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India: Trouble in Paradise

The bus ride from Hyderabad to Dantewada, the main town of Chhattisgarh's southern Bastar region, took about 16 hours. As the suburbs fell away, the smooth pavement on the road disappeared as well, but the lush beauty of the countryside that seemed to intensify with each mile made up for it.

When I awoke to a pale morning, I had the sensation of hurtling deeper into vortex of green.

Palm-shaded rice paddies segued into virgin forest so dense with creepers and vines that hardly a ray of light could break through. Blue hills loomed in the hazy distance. Cowherds shunted their stock out of harms way, while women bearing clay pots on their heads walked to market.

Overall, the scene struck a serene, sleepy chord. It was almost impossible to imagine the brutal violence unfolding to the same backdrop.

But today this region is the epicenter of the conflict. A successful state counter-offensive in Andhra Pradesh has killed hundreds of Naxalite fighters over the last couple of years, sending others into the forest belt on the Chhattisgarh region. They have since tried to dig in among the tribals in remote backcountry areas.

In response, a civil resistance program conceived in the state, known as Salwa Judum ("peace movement") in the local Gondi language, has armed young village men that have harassed and killed unchecked by the law.

Pelle, the godfather of local journalists, told me Salwa Judum has been a disaster from the start. "There's no security here," he said on a balmy afternoon outside his shop in central Dantewada. "The Bastar government says it's safe, but I'd say it'd be much better without this program. Salwa Judum was a very bad idea."

According to Pelle, security in the region has gotten "much worse" since it began three years ago. Guilt lies on both sides. While the government erred in arming civilian militia -- often teenage boys that look as though they should be issued cricket bats instead -- the Naxalites have killed innocent people who resisted their advances.

Aside from the surge in violence, he said communities and even families have been split up as members take sides. For those forced to flee the rural hamlets where they've always known, he lamented the loss of "natural life."

Dantewada itself had more of a pulse than I'd expected. Like any small Indian town, chai-wallahs and bric-a-brac shops lined the street sides. Regular express buses meant the state capital, Raipur, was just an afternoon's ride away.

To a stranger, police checkpoints at both ends of town were the only sign something might be wrong in the area.