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Naxal-affected Chhattisgarh jittery as poll date nears
Published on Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 10:26, Updated on Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 08:48 in India section
Tags: Assembly Elections 2008, Naxals , New Delhi
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New Delhi: Chhattisgarh goes to the polls on November 14 and 20 with the Maoist dominated areas the first ones to go to vote.
The Maoists have already given a call to boycott the elections.
It is almost a war zone in the Maoist-affected areas and this year the tribal vote could be decisive.
Mahendra Karma, the architect of the controversial Salwa Judum - the people's militia to fight the Maoists, is also in the fray but he refuses to take any questions.
"How many people have left the land? I don't know. How many people are left in the relief camps? I don't know. I am not an accountant. Is there no other question? Get out of here and delete the footage," Karma shouts at the CNN-IBN team.
Puran a farmer living in a relief camp in Dornapal is facing the brunt of the cosy handshake between BJP's Raman Singh and the Congress' Karma.
For three years he hasn't cultivated his land and is he not thinking of returning back to his village.
"There is no way I can go back. The threat from Maoists is too immense," says Puran.
Meanwhile, Madvi Lakha has decided to go back to his village, spurred by the call of the Maoists to return home. His decision has been influenced by the presence of security forces and by his own fierce desire to rebuild.
Now three years after the counter terror movement of which he has been a part, truth is bitter.
"On both sides Adivasis get killed. On the side of the Salwa Judum and on the side of the Naxals also. Only Naxals and security forces flourish here," Lakha says.
There is a consensus on the ground that counter terror has only resulted in more terror and that it is not the job of the tribals to fight Maoists.
CPI's Manish Kunjam is seeking to represent those voices.
"We believe that ours is a just fight. We will win because we fought against the Salwa Judum," Kunjam says.
In fact, no election has been so crucial for the tribals as this one as two ideologies fight to win the tribal vote.
Fear and alienation are the defining forces of life in the region. People who live in the camps go to cultivate their field, sometimes not knowing whether they will return or not.
Even though the Maoists have given a call to boycott the elections, the presence of security forces has meant that at least those in the camps will vote, but what about the rest?
Elections will be held in a war zone and expect attacks by Maoists to rise as November 14 draws closer.
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