Intolerance of Mamta

Mamata's intolerance about uncomfortable questions is evident when she termed Presidency Student as 'Maoists'

Hide and seek!

Maoists threaten ‘feudal lord’ Subhendu

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 17.11.11

Kolkata: Last week, the Intelligence Bureau prepared a report suggesting Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikary featured on the Maoist hit list. On Thursday, Maoist leader Akash threatened that the Adhikary will be punished in the peoples’ court. 
    For past one month, the Tamluk MP has been in a bid to take on Maoists politically, which led him to hold series of meetings in different Maoist stronghold villages. 
    In all his public meetings, Adhikary threatened the red guerrillas and on November 12 rally at Kurasole near Jhargram, he had said, “Either Maoists will have to lay down arms or they have to leave the state.” 
    In response to the threat, Maoists alleged that Trinamool Congress is masterminding hooliganism across the state to keep their domain. “Even they are not sparing their ally Congress,” said Akash. Like the previous government, Trinamool is also trying to wrest power at gun point and creating an undemocratic and suffocating atmosphere in the state. 
    Adhikary, who is considered as an old ‘friend’ of the Maoists since the Nadigram days in 2007, is now on the top Maoist enemy list in Jangalmahal. Maoists alleged that the anti-land acquisition movement that gave Trinamool a momentum against the Left Front government was organized by the Maoists. “He just betrayed with the people at Nandigram. His treachery helped CPM goons to return Nandigram through November 2007 operation,” alleged Akash, who warned that people in Jangalmahal and Nandigram will not forgive him. Branding Subhendu as a feudal lord, the rebel leader said “We will continue our struggle. We don’t fear jail and bullets.” 
    The rebel camp also alleged that Subhendu has been hiring the goons who once used to work for the CPM. “How long will you be able to terrorize people? They will drag you in their court. And then where will you escape?” quizzed the rebel.

Whom the tribals will believe?

Hint of tribal alienation?

Saugata Roy TNN 17.11.11

Kolkata: Those who had been to Jagori Baske’s home in Purulia’s Bagdubi village would be aware of the pitiable background of this shy adivasi girl who later turned into a brutal Maoist squad leader. A mud house behind a pond in this forest hamlet, no land to fall back upon and no cattle to rear. Jagori lived with her mother in extreme poverty, surviving on a meagre income from babui grass. 
    Jagori had the desperation and zeal to break out of the penury — the Maoists gifted her a dream that shattered midway. 
    What does her surrender signify? Are the Maoists losing their foothold in Jangalmahal? And if so, is the Trinamool Congress gaining new ground when the CPM organisers are on their heels? The series of developments that led to the dramatic surrender displays a lack of trust towards the Maoists. But this is not all. It has created a void among the adivasis that is more significant than the surrender. The innocent adivasis, who largely supported the ‘bon parti’ against the CPM’s domination, are at a loss. 
    Those in power have failed to understand the socio-cultural fabric of the adivasi community which is as important as the under-development that plagues the region. It’s true that Maoists have smashed the adivasi patriarchy that was the last word in the community. But the mainstream political parties — CPM and of late Trinamool — dominated by the Sarkars, Pandeys, Roys and Adhikarys have never spared a thought to engage the adivasi samaj that could work wonders in bringing peace to the area. 
    Jagori’s surrender is not an isolated case, as Maoists would like to showcase it. Shobha Mandi, another tribal Maoist squad leader, was the first to surrender. Gurucharan Kisku alias Marshall was among the men dumped by Maoists, and later Laxmikanta Baske from Katasimul village joined the Trinamool-backed platform. 
    They are all adivasis — a major contingent of the Jangalmahal population that played a key role in the Lalgarh uprising in 2007. It sent ripples in the entire adivasi samaj. Sensing the mood, the Maoists kept tribals Lalmohan Tudu (killed) and Sukhshanti Baske (now in custody) in the first panel of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities. Chhatradhar Mahato (a non-tribal) was the spokesperson. A little after the uprising, the Maoists took over completely and broke the writ of the adivasi society. 
    This seems to have triggered the alienation. The Maoist diktat also began to dominate personal relations within the guerrillas. It became evident when the party didn’t allow Jagori to marry her mentor Gurucharan Kisku alias Marshall and instead made her tie the wedlock with Rajaram Soren. Marshall felt out with the Maoist leadership and was shown the door, so was Jagori. It did not go down well among the adivasis. 
    “I won’t go into the internal affairs of the Maoists. But it’s a fact that Maoists are losing public support among the adivasis. But there is no one to address their concerns. We are trying in our own little way,” said CPI(M-L) leader Santosh Rana. 
    Jagori’s surrender may prompt the Maoists to regroup themselves among the adivasis who are not taking them in right earnest. They might try to consolidate their position among the non-tribal Mahato community, which might further aggravate the social tension. 
    The Mamata Banerjee government cannot make much headway in the adivasi belt with its band of bureaucrats. The BPL rice that was promised to them has been stopped for over a week, soon after the government ordered a three-tier committee comprising BDOs, SDOs and district magistrate to revamp the delivery system.

