Tribals celebrate World Adivasi Day, take out rally

Indore/Mhow: Thousands of tribals wearing traditional dress and dancing on drum-beats took out rallies in Indore and Mhow tehsils to mark International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on Wednesday. In Indore, people of tribal communities and organizations took out a five-kilometer rally that started from Lalbagh Palace and concluded at Rajiv Gandhi Square. Ahead of the state assembly elections, people of Scheduled Tribe class also showed their unity and strength as Madhya Pradesh has a total 47 seats reserved for them while Indore-Ujjain division has a 22 seats reserved for ST candidates.In Indore, tribals, including those studying and working here, took part and vented their anger at Sidhi urination incident and ongoing violence in Manipur. The participants were holding placards and raising slogans against both the incidents and demanding capital punishment for the accused.Some youngsters were also raising slogans of ‘Jal, Jungle, Jameen’ as their rights. Due to the rally, which passed through district collectorate, Juni Indore bridge and Bhawarkuan Square, affected traffic as commuters were seen struggling to find alternate routes to reach their destination.In Mhow, various tribal organizations marked the day by taking out a bike rally that concluded at Patalpani, where floral tributes were paid to freedom fighter Tantya Bheel. One of the organizers Akash Kohli of Choradiya village told TOI that members of JAYS and other organizations led by Mhow tehsil president Bhim Singh Girwal led the bike rally that passed through Khurdi village, Manpur, Gawli Palasiya and Dr BR Ambedkar memorial. They paid tributes to Dr Ambedkar and thereafter, the rally reached Patalpani waterfall by passing through Kodariya and Chordiya villages.TNN