The police in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh reported Monday the arrest of a schoolteacher on charges of supporting Maoists. The arrest led to protests by the local people, including students.
25-year-old school teacher Ramlal Nureti was arrested in Chhattisgarh after being apprehended from Karekatta village. The arrest was made based on his alleged involvement in displaying Maoist banners and posters in the area in September of the previous year. Nureti, a guest teacher appointed on a contractual basis at a government primary school, was apprehended by Sitagaon police after investigations and technical evidence confirmed his involvement. He has been charged under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 and sent to jail.
In response to the arrest, a group of villagers, including school children, staged a protest in front of the police station, demanding Nureti’s release. They argue that he is a schoolteacher and not a Naxalite insurgent. The villagers have vowed to continue their demonstration until Nureti is released.
The Maoist, or left-wing extremist, insurgency in India, also known as the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, originated in the late 1960s to address social and economic inequalities. Inspired by Mao Zedong’s ideology, the rebels operate in the “Red Corridor,” engaging in guerrilla warfare primarily in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. The conflict involves attacks on security forces, resulting in a significant loss of lives. The Indian government has responded with military and developmental measures, but challenges persist, including human rights concerns and the need to address underlying socio-economic issues in affected regions. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also condemned the human rights violations by the rebels.
The Indian government established the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Division on October 19, 2006, within the Ministry of Home Affairs, to address the Left-Wing Extremist insurgency comprehensively. It executes security-related programs to enhance the capabilities of states affected by LWE. The division monitors the LWE situation and the countermeasures taken by affected states, coordinating the implementation of development initiatives by various ministries/departments of the Government of India in these states. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala are recognised as LWE-affected states, albeit to varying extents.