Intolerance and Inefficiency doubled up Maoist problem in West Bengal, India

FIGHT AGAINST THE RED BRIGADE

Joint forces step up operation, interlocutors offer to resign

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 17.11.11

Kolkata/Midnapore: With the government-appointed interlocutors writing to chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday and offering to step down from their role, the stage is set for full-scale offensive against Maoists. 
    DGP Naparajit Mukherjee made it clear that the government was in no mood to take things lying down. “Criminal acts have to stop. Police are responsible for stopping these acts like killing, extortion of money, felling of trees, and police have to enforce the law. They (Maoists) can still surrender arms and hold talks, but the killings have to certainly stop,” the DGP told reporters at Writers’ Buildings. The interlocutors perhaps sensed this. “Now it’s a war-like situation. We think we are no more required. So we wrote to CM and requested her to relinquish us,” said Choton Das, an interlocutor. 
    Meanwhile, joint forces operation continued in full-swing across Jangalmahal. Intensive combing operations continued in Purulia for the second day in a row. Officers admitted that they had fired more than 2200 rounds. IGP (Western Range) Gangeswar Singh, their CRPF counterparts and Manoj Verma, SP, Counter Insurgency Force (CIF) chalked out a strategy in a meeting at Purulia. Raids and 
patrols were increased. During the day, more than 200 CRPF jawans combed the forests of Purnapani and Koromsole near Lalgarh in West Midnapore. 
    An intelligence tip-off on the possibility of the presence of Maoist squad leader Bikash prompted CRPF jawans to fire nearly hundred rounds in these jungles hemming Lalgarh. West Midnapore SP Praveen Tripathi claimed that Bikash had been camping there. “We have recovered two INSAS rifles, one SLR, one .303 rifle and five pistols from a Maoist hideout along with huge quantity of explosives,” said Tripathi. 
    The reworked blueprint suggests elite anti-Maoist force CIF will work together with CoBRA teams in ambushes. “Maoists are changing their strategy, accordingly we are also changing plans,” said the IGP (Western Range). 
    The DGP, however, said the operational details could not be shared and neither was he ready to say if more forces were being requisitioned from the Centre, but added that the main focus of the police was to arrest and prevent criminal activities. He said police were constantly recovering arms and ammunition — and had even done so on Wednesday. According to the DGP, if any person or organization kills, police are automatically responsible to take action, and even so in self defence.

Hostilities escalated at Jangalmahal, West Bengal

Forces kill 2 Maoists in Jangalmahal

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  16.11.11

Manoj Verma, who had faced the Mamata government’s ire for alleged partisanship as West Midnapore SP under Left rule, led the operation after being made SP, Counter Insurgency Force, on Monday

Purulia/Kolkata: A day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s go-ahead to the joint forces to flush out Maoists from Jangalmahal, two guerrilla squad members were gunned down in Purulia on Monday night not far from where two Trinamool Congress supporters had been murdered hours before. 
    Two jawans of the Naga battalion were injured the nightlong operation. 
    As joint forces fanned out across Jangalmahal, the person who led it in Purulia was none other than Manoj Verma, appointed on Monday night itself as SP, Counter Insurgency Force. 
    Verma, formerly the West Midnapore SP, was among the first to face the ire of the Mamata-led government for allegedly playing a partisan role during joint forces operations under Left rule. 
    The combing operations led to the recovery of two pistols, an automatic gun, a .303 police rifle and a double-barrel gun with nearly 150 rounds of cartridge lying beside the bullet-ridden bodies of Maoists Suresh and Biren. 
    In West Midnapore, explosives were recovered from Lalgarh’s Bonisole forest. Two IEDs and 150 automatic-rifle cartridges were also found in Salboni and the forests hemming Midnapore. 
    With Mamata clearly indicating action would be initiated against Maoist sympathizers in Kolkata, particularly two Jadavpur University professors, a government employee quartet in Behala and an employee union member at Writers’ Buildings, intelligence gathering was stepped up in the city. 
    Kolkata Police’s Special Task Force will lead the city operations, with intelligence inputs from the Counter-Insurgency Force (CIF) and its own intelligence wing, the Special Branch. Also under the scanner are a students’ union, an employees’ union in Haldia and a few frontal brigades, including Matangini ‘Brigade’, dubbed ‘demonic brigade’ by the CM herself. 
    Mamata also sought a detailed report from the chief secretary on the logistics that would be required by the police for an all-out offensive. Five members, including two girls of the United Students Democratic Front, were detained from Nandan premises on Tuesday evening. They were protesting against the police’s efforts to gag them under the guise of the anti-Maoist operations. 
    In Purulia, security forces had specific information on Sunday that a group of rebels may scale down the Ayodhya hills. Late in the afternoon, two assault teams of Naga and CoBRA jawans marched deep into the forest to intercept the Maoist squad. 

