President Draupadi Murmu met the victims of Maoist violence

Raipur/Delhi. Today was a day of hope for the Naxal victims of Bastar at Rashtrapati Bhavan. A delegation of 70 people from the Naxal-affected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, under the sensitive initiative of Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai, reached to meet President Draupadi Murmu with their suffering. Their faces bore the mark of the atrocities they had suffered for years, but a ray of hope was now visible in their eyes. The purpose of meeting the President was clear – to put the problems of the people affected by Naxal violence before the supreme power of the country and to appeal to free Bastar from the terror of Maoism. During the meeting, the victims told how Maoist attacks have destroyed their lives.

The delegation apprised the President that the people of Bastar have been suffering the brunt of Maoist terror for the last four decades. Thousands of people have lost their lives and hundreds have been crippled in Maoist attacks. Landmines and bomb blasts have destroyed their lives. The blasts have not only caused physical damage but have also left them mentally shattered.

The representatives said that the Maoists have also destroyed their homes, land and culture. More than 8,000 people in Bastar have fallen victim to Maoist violence in the last two and a half decades. Even today many people are forced to live in the shadow of Naxalites. While people in other parts of the country are enjoying freedom, the people of Bastar are fighting for their land and survival.