Salwa Judum

Why in the News?

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah has accused the Opposition’s Vice Presidential candidate Justice B. Sudershan Reddy (retd.) of supporting Naxalism, citing his 2011 Supreme Court judgment that ended the practice of appointing Special Police Officers (SPOs) to fight Maoists in Chhattisgarh.
• The allegation comes ahead of the Vice Presidential election, reviving debate on the Salwa Judum judgment.

More on the News

• Justice Reddy headed the SC Bench that delivered the landmark ruling in Nandini Sundar v. State of Chhattisgarh (2011).
• The judgment declared Salwa Judum unconstitutional, ending the use of tribal youth as armed SPOs/Koya Commandos against Maoists.
• Shah stated in Kerala that, if not for the judgment, “Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020.”

Background: Salwa Judum

• A state-sponsored vigilante movement launched in 2005 in Chhattisgarh, supported by the state government.
• Aim: To counter the Maoist insurgency by mobilising villagers, mainly tribal youth, as Special Police Officers (SPOs).
• Criticism: Widespread allegations of human rights violations, forced displacement, and violence.
• Supreme Court (2011): Held that arming untrained tribal youth violated Article 14 & Article 21 of the Constitution and ordered disbandment of SPOs.

(Source: IE)