Bhubaneswar: In the crowd that cheered for India as they played the Netherlands in the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup quarterfinal at Kalinga Stadium here on Thursday, was former Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag and 30 former Maoists.
They watched the knock-out match with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Led by Malkangiri SP Jagmohan Meena, the former Maoists shook hands with the Chief Minister, who advised them to maintain peace in the society.
Twenty among them were from Malkangiri districts and the rest from Koraput. The group included 16 women cadres. They held the ranks of armed cadres and divisional committee members in the Maoist outfits before surrendering to the government. Notably, they were involved in major Maoist violence and carried cash rewards on their head.
Many of the surrendered Maoists had the Tricolour painted on their cheeks.
They also interacted with the media and visited the Odisha Police stall at the Fan Village inside Kalinga Stadium.
The police had tightened security in the stadium for their safety.
“We got to know from media that the surrendered Maoist were keen to watch a match at the stadium. Arrangements were made accordingly,” the SP said.
The elated group thanked the Chief Minister for providing them the opportunity, which, they said, was a “lifetime experience.”
“We truly feel today that we are part of the mainstream,” they said.
The surrendered Maoists also visited Nandankanan on Thursday. They will go on a trip to Puri and Konark and attend the .FEST on Friday evening.
“I worked for Malkangiri LOS and the state government has declared Rs 4 lakh on my head. I had never seen Bhubaneswar before. We spent all our time in forests only,” said Rama Madakami, a surrendered Maoist.
Anita Madhi, who had spent over 10 years in a Maoist organisation, said she did not know why they fought the police. “We did just what we were told. Once we surrendered, we found things were not so bad,” she said.
In 2016 and 2017, 2,628 Maoist cadres, sympathisers and militias surrendered in the state.
Odisha started a surrender and rehabilitation policy for Maoists in 2006. The Maoists, who surrender, get a one-time financial assistance, which is Rs 2,50,000 for top-ranked cadres and Rs 1,50,000 for middle-ranked cadres. They also get Rs 35,000 for any arms deposited and Rs 25,000 equivalent for four decimals of land.
The Odisha government also gives a house building grant of Rs 45,000 and Rs 3,000 per annum for pursuing education. For couples, who want to marry, a one-time incentive of Rs 25,000 is given.
