The Indian state is mobilizing its forces to crush the just struggle of the tribal people of Lalgarh, West Bengal. In the last 24 hours, West Bengal’s state police and 11 companies of Central paramilitary forces have started to move towards Lalgarh.
In November 2008, the tribal people (adivasis) of Lalgarh rose up against decades of abuse by the police and goons of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the ruling party in West Bengal. This is the same phoney “communist” party that has tried to give away peasants’ lands in Nandigram and Singur, only to be beaten back and exposed by determined struggle.
In recent years, thousands of adivasis in the Lalgarh area have been imprisoned on false charges of having ties with the Maoist insurgency. They formed the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities, which has extended its influence to 1,100 villages in the region. Led by the People’s Committee, the adivasis have driven the police and CPM cadre out of the area, burning down police camps and digging up roads to prevent the state authorities from re-entering. Activists of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) have played a leading role in the People’s Committee and in extending the struggle into new areas.
jhargram_west_bengal_india-map2This is a critical battle for the Indian people and for people around the world. Our voices must be raised against the preparations of the West Bengal state and the central government to drown the struggle in blood.
The following are from the Times of India:
Security forces begin ops to free Lalgarh from Maoists
18 Jun 2009 — Security forces have moved into the restive Lalgarh region to end the three-day siege of Maoists, who have gone on a rampage targeting CPI(M) cadres and leaders, destroying their homes and party offices and setting up barricades to block police entry.
Fifty villages in and around Lalgarh in West Midnapore district have been captured and declared a ‘free zone’ by Maoists.
Setting up their base camps around Lalgarh, central forces along with state police began closing in on Lalgarh early on Thursday morning. Four to five base camps at strategic locations have been set up with the objective not to concede any more areas to the Maoists. Maoists have formed a three-tier human shield with women and children in the vanguard, men behind them and armed naxals forming the rearguard, according to a senior police officer. Sources say the forces want to minimize casualties and will thus move slowly.
jhargram_west_bengal_india-map“Operation at Lalgarh 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 DGP 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.
Conceding to pressure from the Centre, the state government had ordered the police to lead the operation with assistance from the central forces.
* * * * * *
‘Our aim is to break CPM shackles’
18 Jun 2009, 0307 hrs IST, Sukumar Mahato, TNN
People burning CPIM offices in Lalgarh uprising
People burning CPIM offices in Lalgarh uprising
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 zonal committee secretary of Communist Party of India (Maoist) for West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts. Sukumar Mahato speaks to firebrand Maoist Bikash about his party’s plans:
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.
* * * * * *
Lalgarh in West Bengal Tense, as Tribals take control of the Area
Protests in Kolkata against police excesses in Lalgarh
Protests in Kolkata against police excesses in Lalgarh
Kolkata: The agitating tribals in Lalgarh in West Bengal continued to lay siege in the area and prevented the entry of police and para-military personnel. The CRPF personnel were not allowed to enter the area by over 2,000 angry tribals, who were protesting under the banner of People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA). The situation continued to be tense and volcanic in Lalgarh and Salboni in West Midnapore district.
The tribals are protesting against the alleged police atrocities on them after a landmine blast in Salboni in November 2008, which was targeted at Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and two former Union Ministers Ramvilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada.
The West Bengal government has urged the Centre to dispatch five more companies of CRPF to deal with the volcanic situation and recapture Lalgarh. A massive operation could be launched anytime to bring the area under government control.
The tribals backed by the Maoists, have launched an attack on top CPM leaders, forcing them to flee the area. At least 2,000 CPM workers have reportedly fled the area.
Even the police had to wind up their camps in Lalgarh, surrendering before the tribal agitation. A local CPM leader and two party supporters were killed by the Maoists on Wednesday in Bankasole near Lalgarh.