A jawan injured in the gunbattle with Maoists in Purulia on Tuesday

Rebels send truce feeler to mediator Kolkata: A day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee formally resumed joint operations, Maoists shot off a letter to the state-appointed interlocutors on Tuesday, proposing a four-month-long ceasefire on their part that they had refused on Monday. Whatever the offer, the interlocutors are in a bind. P 4 Ayodhya platoon hunts TMC men 
Purulia/Kolkata: A dozen armed guerrillas, with better knowledge of the terrain, dodged the teams and sneaked into Khuntar — a forest hamlet — and stormed Trinamool activist Rajen Singh Sardar’s house, killing his father and brother (a Tisco security guard). 
    Rajen, who had quit a Maoist forum to join a Trinamool-led anti-Maoist forum, hardly stayed home due to threats on his life. On Monday evening, Rajen was to arrive home to attend the tribal Sahrai festival. He had a narrow escape and informed the police. But by then the Maoists had melted into the dense woods. 
    Around 2km from Khuntar, security forces spotted the Maoist squad. “It was around 7 pm when the firing begun. Till morning, for more than 24 hours the gunfight continued leaving two Maoists dead and two Naga jawans critically injured,” said Gangeswar Singh, IG Western Zone. Rajen claimed he had managed to identify Maoist leader Tarit, alias Ranjit Pal, who was leading the squad. “The rebels have a platoon in Ayodhya hills, which is divided into three sections. Ranjit is in charge of the platoon. In recent months, several youths were recruited and a few joined the platoon from Jharkhand,” said a police officer. 
    This belt in Ghatbera-Kheroa has been a Maoist stronghold for the past few years. In 2009, the Maoists formed the Adibasi Mulabasi Committee and some anti-Left parties merged with it. 
    Aghor Hembram, the committee’s convenor, joined Trinamool Congress after the party came to power. Rajen followed him to Trinamool. They later formed a vigilante group to resist the red brigade. Union minister Mukul Roy and Tamluk MP Subhendu Adhikary will reach Balarampur on Wednesday and bring the bodies to Rajen’s family in Kolkata where the Trinamool leadership — including chief minister Mamata Banerjee — is expected to be present.

Joint forces draw first blood but rebels show fight thirst

BISWANATH ROY16.11.11

Khuntar (Purulia), Nov. 15: Two Maoists were killed in the first full-scale assault by joint forces since the Mamata Banerjee government took over, mirroring the dramatic escalation in hostilities a few hours after the rebels ended a ceasefire and provoked the chief minister to resume operations. The joint forces have now laid siege to the Ayodhya Hills, a rebel haven whose forest offers safe passage to Jharkhand and cover for supplies from hideouts there. “We have blocked the way to the Ayodhya Hills. We want to cut off supplies to the squad. We are trying not to let them slip back in the dense forest,” an officer said. The operation, which took place when the security forces pursued suspected Maoists who killed two Trinamul supporters last night, also served to underscore how the rebels, who were once on the back foot, are no longer so. Despite losing two fighters — the first confirmed rebel casualties since the new government took over — the Maoists opened fire on the forces at daybreak during a combing operation. Last night’s encounter was a throwback to the tense weeks of June 2009 when the joint operations were launched to establish a circle of domination in Lalgarh and other Maoist-affected areas. Two members of the Maoist action squad team that shot dead two Trinamul supporters in Khuntar village last night were gunned down during the two-hour encounter from 11pm. The bodies of the two Maoists in their mid-thirties, identified by police as Biren and Subal, were found in the Duarshini forest in the foothills of Ayodhya Hills this morning. “Biren was Bidyut Singh Sardar, who hailed from Ghatbera near Khuntar. Subal was from Jharkhand and we are trying to get more details about him,” a police officer said. During the combing operation that included about 32 COBRA commandos this morning, the Maoists opened fire and injured two jawans belonging to the India Reserve Battalion of Nagaland. Masi Byco and Karket Suni were rushed to Purulia district hospital and later taken to a private hospital in Ranchi. The initial plan was to fly the jawans to Calcutta, about 300km away, but rain forced the police to take them to Ranchi by road, a police officer said. “We found two rifles, a double-barrel gun and a 9mm pistol within yards from the bodies of the two rebels. We brought in sniffer dogs to look for injured Maoists and stumbled upon half-a-dozen ladies’ sandals and dupattas,” the officer said. Inspector-general of police (western range) G. Singh, who visited the encounter site this morning, said the Maoists belonged to the Ayodhya Hills squad and were led by Ranjit Pal. “The squad had about 15 persons and at least five were women. During the encounter, the joint forces used mortars and we suspect that a number of Maoists were injured,” Singh said. Another officer said that after some villagers had informed the police of the Maoist attack at Khuntar last night, two teams rushed to the place. “One team of joint forces went from a camp about 3km from Khuntar and another went from the Balarampur police station. There were about 300 personnel in all. We knew that the Maoists would have to cross the Duarshini forest to reach the Ayodhya hills. So the forces divided themselves into two groups and began moving towards the forest guarding both the left and the right flanks. Soon after entering the forest, shots were fired at us. An encounter followed,” the officer said.

