New Delhi: The Supreme Court today directed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to appoint a committee to inquire into the alleged human rights violations pertaining to Salwa Judum movement in Chhattisgarh.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan asked the NHRC to submit a report within two months. The Bench passed the order while hearing petitions filed by academicians and social activists seeking a direction to the state government to refrain from allegedly supporting and encouraging the "Salwa Judum," allegedly a people s movement to counter naxalism.

The state government had earlier denied that Judum was a state-sponsored movement and said that action would be taken if any Judum activist transgresses the confines of the law.

The PILs, filed by sociologist Nandini Sundar, historian Ramchandra Guha, former bureaucrat E A S Sarma and others, also alleged that the conditions in Judum camps were bad and people involved in the movement should be allowed to go back to the forests in view of the upcoming sowing season.

The PILs said it was necessary to inquire as to how tribals and villagers were living in camps in the jungles. The petitioners said they needed better treatment as they were caught between the naxalites and Salwa Judum. The state, in its reply, had said that "Salwa Judum is a voluntary, peaceful initiative of the people". "It is not a state-sponsored movement and appropriate actions shall be taken if any Salwa Judum activist transgresses the confines of law," it has said in an affidavit.
Source : PTI