Did all the human rights groups and journalists who investigated the Salwa Judum-Naxalite conflict raging in Chhattisgarh for over two years get it wrong? The state-backed anti-Naxalite tribal militia isn't responsible for the forcible displacement of thousands of people in Dantewada district. It hasn't looted and pillaged villages, burnt homes and raped women. They haven't killed or maimed or butchered any innocent villagers. No, the Judum is a peace-loving movement combating Maoist terror through non-violent means.
This is what the Chhattisgarh government would have us believe. It is now funding workshops, roadshows and functions to glorify the "spontaneous uprising" of Chhattisgarh's tribals against the Naxal menace. Publicity experts from Mumbai-based Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, the RSS-affiliated research centre, are running the show that will kick off with a "National Seminar on Salwa Judum" in New Delhi. Now, chief minister Raman Singh ji, can propaganda explain 700 dead and 50,000 rendered homeless?
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