INTRODUCTION

According to Peter Singer the use of child soldiers in India is a common occurrence and that up
to seventeen militant factions use child soldiers in the Kashmir region.[1] Radha Kumar says that
nations which have massive poverty and are heavily reliant on an agricultural economy will
produce militants which are usually uneducated and that in a region where a conflict is
protracted, the use of child soldiers becomes a common occurrence. [2] According to a report from
the Conflict Study Center, child soldiers are used in Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir; and that children
were used by both the state and insurgents.[3] Child soldiers also serve in the Indian armed forces.
[4]
The use of child soldiers by the state and by non state actors is a violation of the Geneva
convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In Chhattisgarh state, it is estimated that up to 90,000 children are involved in the

ongoing Naxalite insurgency. The majority of children are used by militants, though government
supported militias also use them.[6] The Asian Legal Resource Centre has stated that human
rights groups have voiced concerns over the use of child soldiers by the state and the Naxalites.
According to them, up to 118 districts in India are facing armed insurrection and that child
soldiers were used by both sides in these conflicts. [7] Human rights watch has also accused
the Indian security forces of using children as spies and messengers, although the Indian
government denies this allegation.[8] The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers report in
2008 stated that there was recruitment of children by state backed groups in the region.
[9]
although the majority of child soldiers were used by militants.