Chhattisgarh: Tribal villagers' demonstration at Silgar ends after 28 days, upset over CRPF camp

- On May 17, thousands of tribesmen surrounded the Silgar camp and 3 people were killed in the firing of security forces.

New delhi date. Sunday, June 13, 2021

The last 28 days of tribal villagers' demonstration at Silgar in Chhattisgarh has finally come to an end. On May 12, a CRPF camp was set up at the site, which was protested by local rural tribesmen. The tribal villagers alleged that the place where the camp was being set up was the land of the villagers.

The villagers had started protesting and picketing near the camp. During the agitation on May 17, thousands of tribesmen surrounded the Silger camp and 3 people were killed in the firing of security forces. The protesters called the dead villagers while the security forces identified them as Naxalites.

The movement became more violent after the Naxalite identity joined. The agitation started by setting up a camp on the village land intensified after the killing of innocent villagers. To continue the picketing, the tribesmen were sitting on the spot with rations and water and gradually the number of tribesmen joining the movement increased to 10,000.

The CM had to intervene

Senior officials at the level of IG, commissioner, collector and SP of Bastar also reached Silgar to end the agitation but no solution was found. The Chhattisgarh government had also sent five MLAs led by MP Deepak Baij to persuade the villagers but the villagers demanded a direct discussion with the chief minister. The agitation finally came to an end after a delegation of agitating villagers spoke to the Chief Minister through video conferencing.

There will be a magisterial inquiry

According to the leaders leading the movement, the movement has been halted due to the increasing number of Koro cases and rains in the movement. After the agitation ended, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel termed the incident at Silger on the border of Bijapur and Sukma districts as unfortunate and ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.