New Delhi. A group of people affected by Naxal violence in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district protested at Jantar Mantar here on Thursday demanding justice and peace in their area. Under the banner of ‘Bastar Shanti Samiti’, the group started their protest from Kartavya Path and reached Jantar Mantar by noon.
Manguram Kavade, coordinator of the Bastar Shanti Samiti, said, “We have been suffering from Naxal violence for decades. Our villages have been destroyed and our region has been deprived of development.” Kavade said, “We demand that the voice of Bastar be heard and our people be freed from this continuous violence.” Gudduram Lekam (18), who lost his leg in a landmine planted by Naxalites in March, said that he was returning home after plucking chillies from the fields when he stepped on a landmine in the forest. He lost his leg in the blast in the landmine.
Lekam pleaded, “I don’t want anyone else to suffer the same fate, so it is important to eradicate Naxalism from our region. That is why we have come here to protest today.” Another protester, Mamta Sori (35), said she suffered spinal injuries in a bomb blast in 2015.
Sori said, “Women are not safe in our village, they cannot even go out of the house alone and girls in our area do not have access to proper education.” According to Kavade, these protesters are planning to use various platforms in Delhi to raise awareness, so that people in the metropolis and other major states can understand their plight and hear their voice.