Victims of Chhattisgarh red terror

New Delhi: Far away from the Mumbai railway tracks, terror stalks the dirt tracks of the Red Corridor in Chhattisgarh's tribal-dominated forests.

For the tribals of Chhattisgarh holed up in government relief camps, death has become an everyday phenomenon. Ironically, these people stay in these camps to escape the Naxal threat in the state.

Two days after the massacre of tribals in Chhattisgarh by Naxals, the state government seems to be puzzled on how to deal with the Naxalite problem.

One option, says some officials, is to outsource terror fighting to the Salwa Judum or the people's movement, which was launched a year ago in Chhattisgarh.

The Chattisgarh government's answer to the massacre at the Erabor relief camp provides more ammunition to the Salva Judum and keeps the morale of the counter-terorists high.

However, this is an option that the Opposition Congress is quick trash.

"The government has failed in its efforts to maintain peace in the state and save the tribals from the Naxals. It is time that Article 356 was imposed in the state," says former chief minister of Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi.

Since the Salva Judum was launched, almost 50,000 tribals have been displaced.

The state accounts for 60 per cent of the tribals killed and 40 per cent of the total Naxal violence in the country, but dividing the tribals in this manner, experts say, is not the answer.

Columnist B G Varghese says, "The Naxals say that we are with you but then they exploit their Robin Hood image.

Outsourcing law and order to the salva judum is the government's answer to the Naxal menace, but as more and more areas slip out of the Indian Government's reach, it's perhaps time there was a rethink of the divide and rule tribals policy.

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