A comprehensive strategy is needed to curb Maoists

Truce off, Maoists & Mamata declare war

Rebels End Ceasefire In Jangalmahal, Kill 2 TMC Workers CM Announces Resumption Of Joint Ops

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 15.11.11

Kolkata: Jangalmahal is heading back to war. 
    Chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced the resumption of joint operations against the Maoists on Monday, hours after the rebels called off a “ceasefire” and warned her government with a chilling message that said, “The truce is over.” 
    The Maoists backed up their threat by killing two Trinamool Congress supporters in Purulia, not far from the spot where Mamata had addressed a rally on November 11. On Monday evening, 12 guerrillas stormed retired schoolteacher Ajit Singh Sardar’s house at Khunta village of Ghatbera located at the foot of the Ayodhya hills and killed him along with younger son Baku. The Maoists were looking for Ajit’s elder son Rajen, who is believed to be playing a key role in the Trinamool Congress-led Jangalmahal Unnayan Birodhi Protirodh Mancha, an anti-Maoist forum. 
    “The joint forces operations will resume. I have given them (Maoists) time for the last five months (since she assumed office). I will wait no more,” Mamata said, terming the rebels “murderers, “terrorists” and “mafia”. 
    The spectre of a new phase of violence in Jangalmahal came nearly a month after the chief minister — at a rally in Jhargram on October 18 — set the rebels a seven-day deadline to give up arms and sit for talks. While there was no official word on the resumption of joint operations after that, Mamata repeatedly said murderers couldn’t be allowed to roam free while the administration stepped up police operations. 
    The Maoists called an end to the “truce” in a letter addressed to the interlocutors. The letter, dated October 31, was revealed to the media only on Monday, a day after joint forces arrested key PCPA leader and Jnaneswari Express carnage suspect Asit Mahato. “Neither the government nor you have kept your word according to the ceasefire agreement. So, the truce is over,” said the letter signed by Maoist state secretary Akash, referring to a joint statement with the interlocutors on September 30 in which the rebels promised a “ceasefire to create a conducive atmosphere for talks”. 
    As fledgling hopes of peace in Jangalmahal headed for a premature death, the chief minister also announced a crackdown on Maoist sympathizers. “All sympathizers, including two Jadavpur University professors, will also face action. Maoists are a banned organization and none can conspire to help them and glorify their misdeeds. These are murderers, terrorists and mafia. Earlier, it was alleged Mamata Banerjee supports Maoists. Now, we’ve proved with our blood who supports them. The guns will be snatched away. It is now the CPM armed cadres who are helping them,” she said. 
    Mamata indicated her hardening of stance in public rallies after back-to-back murders of her partymen in Jangalmahal. She, however, left the door ajar for talks. But her government did not “officially” respond to the joint statement. While Mamata warned the rebels not to test her patience, joint forces operations also were not curbed, though they were fine-tuned to respond only to specific intelligence inputs. 
BLOODY RERUN? 627 people have died in Jangalmahal since 2009 501 of the dead were civilians 52 were security personnel 74 suspected rebels were killed in ant-Maoist operationsRebels seek govt reply in writing 
Kolkata: The Maoists said in their letter peace initiatives were useless without official communication from the government. “We want a written and official reply from the government. We had given our commitment in writing. After signing the ceasefire agreement, we again wrote to you how the government was violating the ceasefire conditions and asked a few specific questions. But the government chose to remain silent,” the Maoist state chief said, concluding that neither the state nor the Centre wanted peace. 
    “Confrontation is the only path to support the tortured and deprived class. Talks and truce will be there on the way. So, we had accepted your dialogue proposal,” Akash added, also lashing out at the mediators for their studied silence on ‘rights violations’. “Forty-five people have been killed by Trinamool men in the past five months. CPM mafias in the coal belt have been replaced by Trinamool gangsters. Even after this, you (interlocutors) are silent on Trinamool-led violence. You can only raise your voice to blame us, the Maoists,” Akash said. He also alleged Mamata had tried to disrupt the entire peace process by appointing Union minister Mukul Roy to speak with jailed Maoists and tribal leaders. 
    The Maoist leader further alleged that the government, while dangling the “peace” carrot, had been strengthening the hands of Trinamool Congress-led armed vigilante groups, “who are roaming around with automatic guns”. 
    Senior police officers and home department officials weren’t surprised with Maoist reaction. “Now, it’s an official announcement,” said a senior police officer, who believes the rebels are planning a major strike.

