Naxals target schools in Jharkhand - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Naxals do not want children to be educated so that they can force them into joining their outfits. To achieve their objective, the Maoists are prepared to go to any length. Recently in Kora village of Jharkhand’s Chatra District, the Naxals bulldozed a school building and threatened its teachers. Now, over 350 students of the Kora High School have no other option but to study under a banyan tree. “The biggest problem here is the lack of a building. We have no building; where can we keep our books now. They tried thrice to blow up our building but were unsuccessful, on the fourth attempt on 6 June 2011, during the summer vacation, they bulldozed our school building,” said the school’s principal, Shyamsunder Kumar. Without a school building, children of Kora village now have to study in the open. Not just buildings, school teachers are also targeted by the Naxals. They threaten the teachers with dire consequences if they continue to teach the children. All this has severely affected the education of the village children. “There are many problems. During rains, the students sit in a room which leaks. Students face all sorts of problems here. We don’t get proper food or education,” said one of the school’s students, Sanjay. “This school lacks a building. The Maoists have blown up many school buildings claiming that they were being used by police. The students face many problems. They study under trees and when it rains they run back home. This is a big area, and many students are enrolled here, but due to the scarcity of teachers very few students complete their studies. Only two teachers are here, said local resident Ramswarup Yadav. This is not a one-off case, there are many other villages Kora like in Jharkhand where Naxals are using brute force to deprive the children of their fundamental right i.e. education.

Maoists target schools in Jharkhand’s Chatra district