Driving through the NH-221, a nondescript stretch connecting Raipur to Dantewada in central India, one can be forgiven for thinking this is not a war zone.
The tree-lined highway is flanked by dry fields on either side, typical of any rural road in India.
A wedding party is in progress, the groom is in his sartorial best, and his relatives are dancing to the beats of old Hindi songs, indifferent to the traffic disruption they are causing.
A pickup van designed for six, carries 30 instead - men, women, children, livestock. Our driver plays the latest Bollywood pop tracks on his car audio system.
"Singh is King …" he sings as he drives at 100kmph on a road more suited for 20kmph.
But the barren fields here tell a different story.
![[QODLink]](http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2012/5/24/2012524105149565734_16.jpg "The Brotherhood and Mubarak")
