Villagers turn against Maoists in North Chhattisgarh

     Raipur, January 29, 2014: Forest dwellers and tribals have taken up arms against the left wing rebels, which could lead to violent clashes in newer areas in Chhattisgarh.

     The Left rebels, under the banner of People′s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), are active in some parts of Jashpur district, located north of Chhattisgarh, bordering Jharkhand.

      Several small groups are active in the area, who wanted to mobilize the people against the state. But some of the recent actions of the PLFI cadre had created resentment among the local villagers.

     About two months back the rebels set on fire the vehicles, engaged for road construction, as the area was not having any road connection, Jashpur SP Jitendra Meena said.

     And on January 17, last the Maoists, led by Commander Budhram, assaulted mercilessly a villager of Tetartoli, accusing him of siding with police, he said.

     ″Both the incidents have created large scale anger among the villagers,″ Meena said.

     ″The incident had united the people, as they realized Maoists are anti-development and anti-people,″ said the Police officer.

      ″The incident was enough to ignite the people against the Maoists and they called a meeting of all nearby villages and decided to boycott the Maoists in all forms, ″ he said.

     Although the Police officer refused to equate the incident with the Salwa Judum, that started from Kutru area of Dantewada district on June 5, 2005, located south of Chhattisgarh, but said ″Unlike south, in north of Chhattisgarh Maoists does not have any so call liberated zone or dominance.

     ″So, there is no question of Salwa Judum type movement here in Jashpur, ″ Meena said.

     However, he admitted to a question that the ″villagers attended the meeting with bow and arrow, axes and other traditional weapons″.

     About 300-400 villagers had attended the meeting, downplaying the incident, he said

     A meeting was organized by the villagers of Aara, Kathaldand, Tetartoli, Aurapani and Tutiamba and others in the nearby forest, where it was decided to boycott the Maoists in all form, the Police office said.

     ″Since Maoists are obstructing developmental activities like construction of roads and other works, and adopting anti-people stand, the villagers are not tolerating that,″ Meena said.

    The villagers also decided to inform the police about the movement of Maoists in that area, he said adding, ″looking into the situation, para military forces have been deployed in the area. ″

     Left rebels are active in the area for the last one decade and in 2006 the Maoists had violently raided the Aara police station and decamped with several weapons after killing four security personnel.

      When asked the situation could force the Maoists to strike back and the area could witness bloodbath, the police officer said adequate security measures have been taken and he himself had been to the area several times to access the situation.