Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 261
Palash Biswas
Bengal leaders on Lalgarh violence
Video: Bengal leaders on Lalgarh violence
NDTV.com
Lalgarh: Trinamul competes with CPI-m in brutality
By Shiba Nanda Bose
Now it is proved that Trinamul congress is no less capable than the CPI-M in savagery. There seems to be a shift in power in 2011 assembly election.
Trinamul instead of acting responsibly after the Lok Sabha mandate becomes more aggressive. The reminiscent of the coin transfer analogy is not only evident in Khejuri but also in various parts of Kolkata. The recent violence in Behala is a latest example.
If parties, bereft of their political lineage, cultivate the culture of 'takeover' and 'capture' with barbarity, the greatest sufferer would be none other that the state.
Trinamul success lies in that it successfully stirred the red bastions to end oppression and bring peace. But it should be careful that its expression of euphoria is not violence. The dire consequence of eye for an eye is known to us.
If Trinamul has to assume central power in the state then it needs to shun matching reprisal because with great power comes great responsibility.
Courtesy: YouTheJounalist
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http://www.duniyalive.com/?p=36403Security forces begin ops to free Lalgarh from Maoists
18 Jun 2009, 1930 hrs IST, PTIPIRAKATA: Security forces on Monday cracked down on Maoists to end the four-day siege of Lalgarh facing little resistance as they moved in to
| Central Force jawans flag march at Piraghata Chawk outpost for the final operation against Maoists at Lalgarh in West Midnapore. (PTI Photo) |
A 600-strong mob of tribals armed with batons, axes, spears, bows and arrows blocked the road when the forces arrived and shouted at the police to "apologize" for "atrocities" committed.
A police officer warned Maoists, who formed a human shield, to disperse within two minutes. Armed police, CRPF and riot police then fired teargas shells and baton charged as the mob cleared the road within 10 minutes.
Police said it was one of nearly 100 blockades that the securitymen would have to face en route to the Lalgarh police station area. The tribals belonging to the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities started regrouping further down the road. A tribal injured in the police action was arrested and taken to a police camp.
The crackdown was announced by West Bengal Director General of Police Sujit Kumar Sarkar.
With the police crackdown on armed tribals at Pirakata near troubled Lalgarh, the West Bengal government appealed to the people of the trouble-hit area to stay away from Maoists who were preparing to use them as human shields.
The appeal, issued by chief minister's secretariat said Maoists, after infiltrating the area, had started using villagers, men, women and children as human shields for their criminal activities.
"Keeping common people in front, the Maoists have been indulging in indiscriminate killings and violence."
The state government appealed to the people to discuss their problems with the administration.
The copies of the statement, published in both Bengali and Olchiki (santhali) scripts, would be airdropped from helicopters in the areas under Lalgarh block on Friday. Officials said that the policemen, entering the areas would also distribute copies of the appeal.
Earlier, security forces moved into the restive Lalgarh region to end the three-day siege of Maoists, who have gone on a rampage targeting CPM cadres and leaders, destroying their homes and party offices and setting up barricades to block police entry. ( Watch )
"Operation at Lalgrah has started this morning. The operation will be mainly done by the state police but we will be adequately assisted by the Central forces," West Bengal Director General of Police Sujit Kumar Sarkar said.
Asked about the number of forces deployed, Sarkar said the details cannot be divulged 'right now'.
"But there are adequate (state) forces to restore peace and normalcy in the area. The CRPF will give adequate back up and if needed they will actively participate," he said over phone from Kolkata.
Agitating tribals of West Midnapore and adjoining areas have been protesting police "atrocities" on them in the wake of the landmine blast at Salboni which was believed to target the chief minister.
The tribals, numbering 2000 under the banner of People's Committee Against Police Atrocities, dug up roads amid reports that they were laying landmines to stop the security forces.
"We will try to shed minimum blood," Sarkar said adding I cannot tell you the exact timeframe (of the operation)."
Five hundred CRPF personnel, including 200 personnel of the elite COBRA trained in anti-Maoist operations, have been deployed to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, Maoist leader Kishanji said, in order to avoid bloodshed in Lalgarh, the Centre and the West Bengal government should apologize to tribals.
Accusing the state and the Central governments of waging a "psychological warfare" against tribals by sending police and Central forces to Lalgarh, Kishanji, a member of CPI(Maoist) politburo, told a news channel that unless they apologised, there could not be any negotiation.
The administration would have to withdraw the police and security forces if they did not want bloodshed, he said. "Then we will try to convince the people to refrain from violence."
He described as "false propaganda" by the state government that Maoists were planning to use women and children as human shields to combat the security forces.
The Maoist leader also denied that they had any link with Trinamool Congress in Lalgarh. "It is wrong to say that. There were some Trinamool activists at Nandigram where we led the agitation," he said.
He, however, admitted that the Maoists had tried to ambush chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee "for his role in Nandigram".
Tribals on warpath in Lalgarh; say can work better than govt
LALGARH (WB): Hinting at a state within a state, tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato said his organisation could build infrastructure in just eight
"If the state government had done 10 per cent of the work we did, the situation would have been different," Mahato, Convenor of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) said.
"We have laid at least 50 km of gravel path, dug tanks and tube wells and revived irrigation canals with the help of villagers," he said.
Mahato claimed the PCAPA built a 60-feet-deep reservoir at Barapelia, where its headquarters is situated, and planned to revive a canal for irrigation.
A health centre with a doctor was also functioning at Kantapahari, he said.
Though the government built the road to Midnapore town, all link roads were constructed by the PCAPA, he said, claiming that this saved villagers from walking for miles through forests.
Maoists are on the rampage in Lalgarh, in Midnapore district of West Bengal bordering Orissa, targetting CPM cadres and party offices protesting against police "atrocities".
Nandigram has just begun amidst the live COVERAGE of Provocative Media, Pressure from UPA Centre Government engaged in Implementing and Executing Mass Destruction Agenda with Ethnic Cleansing of Nature Associate People. A thunderstorm lashed the city on Wednesday evening, offering rare respite from the swelter.If rain brought temporary relief on Wednesday, the government gave students an extended respite by declaring all primary, secondary and higher secondary institutions in the state closed for three days from Thursday.The THUNDERSTORM and the HEATWAVE altogether pounds the Tribal base JUNGLE Mahal lalgarh irrespective of Weather Change or Climate change!
Though, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhatacharjee on Thursday said the state government was ready to hold talks with tribals on their grievances, and appealed to the Lalgarh villagers not to get provoked by Maoist rebels and not let themselves be used as human shields by the Left radicals.
But the West Bengal government ruled out negotiations with Maoists saying "so long there is violence and obstruction, there cannot be any discussion".
"We have started police action at Lalgarh. Police and CRPF have left Pirakata," West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said.
He ruled out discussion with the tribals "so long there is violence and obstruction. "There cannot be any discussion as the Maoists will not allow it to take place."
Police did not have to fire at Pirakata as teargas shells and baton charges could remove the obstruction put up by the tribals, he said.
"Fortunately, they did not have to open fire," he said adding, "the operation will get tougher and we have to be prepared to face attacks and ambushes."
He said there might have been some injuries due to the baton charges but did not specify the number of people arrested in the operation.
Sen declined to state how long the operations would take. "It is extremely tough. So far there has been no major confrontation but that does not mean it will not occur in future.
"We estimate about 100 armed Maoist cadres are at Lalgarh. Their leader Kishanji is possibly there," Sen said.
The Government has launched an offensive in the restive Lalgarh region to end the three-day siege of Maoists. Security forces including CRPF and the state police this afternoon marched in to the restive Lalgarh region. The movement was initially stalled by a human blockade set up by the Maoists at Pirkata. But police used tear gas to disperse the blockaders. After overcoming the resistance at Pirkata, police had to face another blockade at Bhimpur, where a clash with the PCPA members broke out.While, Trinamool Congress said the violence in Lalgarh in West Midnapore district was an "internal fight of Marxists" and that was why the Left Front Government had not banned Maoists in the state.
The Bengal government looked to the Centre for help, only to be told by Union home minister P Chidambaram that it should use its own police rather than depend on paramilitary forces to tackle the 'law and order problem'.
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ordered a crackdown after a meeting of the Left Front but left it to police to decide the date. Home secretary Ardhendu Sen said state police would lead the assault, with central forces providing the "crucial back-up". A unit of Cobra — the elite anti-Naxalite force in Jharkhand — arrived at Kalaikunda late Wednesday night. Twelve more companies of central forces are coming in phases to Midnapore town, Sen said.
"The Maoists are using innocent villagers, women and children as human shields. Don't let yourself be used like shields. Don't fall prey to their provocations," the chief minister said in a statement as the state and central forces launched an operation to flush out Maoists from Lalgarh in West Midnapore district.
"The government is prepared to hold discussions with the people of the area about their problems," Bhattacharjee said.
"Go back home," he told the villagers, who were seen putting up a human shield in the vicinity of Lalgarh to stop the advancing security forces.
State Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty claimed police have not faced any resistance from armed people.
"The police have gone there to restore peace and rule of law and to protect lives of innocent people," he said.
| |
| Dubraj Soren, Dashrath Soren, Chaitanya Soren and Badal Hait had gone missing since last Tuesday. Hait was the CPM local committee member who, party workers say had been kidnapped along with the three others by the PCPA members and Maoists in the region. |
Singur to Nandigram, it rolls FULL CIRCLE to showcase how Democracy works within. It magnifies the GENOCIDE Culture and expose Naked the Majority Population UNARMED and Struggling for just Sustenance as INHUMAN and VICTIMISED by Power Politics. Those who supported Lalgarh Insurrection and Inspired Chhatradhar Mahato from Kolkata, witness the FLUSH Out with Detached Opportunism as the STATE Power with full strike power and AIR Force Aided COBRA Commandos, opts for MILITARY Option with Zero Tolerance.
Although not specific to Lalgarh, the Prime Minister held out a stern warning to Naxalite activists at large on his flight back from the BRIC summit in Yekaterinburg, saying: "It's a great threat to our policy, its seriousness is fully recognised and appreciated by our government. The home minister has some good ideas…. we have plans, we will take effective action."
The CPM central leadership held the Trinamul-Congress combine responsible for the Maoist attacks. It also said the state government was ready to talk to any tribal group that did not believe in violence to end the Lalgarh impasse.
The Prime Minister did not elaborate on what those plans entailed, but left little doubt that a comprehensive anti-Naxalite offensive directed at their bases in many states was on the anvil.
On his part, Chidambaram exhorted chief minister Bhattacharjee to act swiftly.
In a loaded shot at the Left government, Chidambaram said: "The impression is that one side of the government is willing to take action, the other side of the government is worried about the consequences. Now it is the judgement the chief minister must make."
The unequivocal statement came on a day the Left government, unable to take a decision on its own after dithering for over eight months, was looking towards the Centre to share some of the burden of unpalatable decisions an operation will require.
The Centre today sent four units (about 120 personnel in all) of its elite Cobra Force to Lalgarh but the Union home minister again underscored the need for the state government to scramble forces.
It has been always the History. No Insurrection whatever may be grass rooted or strengthened may not match the Striking Power and Killing license privileged. Khalistan Movement failure supported by Global Insurgency and the Kashmir and North east insurgencies prove that. Bengal has witnessed the Naxal Period full of REPRESSION.
But our people, the tribals and OBCs and the dalits residing in the Forest belt known as JUNGLE Mahal in the Chuar Vidroh zone have been IMPOSED an UNWANTED War meaning Total destruction and promised HELP missing. Helpless people have to face the heat and dust of the Fire Power they have never seen. Indigenous armament may Never match the Post Modern weaponry of the Security Forces.
