New Delhi/Raipur.
More than 50 residents of Bastar, victims of Naxalite violence, have arrived in Delhi with the aim of sharing the pain and suffering caused by Maoist violence and demanding the liberation of Bastar from Maoism. Under the banner of the Bastar Shanti Samiti, all these Bastar residents will meet the President and the Union Home Minister. Additionally, they will stage a demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to inform the country of their plight. The group of Naxalite victims will also hold a press conference in the nation’s capital, where they will share their stories of struggle before national and international media. They have planned visits to Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as well. The victims say they want to go to these universities to explain how the Maoists have turned their lives into hell. Saying “Kenja Naxali – Manwa Mata” (Suno Naxali – Humari Baat), these victims have raised their voices in Delhi to demand that Bastar be freed from Maoism-Naxalism.
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For the past four decades, the sting of Maoism that Bastar has been enduring has now become a cancer requiring immediate treatment. This Maoism-Naxalism has not only destroyed generations of Bastar but has also almost halted the region’s development. Due to Maoist terror, the past, present, and future of Bastar’s youth have been overshadowed by fear, and Bastar’s identity has begun to be recognized as a land of red terror and bloodshed. In the past two and a half decades, Maoists have killed more than 8,000 villagers in this land, and thousands have become disabled due to stepping on explosives planted by the Maoists. Thousands of tribal villagers in Bastar have lost some part of their body due to Naxal terror – some have lost a leg, others a hand; some have lost their eyesight, while others have become deaf. And this situation is not limited to the youth or men of Bastar; it includes women, the elderly, and even minors.
For all these reasons, the residents of Bastar have come to Delhi seeking justice. Victims of Naxal terror from Bastar are raising their voices, wanting the country to understand their pain, suffering, and agony, to find solutions, and to allow the people of Bastar to breathe the air of freedom instead of living atop a heap of explosives. Under the banner of the Bastar Shanti Samiti, these victims demand that Bastar be freed from Maoist terror now. They insist that just as all citizens in other parts of the country live their lives freely, they too should have the opportunity to live freely in Bastar. They call for the complete eradication of the Maoist regime in Bastar and for the light of democracy to shine in every village of Bastar according to the Constitution of India.
Notably, before coming to Delhi, the Naxal victims had also met with the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Vishnudev Sai, and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma. Now, the victims have presented their demands to the President and the Union Home Minister.
