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.

The Planning Commission wants to douse this 'spreading bushfire of rural discontent' -Neha Sakhuja and Savvy Soumya Mishra Land alienation, poverty amongst scheduled tribes and dalits and lack of access to basic forest resources have contributed to the growth of naxalism, says the Planning Commission. Its report, Development challenges in extremist affected areas, indicts Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh. The report also critiques SEZs and the complete failure of instruments like the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

Land alienation, poverty amongst scheduled tribes and dalits and lack of access to basic forest resources have contributed to the growth of naxalism, says the Planning Commission. Its report,

on april 15, 2008, the supreme court ordered the National Human Rights Commission to appoint a committee to look into human rights violations by Salwa Judum activists in Chhattisgarh and submit a

to the deserving: Binayak Sen has been chosen for the highest international honour in global health and human rights, the Jonathan Mann Award for 2008. A doctor and a human rights activist, he