Tribal activist and Aam Admi Party leader Soni Sori concluded her Tiranga Yatra (Tricolour March) in the Gumpad village of insurgency-hit Sukma district of south Chhattisgarh and hoisted the national flag in Maoist territory on Monday, August 15.
Gumpad falls in an area considered a “Red Zone” (Maoist stronghold) by security forces and is known to be the territory of Maoist leader Hidma.
The rebels usually hoist black flags in these areas on Independence Day and Republic Day; however, this year, the tribal activist took the national flag into Maoist land. While the Maoists, who had issued a statement opposing the hoisting of the national flag, did not create trouble for the Tiranga Yatra, the participants had to face hostility from the police while returning from Gumpad.
“My nephew Lingaram Kodopi and journalist Prabhat Singh were lost in the forest and when we tried to go back to search for them, the police stopped us.
“The police action made us worry about the safety of Lingaram and Prabhat Singh. They even searched our belongings and clicked our photos,” Ms. Sori told The Hindu.
By Tuesday evening, Lingaram Kodopi and Mr. Singh had managed to reach Jagdalpur, the district headquarters of Bastar.
“Soni Sori stopped at over a dozen villages on route to Gumpad and made villagers aware of their Constitutional rights,” said Lakhan Singh of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), which supported the Tiranga Yatra.
