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Salwa Judum (literally "purification hunt") is a state sponsored counterinsurgency campaign started in Dantewada district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh in 2005, which involved vigilante gangs accompanied by state security forces burning villages, killing people and forcing them into camps, as part of an effort to counter Naxalites (Maoist guerrillas). Over 644 villages have been affected and some 300,000 people displaced. Various reports critiquing the Salwa Judum are In response to Public Interest Litigations filed by Nandini Sundar et al vs State of Chhattisgarh, WP 250 of 2007, and Kartam Joga et al vs State of Chhattisgarh and Union of India, WP 119 of 2007, the Supreme Court of India asked the National Human Rights Commission to investigate and report within 8 weeks. NHRC's report ended up whitwashing Salwa Judum's crimes, and in fact, came perilously close to justifying vigilantism. The report and its critiques can be found here.
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