THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, March 21: What is common among the three Ragi (millet) laddoos, drinking water, and polling stations on erstwhile Red soil in Palamu Lok Sabha constituency?
“It’s peace and no dread of the Naxals who used to run the writ here in the past. Extremism is now a bitter memory of the bygone days,” said SP Reeshma Ramesan, who, along with a couple of her officers like the assistant superintendent of police cum SDPO Bishrampur Rakesh Singh and CRPF DIG Pankaj Kumar and others, had visited polling stations at Mahudand, Lohbandha and Pratappur on Wednesday.
Ragi laddoos for MDM
Three women were seen preparing Ragi laddoos for the MDM in one corner of a government school here now to double up as a polling station, which was some 5 or 6 years ago dynamited by the then dreaded Naxal Ajay Yadav.
Reeshma Ramesan told the Jharkhand Story correspondent, “Nothing can be any more ironical than this, where land mines of the Maoists once brought down the school, where today three women were busy preparing chawal, daal, bhajia, and Ragi laddoos for the midday meal of the students there. There can’t be any more soothing sight than these children playing and studying there.”
Man Friday of Naxals
Reeshma Ramesan said, “We had booked one Man Friday of naxals here at Lohbandha. Some Airtel service provider network was going on here where disturbances were created, and one Man Friday of the Naxals was caught and jailed.”
When we were there on Wednesday, a lady came to us. She had reservations about the judicial remand of that Man Friday. Reeshma Ramesan recalled that she had her defence for the man in jail.
“I asked the lady to give her grievances or defence to the Mahudand police. They will look into it properly,” reiterated the SP.
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Red soil of erstwhile Maoist citadel
When asked what she found on Wednesday on the Red soil of the erstwhile Maoist citadel, which could have been a dream about a decade ago, she said, “We were at Pratappur. There, students of class 3 and 4 were vying with each other to give us chairs. There was such a soft breeze of calmness here.”
There was a time here in Palamu when people, men, women, and children all used to get indoors at once without seeing any police force around them. Policemen were hated most. They were disregarded to win the sympathy of the Maoists.
Schoolchildren offer chairs
Reeshma Ramesan sounded obliged to the schoolchildren who offered them chairs.
There is a panchayat Bhavan at Mahudand. It is more locked than open, and drinking water is an issue here.
Toilets are no issue, but for water, one must look up in advance here, ” Reeshma Ramesan reminded.
“People of Mahudand, Lohbandha and Pratappur know how important it is to vote. They are pretty jagruk (aware) of the value of voting.” opined the SP.
The top cops of the state police in SP and others were in full battle gears, perhaps more as a CBM (confidence-building measure) for the voters here.
Red soil is turning into a green zone
“It was a visit to see that the erstwhile red soil is turning into a green zone, but caution and vigil must not be at any poor level here,” said police sources.
