A few months ago, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defined it as “the biggest internal security challenge facing India since its Independence”. Naxalite communist guerrilla started in 1967 after the violent crush of a peasants’ armed uprising at Naxalbari, in West Bengal. After 40 years of permanent conflict it is now more vital than ever.

Chhattisgarh, the centre stage of the conflict. Indian Prime Minister’s alarm is fully justified by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) annual report about this forgotten war, which was made public a few days ago.
According to this report, in the year 2006  749 people were killed, 285 of them were civilians, 329 were alleged Naxalites and 135 were police officers or members of military or para-military forces. “Despite decrease in the number of killings in 2006 in comparison to 2005, when they were 892, the Naxalite conflict is worsening” says Suhas Chakma, director of the ACHR “this is not in terms of geographical expansion, but in terms of geographical concentration and intensity of the conflict in one single area, Chhattisgarh, which is the worst-affected state with about half the number of casualties: 363 out of 749, followed by Andhra Pradesh (135), Jharkhand (95), Maharashtra (60), Bihar (45), Orissa (25), West Bengal (22) and others (4)”.

A bloody Campaign for Peace. This change finds its explanation in the foolish anti-guerrilla campaign carried out by the State Government of Chhattisgarh. They launched the creation of a Government-backed group, The Salwa Judum (Campaign for Peace), in 2005 and its action was intensified in 2006.
The Salwa Judum has been described as a spontaneous revolt of local people against Maoists. The truth is that Indian security forces have armed poor farmers and tribals with guns forcing them to counter Maoists, therefore fomenting a bloody civil war.
“The Salwa Judum campaign has not had disastrous effects only on the number of killings” Chakma said “in order to force locals to join the Salwa Judum ‘spontaneous’ army, the security forces threaten them with systematic extrajudicial executions, tortures and rapes. But,  those villages and tribes which surrender to the Government not to stand  further violence and accept to join The Salwa Judum, become the Maoists’ targets. Caught in the crossfire, many decide to flee: so far there have been 43,740 refugees, only in the Dantewara district.

The Army do not want to soil their hands. New Delhi Central Government have so far supported The Salwa Judum campaign in Chhattisgarh, but now they are gradually recognising the need for a different strategy.
In the last few days there have been many pressures on the armed forces to make them take the anti-Naxalite operations upon themselves. Nevertheless the Army have immediately given a negative reply. The Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General J. J. Singh has said  “We cannot take on any further onerous tasks which could divert our forces from their main aim: to defend our borders and our territorial integrity. Our forces have been equally deployed to face up to Kashmir separatists and the  Assam ones: we would not be able to face up to a new front”. The Minister of Defence has immediately echoed these words:” It is not up to the Army to give chase to the Naxalites, it is up to each State Government and to the security forces that State Governments have at their disposal”, which means: go on with The Salwa Judum.