RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government will observe May 25 as 'Jhiram Shraddhanjali Diwas' to pay tribute to Congress leaders who were killed in a Maoist attack in Bastar district on this day in 2013 as well as other victims of Naxal violence, a senior official said on Sunday.
The decision was taken by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, he added.
In a letter to state departments and district collectors, the General Administration Department said May 25 will be observed in the memory of senior Congress leaders and security personnel killed in Jhiram Valley Naxal attack on May 25, 2013.
Staff of all government and semi-government offices must observe two-minute silence and take oath to re-establish peace and harmony in the state, the official said.
On May 25, 2013, Naxals had attacked a convoy of Congress leaders during the party's rally in Jhiram valley, killing 29 people, including then state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, former leader of opposition Mahendra Karma and former Union minister Vidyacharan Shukla.
The incident took place ahead of Assembly elections in 2013.
The then BJP government under chief minister Raman Singh had faced criticism over the incident, considered the biggest ever Naxal attack on the political class in the country.