Neither the government nor you have kept your word according to the ceasefire agreement. So, the truce is over... 45 people have been killed by Trinamool men in the past five months. CPM mafia in the coal belt have been replaced by Trinamool gangsters 
Maoist leader Aakash

The joint forces operations will resume. I have given them (Maoists) time for the last five months. I will wait no more... these are murderers, terrorists and mafia 
Mamata Banerjee

Asit Mahato being taken to Jhargram court on Monday

Gloves off after Maoists bury truce

PRONAB MONDAL15.11.11

Mamata Banerjee Calcutta, Nov. 14: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee tonight formally revived security operations against Maoists after the rebels refused to extend a ceasefire, spoke of war, criticised her peace envoys and appeared to escalate hostilities by killing two Trinamul supporters. Joint forces in pursuit were locked in a gunfight with the killers till late tonight at a Purulia village in the foothills of the Ayodhya hills. “I will take away the guns of the Maoists. The operations by the joint forces against Maoists, which had been suspended for the last five months, will now continue,” Mamata told STAR Ananda, reacting to the killings of a father and son, Ajit Singh Sardar, 63, and Banku, 22, in Purulia by suspected Maoists. The chief minister made it clear that she was running out of patience. “Killers will be treated like killers by the police. The law will take its own course. We had given five months’ time to the Maoists but they have failed to utilise it properly. I will not wait any longer,” Mamata said. She said the Maoists were being backed by “two professors” of Jadavpur University and action would be taken. “The government will take action against all those who glorify the Maoists,” she added, almost echoing Union home minister P. Chidambaram and the erstwhile Left government. Mamata repeated the words “jungle mafia, terrorists and looters” — words to which the Maoists had taken “strong exception” in a letter made public earlier in the day. The Maoists informed the interlocutors, appointed by Mamata to explore the possibility of a dialogue, that they would not extend the month-long ceasefire in Jungle Mahal that expired on October 30. The rebels warned of unleashing violence in the near future. “We are fighting for the poor people and are now heading for a war,” said the letter, attributed to Akash, the state secretary of the CPI (Maoist). The letter, addressed to Association for Protection of Democratic Rights activist Sujato Bhadra and other interlocutors, claimed that the government had not “reciprocated” their gesture and carried on police operations against them. The letter was dated October 31 but released today. Although the Maoists railed against the interlocutors, the rebels added that they were still leaving “open” the process of talks. “We are ready to meet you (the interlocutors). You are welcome to come and meet us. But at the meeting with us, bring a written response from the government on its position on our demands of cessation of operations against us and disarming of armed cadres,” Akash said. Sources in the government said the chief minister would still like to continue with the talks process as only dialogue could bring lasting peace. But she no longer believes that the rebels will abjure violence, a source said. An undeclared freeze on security operations had set in when Mamata had taken over and launched a development offensive in Jungle Mahal. However, when several killings were blamed on the rebels, the government had green-lighted information-based operations. This evening’s comments by Mamata suggest security forces are now free to conduct operations on the basis of their professional assessment. The forces have been preparing for such an eventuality for the past few weeks. “We were expecting this as we knew that the Maoists would never give up the killings,” a senior officer said. In the letter, the Maoists also said that they had lost faith in the interlocutors’ ability to impress upon the government the need to concede the demand for cessation of all “hostilities”. “You (interlocutors) were meant to be impartial. Don’t work for any political party. But you failed.” Bhadra today sought to dispel the Maoist notion that his team was “partial” towards the ruling party when he told The Telegraph: “How can you have a dialogue with the Maoists if the joint forces carry on with their operations? They kept their word and abjured violence during the one-month period. So, the government too must respond.”

We want strong and comprehensive action by all - Govt., concerned people, villagers - and not just bloodshed, to combat this Maoism

Trinamul leaders terrorising people in the name of Maoists

Subhendu gives ultimatum to Maoists

Sujoy Khanra TNN 13.11.11

Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikari at the rally at Kurasole on Saturday

Jhargram: Trinamool Congress revised its rally route in the wake of threats from Maoists, keeping party MP Subhendu Adhikari away from the forest roads at Jhargram on Saturday. Earlier during his meeting at Belpahari, Adhikari had announced to organize a rally from Aguiboni to Birihandi in the outskirts of Jhargram. A major portion of the scheduled route goes through the forest which earned notoriety for Maoist domination. In the past couple of days, four IEDs were recovered from the forest, which raised a major security threat. Police had reasons to believe that Maoists, who had asked people to boycott the Trinamool rally, may target Adhikari’s rally and on Saturday his route was cut short to avoid the forest. 
    Adhikari started his rally from Ektal village football ground at 1pm and walked around three kms to reach Kurasole where the meeting was held. He sounded a warning to Maoist leaders Akash and Bikash: “Either lay down arms or leave Bengal. If you continue the politics of violence, then like CPM leaders you all will be put behind bars.” 
    “Maoists are trying to terrorize people at gunpoint. To foil my meeting, they are planting land mines. But all these can’t resist people from joining our effort to restore peace,” said the Trinamool leader. Jhargram MLA and minister Sukumar Hansda, and two other party MLAs Churamoni Mahato and Srikanta Mahato were also present at the rally. 
    But their presence failed to convince villagers who did not dare to join the rally by defying the Maoist diktat. Nearly 700 additional security force led by Jhargram SP Gaurav Sharma escorted the leaders. Subhendu said that joint forces were no longer playing a partisan role.“People like Ashok Jiban (convener of Maoist-influenced mass organization) are spreading cooked-up stories of torture by joint forces,” said Subhendu. 
    Ashok Jiban, convener of Santras O Durnity Birodhi Mancha in Jangalmahal, alleged that Subhendu’s peace rally was nothing but an effort to dominate villages through Trinamool-led armed vigilant group. “Trinamool leaders mainly Nisith Mahato is threatening people and forcing them to join the rally,” alleged Ashok. 
    Meanwhile, West Midnapore police said that six single barrel guns and nearly 90 kg of explosives were recovered from two Maoist hideouts of Salboni after interrogating Maoist squad members, arrested on Friday. They were produced before the court on Saturday and remanded to police custody for ten days, said Midnapore SP Praveen Kumar Tripathi.

