Deep inside the Naxal heartland to bring out the truth about child soldiers
Source: The weekendleader By Kavita Kanan Chandra Mumbai 07 May 2011 Posted 06-May-2011 Vol 2 Issue 18 A Maoist stronghold is not a place that journalists normally visit. But after taking an arduous journey into the deep forests of Saranda in the Jharkhand-Orissa border and meeting the military commander of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), 25-year-old Neha Dixit of Headlines Today came out with a chilling story. Her interview with a child warrior of the Naxals went like this: Q : What made you join the Bal Sangathan? Girl: Police had set our house on fire and took away my father with them. Some sangathan (organization) people were present around at that time. So I came along with them. Q: How many children have come here in the last 2-3 months? Girl: Four batches of 30-40 kids have come. Neha, who recorded the activities in the Naxal training camps with a spycam at great personal risk, laments the loss of innocence of children as young as six, who are trained