ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses the issue of human security in the context of the current crisis facing India. All the human security reports brought out by the Human Security Centre put special emphasis on armed conflict and political violence within the framework of freedom from fear. Human security has been described as many different things: a political campaign, a set of beliefs about the sources of violent conflict, a new conceptualisation of security, and a guide for policy-makers and academic researchers. The chapter examines an unfolding of civil war that has been silently played out between the Indian state, the Naxals/Maoists and a government-sponsored, extra-constitutional force called Salwa Judum since 2005. It explores the ways by which the agenda of human security can be subverted and manipulated against those it professes to protect. The chapter locates the crisis through a case illustration of the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh state which has a large and culturally rich population of tribal groups.