This is an OPEN game to create Chaos in the state leaving no Option but President Rule. Thus, Mamata Bannerjee, the Rly Minister withdrew Police Boycott in Khejury abruptly. NO Intelligentsia or Civil society team rushed to the spot as they reached in Singur and Nandigram! Media is live casting the Operation holding the Marxists and state government totally Responsible. It would further SEGREGATE the Tribals as SIKHS had been once upon a time!
Buddhadeb Bhattachary is the DECLARED Target understandably for Nandigram genocide. Maoists, facing media, announced DEATH Sentence for him. Neither Mamata Bannerjee nor the Opposition or Intelligentsia or the CIVIL Society even condemned it. Rather the Resistance hegemony brahminical stood united with Lalgarh but betrayed the tribal as the War began.
Buddha is in contact with the Centre and trying his best to involve the CENTRE.
I am afraid that it would not help the Marxists as the media blacks out the Centres MAGIC Economics, Flagship Programme, Hundred Days` agenda realities and the segregation of Aboriginal, Indigenous a minorities, the Black Untouchables.
What Lalgarh receives it exposes the failure of the INDIAN Periphery Polity as well as Economy. But inactive Marxists deviating from Ideology could not highlight the most relevant points so far and the Mass Resistance in HIJACKED.
The regimented Cadres could not be physically connected to the people so the Maoists CAPTURED and ESCALATED the Tribal areas. Any Repression would mean further ISOLATION of the Marxists from the Grass Root masses.
It would rather help Ms Mamta Bannerjee to achieve her goal, untimely President rule and Untimely ELECTION to defeat and oust Marxists.
I am afraid , my Marxist friends OBLIGE the Fire Brand Brahmin maid!
Just see the Game Plan chalked out with Surgical Precision and assess the Magnetic Trap Scope to entrap the DUPED Marxists unarmed with whatsoever Ideology. The Police and administration, always faithful for last thirty two years and working as Party wings , DESERTED the Marxist Hegemony smelling the CHANGE Fragrance in the Bengal Environment of Heat and Humidity, AILA continues as the CALAMITIES for our Comrades never end!
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an advocate of stern action against Naxalism, is learnt to have taken a grim view of the violent Maoist takeover of Lalgarh and of the Left Front government's inability to restore law and order in the area.
Home minister P. Chidambaram put the ball in the court of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ahead of the chief minister's meeting with the Prime Minister on Friday. "Now it is the judgement the chief minister must make," Chidambaram said, driving home the need to reclaim Lalgarh from the Maoists.
The primary responsibility, sources in Delhi underlined, lay with the state government which "must act before it is too late".
Amid the spiralling violence in Lalgarh in Midnapore (West) and other areas of West Bengal, the Centre sent a blunt message to the Marxist government there, asserting that it must make all attempts to bring the alarming situation under control and give a "clear mandate" to its own police forces to reclaim the affected areas.
Home minister Mr P Chidambaram told reporters here that he had spoken to chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and told him that the state must move its forces to the troubled areas with clear instructions to tackle the situation.
While, Rattled by the spate of killings and attacks on CPI-M leaders and activists, and vandalism at its party offices in the districts, especially in Lalgarh, Khejuri and other areas, the Left Front asked the state government to take immediate steps to contain the ongoing violence. It is GREEN SIGNAL for the Marxist Government to be ENTRAPPED right into the EPICENTRE of the Turbulence!
In order to maintain synergy in its operation against Naxals at Lalgarh, central paramilitary forces dispatched to the trouble-torn area have been given"functional autonomy"and were working in coordination with the Centre. The functional autonomy has been given in consultation with the state government as the situation in Lalgarh area continued to be tense, a Home Ministry official said. The decision was taken as some parts of Jharkhand and Orissa need to be covered as the Naxals may flee to these areas after security forces mounted pressure on them. Taking a serious view of Maoists controlling the places in West Midnapore district and its adjoining areas, the Home Ministry directed the forces to deal with any situation arising there in close coordination with the state authorities, the official said." Since we consider the situation as serious, the forces are being given functional autonomy,"the official said. However, the special anti-naxal force CoBRA is yet to be deployed for the operations against the naxals and have been kept on stand by.
The PWD minister and RSP leader, Mr Kshiti Goswami, in particular, expressed strong disapproval of the way the administration was handling the situation. At a Left Front meeting today, complained the police were now listening more to the Opposition leaders than to the state government.
Chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told the meeting that he had received information from the Jharkhand government that about 100 Maoists, armed with sophisticated weapons and trained at Chaibasa in Jharkhand, had crossed over to West Bengal to unleash terror. The state government, he said, had already sought Central forces to flush the Maoists out.
Mr Goswami, however, asked the chief minister how the Maoists could be effectively tackled without sealing their border.
Soon after Mr Chidambaram made his comments, the state government said it would launch operations against the Maoists, and that the state police would be in the forefront. Mr Bhattacharjee is also to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr Chidambaram on 19 June on the issue.
Mr Chidambaram said there was an impression that while one part of the state government was willing to take action against the Maoists, another was worried about the fallout. "Now, it is the judgement the chief minister must make. They must move the forces to the affected areas and must reclaim the area now dominated by the Maoists," he said.
"We (the Central forces) are there to assist the state police. The state police must commit its own forces. I don't know how many men they have committed in the area and what instructions they have been given. But in my talks with the CM, I told him that in our view the state police must be given clear mandate and clear instructions," Mr Chidambaram said. "We have given them an adequate number of paramilitary forces," he added, pointing out that five more companies have been sent following the state's request on 15 June.
The Centre also dispatched the specialised Cobra anti-Naxalite force to deal with the Bengal situation. The commandos have been airlifted from Orissa where they are currently based.
After a visit to Midnapore to review the situation, the state home secretary, Mr Ardhendu Sen, said the government is ready for operations at Lalgarh and areas adjoining Jhargram in West Midnapore district. He, however, evaded a question on when the operations would begin. He added that the state police would lead the operations.
The chief secretary, Mr AM Chakrabarti, said the Maoists were planning to use the women and children of Lalgarh as human shields. Urging the villagers not to succumb to the "pressure being exerted by the Maoists", he said the move was "dangerous, inhuman and illegal". "The people in the area are faced with severe problems in their daily life and those who are trying to use them as shields are playing a dangerous game," Mr Chakrabarti said.
My friends, I have calls from South as well North, from Kerala to New Delhi including Mumbai. Professional Journalists, Editors and even the President of Mulnivasi Bamcef, Waman Mesram do try to understand the STAND OFF and the Fall out.
I told Mr Meshram that the CM has to go to New Delhi to interact with the PM and the HOME Minister. Media says that the OPERATION would begin after 22 but I am afraid that the FLUSH OUT may begin anytime. However, officials in Delhi said reports from the ground indicated that the state government was shying away from action and not sending state police forces to the so-called "liberated zone". "We were told that the police have been instructed to 'only resort to mild lathi-charge'," said a central officer.The officer said the reports he received suggested that state police might not venture into Lalgarh for another two days. Delhi sent five companies of the CRPF to Lalgarh from Sindri in Jharkhand yesterday. But paramilitary forces are mandated to act solely under the command of state police, and not using them was nullifying the whole idea of sending them, sources said.
I warned him that INNOCENT Masses have to lose LIFE and property. Apart from Politics, the Non Political and Social organisations should take the initiative to resolve the crisis.
Professor Vijoy Kumar from Trichur woke me up in the morning and OPINED that it is a TOTAL BETRAYAL on the Part of Ms Mamta Bannerjee and her TMC.
I replied that it is a JOINT Front of all Brahaminical forces to kill and displace our people. We discussed long.
While young professional journalist Bhuvendra Tyagi from Mumbai was worried of the the chaos and anarchy heralding unilateral Genocide.
We discussed the chronology of genocide History as well as the traced the RESISTANCE legacy in Bengal.
Pankaj Bisht, the editor of SAMAYANTAR was worried of the CIVIL Society and Intelligentsia role and opined that invoking President Rule in Bengal may help Mamata , but it will kill Bengal as a Progressive state!
However,Reacting to the Union home minister's comment that the state government was divided on the question of taking action against the Maoists in Lalgarh, Mr Chakraborty said the government was taking steps to establish the rule of law there and that the observation was unfounded.
The Left Front chairman, Mr Biman Bose, said it was unacceptable that the Trinamul Congress and its allies ~ among which he included the Maoists ~ should go on killing CPI-M leaders and activists because the Opposition had won 27 Lok Sabha seats.
"When we came to power in 1977 with a thumping majority our top leaders immediately issued a statement urging our party men not to resort to political vendetta. The Trinamul is threatening that there would be no one to carry the CPI-M's flag. We can correct our shortcomings, but we'll never bow down to terror," he said.
On the other hand,the Trinamul Congress has distanced itself from the attacks on the CPM in Lalgarh but plans to use the violence to buttress its claim that the state government lacks control over law and order.
In the coming days, the party will argue that while it does not support violence, the attacks in Lalgarh are a result of the CPM's policies.
The strategy was outlined by Trinamul leaders here a day after party chief Mamata Banerjee broke her silence on Lalgarh in Calcutta. "I don't support that (the Lalgarh violence). It is our collective duty to maintain law and order," Mamata said yesterday.
Trinamul sources conceded they were worried that the brutal attacks on CPM workers in Lalgarh could win the party some sympathy elsewhere in the state. "But the anger against the CPM is such that unless we make a blunder, the Lalgarh violence will also work against the CPM."
Mamata, sources said, was keen to portray a "statesman-like" attitude, and was unlikely to immediately demand the state government's dismissal.
"We are aware that such a demand now will mean playing into the hands of the CPM. Our strategy will be to focus on the CPM's crimes and police's failures to weaken the state government further," another Trinamul leader said.
Advancing security forces lobbed tear gas shells and made a baton charge to break a 'human wall' put up by Maoist cadres, armed with bows and arrows and pickaxes, in this troubled zone as West Bengal's Communist government launched a massive operation Thursday to free the region of left extremists.
Two rebels as well as a lensman accompanying the security forces were injured, eyewitnesses said. There was no police confirmation of the news.
A day after being prodded by the centre to reclaim this headquarters of Binpur 1 community development block in West Midnapore district, 200 km form state capital Kolkata, from the Maoists, the state police personnel, backed by the central forces, moved in from their base camp at nearby Pirakata for 'Operation Lalgarh'.
However, soon after, the forces came up against a 'human wall' at Malida, as hundreds of tribals carrying traditional weapons like bows and arrows, shovels, pickaxes and canes blocked the way by felling big trees on the road as they shouted slogans like "Inqilab Zindabad" and "Maoism zindabad".
Using megaphones, the police warned the protesters to move away and clear the roads, but getting no response from the other side, the security forces started removing the tree trunk when they suddenly saw two Maoists standing in the nearby field with assault rifles. Immediately, the well-armed central forces came to the frontlines and the Maoists beat a hasty retreat.
The police started baton charging and lobbing tear gas shells, and succeeded in dispersing the protestors at that spot. "We will see how far we can go today (Thursday). Our target is to reach Lalgarh police station," a police officer told accompanying journalists. Two of the protesters were injured in the baton charge, while a lensman also sustained injuries.
The police raided some houses in the vicinity and detained a few people before resuming their 'Operation Lalgarh'.
Five companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and two companies of the Cobra Force, specially trained to combat Maoists, reached the district headquarters Midnapore town Wednesday. A large quantity of tear gas shells and protective shields have been provided to the security personnel.
Earlier in the day, the personnel from the central and state security forces were briefed at the Pirakata base camp to conduct a joint operation to flush out Maoist guerrillas who have been active in organising a tribal movement alongside a group called the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA).
"We have moved forces in the morning," Inspector General of Police Raj Kanojia told IANS.
On Wednesday, the state government had declared that it was ready to launch an operation to free Lalgarh from the control of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) even as the guerrillas shot dead three workers of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist(CPI-M).
In response, a top rebel leader said the central and state governments had started psychological warfare against the people in Lalgarh with its show of force.
