Adivasi school teacher and AAP politician Soni Suri to raise the Indian tricolour on August 15 in Gompad a Maoist stronghold in Chattisgarh

Chattisgarh July30:In August 15, 2010, in a village called Tirkanar in Narayanpur district in south Chattisgarh that a teacher of a primary school was distributing perched grain coated with sugar and molasses.It was his “ritual” of celebrating Independence Day, carrying the tricolour butnot hoisting it. The AK-47 carrying Maoist cadres explained the reason.

The odd behaviour of the teacher suggest he is Indian,thus bringing some sweet and the flag each year.He instead hoists a black flag as the area is under Maoist control.. After raising the black flag the teacher, the Maoists and the children shared the sweet meats and the sugar coated paddy.

In the present day ,there is no Independence Day celebration in the present day vast swathes of forest land of south Chattisgarh, controlled by the outlawed CPI-Maoist.The flag is only hoisted in heavily fortified camps of the joint forces or offices of the mainstream political parties. I

n fact, Congress MLA, Kawasi Lakhma of Konta, which is still a Maoist stronghold, once said that he is “not too keen to hoist national flag in his area.” Hoisting of tricolour irks the Maoists and thus the local residents refrain from raising the flag.

“I have selected Gompad because it was in this village that an innocent villager Madkam Hidme was picked, raped and later killed,” Ms Sori told The Hindu on Wednesday during his visit to Kolkata to address a seminar.

Ms Sori is expecting at least 12 organisations, including leading tribal association of Bastar Division Sarbo Adivasi Samaj and few political parties, to participate in the flag hoisting programme.

“We will start a 200 kilometers padyatra [rally] from the Ambedkar statue in the Dantewada town on August 9 to mark Quit India movement and reach Gompad in Konta on August 15 to hoist the flag,” Ms Sori.

She hopes that neither the Maoists nor the security forces would stop her from raising the flag, which the forces could not do over last several decades.