Security has been beefed up across the Agency areas in the district ahead of the “Agency bandh” called by Adivasi organisations on Monday in protest against the alleged desecration of a statue of Adivasi martyr Kumaram Bheem in Adilabad district on Friday.
Police have clamped prohibitory orders in sensitive areas in the tribal belt in view of frayed relations between the Adivasi organisations and associations representing Lambada plains tribe in certain pockets of Agency areas in the State. The growing rift between the members of aboriginal tribes and the plains tribe over the issue of “reservation” has prompted the police to mount extra vigil in the tribal pockets to prevent untoward incidents during Agency bandh on Monday.
All tribes
Adivasi organisations representing all aboriginal tribes including Koya, Nayakpod and Konda Reddi have joined hands to make the bandh a success. For the past few weeks, the Bhadrachalam Agency has witnessed a slew of protests by Adivasi organisations demanding removal of Lambadas from the list of Scheduled Tribes.
The boycott of teachers belonging to the plains tribe by members of various Adivasi organisations in Dummugudem and elsewhere in the district in the past few weeks sparked anger among members of organisations representing Lambadas, who took to the streets demanding action against those responsible for such acts.
Meanwhile, in a statement Adivasi Samkshema Parishat president Punem Srinivas urged the elected representatives including MLAs of the Adivasi communities to extend their full support to the Agency bandh above party affiliations on Monday.
Constitutional right
The onus of supporting the bandh lies on the elected representatives of Agency areas to safeguard Adivasis’ legitimate rights as enshrined in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. The persons at the helm should desist from interfering in our right to observe bandh peacefully to highlight injustices, he said.
