The Opposition Congress party on Wednesday called a State-wide shutdown on Friday, March 14, to protest the killing of 16 people including 15 security personals by Maoists in Jeeram Ghati in Sukma district.
Accusing Chhattisgarh’s BJP Government of failing to contain rising Maoist violence incidents, the State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and leader of opposition TS Singh Deo said people are forced to live in fear because of the insensitiveness of the State Government.
They said the State Government is coward and has remained silent spectacle even if the Naxals have been brutally killing jawans, and common people.Demanding resignation of Chief Minister Raman Singh, they said the Chief Minister in a routine fashion condemns the incident soon after it happens but never takes any concrete actions to prevent that.
The State Government has failed to control the Maoist violence despite receiving huge amount of assistance from the Central Government, they said.Citing the Maoist carnage in Jeeran Ghati of the Bastar on May 25 last year in which 30 people were killed including the then State Congress chief and several others Congress leaders, they said the State Government seems to have not learnt any lesson from it.
Despite that incident, the State Government failed to check the movement of the Maoists in the area. As a result the Maoist repeated the attack in the same area on Tuesday, they said.Such incidents have become common in Bastar area and it was the common people and armed personals who are falling prey tosuch attacks.
The BJP government has not made any social, economical policy to handle the problem. It has also not strengthened the police force, they alleged.Appealing to all the industrial and business establishments, social and non government organizations to participate in the shutdown, they said the emergency services like health services and education institutions would be kept out of the purview of the protest.