Karma’s son to revive salwa judum movement

In a significant development, founder of Salwa Judum late Mahendra Karma’s son Chhabbindra on Monday announced to revive the “disbanded” anti- Naxal vigilante force to take on the Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s conflict zone of Bastar.

“The new anti- Maoist outfit christened as Vikash Sangarsh Samiti will take birth on the second death anniversary of Mahendra Karma in his ancestral village of Farsapal in Dantewada district,” Chhabbindra announced at a meeting of former Judum leaders, held at an undisclosed place in south Bastar district of Dantewada.

“The new outfit will strive to usher in lasting peace in Bastar by spreading awareness against Maoism in the conflict zone. We will seek cooperation from the Chhattisgarh government in way of undertaking speeding developed of the backward region as a back- up of our campaign against Naxalism,” he said.

“Our movement will be peaceful,” he said and claimed, “Around two dozen panchayats in Bastar have already slapped a ban on entry of Maoists into their area.”

Prominent among those who reportedly attended the meeting included former Judum leaders Chitaram Mattami, P. Vijay, Sattar Ali and Sukhram Dadi, sources close to Karma family told this newspaper.

Salwa Judum was disbanded in 2011 when Supreme Court declared it “illegal and unconstitutional”. The movement which had allegedly witnessed human rights violations and extra judicial killings, had triggered large scale displacement in Bastar.

Mahendra Karma was brutally murdered in the Naxal ambush on the Congress convoy at Jiram Ghati in Bastar district on May 25, 2013. Naxals danced on his body after spraying bullets on him from close range.