Where is Sodi Shambo?

For several years now, the state of Chhattisgarh in central India has been in the news as security forces have waged a protracted war in its southern districts against Maoists and those declared to be their supporters. Describing the challenge as the "biggest national security challenge", the new Home Minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rajnath Singh, has promised a massive strike against Maoist leaders and cadres. More troops, more money and more weapons are expected in the new strategy for eliminating the Maoists. To be sure, the present commitment is but a continuation of previous efforts which were similarly aimed at eradicating 'left-wing extremism'. Besides posing a security challenge, the Maoists offer a serious threat to the planned path of industrial development based on exploitation of natural resources as they have been forcibly resisting the entry of the state and corporate capital into the forest areas.

Given their strong rural and adivasi bases, uprooting the Maoists has not been an easy task. Nevertheless, the state policy is premised on the understanding that until and unless the Maoists abjure violence, the offensive against them will continue. Consequently, the 'affected' districts of Chhattisgarh have been engulfed in a swathe of violence and are, for all practical purposes, a war zone. In tandem with the state's propaganda, a strong public opinion has grown against the Maoists and their 'menace'. What is overlooked is that the war is not between two evenly matched adversaries. The state's coercive apparatus is far stronger than that of the Maoists, and there is no level playing field in Chhattisgarh or in any of the districts where the state is fighting what it views as the enemy. Undoubtedly, crimes committed by the Maoists need to be investigated and prosecuted, but what of those committed by state forces and the vigilante groups it supports? The story of Sodi Shambo gives an idea of how the rule of law has been compromised in this unequal war which the state has declared against its own people.