India - Maoists gear up for ‘Martyrs’ week’ in Bastar

The outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) will observe a ‘Shahid Saftah’ (Martyrs’ week) from July 28 to August 2 in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. According to Dantewada district Superintendent of Police (SP) Kamlochan Kashyap, the martyrs’ week is a yearly ‘spectacle’ organised by the Maoists who build memorials in the interior areas in the remembrance of “their fallen comrades”. For over a week, the Maoists have been distributing pamphlets and putting up banners in different parts of Bastar appealing observance of the week.
On Saturday, the ultras stopped a train from Dantewada to Kirandul and pinned up a banner on the train calling people of Bastar to observe the martyrs’ week. “Remembering Comrade Charu Mujumdar and Comrade Kanhaiyya Chatterjee, we appeal to the masses to respect the ideals our comrades laid their lives for. Organize martyr meetings in all the villages and take the massage of our fallen comrades to the people,” read a banner put up by the Maoists’ near Bacheli town of Dantewada. The Maoists’ banner also appealed the people to “stop surrendering before police and fight to live with dignity” and added that the masses should “unite and fight against the BJP government’s capitalistic agenda”.
“The services of some of the passenger trains operating in Bastar, Jagdalpur and Dantewada area have been suspended for a week as a precautionary measure. Security forces are combing the core areas of the Maoists where they are usually active during the Martyr week,” Mr.Kashyap told The Hindu.