"The prime minister (Manmohan Singh) and home minister (P. Chidambaram) have started a psychological warfare by amassing huge forces. If they start the operations, we will resist with the help of the people who are with us," CPI-Maoist politburo member Kishanjee told a television channel over phone.
Kishanjee alias K. Koteshwar Rao hails from Andhra Pradesh but has been camping in Lalgarh. He said the rebel group has decided to call for a two-day shutdown beginning Monday in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar.
He also demanded that the centre and state government should apologise to the tribal people of Lalgarh if they wanted a peaceful and amicable resolution to the stand-off.
Lalgarh has been on the boil since last November when a landmine exploded on the route of the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and then central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada.
Police arrested some school students and allegedly harassed tribal women following the landmine blast. In protest, angry tribals virtually cut off the area from the rest of the district.
During the last few days, the agitators have torched CPI-M offices, driven away the party's supporters and forced police to wind up several camps, thereby establishing a virtual free zone.
Maoists have been active in the three western districts of the state - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. They also backed the Trinamool-sponsored movement against the state government's bid to establish a chemical hub at Nandigram in East Midnapore district.
The battle for recapturing Lalgarh from Maoists began in right earnest on Thursday as the police and central forces today stormed the area smashing a human shield of tribal agitators with a barrage of teargas shells and lathi-charges.
A 600-strong mob of tribals armed with lathis, axes, spears, bows and arrows blocked the road when the security forces arrived and shouted at the police asking them to apologise for alleged atrocities, a PTI correspondent on the spot saw.
A police officer warned the tribals over microphone to disperse within two minutes, following which the armed police, the CRPF and the riot police lobbed a volley of teargas shells and made a lathi-charge dispersing the tribals under the banner of People's Committee Against Police Atrocities in 10 minutes.
The police then proceeded cautiously up the road to Pirrakula, eight km from Lalgarh, making house-to-house searches while people caught on the road were allowed to pass with their hands raised in the air.
The operation was then halted for the night, IGP (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia told PTI from Kolkata.
The police and central forces did not want to cross the Jhitka jungle beyond Pirrakula at night as it was a Maoist-dominated area.
Maoists put up human shields against forces in West Bengal's Lalgarh
With paramilitary forces planning a crackdown on Maoists who have laid siege to two police station areas in West Midnapore
"The Maoists have formed a three-tier human shield with women and children in the vanguard, men behind them and armed naxals forming the rearguard," a senior police official involved in the drawing up strategies against the agitators said.
The police have withdrawn from camps fearing looting of arms with the tribals under the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities demolishing and torching empty camps in the past few days, he said.
Maoist action squad leader, known as Bikash, and his men were patrolling roads between Lalgarh and Belpahari armed with AK47s, he said.
Last night the tribals set ablaze CPM party offices in Lalgarh and Belatikri and dug up roads leading to Lalgarh from Dharampur, Goaltore and Pirakata to prevent entry of central forces.
The digging up of roads and felling of trees was a tactic deployed since November last year by the tribals when they went on the warpath after police raids on their homes.
The police made the raids following a landmine blast at Salboni on November 2 in which West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and two then union ministers Ramvilas Paswan and Jitendra Prasad narrowly escaped.
Five CPM men have already been killed and four were missing after clashes with tribals in the past few days, while three more, including a Marxist local leader were shot dead this morning at Bankasole.
On Tuesday, chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty said that 500 central paramilitary personnel have been sought from the Centre, with 100 men arriving in Lalgarh and 200-300 more personnel expected shortly.
Another officer said that for the last eight months Lalgarh has been out of bounds for the police, where they were being 'boycotted' by the tribals, who have demanded an apology for the police raids on their homes following the Salboni landmine blast.
"We had to withdraw our camps from Ramgar and Dharampur," said the officer.
The officer said Marxist leaders were being killed after being carefully targeted.
"They plan the operations in meticulous detail in forests, where it is impossible for the police to search for them," the officer said.
Our aim is to break CPM shackles'18 Jun 2009, 0307 hrs IST, Sukumar Mahato, TNN |
He is leading the Lalgarh offensive in West Midnapore district of West Bengal. Around 24 years old, he is a veteran in Maoist ranks, serving as
What are your immediate plans?
Our aim is to break the shackles that the ruling CPM has put on the people of this area. For nearly two decades, the people have not reaped the so-called benefits of parliamentary democracy. Gradually, everything began to be controlled by CPM. Its leaders even had a say in marriages and other social and personal matters.
There are many leaders against whom FIRs are pending. The police have taken no action against them. We will punish them. Those who have spent money or used political connections to avoid justice will be tried by people's courts.
The government is preparing to strike in a major way. How will you counter this?
We have seen media reports in which government officials have spoken about bringing in Central forces, COBRA or Greyhound personnel. We are prepared for any strike. PCPA is with us. In Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts, we have set up gram committees in over 250 villages. We shall ultimately liberate Keshpur and Garbeta. The state cannot stop us by using force.
Why have you resorted to violence?
We were forced into taking up arms by the administration. When we had guns pointing at us, one can't expect us to respond with flower petals. Violence was started by CPM. We took up arms to counter this. Many of them are educated unemployed youths. Family members of CPM leaders have got jobs that were meant for them.
Why do you target the police? Many of the constables belong to poor families.
We have appealed to the police a number of times, not to blindly follow the diktats of CPM. We have asked the police not to torture poor villagers. There are some who heeded our appeal. Those who we targeted worked at the behest of CPM and paid a price.
What is your ultimate goal?
We want public funds to be used by the people's committee. They will be accountable for all development work done. We have already done a lot of development work in the villages. CPM talks a lot about land reforms. Anuj Pandey and his two brothers owned 40 bighas of land. We shall distribute such land among the poor.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Our-aim-is-to-break-CPM-shackles/articleshow/4669155.cms
Three CPM men shot in Jhargram
MIDNAPORE, 17 JUNE: Three CPI-M activists, including a SFI and a DYFI leader were gunned down by a group of unidentified goons on National Highway 6 at Banksole in Jhargram area of Midnapore West district this morning, adding a new dimension to the ongoing violence in Lalgarh.
The anti-establishment movement spearheaded by the Police Santras Birodhi Public Committee (PSBPC) in Lalgarh spread to Bankura as the public boycotted police at Sarenga and the cops had to confine themselves to the Sarenga police station.
In Midnapore West, district CPI-M leaders alleged that the Maoist cadres who have had a free run in and around Lalgarh for some time now were involved in the killings today.
Anil Mahato (35), a member of Siuli CPI-M branch committee, Abhijit Mahato (24), SFI leader and a second year student of Manikpara College and Niladri Mahato (25), DYFI leader, were having their morning tea in a shop when six gunmen riding two two-wheelers appeared and fired from point blank range killing the three on the spot. The SFI have called a bandh in all the colleges in the district today and a statewide bandh tomorrow to protest against the killings.
Meanwhile, the CPI-M continues to be targeted in Lalgarh. Several thousand tribals, including women, under the banner of the PSBPC demolished and torched the homes of Mr Dalim Pande, and Mr Amal Pande, the CPI-M's Dharampur local committee secretary and member respectively at Harina today. The families of both men had fled their homes on Sunday.
The former is the brother of Mr Sujan Pande, Lalgarh zonal committee secretary, whose house was earlier razed to the ground.
The mob also set fire to the party's Harina branch committee office after demolishing it.
The CPI-M took out a procession in the district condemning the violence let loose by the PSBPC in Lalgarh. The party has also called a 12-hour bandh in the district tomorrow in protest.
The PSBPC has put up barricades on several stretches of the roads to Lalgarh by dumping tree trunks and digging up the road surface today to prevent the entry of Central forces sent to flush out the Maoists from the area. Around 200 Maoist cadres armed with sophisticated weapons, who had spearheaded the operation to make Lalgarh a "CPI-M-free zone" over the past few days, are believed to be hiding in the area. A senior police officer also said the Maoists have formed a three-tier human shield to prevent entry of forces into the area with women and children at the forefront. A top Maoist leader meanwhile described the ruling CPI-M and the Trinamul Congress as "two sides of the same coin", and said his organisation only indulged in counter-violence against "atrocities of the ruling classes".
All examinations of Vidyasagar University scheduled to be held tomorrow have been cancelled in view of the CPI-M bandh.
Security forces on Thursday,moved into the restive Lalgarh region to end the three-day siege of Maoists, who have gone on a rampage targeting Communist Party of India-Marxist cadres and leaders, destroying their homes and party offices and setting up barricades to block police entry. "The Operation at Lalgrah has started on Thursday morning. The operation will be mainly done by the state police but we will be adequately assisted by the Central forces," West Bengal [Images] Director General of Police Sujit Kumar Sarkar [Images] told PTI.
Asked about the number of forces deployed, Sarkar said the details cannot be divulged 'right now'. "But there are adequate (state) forces to restore peace and normalcy in the area. The Central Reserve Police Force will give adequate back up and if needed they will actively participate," he said over the phone from Kolkata [Images]. Agitating tribals of West Midnapore and adjoining areas have been protesting police "atrocities" on them in the wake of the landmine blast at Salboni which was believed to target the CM. The tribals, numbering 2000 under the banner of People's Committee Against Police Atrocities, dug up roads amid reports that they were laying landmines to stop the security forces. "We will try to shed minimum blood," Sarkar said adding I cannot tell you the exact timeframe (of the operation)." Five hundred CRPF personnel, including 200 personnel of the elite COBRA trained in anti-Maoist operations, have been deployed to deal with the situation.
A visiting PTI correspondent saw four trucks of central and state police force personnel entering Lalgrah through Pirakata, which links the place to Midnapore, in the morning hours. The other three entry points to Lalgrah through Binpur, Dohijhuri and Bherua have been blocked by felling trees and digging up roads. The area presented a deserted look, with most shops and business establishments closed. Only a few people were seen out of their homes.
The Maoists had taken over the area, a former Marxist bastion, after driving away the police on Monday. Eight CPI-M [Images] personnel have been killed in the area in the last one week and four others are missing. High-level police officials, including Director General (Coordination) Bhupinder Singh and Deputy Inspector General (Special Operations Group) Siddhinath Gupta were in Lalgarh to supervise the action.
The operation was launched a day after Home Minister P Chidamabaram sent a blunt message to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee [Images] that a clear mandate should be given to the security forces to reclaim areas dominated by Maoists in violence-hit West Midnapore and its adjoining areas and deal with the "deteriorating" law and order situation. "The impression is that one side of the government is willing to take action, the other side of the government is worried about the consequences. Now, it is the judgement the CM must make. They must move the (security) forces to the affected areas and must reclaim that area which is now dominated by the Maoists," he said.
Meanwhile, the Maoists in Lalgarh have called for a two-day Bandh in Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh on June 22-23, to protest against police atrocities.
Maoists turned tribal resentment into anti-CPM weapon18 Jun 2009, 0258 hrs IST, Caesar Mandal, TNN |
LALGARH: A well-planned strategy and a perfectly executed warplan, using tribal grievance against an inactive administration and a corrupt CPM to
The insurgent outfit has been steadily spreading its tentacles and extending its strongholds almost every day at a furious pace over the last seven months. It has reached areas like Jhalda, Bagmundi and Ayodhya in Purulia and Ranibandh and Jhilimili in Bankura. If Salboni which is believed to be the next target falls, then almost the entire western part of the state would be lost.
The Maoists did not win the area overnight. In fact, they found it difficult to make headway initially. Till the merger of People's War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), the Left radicals were active only in pockets of Binpur block II and in the area from Belpahari to Banshpahari and were never a force to reckon with. Then the merger took place in 2004 and the Maoist movement took a leap ahead. The two groups galvanized perfectly with the armed wing of PWG the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) providing a militant edge to the theoretical and political campaign of MCC.
