movement, will return to their homes.

The post-Salwa Judum Bastar has witnessed radical transformation. Majority of former Judum members have returned to their villages by striking a deal with the Naxals to lead a hassle-free life. Other Judum members preferred to settle down in Bastar’s urban areas.

In this situation, do you think you will be able to woo them to join the new movement?

The situation in Bastar post-Salwa Judum is further complicated as you do not know on whose side (between Naxals and security forces) one is. This situation is more conducive for reviving another civil movement in Bastar because disillusionment among the locals is mounting day by day as they are finding themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I have had several rounds of discussions with former senior Judum leaders of south Bastar districts such as Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma. They are more than willing to lend their support to a fresh movement.

Do you foresee any reprisals from the Naxals?
The Karma family has lost 93 members, including Mahendra Karma, in their two-decade-long battle against Naxalism. I am prepared to embrace martyrdom like my father achieved in our mission to drive out the Naxals from Bastar for once and for all.