Naxals surface to teach villagers on development

source
SRINGERI: Valale and Mavinakadu, the remote villages in Naxalite infested Sringeri taluk, had a surprise in store when they were invited to participate in a discussion on development of the area. They were surprised because the call came from none other than the Naxals themselves.On Tuesday, the daily rhythm of these villages was disturbed when the farmers found themselves face-to-face with a group of Naxalites. The meeting was held at an open ground near the Valale Government Primary School. B G Krishnamurthy, the Naxal leader, who was thought to have been arrested, put an end to the speculation by leading a troop of 7 members, which included 4 women.The meeting started at 8 AM and concluded at 10 AM. Ten Farmers, including Ranganath Mavinakadu, the Sringeri taluk BJP president, attended the meeting.Balakrishna, Udayakumar, Nataraj, Datthatri were the others who participated.Interestingly, the villagers were informed about the meeting either over phone or through a messenger 12 hours earlier, but none of the villagers took the risk of informing the police.B G Krishnamurthy also belongs to this village and hence he is familiar to everybody in the village.The Naxalites, the villagers said, spoke about the impact of globalisation and privatisation and how the common man is being cheated by the collusion between capitalists and the government.They also reportedly condemned the communal forces, which the Naxalites claimed, were destroying peace and harmony.Mavinakadu and Valale have no basic infrastructure such as schools, hospitals or roads.The Areca crop, which the farmers cultivate, mostly falls prey to Yellow Leaf disease and farmers are unable to earn their livelihood. The Naxals raised such problems and asked the farmers to unitedly fight against the Government.Though Naxal visits to these villages is common, this time they visited the village after a long gap of 8 months. This type of meeting was the first of its kind here.It may be recalled that Naxalites surfaced at a religious function, Deepotsava, during November 2005 and a naxalite woman addressed the gathering at another place near this village.Reacting to the news about the naxal visit, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa directed Intelligence wing IGP Jyoti Prakash Mirji to visit the spot and submit a report to him.Yeddyurappa told the Press Trust of India that he would bring this to the notice of the Centre and request it to provide the promised special grants to tackle the naxal menace.