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PRONAB MONDAL12.11.11

Aghor in Balarampur on Friday. Picture by Sayantan Ghosh Balarampur (Purulia), Nov. 11: Mamata Banerjee today presented on her rally dais Aghor Hembram, a member of a Maoist-backed committee who switched to the Trinamul Congress after its Assembly election win. With Aghor by her side, the chief minister told the crowd in Purulia’s Balarampur: “Aghor used to visit villages and campaign for the Maoists. Now he is with us. The rebels threatened to kill him. Despite that, Aghor has shown the courage to join us.” Aghor is said to have joined Trinamul with 300 of his followers immediately after it came to power. He was the president of the Adibashi Mulbashi Janaganer Committee, a body similar to the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities. He campaigned for the rebels and extorted money from traders, a Maoist source said. Maoist leaders called Aghor a traitor. “Aghor betrayed us and the poor people. He left us and joined Trinamul to make money. He will have to pay for his betrayal,” a rebel source said. Aghor said he had severed ties with the committee because they were dictatorial. “They were using me and my followers. The committee’s activities were dictated by the Maoists. When I came to know about it, I decided to leave them,” he said. A Maoist leader had a different version to offer. “We take 70 per cent of the total amount collected from the traders. The remaining 30 per cent is given to the committee leaders to pay the members at the grassroots. Aghor was not paying the poor people. We warned him and he joined Trinamul,” the Maoist said. State intelligence branch sources confirmed Aghor developed a bitter relationship with the Maoists over the sharing of extortion money. “He joined the Trinamul to take advantage of being close to the ruling party and collect money freely,” an intelligence officer in Purulia said.

Armed partymen of Mamata Banerjee hampering peace process

Q & A: Akash, CPI(Maoist) State Committee Secretary

‘Mamata must understand peace is not a commodity in the local market’

By Tusha Mittal

Mamata has appealed for peace in Junglemahal. She has appointed mediators to begin a dialogue process. What is your response to her offer for talks?
Mamata Banerjee has appealed for peace in Junglemahal but has not referred to our party. She has not directly offered to talk to us. This is the major problem in her peace process. Earlier, the CPM had also announced development policies from time to time and their leaders had visited Midnapore to renew the peace project.

But all of this broke down because their intentions were not genuine. The CPM used the development money to maintain their goons while accusing the Maoists of restricting development. We condemn any such allegation. The new government can talk to us directly about development, about where development projects should be undertaken. Mamata is sticking to the same point as the CPM, that the government will not spare anybody who hampers the development process. If there is any evidence that we are hampering development projects, Mamata should announce it publicly through the media. We will solve the problem in 15 days. The government is spreading confusion that we are not allowing roads to be built. We are not anti-development.

The actual question regarding Junglemahal is peace. How can peace be restored? Not a single Harmad camp has been stopped by the government. Tactically, the Harmads are not staying together. They are scattered in the villages but they are protected by the police.

We are committed to initiate circumstances needed to restore peace in Junglemahal. The government should also try to do the same. So far, the peace committee has not approached us with any formal invitation for talks. But we are in touch with them. We have never closed our door.

Mamata has asked all parties to abandon arms and offered a rehabilitation package. While some are reading her offer as call to stop using arms, others perceive it as a call to surrender arms. How do you read her offer? If surrendering arms was not a pre-condition, would your response be different?
Mamata has given a call to surrender arms. But most of the arms are in the hands of the CPM and the TMC. Second is the Congress. In our case, the point is not the arms but our ideology. We believe in armed struggle. But quantitatively, we hardly have 1 percent of the arms the CPM possesses. It is true that after the formation of the new government, 2,000-3,000 arms were recovered from the CPM. But 50-60 percent of them are rejected and outdated weapons. This is less than 2 percent of the arms the CPM possesses. In Gwaltore, where locals attempted to take away arms from the CPM, the police restricted people from doing so. No arms have been recovered in Purulia and Bankura districts either. In Taldagiri, a CPM leader was beaten to death by TMC workers and it was portrayed as a mass agitation. So who is Mamata actually addressing when she says surrender arms? Has the TMC ever agitated without arms? The TMCwas armed during the Garbeta, Keshpur incident in 2000. In Nandigram, apart from the Maoists, both the TMC and the pseudo-Left were well armed. In Junglemahal, the party goons are carrying AK-47 and Insas rifles supplied by the police. This talk of surrendering arms is only meant to intentionally combat our revolutionary struggle. There is no question of surrendering arms. The government should first take the initiative to create a conducive atmosphere for talks.