It helped Maoists spread their base in the Jharkhand-Orissa border areas that served as a transit point. Things took another turn with the arrest of Somen, the CPI(Maoist) state secretary in 2008. It intensified the PLGA's militant campaign. The landmine attack on the chief minister's convoy in Salboni on November 2 served as a flashpoint. It shook the police into action and a combing operation was launched at Salboni, barely 9 km from Midnapore town.
Three PLG squads were active in the area by then the Belpahari squad under Madan Mahato, the Lalgarh squad under Shashadhar Mahato and the Dolma squad in Purulia. Police charged Shashadhar and raided Chhotobelia, his village. The combing operation which had led to excesses alienated the locals. It fuelled a movement and led to the formation of People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) which became the frontal organization helping to shield the Maoists who worked from behind the scenes.
The tribals united on an anti-police and anti-government plank joined PCPA spontaneously and it helped Maoists form a network over a larger area. The movement spread like wildfire across Jangalkhand. Using the PCPA local committees, Maoists gained access to information and logistical support from every corner of the region.
From November 12 when PCPA was formed at a rally at Kantapahari the 14 km road connecting Lalgarh police station with the Ramgarh outpost remained blocked for a month. Maoists used the time to strengthen their network, taking advantage of the fact that neither the administration nor police could enter. Soon, all three roads leading to Lalgarh through Pirakata forest, from Midnapore town through Dharampur and from Goaltore were cut off. With PCPA in the forefront, senior Maoist leaders and armed outfits started infiltrating. Leaders like Chandrasekhar and Akash camped there, helping strengthen the base. It was in this period that the PCPA influence spread to Binpur I and II, Jamboni, parts of Jhargram block and Salboni. Now, all areas in a 30-km radius of Lalgarh have been captured'.
Strengthened by the local support base, they now went on uniting all the anti-CPM forces. Between January and June, several CPM leaders were killed. The Maoists finally came out in the open with a procession at Madhupur village, which led to an attack on several CPM leaders' houses.
Ever since, a new area has been added to the Maoist territory every other day. Babuibasha, Shaluka, Ramgarh, Belatikri and its adjacent areas fell soon. And finally, the entire stretch from Lalgarh to Dherua, including Dharampur, has been captured last Sunday.
It could be mission Salboni next. For that's just about the only area where CPM still exists. If that happens, Maoists could shift their base to Garbeta and Keshpur.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Maoists-turned-tribal-resentment-into-anti-CPM-weapon/articleshow/4669148.cms
| At work for war Maoists, state begin drill | |
| PRONAB MONDAL IN LALGARH AND OUR BUREAU | |
June 17: Late last night, at a small camp in Lalgarh's Kantapahari, six Maoists held a meeting when word reached that central forces had started arriving in Midnapore. The meeting, headed by Bikash who runs the Maoists' Lalgarh operations and guided over the phone apparently by Kishanji who heads their armed wing in the country, decided to set up the first line of defence by this morning. The task was completed by the time home secretary Ardhendu Sen arrived in Midnapore to review the situation in Lalgarh. By 9am, the only two arterial roads leading to Lalgarh from Midnapore town, capable of carrying heavy vehicles, had been dug up at 11 points. Each trench across the road was 4ft deep and 3ft wide, making it impossible for any vehicle to cross over. The Maoists bragged of a more diabolical plan, too. If the police smash through the defences and reach Lalgarh, the rebels said, they would have a four-tier barricade in place. In the first layer, there will be children, followed by women. Tribals armed with bows and arrows will bring up the third layer. Armed Maoists will position themselves in the fourth layer, they said, seemingly oblivious to the macabre irony in the "people's war". Aware of the plan, chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti appealed to the people of Lalgarh not to allow themselves to be used as "human shields". Police sources later said they would try to disperse the shields using rubber bullets and tear gas. By the end of the day, the state government, too, announced that it would act. But the time of the launch is being kept confidential, not for tactical reasons alone — the state government has yet to overcome its indecisiveness. After returning to Calcutta, Sen announced: "An operation against the Maoists will take place. It will be led by state police with the central forces providing the back-up. Our main aim will be to ensure minimum bloodshed. But I cannot reveal when it will take place." Sources said 18 companies would be involved in the operation, of which 13 will be central forces and five from the state police. Each company has about 100 policemen who can go into action — which means around 1,800 personnel will be pitted against the Maoists. The rebels' number is put at 250 but more guerrillas are said to be moving towards Lalgarh from Orissa and Jharkhand. Kishanji has apparently reached Belpahari, 20km from Lalgarh. Besides, the Maoists are counting on some of the villagers they have trained since November last year. The police sources said it would not be a "swift and short" operation. "We know the area is mined and dug up, so we have to move forward carefully," an officer said. "We will have a minesweeper at the head of the convoy and a truck carrying sandbags along with us. After the minesweeper has cleared the way, we will bridge the dug-up roads with the sandbags and then move on." The officer said the objective would be to "reoccupy" an area, consolidate their position there and then push forward. The plan is largely in tune with the tactics being focused upon since P. Chidambaram took over as home minister at the Centre. In the police's arsenal will be AK-47 and AK-56 rifles, grenade launchers and rocket launchers. Senior police officers from Calcutta, like IG (co-ordination), have moved to Midnapore. The rebels acknowledge the police's superiority in firepower and supply of ammunition but said they were banking on familiarity with the terrain and local support. It was not possible to verify the claims by the Maoists. At every dug-up point, the Maoists said, they would be setting up "checkposts" which will be guarded by "50 to 60" armed supporters. "They will all have cellphones and at the first sign of any activity, they will warn other checkposts along the way," a Maoist leader said. Knowing that the policemen will be wearing bulletproof jackets, the Maoist cadres have been trained to shoot at the face, arms and legs, another leader said. If the police decide to skip the arterial roads and use forest trails, they may have to abandon armoured vehicles while ferrying themselves across the Kangshabati river in the absence of bridges. The five CRPF companies stayed put at the Midnapore police lines today, drawing up maps to chalk out operational routes. |
| Brigadier advises 'creeping' recapture | ||
| SUJAN DUTTA | ||
New Delhi, June 17: Bengal can adopt tactics for a "creeping re-occupation of territory" in Lalgarh despite its administration's late response and its police's poor training, says the army's counter-Naxalite expert who trains security forces from states where Left-wing militancy is intense. "Sending the CRPF into places like Lalgarh will be of no consequence unless you have trained troops," Brigadier Basant Kumar Ponwar told The Telegraph. The specialised Cobra force is also being sent to Bengal but the units are still under training. He said Bengal would have to evolve unconventional policing tactics in Lalgarh to take on the Maoists. Ponwar said "grid deployment" and "constant dynamic deployment" by security forces in and around Lalgarh after they have built up an asymmetry — sufficient strength — should drive the operations in West Midnapore. "These are things that the army can do but that is a different issue," he said, meaning that there is no call from the government to deploy the army in counter-Naxalite operations. The army monitors and studies the Maoist movement and even gives advice — to which the brigadier contributes in a big way. But the defence establishment has not yet viewed the Maoist insurgency as a big enough threat to deploy the army in the interiors in addition to the border regions in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast. Ponwar is the director of the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College (CTJWC) in Kanker, Chhattisgarh, the only institution that runs courses on counter-Naxalite operations for police forces. The college is supported by the army that has deputed instructors to it. Ponwar set up the college after retiring as the commandant of the army's Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Vairangte, Mizoram. Three teams from Bengal police were to have been sent to the college last year, Brigadier Ponwar said. But they were not. There is no team from Bengal even for the six-week course that begins on June 22. "They (the Maoists) have beaten us to the draw and now we are faced with such a situation. So we will have to do what we can to retrieve it with capable leadership," said Ponwar as he spelt out tactics of "constant dynamic deployment". The retired brigadier said the withdrawal of the Bengal police from their positions around Lalgarh "indicated that the Maoists are trying to convert their territory into a liberated zone though they are not there yet". He said the Maoists have been successful in creating a "liberated zone" in Abujmarh in Chhattisgarh spread over about 10,000sqkm. The security forces should operate in a way to prevent the Maoists from creating more "liberated zones". To contain the Maoists, the administration in Bengal and the security forces should make an effort to have five companies (of 100 to 120 troops each) for every 400sqkm "in highly-intense Naxalite areas". The troops should be instructed to set up "counter-Naxalite bases" in dominating heights. Each company should be assigned to a base with an area of responsibility of about 15km around it. The bases should be between 10 and 15km apart, said Ponwar. He called this "grid deployment". The security forces should be tasked with multi-directional patrolling. The counter-Naxalite bases should be the launching pads for small targeted operations against the Maoists, he added. The logistical back-up for the forces should be ensured by the administration. Small teams from the bases should be able to operate independently for three or four days. Ponwar's college teaches police forces "to fight the guerrilla like a guerrilla". What he is prescribing is a combination of conventional and unconventional tactics. A ring of security forces — state police and the CRPF — around and, wherever possible, inside Lalgarh, and bases from which small outfits such as the Cobra force will launch attacks. |
| Brigadier advises 'creeping' recapture | ||
| SUJAN DUTTA | ||
New Delhi, June 17: Bengal can adopt tactics for a "creeping re-occupation of territory" in Lalgarh despite its administration's late response and its police's poor training, says the army's counter-Naxalite expert who trains security forces from states where Left-wing militancy is intense. "Sending the CRPF into places like Lalgarh will be of no consequence unless you have trained troops," Brigadier Basant Kumar Ponwar told The Telegraph. The specialised Cobra force is also being sent to Bengal but the units are still under training. He said Bengal would have to evolve unconventional policing tactics in Lalgarh to take on the Maoists. Ponwar said "grid deployment" and "constant dynamic deployment" by security forces in and around Lalgarh after they have built up an asymmetry — sufficient strength — should drive the operations in West Midnapore. "These are things that the army can do but that is a different issue," he said, meaning that there is no call from the government to deploy the army in counter-Naxalite operations. The army monitors and studies the Maoist movement and even gives advice — to which the brigadier contributes in a big way. But the defence establishment has not yet viewed the Maoist insurgency as a big enough threat to deploy the army in the interiors in addition to the border regions in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast. Ponwar is the director of the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College (CTJWC) in Kanker, Chhattisgarh, the only institution that runs courses on counter-Naxalite operations for police forces. The college is supported by the army that has deputed instructors to it. Ponwar set up the college after retiring as the commandant of the army's Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Vairangte, Mizoram. Three teams from Bengal police were to have been sent to the college last year, Brigadier Ponwar said. But they were not. There is no team from Bengal even for the six-week course that begins on June 22. "They (the Maoists) have beaten us to the draw and now we are faced with such a situation. So we will have to do what we can to retrieve it with capable leadership," said Ponwar as he spelt out tactics of "constant dynamic deployment". The retired brigadier said the withdrawal of the Bengal police from their positions around Lalgarh "indicated that the Maoists are trying to convert their territory into a liberated zone though they are not there yet". He said the Maoists have been successful in creating a "liberated zone" in Abujmarh in Chhattisgarh spread over about 10,000sqkm. The security forces should operate in a way to prevent the Maoists from creating more "liberated zones". To contain the Maoists, the administration in Bengal and the security forces should make an effort to have five companies (of 100 to 120 troops each) for every 400sqkm "in highly-intense Naxalite areas". The troops should be instructed to set up "counter-Naxalite bases" in dominating heights. Each company should be assigned to a base with an area of responsibility of about 15km around it. The bases should be between 10 and 15km apart, said Ponwar. He called this "grid deployment". The security forces should be tasked with multi-directional patrolling. The counter-Naxalite bases should be the launching pads for small targeted operations against the Maoists, he added. The logistical back-up for the forces should be ensured by the administration. Small teams from the bases should be able to operate independently for three or four days. Ponwar's college teaches police forces "to fight the guerrilla like a guerrilla". What he is prescribing is a combination of conventional and unconventional tactics. A ring of security forces — state police and the CRPF — around and, wherever possible, inside Lalgarh, and bases from which small outfits such as the Cobra force will launch attacks. |
