CHHATTISGARH: Three rural tribal people lost their lives when they were protesting against a security camp in Silger in the state of Chhattisgarh. The recent attack in the Silger security camp in the Sukma district of Chhattishgarh was a plan in the making.
What was the protest about?
Rural tribal locals were protesting against the security camp for encroaching on the forest land. As the protest was widespread, around 3000 tribal folks gathered to demand the removal of the camp but things turned violent for them.
The security personnel, untethered by the demands of the tribals, stood guard. The press statement released by the officials stated that “Around 3000 protestors started to destroy the fences and injured 19 police personnel.”
Apart from warnings to the protestors, the protestors, some of them Maoists (as the police statement read) started shooting indiscriminately.
“The Maoists didn’t heed to warnings of the assembled officials, and thus, our personnel had to fire back. The exchange of fire went on for more than 30 minutes, during which a safe corridor was provided for the villagers to escape,” the statement further read.
Villagers totally denied the role of Maoists in the protests and rejected the statement. Korsa, a tribal from a nearby village said that, “The security personnel calls us Maoists or supporters of Maoists. How will they give us security?”
Historical Angle To The Rural Tribal Issue
In a detailed article about the history of the Naxalite and Maoists movement in India, the author of this article has jotted the involvement of various multi-national companies and rotating state governments joining hands to exploit the tribal affairs.
On May 21, 13 Naxals were killed in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra state.
As a result of the historical control over their sources of livelihood, some tribals (called Naxals or Maoists by the state) defend their lives by violent means.
