WB: Tribal org withdraw road blockade

Jhargram, Nov 19: Six major tribal organisations on Wednesday, Nov 19 decided to withdraw their road blockade movement over Jhargram in West Midnapore district following a high-level meeting with West Bengal Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty and DGP Anup Bhushan Vora.

The organisations included All India Majhi Maroa, Juan Gaonta, Adibasi Social Educational and Cultural Association (ASECA), All India Santhali Writers' Association and All India Tribal Engineering Forum.

After the meeting, chief of Majhi Maroa Nityananda Hembram told newspersons that the road blockade programme would be withdrawn from Jhargram.

''We have submitted our 29-point memorandum to the administration. The talks with the Home Secretary and DGP were successful and the blockade would be lifted from Jhargram. However, no decision has yet been taken on the Lalgarh agitation,'' Hembram said.

The Jhargram administration was meanwhile, taking steps to remove road blockades on the state highway at Kalaboni by using pay loaders. Thus the Jhargram-Kolkata link via NH 6 was cleared.

But the road blockade at Lalgarh still continued and it extended to more areas in Belpahari where about 5,000 tribals in a big procession were raising slogans.

UNI