Kin mourn for Maoist-attacked victim

KORAPUT - Parents of Sibabrata Das, a commando killed in the Maoist blast in Orissa’s Malkangiri District in 2008, are still unable to bear his loss.

They endure each passing day, remembering him at their house in Gobindpalli village of Koraput district.

Mourning his son’s death, Rabindra Das said he is still unable to understand what the Maoists have gained by resorting to such violence.

I want to convey this message…that what they (Maoists) want to achieve through violence, they should get that through non-violence. So, I want to tell them (Maoists)…that the development which they want to do, should do it in a peaceful manner,” said Rabindra Das.

This family is one among the hundreds, who have lost their near and dear ones in the undeclared war between the Maoists and the government.

“People advise me to go out, as it will help and change my mind. But, I don’t want to leave this place. This place reminds me of my son’s memory,” said Sarojini Das, Sibabrata Das’s mother, with moistened eyes.

Thousands have been killed during the Maoist insurgency, which began in the late 1960s, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist threat one of the gravest homegrown threats to India’s internal security.

The rebels claim they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers.

They have spread into the rural pockets of 20 of India’s 28 states. (ANI)