60-year-old walks 25 km to vote
November 26th, 2009 - 2:40 pm ICT by IANS ( Leave a comment )Ranchi, Nov 26 (IANS) Call it his commitment to democracy, a 60-year-old man walked 25 long km to vote in the Jharkhand assembly elections.
“I walked for 25 km (Wednesday) to vote despite threats from Maoists,” Bhagwandas Kumhar of Hatia near Ranchi told IANS.
Das, who is from the potters community, was threatened by Maoists Monday not to vote. But on polling day, he defied them.
“Officials from the block came to our houses to ensure that all of us came to vote,” the tired man said at sundown Wednesday as he prepared for the long walk back home to his forest village.
Bhagwandas lost his eldest son in a gun battle between the Maoists and the police.
“I never advised him to fight the system,” the elderly man said, hinting at his son’s underground links.
Maoists had clamped an election boycott in the state. Nevertheless, large numbers voted to pick a new state legislature.
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Tags: assembly elections, democracy, elderly man, eldest son, election boycott, forest village, gun battle, large numbers, long walk back, maoists, old man, polling day, potters, state legislature, sundown, tired man, underground links, walks