Law and order situation: Bengal now comes under Central attack
18 Jun 2009, 0124 hrs IST, TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Law-and-order-situation-Bengal-now-comes-under-Central-attack/articleshow/4668390.cms
NEW DELHI: Just when its cadre are on the run in West Bengal with resurgent Maoists and Trinamool Congress having turned the table on them in
Lalgarh and Khejuri, CPM on Wednesday came under attack also from the Centre for not doing enough to tackle the deteriorating law and order situation.
In a strong riposte to the charge levelled by CPM’s Sitaram Yechury that Centre was not helpful, home ministser P Chidambaram said that the state government ought to first deploy its forces to deal with the situation. “We (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 chief minister, I told him that in our view the state police must be given a clear mandate and clear instructions,” suggesting that the Marxist government is reluctant to take on the Maoist challenge.
Yechury had blamed the Centre for allowing the situation to worsen. He alleged that Maoists’ move to acquire arms to achieve area domination was known to intelligence agencies.
Even though Yechury also appealed for co-ordiantion between the Centre and the state, the Maoist takeover of Lalgarh was unlikely to result in a consensus over how to deal with the threat. The fighting came a day ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. They are said to have a rapport, and on Wednesday the Prime Minister repeated his formulation about naxalites being the chief internal security threat. But whether the personal equation of the two leaders will help bridge the divide remained unclear because of the escalating conflict. The Prime Minister must have to reckon with his ally, Mamata Banerjee, an implacable foe of Marxists.
The Trinamool chief will be averse to the idea of organising relief for the Marxists and may get support from Congressmen in West Bengal. On Wednesday, the Left versus the Rest divide aggravated with an unsentimental Congress launching a full-scale assault on Marxists who find themselves beleaguered in their own bastion.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari called the Maoist violence a backlash against 32 years of cadre raj enforced by Marxists. “When you sow the wind you can only reap the whirlwind,” he said.
He also echoed Chidambaram’s charge of inaction against Marxists. “The Marxist regime cannot abdicate its responsibility; if it cannot run the government it should step down,” said Tiwari while contending that the “cadre raj” was marked by excesses.
Caught in a pincer attack when their political fortunes appear to ebb, the Marxists were reversing their known positions, such as those on Centre’s jurisdiction with regard to law and order which under the Constitution has been recognised as a responsibility of state governments. Marxists have not zealously supported this division of labour, but have been instrumental in fashioning the intellectual argument for limiting the role of the Centre on `law and order’. They have not been enamoured of central forces or intelligence agencies either.
On Wednesday, however, Yechury pushed for greater involvement of the Centre. “Centre and state should coordinate to get rid of the menace.” He also recalled the Prime Minister’s description of naxalites as the biggest threat.
Security forces begin ops to free Lalgarh from Maoists
18 Jun 2009 — Security forces have moved into the restive Lalgarh region to end the three-day siege of Maoists, who have gone on a rampage targeting CPI(M) cadres and leaders, destroying their homes and party offices and setting up barricades to block police entry.
Fifty villages in and around Lalgarh in West Midnapore district have been captured and declared a ‘free zone’ by Maoists.
Setting up their base camps around Lalgarh, central forces along with state police began closing in on Lalgarh early on Thursday morning. Four to five base camps at strategic locations have been set up with the objective not to concede any more areas to the Maoists. Maoists have formed a three-tier human shield with women and children in the vanguard, men behind them and armed naxals forming the rearguard, according to a senior police officer. Sources say the forces want to minimize casualties and will thus move slowly.
jhargram_west_bengal_india-map“Operation at Lalgarh 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 DGP 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.
Conceding to pressure from the Centre, the state government had ordered the police to lead the operation with assistance from the central forces.
* * * * * *
‘Our aim is to break CPM shackles’
18 Jun 2009, 0307 hrs IST, Sukumar Mahato, TNN
People burning CPIM offices in Lalgarh uprising
People burning CPIM offices in Lalgarh uprising
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 zonal committee secretary of Communist Party of India (Maoist) for West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts. Sukumar Mahato speaks to firebrand Maoist Bikash about his party’s plans:
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.