| Brigadier advises 'creeping' recapture | ||
| SUJAN DUTTA | ||
New Delhi, June 17: Bengal can adopt tactics for a "creeping re-occupation of territory" in Lalgarh despite its administration's late response and its police's poor training, says the army's counter-Naxalite expert who trains security forces from states where Left-wing militancy is intense. "Sending the CRPF into places like Lalgarh will be of no consequence unless you have trained troops," Brigadier Basant Kumar Ponwar told The Telegraph. The specialised Cobra force is also being sent to Bengal but the units are still under training. He said Bengal would have to evolve unconventional policing tactics in Lalgarh to take on the Maoists. Ponwar said "grid deployment" and "constant dynamic deployment" by security forces in and around Lalgarh after they have built up an asymmetry — sufficient strength — should drive the operations in West Midnapore. "These are things that the army can do but that is a different issue," he said, meaning that there is no call from the government to deploy the army in counter-Naxalite operations. The army monitors and studies the Maoist movement and even gives advice — to which the brigadier contributes in a big way. But the defence establishment has not yet viewed the Maoist insurgency as a big enough threat to deploy the army in the interiors in addition to the border regions in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast. Ponwar is the director of the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College (CTJWC) in Kanker, Chhattisgarh, the only institution that runs courses on counter-Naxalite operations for police forces. The college is supported by the army that has deputed instructors to it. Ponwar set up the college after retiring as the commandant of the army's Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Vairangte, Mizoram. Three teams from Bengal police were to have been sent to the college last year, Brigadier Ponwar said. But they were not. There is no team from Bengal even for the six-week course that begins on June 22. "They (the Maoists) have beaten us to the draw and now we are faced with such a situation. So we will have to do what we can to retrieve it with capable leadership," said Ponwar as he spelt out tactics of "constant dynamic deployment". The retired brigadier said the withdrawal of the Bengal police from their positions around Lalgarh "indicated that the Maoists are trying to convert their territory into a liberated zone though they are not there yet". He said the Maoists have been successful in creating a "liberated zone" in Abujmarh in Chhattisgarh spread over about 10,000sqkm. The security forces should operate in a way to prevent the Maoists from creating more "liberated zones". To contain the Maoists, the administration in Bengal and the security forces should make an effort to have five companies (of 100 to 120 troops each) for every 400sqkm "in highly-intense Naxalite areas". The troops should be instructed to set up "counter-Naxalite bases" in dominating heights. Each company should be assigned to a base with an area of responsibility of about 15km around it. The bases should be between 10 and 15km apart, said Ponwar. He called this "grid deployment". The security forces should be tasked with multi-directional patrolling. The counter-Naxalite bases should be the launching pads for small targeted operations against the Maoists, he added. The logistical back-up for the forces should be ensured by the administration. Small teams from the bases should be able to operate independently for three or four days. Ponwar's college teaches police forces "to fight the guerrilla like a guerrilla". What he is prescribing is a combination of conventional and unconventional tactics. A ring of security forces — state police and the CRPF — around and, wherever possible, inside Lalgarh, and bases from which small outfits such as the Cobra force will launch attacks. |
| Caution' on Buddha lips |
| BISWAJIT ROY |
| Calcutta, June 17: The chief minister told his Left Front allies today that central forces would be used first to confine Maoists to the Lalgarh-Dharampur area and foil their bid to expand the "liberated zone". "Operation flushout", however, could take time as the government is worried about civilian casualties in the gun battle that is certain in case of a crackdown. "The Lalgarh situation is quite bad and the Maoists are planning to march towards Salboni and Goaltore. Our first target is to confine them where they are,'' a front leader quoted Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as telling an "emergency" meeting this morning to take stock of the post-poll offensive for turf launched by the Maoists and Mamata Banerjee. "We can't go for a crackdown right away as the Maoists will use tribal women and children as human shields. We want to minimise casualties and we have to move cautiously," Bhattacharjee added. He admitted that the Maoists had spread their wings to 12 police station areas in Bengal's tribal heartland, comprising the districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura. Front sources said the rebels' firepower had also forced the chief minister's "caution". At the meeting, Bhattacharjee said five squads of 300 heavily armed Maoists from Jharkhand had joined those camping in Lalgarh. He also said he was in touch with Delhi while his officials were working with their Jharkhand counterparts on intelligence sharing and "co-ordinated" action. However, Jharkhand police chief D.G. Ram denied passing on any intelligence regarding the movement of Maoists. He also rejected the claim that Maoists from his state were infiltrating West Midnapore. "Jharkhand has no liberated zone, but Lalgarh has become one," Ram said, suggesting that the extremists had struck deeper roots in Bengal. Jharkhand home secretary J.B. Tubid said they had not received any communique from Bengal on a "joint operation", though Ram said they were always ready for one against the Maoists. Caught between the fear of repeating Nandigram and the pressure from the ranks, now at the receiving end of the wrath of the Maoists and Trinamul, the front apparently endorsed Bhattacharjee's caution. Since he will try to make the Centre share the political cost of an eventual bloodshed, front sources said the showdown with the Maoists was unlikely before he returned from Delhi this weekend. The government is also likely to hold back the action till the polls to 16 municipalities on June 28. A front resolution today said the state should make "administrative moves to restore law and order and democratic rights", but didn't mention Lalgarh. Front chairman and CPM state secretary Biman Bose skirted questions on the troubled zone. "Our people have left the area. Now it is up to the government to do what is to be done there." He also ruled out banning the Maoists, stressing on a "political battle". The CPM's allies appeared to be sitting on the fence. They criticised the "police inaction" to stop the persecution of front workers but took pains to distance themselves from the crackdown. The Bloc's Ashok Ghosh said: "Maoists are not our class enemies." |
 |
| Go-slow on steel plant |
| SAMBIT SAHA |
| Calcutta, June 17: The Jindals have decided to push back their Salboni project as Maoist rage singes the region slated to house Bengal's biggest industrial project in terms of investment. A JSW Steel official said the beginning of construction for the first phase of the steel plant in 2011 — when it was supposed to start production — could be the "best-case scenario". The official cited low profitability from the steel business and the company's high debt burden for the pushback, but it is difficult to miss the political coincidence. Bengal will go to the Assembly polls in 2011 and many industrialists are believed to be waiting for the political haze to lift in the next two years before putting money on the ground. For the Jindals, the Maoist threat to the project enjoying special economic zone (SEZ) status has further complicated matters. The Lalgarh unrest began last year after a landmine targeting Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee went off in front of Sajjan Jindal's car as they were returning after laying the foundation stone for the project. Jindal, vice-chairman and managing director of JSW Steel, did not reply to repeated calls. But Biswadip Gupta, CEO of JSW Bengal, the company executing the Salboni project, denied the role of politics or Maoists behind the go-slow decision. "The market is yet to rebound despite talks of a revival. As I see it, the best- case scenario for work on the plant to start is 2011," he said. He sought to allay apprehensions that Jindal might abandon the project. "He hasn't spent Rs 200 crore for nothing," Gupta said. The Jindal's decision to put the project on hold for so long raised eyebrows within the state government. A senior bureaucrat said it was a matter of concern. "The company had told us it was facing difficulty achieving financial closure, but it is now a matter of concern." JSW Bengal's Rs 35,000-crore steel and power project had the unique distinction of meeting all the conditions — political consensus, unencumbered trouble-free land, coal block allocations — to take off. It has also received the final nod for the SEZ status. Gupta said the project had walked into a global downturn beyond the company's control. "While we wait for the market to revive, JSW Bengal plans to carry on some of the preliminary work like coal block development and putting up the boundary wall." Industry observers believe JSW's focus is on expanding the Bellary plant in Karnataka to 10 million tonnes by 2010-11 and reduce its debt, which has ballooned to over Rs 11,000 crore, 49 per cent more than the last fiscal. In Bengal, JSW plans to put up a 3-million tonne plant in the first phase and ramp it up to 10 million tonnes by 2020. |
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| Maoists kill resistance trio near Jhargram 'Revenge' for help to police | ||
| PRONAB MONDAL | ||
Lalgarh, June 17: Three CPM activists who were part of a "resistance group" formed by police for night patrol to keep Maoists at bay were gunned down today near Jhargram, almost 60km from the guerrillas' Lalgarh stronghold. Police said the trio had played an "active role" in helping them remove a roadblock put up by the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities on the way to Jhargram town. "The Maoists backing the committee killed them for revenge," West Midnapore superintendent of police Manoj Verma said today. Abhijit Mahato, 20, a first-year college student, and Anil Mahato and Niladri Mahato, in their early 40s, were sitting at a tea stall near the crossing of Bombay Road and the path leading to Jhargram when five men armed with AK-47 rifles turned up on two motorcycles. Abhijit was shot first. Anil and Niladri, who had begun to run, were chased down and shot point blank. The bikes disappeared with the men shouting "Maobad, zindabad". For 15 minutes, no one came near the bodies, afraid that the Maoists would appear again. They trooped to the pools of blood later and took the bodies to the subdivisional hospital. "It is an audacious strike since it took place far from Lalgarh and at 7am, in broad daylight," said a police officer. "It shows how far the reach of the Maoists has extended." The police had no doubt that the five were Maoists who came all the way from Lalgarh for the kill. "Villagers told us they went back towards Lal-garh through the dirt tracks in the jungles," an officer said. In Lalgarh, People's Committee members and their Maoist bosses went on the rampage, ransacking homes of CPM leaders and torching them. About a thousand people raided the house of Dharampur local committee secretary Dalim Pandey. The broke the furniture, put them in a pile outside the house and made a bonfire of it. Dalim and his family had fled their home last Friday. They are untraceable. The palatial house of Dalim's cousin Anuj, the party's Lalgarh zonal secretary, was plundered two days ago. Another group, this time accompanied by AK-47-wielding men, went to Belatikri local committee secretary Chandi Karan's house in Binpur, adjoining Lalgarh, and carried out a similar exercise. The Karans are also in hiding. A committee supporter, Subhas Mahato, said: "Chandi used to extort money from people and force them to support the CPM." A grocery run by Karan's "right-hand man" Alok Rakshit was not spared either. In Goaltore, 35km away, the rebels allegedly dragged away four CPM supporters, including a father, son and nephew. They are missing. In Calcutta, chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti appealed to the Lalgarh villagers to resist being used as "human shields" by the Maoists. "The Maoists are using innocent women and children as human shields in their war," Chakrabarti said. "This is inhuman and dangerous. These villagers are not involved in the reign of terror unleashed (by the Maoists) there. They are not associated with it." Home secretary Ardhendu Sen and state police chief Sujit Sarkar, who met district offi-cials, returned to Calcutta in the evening to brief the chief minister. |
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Problem at Lalgarh spreading: official Special Correspondent
| Rush paramilitary forces as requested by government: CPI(M) |
Unabated violence: Tribals take out a rally at Lalgarh in West Bengal on Tuesday in support of the People's Committee against Police Atrocities.
KOLKATA: Even as violence continued to rage at Lalgarh in Paschim Medinipur district, the West Bengal government on Tuesday expressed concern at attempts by the Police Santrosh Birodhi Janashadharaner Committee (PSBJC) [People's Committee against Police Atrocities], the Maoist-backed local resistance group, to extend its influence to new areas in the region.
One company of Central paramilitary forces arrived at Lalgarh to help the police restore normality. The government had sought five additional companies and is expecting another two or three companies, Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said here.
"The problem is spreading," District Magistrate N.S. Nigam told The Hindu on the phone from Medinipur, referring to the developments at Lalgarh, where the PSBJC, with the support of the Maoists, is gaining ground and making forays into the adjoining Salboni thana. Local authorities apprehend that "the situation is going beyond the scope of establishing the rule of law."
