Naxalites have intensified their efforts to control the economy of the Bastar region. Within days of imposing a two-day economic blockade in parts of Chhattisgarh—the blockade was held on June 26 and 27—the Naxals have issued a warning to tribal villagers to stop all farming activities in the region.

The diktat was passed in pamphlets that were pasted in the villages. The villagers have been instructed to desist from farming. They have even been asked to stay away from the fields.

In the directive issued to villagers, the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists) said that “the order was issued to protest against the exploitation of the state’s natural resources by the Government”. The extremists have also told the tribals to “instead join the resistance movement to free the area of private and public firms”.

Government officials in the area are seeing the Naxal ban on agriculture as an attempt by them to assert their hold on the area.

Sources said the extremists want to delay the sowing so that they can affect the yield.

The Naxalite cadres have also started acting on their diktat.

According to police sources, a group of armed Naxalites torched a tractor and household articles of Santosh Poriyami, farmer in village Tamnar in Bijapur district last week. “The victim was thrashed by the Maoists in the presence of several villagers for going to the fields against the Maoist diktat,” said a senior police officer.

The Naxalites further warned the villagers of dire consequences if they did not heed to the decree. “The terrified state of villagers can be gauged from the fact that though the incident happened on Friday the villagers formally registered a complaint a couple of days later,” the senior officer stated.

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