* * * * * *
Lalgarh in West Bengal Tense, as Tribals take control of the Area
Protests in Kolkata against police excesses in Lalgarh
Protests in Kolkata against police excesses in Lalgarh
Kolkata: The agitating tribals in Lalgarh in West Bengal continued to lay siege in the area and prevented the entry of police and para-military personnel. The CRPF personnel were not allowed to enter the area by over 2,000 angry tribals, who were protesting under the banner of People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA). The situation continued to be tense and volcanic in Lalgarh and Salboni in West Midnapore district.
The tribals are protesting against the alleged police atrocities on them after a landmine blast in Salboni in November 2008, which was targeted at Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and two former Union Ministers Ramvilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada.
The West Bengal government has urged the Centre to dispatch five more companies of CRPF to deal with the volcanic situation and recapture Lalgarh. A massive operation could be launched anytime to bring the area under government control.
The tribals backed by the Maoists, have launched an attack on top CPM leaders, forcing them to flee the area. At least 2,000 CPM workers have reportedly fled the area.
Even the police had to wind up their camps in Lalgarh, surrendering before the tribal agitation. A local CPM leader and two party supporters were killed by the Maoists on Wednesday in Bankasole near Lalgarh.
Law and order situation: Bengal now comes under Central attack
18 Jun 2009, 0124 hrs IST, TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Law-and-order-situation-Bengal-now-comes-under-Central-attack/articleshow/4668390.cms
NEW DELHI: Just when its cadre are on the run in West Bengal with resurgent Maoists and Trinamool Congress having turned the table on them in
Lalgarh and Khejuri, CPM on Wednesday came under attack also from the Centre for not doing enough to tackle the deteriorating law and order situation.
In a strong riposte to the charge levelled by CPM’s Sitaram Yechury that Centre was not helpful, home ministser P Chidambaram said that the state government ought to first deploy its forces to deal with the situation. “We (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 chief minister, I told him that in our view the state police must be given a clear mandate and clear instructions,” suggesting that the Marxist government is reluctant to take on the Maoist challenge.
Yechury had blamed the Centre for allowing the situation to worsen. He alleged that Maoists’ move to acquire arms to achieve area domination was known to intelligence agencies.
Even though Yechury also appealed for co-ordiantion between the Centre and the state, the Maoist takeover of Lalgarh was unlikely to result in a consensus over how to deal with the threat. The fighting came a day ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. They are said to have a rapport, and on Wednesday the Prime Minister repeated his formulation about naxalites being the chief internal security threat. But whether the personal equation of the two leaders will help bridge the divide remained unclear because of the escalating conflict. The Prime Minister must have to reckon with his ally, Mamata Banerjee, an implacable foe of Marxists.
The Trinamool chief will be averse to the idea of organising relief for the Marxists and may get support from Congressmen in West Bengal. On Wednesday, the Left versus the Rest divide aggravated with an unsentimental Congress launching a full-scale assault on Marxists who find themselves beleaguered in their own bastion.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari called the Maoist violence a backlash against 32 years of cadre raj enforced by Marxists. “When you sow the wind you can only reap the whirlwind,” he said.
He also echoed Chidambaram’s charge of inaction against Marxists. “The Marxist regime cannot abdicate its responsibility; if it cannot run the government it should step down,” said Tiwari while contending that the “cadre raj” was marked by excesses.
Caught in a pincer attack when their political fortunes appear to ebb, the Marxists were reversing their known positions, such as those on Centre’s jurisdiction with regard to law and order which under the Constitution has been recognised as a responsibility of state governments. Marxists have not zealously supported this division of labour, but have been instrumental in fashioning the intellectual argument for limiting the role of the Centre on `law and order’. They have not been enamoured of central forces or intelligence agencies either.
On Wednesday, however, Yechury pushed for greater involvement of the Centre. “Centre and state should coordinate to get rid of the menace.” He also recalled the Prime Minister’s description of naxalites as the biggest threat.
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