The posters first surfaced in Narayanpur district last Thursday. They featured photos of activists Aruna Roy, Swami Agnivesh and Arundhati Roy carrying a statement condemning the killing of MNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari by Maoists. It ended with a denunciation of Naxalites as "enemies of both development and poor".
On Monday, a local Hindi daily — Chhattisgarh — carried a quarter page advertisement. It began by congratulating the family of Binayak Sen on his safe return. "But only coffins returned to our homes, courtesy the bullets and blasts of those for whom Sen has sympathies," the advertisement read.
The editor of the daily, Sunil Kumar, said, "It was a paid insertion. It has been sponsored by a social organization and endorsed by some of the families of martrys (victims of Maoist violence). The sponsors didn’t want to disclose their identity since they harboured some fears."
The same edition also carried an opinion piece on the report submitted in the Supreme Court last week by activist Harsh Mander. In his capacity as commissioner in Right to Food cases, Mander recommended that the SC direct the Chhattisgarh government to restore development in 644 conflict-hit villages in the state.
"Harsh Sahab sees a civil war-like situation, the absence of development, but not Maoist violence… that has destroyed schools and roads and forced the development machinery to flee," the piece said.