The police in the Lalgarh area "are under pressure but not demoralised," Mr. Chakraborty said. "That Maoist activity has affected normal life in the area is a reality…It is up to you to [to conclude whether or not the area is liberated," he said to a question whether the government believed that the Maoists were extending their "liberated zone."
Tribals damage CPI(M) office at Lalgarh.
In a statement, the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said: "…The Maoists are using poor tribals as human shields to further their goals. Shockingly these depredations have the indirect and direct support of important sections of the Opposition political parties in West Bengal."
Though the PSBJC leadership has claimed that it has no link with the Maoists, a leader of the outfit recently admitted to journalists at Lalgarh that it had been in the thick of developments ever since an agitation was launched in the area by the PSBJC against alleged police excesses in November last.
The CPI(M) district leadership has been insisting that the PSBJC is another "front" of the Maoists, who are trying to establish a corridor through Lalgarh to other parts of the State.
The Maoists out to create terror in the State have been sneaking in from the adjoining Jharkhand. "We have repeatedly been telling the Jharkhand government that the terror is emanating from that State, and there is need for cooperation between the two governments [to counter Maoist activity in the region]….They [the Jharkhand government] have to do more to jointly combat terrorism," Mr. Chakraborty said.
The Polit Bureau called upon the Centre to "immediately rush the required number of paramilitary forces to the [Lalgarh] area as requested by the West Bengal government."
"The Polit Bureau strongly condemns the killings and attacks by armed Maoist gangs on CPI(M) cadre and the reign of terror unleashed in the Lalgarh area…. Nine CPI(M) members have been abducted. The bodies of three have been found, but the others have not been traced," the statement said. The party's State Secretariat met in the evening to discuss ways of stopping the continuing attacks on CPI(M) leaders and workers at Lalgarh.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/17/stories/2009061759701100.htm"PSBJC will accept democratic forces' support" Staff Reporter
Lalgarh: Convener of the Police Santrosh Birodhi Janashadharaner Committee (PSBJC) [People's Committee against Police Atrocities] Chhatradhar Mahato told journalists here on Tuesday that the outfit would accept only the support of democratic forces.
He was answering a question on a prominent Maoist leader admitting to the media on Monday that Maoists were supporting the PSBJC movement.
Mr. Mahato said: "Without taking any name, the outfit will accept the support of only those who believe in democracy."
While supporters of the PSBJC celebrated their 'victory' in the turf war over the CPI(M), the offices and house ransacked and gutted by them stood as grim reminders of the violence. Most of the CPI(M) followers have fled the place. For those who could not flee, surrendering themselves to the wish of the PSBJC seemed to be the only option left.
"I, Kartik Mahato, resident of Kuldiha village, am leaving the CPI(M) and joining the PSBJC" — posters like this have become quite common in the villages in the region.
Fear and tension was palpable at Dharampur where supporters of the PSBJC ransacked and demolished the house of a local CPI(M) leader named Anuj Pandey. Mr. Pandey had fled the place with his family before the mob attacked his house.
"We are living in utmost misery, fearing for our lives all the time. Residents of the entire village used to be CPI(M) supporters earlier, but with the PSBJC gaining strength and threatening us with dire consequences unless we support it, we have decided to switch loyalty," said 70-year-old Prasanna Pandey, who is also a relative of Anuj Pandey.
The body of a CPI(M) supporter, Salku Soren, has been lying outside the Dharampur CPI(M) office since last Friday. He was killed by the PSBJC supporters.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/17/stories/2009061759711100.htm
Tribals hold rally in Lalgarh Raktima Bose
Lalgarh: The Police Santrosh Birodhi Janashadharaner Committee (PSBJC) [People's Committee against Police Atrocities] held a 'victory' rally here on Tuesday, a day after its supporters ransacked several police outposts, offices of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the house of a local CPI(M) leader.
Hundreds of tribal men and women, carrying traditional weapons, raised slogans against the CPI(M) and police and danced to the beat of drums. A section of the crowd set on fire an office of the CPI(M), located near the rally venue, even as the PSBJC convener Chhatradhar Mahato told mediapersons that the objective of the rally was to "peacefully" protest against the State government's rule that the tribal people cannot hold armed rallies in Kolkata. Personnel at the Lalgarh police station, just a stone's throw away, watched helplessly as the mob torched the party office.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/17/stories/2009061750130100.htm
Trinamool convoy stopped due to security reasons
Burdwan (PTI) A Trinamool Congress convoy headed for Mangalkot in the district, where a senior district leader of the CPI(M) was killed recently, was on Thursday stopped by the police which cited security reasons.
The convoy of TC Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay was stopped at Kaichar bus stand, about 15 km. from Mangalkot, by Katwa Sub Divisional Police Officer Amlan Ghosh.
After being stopped, the convoy left for Khudroni near Mangalkote, which had also witnessed violence, the SDPO said.
Houses of Trinamool Congress supporters were torched, paddy looted and a tractor set ablaze allegedly by CPI(M) supporters at Mangalkot on June 16 during a 12-hour bandh called by the marxists to protest against the killing of Zilla Parishad member Falguni Mukherjee a day earlier.
Mukherjee was shot dead by unidentified gunmen near Kheromajhigram while he was riding to the parishad office in town on a motorbike from his Mangalkot residence.
The CPI(M) state committee had blamed TC union ministers of 'giving leadership' to the violence. Reds vs Reds: Bengal in state of uncivil war18 Jun 2009, 0933 hrs IST, Caesar Mondal & Sukumar Mahato, TNN |
LOSHASHULI(Jhargram): Sporadic gun battles and killings for control of villages in rural Bengal that began after CPM's electoral debacle threaten
Maoist gunmen on Wednesday emerged from their stronghold in jungles along the Bengal-Jharkhand border for an audacious strike near Jhargram town, killing a local CPM leader and two activists in full public glare. As Trinamool Congress activists and Maoists have battled to capture turf from weakened CPM cadres, nearly 25 people have been killed, mostly CPM workers and supporters. At many places, the anti-CPM forces have been supported by locals who see the CPM as a receding force in the face of Mamata Banerjee's electoral surge.
The Naxalites want to create a "liberated zone" in the area and sensing a weakened state, seem to have moved in for the kill. A demoralized police force has vacated posts in many places and the fury of the attacks have stunned CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's administration.
Wednesday's sensational triple murder in a marketplace has left the entire area edgy and extended the Maoist threat to the doorstep of Jhargram town, one of the few bastions still held by CPM after its woeful show in the Lok Sabha polls.
Soon after the attack, members of the Maoist-led People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) attacked houses of local CPM leaders in a repeat of Tuesday. Around 1.30pm, a mob ransacked the house of CPM's Nachipur local committee secretary Chandi Karan and set it on fire. The mob did not stop here. It attacked the house of CPM leader Anuj Pandey's brother and Harina gram panchayat member Dalim Pandey with shovels. The house of the CPM's local peasant leader Alok Rakshit, too, didn't escape mob fury.
The killings and the arson sent an already nervous administration groping for response. The state government pleaded for more Central forces over and above the 1,100 CRPF men deployed in Lalgarh, the site of pitched battles earlier this week.
Security analysts view the strikes as a strategic move by Maoists to expand their territory before central forces dig in. "It's an attempt to secure a bigger territory to keep securitymen engaged across a huge area. This will also give the guerrillas more escape routes in case they have to beat a retreat," an analyst said.
Eyewitnesses who saw the brutal murders said that six men in their mid-20s rode up in motorcycles to Bankshole and pumped bullets into Abhijit Mahato at point-blank range. Bankshole, a hamlet along the busy Kolkata-Jamshedpur highway, is 80km from Jamshedpur and 195km from Kolkata.
Abhijit, a 23-year-old student of Manikpara college and a key member of the Maoist Resistance Force, was sipping tea with friends Niladri Sekhar Mahato and Dibakar Mahato when he was shot dead. The resistance force locally referred to as RG party has been formed by CPM to counter Naxalites.
His friend Niladri, secretary of the resistance force and a known CPM supporter who is locally known as Tinku, tried to run away but the two gunmen chased and shot him, said owner of Tapas tea stall.
Anil Mahato, the 45-year-old CPM Banksole branch secretary, was buying fish when the first shots fired at Abhijit alerted him. Sensing danger, Anil took to his heels. The Maoists spotted him, chased and shot him from behind.
"Anil, Tinku and Abhijit didn't stand a chance. The gunmen took them completely by surprise. They could not anticipate anything like this since the area is a CPM stronghold," said Panchanan Mahato, an eyewitness who was close to Tapas tea stall.
Locals said the role of the CPM men in the arrest of a PCPA leader could have been the immediate provocation, but also hinted at a wider game plan to cleanse the zone of any opposition before Central forces arrive.
Disbanding the 200-member force that guards the stretch of highway from dusk to dawn against bandits will make it easier for the Maoists to move between the jungles on either side.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Reds-vs-Reds-Bengal-in-state-of-uncivil-war/articleshow/4668336.cms
Bengal rewinds to bloody '60s18 Jun 2009, 0302 hrs IST, Saugata Roy, TNN |
| KOLKATA: The bodies of three CPM activists have been rotting in the sun for the last four days in Dharampur, a village in West Midnapore around Today's Bengal is a throwback to the Naxalbari uprising of the 1960s after tribals killed a police sub-inspector. The year was 1967, and the Left-led United Front was in power in the state. The Maoist violence has also ignited memories of the Sainbari killings in Burdwan in 1969 where CPM laid a siege. Forty years later, the state seems set for another round of bloodletting with the main opposition, Trinamool Congress, adopting the same tactic as the Left in the '60s: upstaging the ruling party on people's insecurity. Ballot and bullets have ruled these parts since 1999 with rival groups in far flung pockets in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum and Hooghly fighting protracted gun battles. Violence and counter-violence are a major tactic of political parties to command support in the villages. The CPM maintained its sway with its organisational machinery, winning the battle of ballot from the Writers Building down to the panchayats. Maoists were outsiders in West Bengal until the late 1990s when CPM minister Sushanta Ghosh shook hands with them to stop the Trinamool-BJP onslaught in 2000. In fact, Maoist strategist Koteswar Rao (Kishanji) told TOI in a recent interview that he himself collected bullets from the CPM party office. Sensing trouble in his backyard, Ghosh then turned the gun on the Maoists who had already spread their network in some pockets of West Midnapore. But their might was inconsequential to the power battle until the Nandigram carnage in 2007 when large sections of CPM supporters broke ranks and sided with Trinamool. The defiance in Nandigram over the land stir kickstarted a change at the grassroots leading to cracks in the red fort. The armed capture of Nandigram — that sent a sense of cold horror all over Bengal as Governor Gandhi put it — led to clamour for change that the ruling CPM couldn't stall. Maoists also had a role in masterminding the opposition's resistance in Nandigram. But learning from Naxalbari uprising, Maoists did not advance towards towns and cities. Instead, they chose the terrain of Jangalmahal as their mainstay and began expanding their base with support from a section of tribals disillusioned with the official Left. The laid-back administration and corrupt partymen were instrumental in the Maoists getting toehold. Today, the CPM activists are unable to match the Maoists trained in guerrilla warfare. Maoist-led mobs are pulling down houses, blowing up property and forcing CPM cadres to leave the party — acts that go against their constitutional rights. | |
| http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Bengal-rewinds-to-bloody-60s/articleshow/4669150.cms |
Lalgarh (Midnapore)
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| Lalgarh | |
| | |
| Country |  India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District(s) | Medinipur |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Coordinates: 22°35′N 87°03′E / 22.58°N 87.05°E / 22.58; 87.05 Lalgarh (Bengali: লালগড়) is a village in Binpur–I community development block under Jhargram subdivision of West Midnapore district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Lalgarh is the headquarters of Binpur–I CD block.[1] Midnapore Railway station is the nearest important station about 45 km from the village. It became the center of media attention since beginning of November 2008. The adivasi (tribal) population launched a massive movement against police atrocities.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Demography
Lalgarh is a sparsely populated place with majority of population being adivasis, who are the tribal people.
