People need to see the other side of the picture of attacks in Chattishgarh, rather than solely blaming Maoists. “Around 650 villages were burnt under Operation Salva Jurum of the Central government and hence 3.5 lakh villagers were displaced in 2005. They were never rehabilitated by the government and hence villagers were forced to join the Naxalites to fight against their own government,” said Himanshu Kumar, a social activist who is on cycle yatra from Delhi to spread awareness about the struggle of tribals in Chattisgarh.
From Chandigarh, Kumar reached Ludhiana on Saturday. He will be on 15-day visit to Punjab. In the state, Operation Green Hunt Virodhi Democratic Front is supporting Himanshu and a progrrame was also organised by the front at Punjabi Bhawan to address the masses.
Kumar was also running NGO as Vanvasi Chetna Ashram in Dantevada. He said, “I along with 250 workers tried to repose the trust of people in judiciary, but were labelled as Naxalite sympathisers by the government and even my ashram was also demolished. Our NGO rehabilitated around 30 villages. We worked with UNICEF and even the state government to rehablitate the tribals.”
Kumar did not support the Naxalite action, but he added, “People should understand that why people are rebelling. Tribal women are being raped and when they go to file police complaint, they are beaten up by security
. They are not getting justice and hence are picking up weapon in distress. So it is high time for government to repose trust of the tribals.”
He added,”our NGO was making the last effort in making people trust the judiciary, but government did not let it work out.”
Kumar will be visiting Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra
on bicycle. Another tribal leader Abhay Singh Rathva is also along with Kumar on bicycle yatra.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/govt-apathy-forced-tribals-to-join-naxalites/642007/