Too many tribals in Odisha jails

BHUBANESWAR: In what can be seen as a missive to embarrass Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the tribal issue, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday alleged that a large number of ‘adivasis’ are in jail in Odisha, for no reason whatsoever, and they should be freed at the earliest.Naveen recently sought to play the tribal card by announcing support for former Lok Sabha speaker P A  Sangma in the presidential race.In a letter to the Chief Minister, Jairam said he heard this, ironically, from police officials both in the State and at the Centre.In the course of his visits to Naxalite-affected districts of Odisha, he had an opportunity to interact with officials at various levels, with non-government organisations (NGOs) and with people at large.“One point that comes out loud and clear is that a large number of adivasis are in jail today, for no reason whatsoever, and that, in reality, they should be freed at the earliest,” he said.“You are aware that I have been visiting a number of Naxal-affected districts in Odisha and have been taking a lot of interest in the implementation of rural development programmes here.”“I know that you are working with the Centre to deal with the extraordinary situation that prevails in the Naxal-affected districts,” Ramesh said, adding, “it is in this background that I have been emboldened to write to you to convey this feedback that I have received.” Clearly, something must be done urgently to ensure justice to innocent and unfairly jailed adivasis or to those adivasis who are in jail on very flimsy grounds, he said.Release of innocent jailed tribals is one of the main demands of the Maoists and their interlocutors during the last three hostage crisis in the State.