Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt, Chief Minister Raman Singh and Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi said in separate statements on Sunday that they will not celebrate Holi but the leaders wished ‘Happy and peaceful Holi’ to people of Chhattisgarh.
Dutt said that he decided to stay away celebrating Holi as a mark of respect to 15 policemen and a civilian martyred in a deadly Maoists attack on March 11 in Jheeram Ghati in violence-hit Bastar region’s Sukma district. He has also cancelled the annual Holi Milan function at Raj Bhawan which is called ‘Open House’. Raman Singh who is heading the BJP Government in the State since December 2003, has said he would not either celebrate or participate in any Holi functions as he has been pained by killings of 16 people in a cowardice act of Maoists in Sukma.
Singh will leave for his home town Kawardha with family late on Sunday and return back the State capital on Tuesday. The wheelchair-bound Congress veteran Jogi has greeted people on the occasion of Holi and appealed people to celebrate it in a manner that it could strengthen mutual brotherhood. But he announced that he would skip Holi celebrations this year because of violence unleashed by Maoists in Sukma district on Tuesday, March 11, in which 15 Jawans and a civilian were massacred.