[edit] Economy
The main occupation of the people here is cultivation, share cropping and selling disposable plates made of leaves. Most people do not own land but work on others fields. The region is dry and there are but a single harvest each year. At other times people work as daily labor, collect and sell leaves and wood from forest etc. Over all the economic condition of the people is poor, most people lie below the poverty line, under BPL category[citation needed].
[edit] Shalboni incident
On the way back from laying the foundation stone of Jindal steel plant at Shalboni the convoy of chief minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and central minister Ram Vilas Paswan came under attack. A landmine exploded minuted after Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had passed and seconds before Rambilas Paswan arrived at the location.[2] It hit a police jeep in the convoy and 6 policemen were grievously injured. The CPI(Maoist) in a press release accepted the responsibility of the explosion and stated clearly that they were opposed to the steel plant on tribal land and that the target of the explosion was Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Although no arrest could be made immediately, police activity increased many folds in the West Midnapore District as a whole, resulting in alleged torture, illegal detention, arbitrary arrests of the local tribal people[citation needed].
[edit] Trigger at Lalgarh
The locals allege that Lalgarh police station has long been torturing and detaining adivasis at the smallest pretext on basis of speculation[citation needed]. On 4 November 2008 evening, four boys all studying in high school between standards 8 and 10, were going to their homes in Bashber Village on foot. They were returning from Katapahari, where a program of Baul Song was going on. On the way they were picked up by Lalgarh police for being suspected Maoists[3][citation needed]. At the police station as their name address and other details were being note down, one of them mentioned that his father was in the armed forces. He was immediately released, and thus the news of this detention reached the village. The next morning, 4:30 am at dawn the police raided the village of Choto Pelia. There they detained several and even beat up the people mercilessly. Even the women who protested the police excess were not spared and hit with rifle butts. One woman even lost her sight as a result of beating[citation needed]. Many more were beaten up, detained from the nearby villages. This incident triggered massive protests across Lalgarh. The adivasis surrounded the Police station in demand of unconditional and immediate release of everyone arrested illegally.
[edit] The movement
[edit] The beginning
The police quickly understood the extent of mobilization that the adivasis have made and started making false promises about the imminent release of those arrested including the 3 school students. The police thought of buying some time with these lies, hoping that the mass will disperse with time[citation needed]. But the adivasi crowd around the Police Station only got thicker. Support and solidarity from surrounding and far off adivasi villages started pouring in. The otherwise omnipresent leaders of political parties were not allowed to negotiate. The adivais were rather happy about this as in the past the interference of these leaders in any mass protests have always resulted in confusion and withdrawing of the protests with unknown negotiations behind closed door meetings[citation needed]. This time the adivasis chose their representatives from amongst themselves who were communicators rather than leaders and took no decision on behalf of the mass but only communicated them. Soon the police understood that the adivasis were in no mood to return without a result and they disclosed that nothing was in their hands because the ones arrested had already been transferred to Midnapore jail the previous day.
[edit] The blockade
The repeated lies by the Lalgarh police infuriated the mass who decided not to depend on the police for any results and to build up a movement to force the release of those illegally detained. They decided to prevent the deployment of reinforcement of police and paramilitary as previously many adivasi movements have been brutally crushed using paramilitary force. Thus roads were dug up[5] and blocked at several places by felled trees. This has uncanny resemblance to the Nandigram movement remained at the headlines throughout 2007 March to December. The Lalgarh village is connected with Jhargram and Medinipur towns by roads which are bordered on both sides by sparse to moderate forests. the roads have been dug up or blocked by trees at least in 25 places.
[edit] Solidarity
The road blockade was not just in and around Lalgarh but villages all around took initiative to do the same as they joined in the movement. Adivasi people all around West Bengal felt oneness with the movement as most have faced torture at the hands of police for suspected of being Maoists or their sympathizers. People from villages across West and East Midnapore, Bankura, Birbhum, Puruliya quickly joined in the movement[6].
[edit] Grass root democracy
The movement had no conventional leadership and often entire village population sat together and discussed for hours as to the steps to be taken in the movement[citation needed]. Men, women, youth, students all took part in these grand meetings. The traditional leaders were not stripped of the respect that they usually received but were given no more weight than anyone else at the meetings[citation needed]. A forum was thus launched which had no conventional political color and which united the entire adivasi society for a common cause after a long time. It gained immense popularity and most mainstream parties and their mass bases vanished altogether.
[edit] Village committees
Each Village formed a committee of 10 representatives who would with committees of other villages to communicate the decision of the masses of one village to another. Each committee further had two persons who had to be available at all times in case of urgent meetings at short notices[citation needed].
[edit] Participation of women
Adivasi women have come forward in a big way to carry forth this movement. Each 10 persons committee has 5 women members. This involvement of women came naturally to the adivasis who have a more equal society when it comes to gender. The participation of women in meetings and rallies are also remarkable. The atrocities over the women of Lalgarh have been excessive, and the women since then never attend rallies unarmed. They bring along whatever is at hand. Bows, arrows, knives, swords, scythes, axes, sticks, brooms and so on. The attack on the dawn of 5 November has been most brutal on the women[7] with one of them loosing her sight, as the but of a police rifle landed on it. Another woman of Lalghar was manhandled and left unconscious in broad daylight as she tried preventing the police who dragged away her husband who happens to be a local Jharkhand Party leader while they were buying medicines. All this adding to the severe torture and repression of women have led to the present consolidation of the adivasi women, or so they claim.
[edit] The demands
The adivasis of Lalgarh sat together to decide upon eleven demands to be met by the government in order that the blockades be removed and police activity normalized. Press statement were given, leaflets distributed and posters in Bengali put up all around, stating the demands.
The English translation of the demands would be:
1) The SP has to hold his ears and ask for forgiveness. He has to say 'Form now onwards I will stop illegally arresting the people and especially women.'
2) The police who were involved in the 5/11/2008 incident where women were beaten up have to rub their noses on the ground as punishment, from Dalailpur Chawk to Choto Pelia. 3) The women of Choto Pelia who were injured by the police torture have to be compensated with 2 lakh rupees each.
4) All suspects arrested or detained in relation to the Shalboni incident have to be released unconditionally.
5) All people arrested or accused in suspicion of being Maoist in West Midnapore since 1998 have to be cleared of all charges and should not be compelled to attend court sessions or police station enquiries regularly.
6) Arresting locals from anywhere, anytime without warrant have to be ended. 7) All paramilitary camps like those in Dharampur, Kalaimudi, Ramgarhhave to be removed immediately.
8) That Sasadhar Mahato planned the Shalboni explosion sitting in Bashber village - this allegation has to be withdrawn.
9) The practice of harassing clubs and organizations of independent people all over Bengal must be put to an end.
10) Police patrolling in villages from 5 in the evening to 6 in the dawn have to be stopped.
11) Schools, hospitals, panchayet offices cannot be used as police camps, the existing ones have to be removed.
Later two more demands were added in face of violent attacks by CPI(M) cadres on the adivasi people involved with the movement.
[edit] Traditional leadership
The traditional tribal leaders have been mostly disowned by the tribals of Lalgarh. The Majhi Baba or village elders had since November 10, 2008 proactively engaged in negotiations with the government authority. On the 13th November 2008 they declared that most of their demands have been agreed upon and thus they were withdrawing the blockade. Some blockades were removed as well, but the adivasis sat together to decide otherwise and decided to boycott the Bharat Jakat Majhi Marwa group. Their youth wing leader was even beaten up and made to apologise for removing a blockade[8].
[edit] Maoist connection
The government and the ruling party CPI(M) have throughout maintained that the movement of Lalgarh was instigated and somewhat led by Maoist agents, many of whom have come from Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. The police from the beginning blamed the Maoists for the Shalboni blast and raided the villages and detained people for having suspected Maoist Links. The police alleged that Sasadhar Mahato and other Maoist action squad members planned the Shalboni blast while in Bashber village,Lalgarh. The Maoists soon accepted responsibility of the blast and congratulated the people of Lalgarh for their protest, but stopped short if claiming the movement to be under their control[9]. The people of Lalgarh however continually maintained that their movement was peaceful and for demand of basic democratic rights.
[edit] References
- ^ "Contact details of Block Development Officers". Paschim Medinipur district. Panchayats and Rural Development Department, Government of West Bengal. http://wbdemo5.nic.in/html/asp/bdo_contact.asp?cd=ED. Retrieved on 2008-12-27.
- ^ NDTV, 2 November 2008
- ^ The Telegraph, 7 November 2008
- ^ The Telegraph, 19 November 2008
- ^ The Telegraph, 16 November 2008,Police clean chit to Lalgarh 7-Tribals step up demands
- ^ The Telegraph, 13 November 2008,Rage spreads to Bankura Terms set for Lalgarh talks
- ^ The Telegraph, 13 November 2008
- ^ The Telegraph, 13 November 2008,Tribals also beat up a member of the Bharat Jakat Majhi Marwa, a group of elders that was negotiating with district officials..
- ^ The Telegraph, 13 November 2008,CPI (Maoist) state secretary Kanchan said: "We are with the people of Lalgarh."
[edit] External links
Bouyed by the success, the Maoists plan to replicate Operation Lalgarh in neighbouring Jharkhand, say intelligence findings communicated to the state home department. Now, with violence spiralling out of control, central forces are being rushed in. Five companies of CRPF, ie about 600 troops, will be on the ground in Lalgarh Wednesday morning to help contain the bloodshed.
Even as home secretary Ardhendu Sen insisted the administration ''took action as and when the situation demanded'', former police officers familiar with the area wondered how things slid to this pass. ''How? Everything was happening right there and happening for a long time. Let's face it, the administration preferred not to take timely action,'' said director-general of police Amiya Samanta wondered:
Said former IG Asim Chatterjee, ''Everything was taking place openly over a long period of time.'' According to the intelligence report, Operation Lalgarh went through five stages - like any other Maoist-backed uprising. The first stage was a survey, where the Naxalites would conduct a thorough study of the area, taking months before moving to the next stage. At this juncture, they would identify with the plight of the people. Subsequently, they would take locals' help in launching guerrilla warfare against the establishment. After such repeated attacks, they would step on to the climactic "liberation" phase — declaring the chosen zone as "muktanchal." But events took a drastic turn after the November 2 landmine explosion targeting chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's convoy.
The attack was followed by a flurry arrests, including three teenage students Aben Murmu, Gautam Patra and Buddhadeb Patra, who were charged with waging war against the state, conspiracy, attempt to murder, using weapons and obstructing justice. More arrests followed till the night of November 6. Tribals started alleging police torture. Finally, a huge mob gheraoed Lalgarh police station.
What began as rumblings of protest eventually ended up in a mass uprising, with roads being dug up and tree cut down to obstruct entry of police vehicles. The People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) was formed. Police were boycotted. They could not even buy provisions from villages. And that was unique strategic point.
The Maoist upsurge (with PCPA in the forefront) spread like wildfire in a matter of months (November to June). Police were barred from even election duty. The administration was brought to its knees and the government agreed to a compromise with PCPA that policemen would not enter villages. Another victory for the Maoists. The guerrillas terror hung like a cloud over election as well. The story was retold in a meeting organized by Maoists on June 7. Operation Lalgarh became the high point of discussions among the organization's senior leaders. That's when they decided that replicating the movement elsewhere in the country, starting with Jharkhand, would be a good idea.
