In a significant development, tribals of Sithram panchayat, a Naxal stronghold in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district, on Monday virtually raised a rebellion against the militants, asking them to stop taking away their children to draft them in the Maoist cadre, intelligence reports said.
In a public show of anti-rebel sentiments, witnessed for the first time in the area falling under the “liberated zone” of Naxals, tribals, who gathered in large numbers at Sithram, a remote forested village, said, “You take our food, but not our children”.
Hundreds of tribals from around 20 surrounding villages poured at the meeting place to protest the arrest of nine locals, including two young girls, by security forces following an encounter with the Naxals in the nearby village of Konge on December 12, describing them “innocent”.
“All the arrested people were innocent. One of them was an anganwadi worker. All of them should immediately be released,” the meeting demanded.
“We are sandwiched between the Naxals and the forces. We cannot confront armed ultras who visit our village to snatch away our boys and girls from us. On the other hand, security forces pick up our children dubbing them as Naxals,” the villagers rued, pleading both the warring parties, to “leave them alone”.