Know Mahendra Karma- The 'Bastar Tiger' who was riddled with 100 bullets in Chhattisgarh Naxal attack

New Delhi : Today the entire country is shocked at the brutal assassination of Congress leaders by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh. According to eyewitnesses, the main target of the Naxals was – Mahendra Karma, the architect of Salwa Judum-the anti-Naxal movement that was founded in 2005 and disbanded in 2011 under instructions from Supreme Court of India. Karma died after he was riddled with nearly 100 bullets by the Maoists.Who was Mahendra Karma and why was he on the hit list of Naxalites? Let's have a look at the life and journey of Mahendra Karma.Better known as the ‘Bastar Tiger', Mahendra Karma was a top ranking tribal leader in Chhattisgarh. He was a staunch opponent of the violent means adopted by Naxalites of Chhattisgarh. What stood him apart from other leaders was his advocacy for armed response by civilians themselves to the Naxal violence. He always believed that the Naxalites can be defeated only if the civilians themselves took up arms and challenged the Maoists.It was his firm belief that prompted him to launch the Jan Jagran Andolan against Naxals in 1991. The movement failed because he could not muster enough support at that time but in one sense, he had laid the foundation for an armed struggle against Naxalites. Born into a landowning family of Bastar district, Karma was initially more concerned about safeguarding his own land from Naxalites but gradually it became the mission of his life. He was always thinking about coming up with new ways and means of wiping out Naxalism from his region.Actually, Karma started his political career with Communist Party of India (CPI) . In fact, he went on to win 1980 general election on a CPI ticket. In 1996, He won from ‘Bastar' Lok Sabha constituency as an independent candidate. After sometime, He moved over to Congress and won the assembly elections from ‘Dantewada' constituency. He served as prison minister in Digvijay Singh government. After Chhhatisgarh came into existence in 2000, Karma joined Ajit Jogi government as Industry and Commerce Minister. He continued in that position till 2003 when Congress lost power to BJP. Karma became leader of opposition in 2003 but he lost the 2008 assembly elections.Mahendra Karma's political affiliations never came in the way of his opposition to the principles and policies of naxalites. That was the reason why he never hesitated in joining hands with BJP, his paty's arch rival in the state, so far as fighting Naxals was concerned. Karma had to face opposition from his own partymen on matters relating to tackling naxalism. Many Congress leaders including former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi were critical of his advocacy of armed response by civilians to the Naxals but Mahendra Karma was not deterred by such opposition. In 2005, he laid the foundation of Salwa Judum, an armed struggle by civilians against Naxalites. In local Gondi language, Salwa Judum meant ‘purification hunt'.Under Salwa Judum tribal youth were armed and trained by the state government to fight Naxalites. Mahendra Karma was the architect of this movement and he got full support from the BJP government although he faced opposition from some of his own party men.Salwa Judum was launched with the objective of fighting the Naxalites but unfortunately the movement got embroiled in numerous controversies relating to gross violation of human rights. It was alleged that Salwa Judum members were not different from Naxalites as they were adopting the same tactics to terrorise the common man. The critics of Salwa Judum pointed out that Naxalites and Salwa judum members targeted each other and it was the common Adivasi who was bearing the brunt of this violent cross-fire.The matter relating to atrocities being committed by Salwa Judum members reached to the Supreme Court and the SC severely criticized Salwa Judum for its illegal and unconstitutional means. The Supreme Court ordered the disbanding of Salwa judum on July 05, 2011. The disbanding of Salwa Judum made Karma vulnerable as he no longer had the protection of his own militia. Sensing the threat to his life, Karma was provided with Z-plus security.Karma survived four attempts on his life by Naxalites but he could not escape the fifth attempt that was made on May 25 afternoon. After losing 2008 assembly elections, Mahendra Karma had said that he would make a comeback like a film star. He was not off the mark because he has made headlines at the national level although he is not alive to see the kind of support and admiration that he has received for his unrelenting fight against the Naxalites who are threatening the unity and integrity of the country like never before.