Nuapada: Even as left wing extremists (LWEs) have created a reign of terror for years in the district by orchestrating several attacks, the tribals of the district have resolved to come together to defeat the menace.
Over a hundred tribals blocked National Highway No-353 here for several hours and staged a demonstration against the state government’s failure to combat Maoist menace.
They came down heavily on the terror outfit, which organises a series of murders of innocent tribals, with the first graduate tribal of the region being the latest to be killed in a series of horrific attacks.
The tribals later submitted a five-point charter of demands to the Chief Minister. Their demands include tight security measures in remote places, prohibition of liquor and gambling, arrest of ultras involved in the murder of innocent people; Rs 20 lakh compensation for the deceased’s kin and a government job to one of his family members, immediate completion of the road stretch between Bhainshadani and Patadarha and Patadarha and Sunabeda. Deputy collector Rudramohan Nayak received the memorandum.
Passengers had a tough time as over a hundred vehicles remained stuck on the road under the scorching sun after the roads connecting Raipur, Bargarh, Bolangir and Khadial were blocked.
The youths staged dances and songs to present tribal unity and displayed their power to combat terror. In their speech, tribal leaders Bhanupratap Singh Majhi, Balakrushna Shabar and Jemamani Dharua condemned the violence organised by the ultras.
They further added that they have become sandwiched between police and Maoists. While they become victims of the ultras, who term them as police informers, police also assault them and arrest them after accusing them of being Maoist sympathisers. In such situations, they have no option but to leave their native place with family and live outside as nomads.
They called upon the ultras to leave their native places or to face dire consequences.
Among others, district president of the Biju Janata Dal Prasanna Kumar Padhi and Khadial MLA Duryodhan Majhi supported the cause of the tribals.
The extremists had recently dragged an innocent sugarcane trader Bishnu Meher of Sunabeda village of the district in October 2013 and killed him. Enraged, over a hundred tribals had staged a protest against the ultras with their traditional weapons. Since then, the LWEs have stopped venturing into the village. PNN