The 78th martyrdom anniversary of legendary Adivasi leader Kumram Bheem, to be observed on Wednesday at the historic Jodeghat in Kerameri mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district, is giving anxious moments to the government.
It is not only the first anniversary of burning of a statue of a Lambada woman at the Tribal Museum, as part of the ongoing Adivasi-Lambada tribe conflict, but the event is being held at a time when campaigning for the December 7 election is gathering pace.
After 20 years
It is after a lapse of nearly two decades that the anniversary is coinciding with election period which has increased the perception of threat from Maoists. The presence of number of policemen, therefore, is higher in the area which will also help ward off any untoward incident having its roots in the intra-tribal quarrel.
Major gathering
Kumram Bheem and 14 of his followers who had been waging a struggle for rights on forest lands had been gunned down by the Nizam’s armed policemen on September 1, 1940 and since then the aboriginal people of old united Adilabad district pay homage to the departed souls annually on the first full moon following Dasara festival in a given year as per their customs and traditions.
“The event came in handy for the Maoists to make their presence felt since the government started organising it in since the early 1980s though they resorted to violent activity only once,” recalled a police officer who was involved in anti-extremist operations in the district as he went over the chequered history of the event in his mind.
Violence in the past had come in the form of a claymore mine blast on the Babejhari ghat road en route to Jodeghat on November 1, 2001 when officials were heading towards the village for participating in the anniversary.
“One person was killed when our jeep took the brunt of the bomb blast triggered by naxalites,” reminisced Athram Tukaram, an Adivasi journalist working with a Telugu newspaper who is a survivor.
Restrictions on VIPs
“The government subsequently enforced restrictions on participation of officials or VIPs. The darbar, which provides an opportunity for ethnic people to air their grievances freely, was held at Hatti base camp near Kerameri mandal headquarters until a few years back,” he recalled.
Asifabad Deputy Superintendent of Police A. Stayanarayana said, “Maoist movement in the area used to be reported every year and it was routine exercise to ‘sanitise’ the hilly area and organise proper bandobast.Though there is no threat of naxal activity, we are combing the place as this is poll time and we have to maintain peace,” he explained.