By IANS,
Raipur: A group of 50 tribal kids, who lost one or both of their parents in the Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh, left for Delhi to meet President Pratibha Patil to request her for an “all out war against Maoists”.
“They (Maoists) brutally killed my parents before my eyes and the murder always horrifies me. Naxals (Maoists) must be eliminated,” Rajendra Kumar, one of the children in the group, told reporters before leaving for Delhi Tuesday.
Kumar said he could “never forgive Naxals for killing my parents and spreading bloodbath in Chhattisgarh”.
The children, residents of state-run Astha Gurukul School for orphans in Dantewada, 380 km from here, are on a week-long educational trip to the national capital.
“The CRPF (central reserve police force) has arranged a week-long educational trip for the 50 orphans of Gurukul School and the students will meet several VVIPs in Delhi, including the president, and visit historical monuments, religious places and parliament,” Ramesh Chand, inspector general of CRPF, told reporters at the Raipur railway station.
The students, including 19 girls, were thrilled on boarding a train for the first time in their life.
Before boarding Chhattisgarh Express to Delhi, the children recounted stories of how their family members were killed or burnt alive by the Maoists.
Chhattisgarh’s mineral-rich Bastar region, spread over 40,000 sq km, is known as India’s nerve centre of Maoist terrorism where about 1,500 people have been killed in since 2004.