37 Naxalites surrender in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada; 27 of them carried Rs 65 lakh bounty
Dantewada (PTI): Thirty-seven Naxalites, 27 of them collectively carrying a reward of Rs 65 lakh, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Sunday, police said.
The cadres, including 12 women, turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials here as part of the "Poona Margem" (from rehabilitation to social reintegration) initiative, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Gaurav Rai said.
The initiative, launched by Bastar range police, has been emerging as a transformative drive for establishing lasting peace, dignity and comprehensive progress in Bastar region, he said.
The key cadres among those who surrendered include Kumali alias Anita Mandavi, Geeta alias Lakshmi Madkam, Ranjan alias Soma Mandavi and Bhima alias Jahaj Kalmu. All of them carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh each, the official said.
Under the government's rehabilitation policy, the cadres who have surrendered will be provided instant assistance of Rs 50,000 each along with other facilities, like training for skill development, agricultural land, etc, he said.
Inspired by the surrender and rehabilitation policies of the Centre and the state government, more than 508 Maoists, 165 of them carrying a reward, have quit violence and joined the social mainstream in Dantewada district over the past 20 months, the official said.
A large number of Maoists, from senior leaders to active cadres in their base areas, have left the outlawed organisation, Rai said.
In the last 23 months, more than 2,200 Naxalites, including top cadres, have surrendered in Chhattisgarh, according to police.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
