Madkam Sambhu* was 18 years old when the Salwa Judum’s reign of terror began in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar. Sambhu was in Class 12, staying in a government hostel for Adivasi students in Bijapur since his village, Sawnad, was located far away, 15 km deep within the forest.
“It was terrifying,” he recalled. “They were killing and beating people, burning down entire villages in the name of fighting Maoists.”
