Stay away from Alluri district, poster request to Maoists

ELURU: Maoists calling upon people to boycott events and using posters for this purpose has been a common sight, especially in the extremist-infested areas of the country. But in one of the rarest of rare developments, tables have been turned against the Maoists in Alluri Sitharamaraju district of Andhra Pradesh. Posters have sprung up at a remote village of Kunavaram mandal asking the Maoists not to infiltrate into their district again, sending shockwaves in the region.

A few posters were pasted in the name of Alluri Aadivasi Yuvajana Sangham (Alluri tribal youth association) on the premises of Mutyalamma temple in Marrigudem of Kunavaram mandal. This was noticed on Wednesday morning by devotees who visited the temple. Interestingly, the posters gave a comparative analysis of how things were when Maoists roamed around the district in the past as opposed to how the scenario is, currently. The creators of the posters used pictorial evidence to buttress their point and appealed to the members of the banned outfit to stay away from their district.

The Alluri tribal youth association sought to drive home the point that they were deprived of proper roads and communications networks when the district was under the influence of the Maoists. It also alleged that tribal people, especially those belonging to the low-lying areas were robbed of their right to peaceful living due to the fear of the extremist group.

The posters caused commotion particularly in the wake of recent reports suggesting that the Maoists were once again setting their sights on the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and might consider using them as their main operating bases.

It was not immediately clear whether the association that came up with the posters was popular among the people of the Alluri Sitharamaraju district or relatively unknown.