This Former Maoist From Chhattisgarh Is Now Busy Making Face Masks For Cops On The Frontlines Of COVID-19
From holding guns and fighting against them to stitching face masks to keep them safe during the COVID-19 outbreak, that is how life has changed for Madakam Lakha, a former Maoist Guerrilla from Sukma Chhattisgarh.?
These days the former Maoist fighter is busy making masks for police personnel in Sukma, one of the strongholds of the Maoists in the state.?
Lakha had joined the ranks of the insurgency in 1998 and fought for them before he surrendered before the police in August 2019 over differences with the group, following which has has been lodged in Sukma Police Line.?
Recently like most of the country the remote region of Sukma was also facing a shortage of face masks, even for those in the frontline.That is when the 38-year-old approached the cops offering his expertise.?
He told the cops that while he was with the insurgents he used to stitch the uniform for the Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres.?
These days he is stitching around 90 face masks a day and to date has made over 15,000 of them. "Now, he is using his skills to prepare masks for fighting coronavirus pandemic for police, security personnel and others," SP Sukma Shalabh Sinha said.?
"Everyone is giving their contribution in this battle, but when I came to know about the lack of masks in the Sukma district, I decided to stitch masks for free of cost," Lakha told The Times of India.?
The Maoists who have their strongholds in what is described as the 'red corridor' that spans across Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, and West Bengal and eastern Uttar Pradesh states have been waging a war against the country for decades.?
Just a few weeks ago 17 personnel of the Chhattisgarh police were killed by the insurgents during an ambush in the Bastar region, in one of the deadliest strikes in recent times.?
However, last week as the country was in the grip of the COVID-19 outbreak, the People¡¯s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) had announced a unilateral ceasefire and announced that they would not be attacking the security forces.
In a handwritten statement issued by Kailasam, who identified himself as secretary of the Malkangiri ¨C Koraput ¨C Visakha Divisional Committee (MKVDC) on Sunday the outfit said that the party and various frontal organisations of the party have decided against carrying out any kind of attack on the security forces during this period.? ? ? ? ?
