Tribals in Purulia district of West Bengal are celebrating the hunting festival in the Maoist hit area.
A small tribe in Maoist hit hill area of Purulia in West Bengal go out for a day, where they hunt wild animals like deer, cat, birds, tortoise .
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Baru Soren, a hunter said that there was dip in the number of people who went out for hunting due to the threat by the Maoists.
"There were some issues due to the presence of Communist Maoists, a number of people could not attend the festival," said Soren.
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This year, more than 5 thousand tribals attended this festival. The tribal population of Purulia counts to nearly one million. These tribes still follow their traditional rituals.
The state minister, Sukumar Hansda said there is need to prevent the hunting of wild animals and prevent their extinction.
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"Earlier, the main objective of this festival was to provide food to the tribals. But now, we have seen that all this hunting has resulted in the decline in the number of animals. Our main concern here is that everyone should follow the concept of live and let live," said Hansda.
Purulia has rich geographical and cultural heritage. It has the mixed culture of three states of the country, as it was a part of these areas for a long time. Most of the religious and socio-cultural events in the area have a tribal touch to it.