Tribals angry with activists fighting for human rights of Naxals while ignoring poor ‘adivasis’ threw rotten eggs and tomatoes at Magsaysay award winner Medha Patkar and Sandeep Pandey as they reached Dantewada town in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.
While Medha, being a woman, did not face much humiliation, her companion Pandey was pulled down from the motorcycle and given a hiding. He was pushed around and asked why the activists had done nothing for the tribals but found cause to support Naxals.
Medha, who leads Narmada Bachao Andolan, and Pandey who founded Asha for Education, were on their way to participate in a ‘jan sunwai’ (people’s court) in Naxal-hit areas on Thursday. Patkar and Pandey were on a motorbike when tribals carrying banners of ‘Maa Danteswadi Adivasi Swabhimaan Manch’ surrounded them, asking them to go back.
Shouting slogans like ‘‘Wapas jao, wapas jao (go back)’, the tribals alleged that NGOs ‘‘support Naxals under the pretext of human rights.’’
The police resorted to lathicharge to rescue Patkar and Pandey. Dantewada SP Ambreesh Mishra, however, said the two should have been more careful.
‘‘We have been telling human rights activists that the situation in Dantewara is highly volatile. If they plan to visit these areas, they should inform the administration so that we can provide them with protection. Neither Patkar nor Pandey informed us. After they were rescued, we advised them to leave Dantewara,’’ SP Mishra said.