HYDERABAD: The Centre should immediately stop 'Operation Green Hunt' and withdraw Army and paramilitary forces from Bijapur, Narasapur and Dantewada districts and revoke the death sentence awarded to Jeeten Marandi, an Adivasi cultural artiste, revolutionary poet and writer Varavara Rao has demanded.
Speaking at a press conference conducted by the Operation Green Hunt Vyatireka Porata Committee (OGHVPC) here on Saturday, he said the committee would convene a meeting on August 2 at Basheerbagh Press Club.
He said the Centre has declared an all-out war against the tribals in the name of Operation Green Hunt in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.
He urged the Centre not to file a review petition as suggested by Union home minister P Chidambaram against the Supreme Court verdict on Salwa Judum. He demanded the Chhattisgarh government to order an inquiry into the attacks and murder of tribals by Salwa Judum forces and initiate action against them.
V Raghunath, joint secretary of the AP Civil Liberties committee (APCLC) and coordinator of the committee, demanded revocation of death sentence of Jeeten Marandi and co-artistes Anil Ram, Manoj Rajwar and Chhatrapati Mandal on the charge of killing 19 people in 2007.
He said Giridih district and sessions court in Jharkhand had pronounced death sentence to the accused, who were cultural artistes creating awareness among the tribals about their rights and responsibilities.