Victims of Maoism Oppose Reddy’s VP Candidacy

• Victims of Maoism in Chhattisgarh are opposing B Sudershan Reddy’s candidacy.
• They allege his 2011 verdict disbanding Salwa Judum revived Maoist violence.
• Home Minister Amit Shah has also accused Reddy of “supporting Naxalism.”

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 25th Aug: Amid a sharp political attack from the BJP, some victims of Maoism in Chhattisgarh have written to Congress and other opposition MPs, urging them to reconsider their support for former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy in the vice presidential election. They allege that the verdict of the bench, which included Reddy, to disband the Salwa Judum militia in 2011, led to a resurgence of Maoist violence.

In a letter, Siyaram Ramteke, a former deputy sarpanch, said he was shot multiple times by Maoists after the Salwa Judum was disbanded. “I continue to live the life of a physically-disabled person,” he wrote, stating that if the militia had not been disbanded, the Maoist threat would have ended long ago. Another letter from Ashok Gandami alleged that his niece was orphaned and injured by a bomb blast after her father was killed by Maoists following the verdict.

The letters come as the BJP and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have also criticized Reddy. Speaking in Kerala, Shah accused Reddy of “supporting Naxalism,” claiming the menace would have ended by 2020 if not for the judgment.

In response, Reddy stated that the 2011 verdict was not his alone but that of the Supreme Court. The bench, which included Justice S.S. Nijjar, had ruled that using tribal youths as Special Police Officers in the fight against Maoists was illegal and unconstitutional. The judgment was based on human rights concerns and the lack of a legal framework for arming and deploying a civilian militia. A group of 18 former judges has come out in support of Reddy, asserting that the judgment does not support Maoism or its ideology.