How Pro-Mamata people used Maoists to gain power in West Bengal

Maoists sympathizers stage protest in Kolkata

June 19, 2010 | National News | Written by Sachi
Kolkata, June 19 : Several pro-Maoists organization staged a protest rally against the ongoing anti-Naxal operations in West Bengal, and demanded its immediate suspension.
The rally was followed by a demonstration organized by the Bondi Mukti Committee under the banner of ‘Lalgarh Manch’.
“Our purpose is to condemn the State Government’s policy of tackling Maoism in the Lalgarh area. One year has passed when the joint forces have been deployed in the Lalgarh area. said Sujato Bhadra, a member of the Bondi Mukti Committee.
Sujato Bhadra said that the joint forces had gone to Lalgarh area to establish the rule of law but what they are actually doing is the contrary to what they have been told to establish.
“There is no rule of law in the entire area,” Bhadra added.
The protesters have also demanded the immediate withdrawal of forces from Lalgarh area in West Midnapore District along with the release of people who have been arrested on allegations of being Maoists.
“We have been demanding the withdrawal of forces from the Lalgarh area, to open up dialogue with the armed opposition group…maybe Naxalites and also with the People’s Committee which is not a banned organization,” Bhadra, said.
The Committee has also asked for the initiation of dialogues with the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), which is a frontal organization of Maoists. (ANI)

Eminent writer and Mamata 'sympathiser' Mahasweta Devi in a rally to withdraw Joint forces operation from West Bengal before Mamata come to Power. What will she say now? Or, She also changed with Mamata?

Didi changes tack, turns anti-Maoist

TNN | Sep 27, 2011, 06.48AM IST

SINGUR: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sent out a stern warning toMaoists saying they can't remain janus-faced and continue their killing spree while complaining about the state's human rights violations and police excesses. 

"The initiative for talks can't go together with killings. You (Maoist) have to decide the future course. Who has given you the right to kill? Those who complain against police excesses as violation of human rights should clarify whether their ghastly killings conform to human rights," said Banerjee, whose rise to power started with the campaign against the land acquisition in Singur, a cause Naxals also backed. 

Her warning on Monday that she wouldn't tolerate any Naxal killings came at a public meeting in Singur. This was a deviation from Mamata's stance before she came to power in Bengal. But on Monday she called the Maoists cowards, echoing then CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee remarks in 2008 when he had said, "Maoists hide in forests and hills in Jharkhand. They kill police personnel, our party men in Bengal and go back to the jungles." 

On Sunday, Mamata Banerjee had claimed in a TV interview that Maoists were trying to kill her.
Mamata hints at unleashing joint forces against Maoists
Friday - Nov 04, 2011, 01:37pm (GMT+5.5)

Kolkata - After a Trinamool Congress supporter was killed in Purulia, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday hinted at unleashing joint security forces against Maoist guerrillas.

Banerjee also urged villagers of Junglemahal (forested stretches of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore) to form village patrol committees and counter Maoist attacks.

“I have halted the joint forces’ operation for the last four months after coming to power. I had tried to solve the issue through talks. But these killers (Maoists) are not interested in talks," she said.

"So we are planning to start joint forces (paramilitary forces and West Bengal police) operation because we can’t let the common men die like this at the hands of these killers,” she added.

Banerjee’s comments came after Trinamool Congress supporter Jitu Singh Sardar was killed in Balrampur area of Purulia district.

“A Trinamool Congress supporter was killed today. We are investigating,” said Purulia police Superintendent Sudip Choudhury.

Banerjee called upon the villagers of Junglemahal to “form village defence committees and counter the Maoist attacks”

She said the Maoists had some support base in Kolkata also.

“Those who support these Maoists are not intellectuals but individuals who are on the payroll of the Maoists. If they (ultras) think that they can kill at their sweet will, then they are wrong. They should not take the patience being shown by the state government as our weakness. It our duty to protect the masses,” said Banerjee.

Banerjee alleged that the Maoists were getting support from "armed goons" of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

“We know that armed goons of CPI-M are helping the Maoists in killing Trinamool activists. The goons who participated in Nandigram and Netai genocides are now helping Maoists. For the last few months the Maoists are targeting important members of our party,” she said.

Banerjee also slammed the Maoists for taking conflicting approaches in the name of Maoism in India and Nepal.

“In Nepal they are part of democracy though they have failed to do anything for the people. But in India they don’t believe in democracy. How can the same ideology have two different versions. This is hypocrisy.”

Banerjee also suspected a foreign hand behind the Maoist aggression.

"I think these Maoists are getting support from foreign powers because there are some foreign powers who can't tolerate India's progress," she said.

The erstwhile Left Front regime had deployed both the paramilitary and the state police against the Maoists in June 2009 to reclaim areas where the Maoists had set up bases.

Banerjee, who repeatedly asked for withdrawal of joint forces while in the opposition, adopted a soft approach towards the Maoists after taking power in May.

She has been hardening her stand after a spate of killings in Jungemahal, allegedly by the Maoists, since August.