Salwa Judum

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"Salwa Judum" is an Indian government-funded militia headed by one of the State’s most powerful politicians and based in India's Chhattisgarh State, a region rich in mineral resources.

Formed in 2005, Salwa Judum translates as "peace mission" but in attempting to bring the area under control for economic development its actions appear to be anything but peaceful.

Indigenous ('tribal') villagers in the “Red Corridor”, a 100,000 square kilometre tract of land infiltrated by Maoist Naxalites, claim Salwa Judum members have committed atrocities against them with the aim of forcing them off the land so that it can be opened up for development.

Over the last year, more than 350 people have been killed and 50,000 moved into camps in the Dantewada district, as a result. Hundreds of thousands of tribal villagers are caught in the crossfire between Salwa Judum and the Maoists.

Over the last year, more than 100,000 people in the area have been forced out of their homes and into displacement camps. Their villages have been attacked, their homes burned by both the rebels and Salwa Judum.

UK TV programme Unreported World has found abandoned villages where a few people live in desparate conditions.

Villagers claim Salwa Judum officials ordered them out and burnt their homes, on the pretext that they may harbour Maoist sympathisers.