According to officials at Writers' Buildings, it made good sense to work out the strategy in Jharkhand where a near-liberated zone already exists - especially in areas like Latehar and Palamau districts. In fact, this part of the country, covering Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal, would soon emerge as the circuit for Maoists who are as active in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
Maoist Violence in Lalgarh, West Bengal, Must be Condemned
The inevitable has happened. As soon as the election results came out and the wall of fear collapsed and mass anger against the ruling CPM became evident, the Maoists waiting in the wings have come out into the open. However, what is happening today in Lalgarh and other parts of West Bengal cannot be justified by pointing at the CPM's totalitarian terror in the Bengal countryside.
According to reports, the violence, killings of CPM activists and members, especially in Lalgarh, has now acquired unprecedented proportions. CPM members are being driven out of their homes or killed. The offices of the party have been targeted on a large scale, not just in Lalgarh but elsewhere in West Bengal.
At Kafila, we had earlier, on 22 April, reported on what is going on in Lalgarh. That Maoists have been active in Lalgarh is well known. In this report filed after a visit to Lalgarh, Monobina Gupta had drawn attention towards the disjunction between the Maoist leadership's designs and the local Maoist activists who were having to work along with the popular sentiment. Monobina's report went further:
In fact, curiously enough, the situation on ground zero is not going exactly in accordance with the plans of Maoist central leaders who favour stepping up violence. Insiders talk about a growing discordance between the central leadership and the 'Maoist villager', active in the movement. With the agitation forging ahead, Maoist central leaders want to have a firmer grip; they want landmines, killings, terror, systematic targeting of informers. But the grassroots 'Maoist' worker is unwilling. "They realize any such violent action will lead to their isolation and the death of the movement. But Maoist central leaders believe they made the movement and should have the right to control it," said an insider. "One of the reasons villagers are sympathetic to Maoists is because they know them intimately, not as some distant commander, but the youth next door, who works for and with the poor. But violence would find little endorsement," he said.
http://kafila.org/2009/06/17/maoist-violence-in-lalgarh-west-bengal-must-be-condemned/
Today, in the aftermath of the elections, the design of the Maoist central leadership seems to have won the day. Maoist cadre are out in the open. Activists associated with the movement and with the Lalgarh Sanhati Mancha, confess to a feeling of helplessness as the armed Maoist cadre threaten to take over and derail the movement that has so far afforded little space to its politics of violence.
In some of our earlier posts, we had condemned Maoist violence in Chattisgarh, especially its threats against the human shields programme of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram and the wanton killings by them in Nayagarh in Orissa (22 February 2008). The latter was a statement issued by eleven intellectuals and activists who had also been raising their voice against the Nandigram violence. This statement expressed its "complete opposition to this cult of violence" and had warned that
The Maoist atrocity in Nayagarh is particularly unfortunate as it is detrimental to the various democratic mass movements all over Orissa that are resisting the policies of land grab and diversion of natural resources to global and domestic corporations. The Orissa government is bound to use this incident as yet another excuse to crack down on the militant but non-violent struggles of the people against unjust development policies in the state.
Today, once again, in West Bengal this is the threat that the democratic mass movement faces. Maoist violence is once again set to eliminate every intermediate space of democratic protest and struggle, leaving the villagers with only two options: either line up with the state or follow the Maoists. This is the picture everywhere, wherever the Maoists are in command, from Chattisgarh to parts of Andhra and Orissa. That is the challenge before democratic struggles and public opinion today.
Filed under: Indian Subcontinent | Tags: CPI (M), India, Lalgarh, Maoist, West Bengal
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16 June 2009
Source: Sanhati
Finally, the fatigues are moving in to control the flare-up in trouble-torn Lalgarh in West Bengal's west-Midnapore district. The Centre has just despatched two companies of specialist CRPF jawans trained in anti-Maoist combat to take up positions in Lalgarh by Tuesday night, while three more companies are on the way.
With 500 specialised commandos of the CRPF moving in, one expects the lawlessness at Lalgarh to subside to an extent over the next few days. One wonders, however, whether that will eliminate the problem of Lalgarh completely since the ultras have over the past several months been given so much of leeway by an extremely slack administration that they have had ample time to go from strength to strength.
Incidentally on Monday, Maoists went to the extent of holding a press conference at Lalgarh with the spokesman having his back to camera and claiming proudly that they had indeed planned to kill West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on November 2, 2008 in a landmine explosion.
Nevertheless, senior state police officials including the director general of police and inspector general of police (law and order) held a crucial meeting on Tuesday to chalk out the strategy for the crack CRPF teams to follow up. No state police official, no matter how senior or well armed, has had the guts to visit Lalgarh and take on the Maoists of late. However, since they know the terrain well, their advice will be of use to the paramilitary forces to some extent.
Incidentally, Lalgarh is an issue that has made both CPIM and Trinamool Congress demand Central help. The CPIM politburo issued a statement on Monday's incidents at Lalgarh and urged the Centre to immediately rush the required number of para-military forces to Lalgarh. Within just a few hours, one company of para-military forces reached West Bengal and was rushed to Lalgarh.
Trinamool Congress chief and railway minister Mamata Banerjee also condemned the Maoist activities in Lalgarh and said that she did not support the politics of violence and killings. Mamata also said that "I want Central agencies to come to West Bengal and carry out a combing operations in the Maoist-infested areas."
Mamata on Monday night sent one of her leaders and Union minister of state for shipping, Mukul Roy to Delhi to brief the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee the Lalgarh situation and post-poll violence in the state. Terming the continuous violence in different parts of the state like Lalgarh, and Khejuri as "frightful" Mamata told reporters that "if arms are not seized immediately, the situation will worsen in our state and internal security will be at a stake."
The Trinamool supremo also came down heavily on the West Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen and urged him to take action against those CPIM activists from whose possession the arms were found. "I urge the home secretary to withdraw the cases against our men who were implicated falsely by the police and start cases under arms act against those CPIM activists who had stored arms and ammunition at their homes," Mamata said.
Mamata also said that attacks were organised against the minority and Dalits in several pockets of West Bengal after the poll results were out. Political observers read a message in Mamata's claim. As per the constitution of India, the Centre can intervene into affairs of any state government if the minorities and dalits face any atrocity and seek Centre's support for themselves.
Even though Mamata is not openly claiming imposition of article 356 in West Bengal, she has already given enough indication that her party would not hesitate to demand for the same. The opposition leader in the state Assembly and Trinamool Congress MLA, Partha Chatterjee has already demanded imposition of article 356 during his recent meeting with the West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
http://racismandnationalconsciousnessnews.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/crpf-arrives-in-lalgarh-govt-seeks-more-force-the-economic-times/
Take administrative steps at Lalgarh: Left Front Special Correspondent
| Opposition engaged in politics of vendetta, says Biman Bose |
Number of CPI(M) workers killed in violence rises to 51
Attacks reminiscent of period before Left Front came to power: Biman Bose
KOLKATA: The Left Front has demanded that the West Bengal government take administrative steps to restore peace at Lalgarh and protect Left workers from the terror let loose on them there and in other parts of the State.
"We have no party men in Lalgarh at present … It is for the administration to act. Fascist terror has been unleashed in Lalgarh and other parts of the State by the Maoists, the Trinamool Congress and, in some places, the Congress, all of whom have been engaged in the politics of vendetta ever since the results of the recent Lok Sabha elections were announced," Left Front Committee chairman Biman Bose said on Wednesday.
He was speaking to journalists after Left leaders met here to discuss the post-poll violence.
Cautions peopleWhile stressing the need to tackle the terror "politically," the Left Front said it was imperative that the government handle the situation at Lalgarh "administratively." It also appealed to the people to be alert against the forces of anarchy.
Mr. Bose, who is also CPI(M) State secretary, said that in some of the troubled areas, party workers were prevented from even carrying the red flag.
Meanwhile, with three more persons murdered at Jhargram earlier in the day, the number of CPI(M) activists killed in the State since the announcement of the poll dates has risen to 51. Two All India Forward Bloc workers were also killed.
To meet GovernorLeft legislators would meet Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to apprise them of the situation.
"The Left parties have accepted the reverses in the Lok Sabha elections with dignity. We will continue to correct the mistakes made, but, at the same time, will not bow our heads before the forces of terror," Mr. Bose said.
The attacks were reminiscent of the incidents which occurred between 1970 and 1977, prior to the Left Front coming to power in the State, he said.
"After the historic elections in 1977, when the people rejected the forces of terror, leaders [of the CPI-M] like Jyoti Basu and Promode Dasgupta appealed to the people not to engage in political vendetta. The very opposite is happening now [after the Lok Sabha elections] with the Trinamool leaders openly inciting the people into violence and fascist-like activities," Mr. Bose said.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/18/stories/2009061855411100.htm
| Congress asks Buddha to act or quit office 18 Jun 2009, 0412 hrs IST, ET Bureau |
Reminding the West Bengal government that law and order was the responsibility of the state, Mr Chidambaram said there was an impression that while one part of the state government was willing to take action, another was worried about the fallout. The home minister's charge was reiterated by Congress, which said the Left Front government should resign if it was unable to run the affairs of the state in accordance with the Constitution.
The home minister has asked chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to move forces to Lalgarh with clear instructions to tackle the situation. "The impression is that one side of the government is willing to take action while the other is worried about the consequences. Now, it is the judgement the chief minister must make. They must move the forces to the affected areas and must reclaim the area dominated by the Maoists," Mr Chidambaram said.
Demanding that the Left Front government act or step down, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: "If the Left Front government is unable to run the affairs of West Bengal in accordance with the constitutional mandate and duties, it should seriously consider stepping down."
Congress, however, clarified that it was not demanding invocation of Article 355 or 356 in the state. "I have made no suggestion for Article 355 or 356 or any other constitutional measure." The party rejected CPM allegations that Trinamool Congress and Congress were behind the tribal violence in Lalgarh. "I reject it with the contempt it deserves," Mr Tewari said. He said Congress was a non-violent party which cannot support any kind of violence.
Congress, which is alliance with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, has been consistently drawing attention to the "misrule" in the state. Congress charged the Left Front of perpetrating 32 years of "cadre rule" in the name of democracy. "When you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind.
Lalgarh did not develop overnight. It is the outcome of the continuing subversion of democracy over three decades by the CPM-led front," Mr Tewari said. Congress also said that what Maoists were doing in Lalgarh, was "absolutely wrong and reprehensible".
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Congress-asks-Buddha-to-act-or-quit-office/articleshow/4669253.cms
Left on rampage in Bengal, Mamata tells Governor...
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Express News Service
Posted: Jun 16, 2009 at 0338 hrs IST
Kolkata Along with her team of Union ministers, MPs and MLAs, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee met Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi at Raj Bhavan on Monday afternoon to inform him about the CPM-sponsored terrorism that has claimed lives of 23 of her party members since the LS elections.
After the meeting, Banerjee said: "Internal security in West Bengal is at stake due to the CPM-sponsored terrorism. We informed the Governor about the situation and have also asked the Centre to take steps to stop killings of our men." Interestingly, she did not raise her usual demand of the imposition of Article 356 in Bengal.
"The CPM is using all sorts of weapons — from pen guns to machine guns. The Left government has divided the state in several zones and unleashing the terror," the Trinamool chief added. "We have also given the Governor a list of our supporters who were killed by the CPM members after the poll results were declared," she said.
"CPM cadres are using firearms stored in the armoury of police barracks. Huge cache of arms and ammunition has also been smuggled in the state that is being used by miscreants," the railway minister said.
"Even after our victory in the elections, we have not observed any rally because we wanted peace. We will only organise a gathering in Kolkata on July 21, the day we observe as the martyrs' day," she added.
Claiming that her party denounced violence, she said: "I asked my leaders to call off the Khejuri blockade because common people were suffering. We are showing restraint."
About Sunday's incident at Lalgarh in which three CPM activists were killed, Banerjee said: "None of our allies is involved in the incident. The deaths are unfortunate. But the CPM has won the LS seat under which Lalgarh falls. How it won the seat if it is really a Maoist-controlled area?"
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/left-on-rampage-in-bengal-mamata-tells-governor.../477202/
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