Initial press statements from the party indicate that you have rejected Mamata’s offer because two demands have not been met — the unconditional withdrawal of troops and the release of all political prisoners. Are these not issues to be resolved during talks? Post-polls, Junglemahal is seen as more peaceful. There have been no reports of arbitrary arrests by the joint forces. Is this not a changed atmosphere conducive for talks?
The statement that there is peace in Junglemahal is absurd. All CPM leaders who terrorised Junglemahal are still active in the villages. The administration has not taken any steps against them. P Chidambaram had himself admitted that the joint forces cannot act without the help of the CPM cadres. Now, Opposition leader Suryakanta Misra has said that they will cooperate with the government in every way to combat Maoists. The joint forces are assisted by the Harmad, secondly by their own network, and thirdly by a section of the TMC. The TMC-dominated villages are forming their own information network to assist the forces. Villagers who come forward against State repression through rallies and mass meetings are facing the same blockade from TMC as they did from the CPM. The TMC is attacking villages in the same way as the CPM.

‘Make a monitoring committee with participation from both sides. We have not closed our doors’

For example, last month, a group of TMC cadres under Ardhendhu Patra’s leadership ransacked 13 houses near Thoria village. The joint forces did not stop them. To protest the incident, the Bandi Mukti Committee (BMC) of Junglemahal organised a public meeting on 6 July in Belpahari. The public meeting had police permission. The BMC is not banned in this state. It upholds the issue of unconditional release of political prisoners, which this government had also considered a political agenda before elections. On 6 July, 13 buses were coming from Berakakno village of Nayagram to attend the meeting. The buses were stopped by the TMC leaders. Patra’s team defaced posters and hardly left any democratic space for the people to raise their voices. But later, they alleged that the Maoists had beaten up the TMC leaders.

Fear factor The Maoist leader claims that the joint forces are being helped by Harmad cadres

If the intellectuals (without party affiliation) agree, the Maoist party and people of Junglemahal are ready for a public hearing on the incident. If Sujato Bhadro and Deboproto Bandopadhyay (IAS officer and TMC Rajya Sabha member) want to come here for a probe, we have no objection.

On 11 July, the tractor of CPM leader Haridwar Singh was set on fire by the villagers. He was a police informer who had left the village and was being protected by the joint forces. The next day, the forces entered Simulpal and beat up the villagers. The injured had to be hospitalised.

This exposes the actual nature of the TMC. Their motive is to capture Junglemahal. As people are becoming aware of this hypocrisy, the TMC is appointing bodyguards and police forces to protect their leaders. We urge intellectuals to come forward and see the role of the Maoist party in Junglemahal. If we are proved guilty, we will accept the punishment given by the people. Will the TMC accept their faults if they are found to be guilty?

It is not true that there are no arrests. Post-polls, PCPA leader Manoj Mahato was arrested and falsely charged with murder cases. He was merely moving among the people to organise them for rallies. He has the constitutional right to do so. Many others are charged under false murder cases and portrayed as Maoists. Are we to believe that Mamata is unaware of these facts? Even when people complained about the arrests, she is taking no action. What does it show? Read between the lines.

Yes, there are changes in the atmosphere after the elections. But they are not sufficient. More changes are needed. To your question of whether talks can proceed unless our conditions are met, this can also be a process among many other processes. We also have to see what Mamata and other leaders are saying openly during their visit to Junglemahal.

Is it a realistic pre-condition to demand unconditional withdrawal of troops even before there is a declaration of ceasefire? Is not the first natural step a temporary suspension of operations on both sides?
In one way, we agree with your proposal. At first, the government can take steps for suspension of troop movement and secondly it can withdraw. But the government is misinforming the whole world by saying that there is no troop movement over here. We agree that the situation is different from the period when the CPMwas in power. In June and July, we did not notice any night ambush. But the troops are very much present and moving all around Junglemahal. Secondly, the forces include new counter-insurgency troops. This force is small and comprises 10-15 members. Along with the Cobra commandos, they are undertaking combing operations. Wherever they find information about us, they barricade the place within two hours. After 10 July, several police camps have been set up. In the name of patrolling, they enter villages and threaten people. They are restricting mass rallies by saying the new government wants peace, not such agitations. The forces also mention that they are quiet now as there has been a change in government, but they won’t tolerate it for long. Hence the propaganda of suspension of troop movement in Junglemahal is false. The troops are collecting information from enemy camps and acting accordingly. There are several villages that help us by giving food and shelter. The troops ransack those villages.

There may be a question of temporary troop suspension but unless and until the government approaches us specifically, it is not possible to respond. All factors for suspension of troops and ceasefire are not in the hands of the Maoists. The government has failed to make a favourable condition for ceasefire. This is the ground reality. Considering this, if Mamata still wants peace talks with the Maoists directly, or wants to send us any message, we have no problem. But at the same time, she must understand that peace is not a daily commodity available in the local market. Long lectures from the CM are not enough to address the question. Peace talks are a long process, Mamata should respect this. If the government is really honest in its effort for peace talks, we have no objection.

At what point will the Maoist party be willing to declare ceasefire and accept a mutual ‘cessation of hostilities’? Define exactly what you want the West Bengal government to state.
Mamata’s appointed committee led by Sujatro Bhadro can talk to us or meet us directly. But prior to that, the joint forces should stop harassing people. They should stop their illegal activities in the name of routine patrolling. The movement of counter-insurgency forces should be stopped. False cases against political prisoners should be withdrawn. If Mamata wants to do this through her review committee, we will wait. We are not supporting or boycotting this committee. Our demand is that Mamata unconditionally release all political prisoners and her network buildup should be stopped unconditionally. Only then can we think of peace talks.

There can be no unilateral ceasefire. We have never demanded it. If there is ceasefire, there should be a monitoring committee. It should have participation from both sides.

Keep it green Forest tracts in Salboni should be made no-go areas for industries, says Akash

Let both parties sit together. Before that, the mediators and interlocutors have to sit and discuss modalities. From the side of the government and the Maoists, we have to give power to the team to supervise the activities of the government, its forces and the ruling party. At the same time, from our side, we will cooperate with the supervising committee in all aspects to continue the peace, and any of the government’s so-called development activities.

The talks between our party and the government are not in the hands of just the West Bengal government. This is dealt with by Chidambaram. He is the most trusted member of the Manmohan government and the most trusted agent of the World Bank and Pentagon. Chidambaram says the state government has the power to deal with law and order issues. But the reality is different.

Take the example of Chhattisgarh where our party recently ambushed a Congress minister. Informing the Chhattisgarh CM, Chidambaram directly suspended the SP of the district. He has also directly suspended five IPS officers of Jharkhand. It shows that at any moment, at any cost, the Union home ministry will act. Hence the talks are not only in Mamata’s hands.

You have mentioned cessation of hostilities. We do not notice this in her approach. Since the elections, we have not administered any extreme punishment in the people’s court. Though the public has demanded extreme punishment for culprits, we convinced them against it. Why? We want to expose the character of the State in front of the people. Whoever is in power, whether it’s the TMC or the CPM, they murder whoever goes against them to suppress democratic voices. This differs from our ideology. You will not find a single instance in the past 11 years in Junglemahal where we have beaten someone to death. Both the police and administration let it pass as criminal activities of local goons. The scenario is the same in the reign of TMC as it was during CPM rule. These brutal hostilities among political parties actually expose what kind of democracy they want to preach. Our motive is to stop this hypocrisy. Has Chidambaram ever uttered a word against the brutality between TMC and CPM? He won’t because he has to strike a balance. Without it, he cannot carry on his war against the people.

What is your assessment of Mamata’s government so far? Do you see this as a pro-people government?
Mamata is a propagandist who is keen to establish her pro-people credentials. After coming to power, she announced a twomember committee headed by Rajya Sabha member Deboproto Bandhopadhyay. He has recommended that forest land be made no-go area for industries. Mamata should enact this. Instead of giving 1,000 acres in Salboni forests to the Jindal group, the government should announce forest land as non-industry zone.

But what is the TMC actually doing? It has formed the Kharagpur-Midnapore Development Authority with TMC district leader Mrigen Maity as the chairperson. He is continuously pursuing the Jindal group for industry in Salboni. Regarding Mamata’s land policy, we will comment after the parliamentary session.

There is a sense that inclusive and propeople development policies could make the Maoist party irrelevant in Junglemahal. What will be the key issues of your armed struggle?
This is propaganda. As the political, economic and social crises are getting deeper, the state is compelled to take pro-people stances, like the Congress in UP. The people of Junglemahal have consolidated themselves under our leadership for the past 11 years. This took place against the social fascism of the CPM and this is what resulted in the decline of the CPM raj. They key issue of our struggle is also development. For the past four years, we have been undertaking parallel development. We will continue this. Secondly, we want to resist State terrorism. Third, our agenda is to establish a democratic autonomous functioning of the panchayat. Next, our focus will be to resist oppression and the antipeople activities of the TMC.

Tusha Mittal is a Principal Correspondent with Tehelka. tusha@tehelka.com