Raipur, Aug. 31 -- Members of the Bastar Shanti Samiti have appealed to all the Parliamentarians not to support the INDIA bloc Vice Presidential candidate B Sudershan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge, in the upcoming elections, over the verdict he pronounced in 2011, disbanding the 'Salwa Judum' movement in the region.

Members said that the verdict, which B. Sudhershan Reddy co-authored with Justice SS Nijjar, pushed the Bastar region into a dark era, resulting in an increase in the incidents of Naxal violence.

"Fed up with the violence of Naxalism in Bastar, the people there started a movement called 'Salwa Judum'. It was so powerful that the Naxalites were forced to back off. Then in 2011, some Naxal supporters in Delhi approached ...