Indian village comes back to life as natives return after decade-long exile

Natives return after their 10 years of exile following the Salwa Judum militia clash at Bhejji village in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Friday.

The decade-long desertion of Bhejji has now come to an end as its natives, who fled the village in the aftermath of Salwa Judum militia clash, have started returning and resettling in one of the worst Naxal-hit places in Chhattisgarh, a west-Indian state.
Nearly 1,500 villagers had left their homes in Bhejji village of Sukma district in a state of shock and fear when the erstwhile anti-Naxal movement Salwa Judum was kicked off in 2005.
The villagers were settled at the government-aided 'relief camps' at Dornapal and Konta.
"We always wanted to come back to our very own land. It's like our dream come true," Bhejji village sarpanch Guddu said.
Guddu is among the 150 people - around 64 families - who have resettled in Bhejji in the last one month by erecting kuchcha houses (made of natural material like mud, grass, bamboo, thatch or sticks).
Deriving its name from Hindu deity Bhejji Dai (mother) temple located in the village itself, Bhejji lies around 60kms away from the district headquarters.
When Salwa Judum movement was launched in 2005, it was believed to be a ground-breaking solution to the intractable Maoist problem in the state, but contrary to the expectation it triggered an unending violence, Guddu said.
"Leaving the ancestral land was never an easy task for us, but we had no option to go for the sake of our lives and see our children alive," he said.
"During ten years of exile, we suffered a lot. But, now gradually things are transforming. The climate of fear and violence is changing, thanks to security forces as well as administration," the sarpanch said.
So far we have succeeded in convincing nearly 150 people, but gradually all 1500 will be brought back to their native land, he said exuding confidence.
Equally delighted with the move, villager Hunga said, "In camps, we had to survive on bare minimum food, little water and not much in the form of basic amenities. Those who have migrated to other states to escape the spiral of violence are in a miserable state."
"The resettlement will not only provide us shelter back in our place, but also provide us opportunity to take up farming and other activities for earning livelihood, he said.
Remembering the village back then, he said, "Once there was a cooperative bank, a post office, two schools in the village, but everything crumbled in the crossfire. We have came back to the village with a ray of hope to get all those things back and even more than that," he said.
Considered a strategically important place in the Naxal hinterland of Sukma, Bhejji is located around 15 kms away from Injram, situated on Sukma-Konta road - a patch on NH-30 that connects Jagdalpur (district headquarters of Bastar) to Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh.