25 Adivasi Homes Burnt Down on the Eve of 75th Independence Day

Odisha. More than 100 families are earning their livelihood by cultivating maize in about 30 acres of land in the villages of Kopasbhata, Sariabhata and Lakhtipakhana in Burja Panchayat, Umarkot Block, Navrangpur District, Odisha.

Suddenly between 10 am and 12 noon on the morning of 13 August 2022 the Van Suraksha Samiti (Forest Protection Committee) set fire to the homes of these adivasi families and destroyed their maize crop by letting loose cows and buffaloes in the fields.

CPIML condemns this inhuman and unconstitutional act, demands action against the guilty persons and proper assessment of damage and compensation for the 25 adivasi families whose homes and crops have been destroyed.

The adivasis of Kopasbhata village had complained one month ago at the Umarkot Thana against the Van Suraksha Samiti's threat of destroying the crops, after which the police reached a solution and the Van Suraksha Samiti was told not to harm these adivasi families.

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