NEW DELHI: The Centre and the Chhattisgarh government should hold the security forces and state-backed vigilantes responsible for having attacked, displaced and killed people in armed operations against Maoist rebels since mid-2005, Human Rights Watch has said. In a report released on Tuesday, it called for an end to all government support for unlawful activities by Salwa Judum vigilantes, and urged the State government to take immediate measures to protect the tens of thousands of persons displaced. It also called upon the Maoist rebels to end attacks on civilians and other abuses.

RW Urges Govt To End Support To Vigilantes A day before the Centre takes stock of the situation in four major Naxal-affected states, international human rights organization Human Rights Watch on Tuesday questioned the role of security forces and Salwa Judum (anti-Naxalite citizens' movement) for their "involvement in numerous violent abuses' and urged the government to end all support to vigilantes.

A report released by an international human rights organisation has held the Maoists as well as the security forces responsible for widespread human rights violations in Chhattisgarh, which, it says, is virtually under siege due to the clashes.

"Neither the government nor the Naxalites leave any room for civilian neutrality. Seeking protection from one side leaves an area's inhabitants at the risk of attack by the other," says the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report titled "Being neutral is our biggest crime: Government, vigilante and Naxalite abuses in India's Chhattishgarh".

Alleging widespread human rights violations by the security forces as well as state-backed Salwa Judum movement in Chhattisgarh, a leading international human rights organisation has urged the Centre and state government to end its support to Salwa Judum.

Election authorities in Chhattisgarh are carrying out a detailed survey of the tribal population taking shelter in Salwa Judum relief camps in Naxalite-infested Dantewada and Bijapur districts of Bastar region in the state. "We have asked the district collectors of Dantewada and Bijapur to carry out a detailed survey and find out which village the tribals belong to and whether their names figure in the electoral rolls in their respective areas," the state chief electoral officer Alok Shukla said.

for the first time in Chhattisgarh people have recalled chairpersons of three nagar panchayats for creating obstacles in developmental work and corruption. The State Election Commission declared the previous elections of the chairpersons null and void after people voted for their removal on June 15. The councillors of Gundardehi Panchayat and Nawagarh Panchayat in Durg district and Rajpur

LONG before the fuel price increase was announced on June 4, its political dimensions had come up time and again in discussions among partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre. The debate was on even during the run-up to the Assembly elections in Karnataka, which were held in May. The discussions highlighted the global increase in the price of crude oil and the demand from oil companies for governmental measures to tide them over.