*After CPM goonda raj against people, now the turn of maoist RED TERROR*
**
**
*The CPM office at Lalgarh being vandalised by supporters of the Police
Santras Birodhi Public Committee. On Tuesday. - AFP*
Maoists rule, state stirs
Central forces head to Lalgarh after govt call
PRONAB MONDAL IN LALGARH AND OUR BUREAU (Above) Lakshmi Mahato
surrenders a gun on behalf of her husband Ashis Mahato, a CPM worker who was
nowhere to be seen after Maoists took control of Dharampur, to a
representative of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities. (Below)
The Lalgarh police station where the cops locked themselves in on Tuesday.
Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha
June 16: The Bengal government today called central forces to Lalgarh but
did not declare if they would be sent into action against Maoists who
enforced their writ through the day like a militia in a conquered territory.
The Maoists ransacked and burnt a CPM zonal committee office in Lalgarh,
imposed conditions for the return of villagers to Dharampur and oversaw the
“surrender of arms” by CPM cadres involved in the gun battle that had raged
over the weekend.
Police made the Maoists’ task easier, continuing to stay away from even the
outskirts of the “liberated zone” in West Midnapore.
The rebels also warned that after Dharampur, the “occupied” belt 11km from
Lalgarh, it would be the turn of adjoining Salboni “to get a feel of the
wrath of the people” if the CPM tried to put up any “resistance”.
By evening, the state government sought to address charges of inaction by
announcing that it had sought five companies (around 600 personnel) of the
CRPF from the Centre. In Delhi, the CPM politburo also called upon the
Centre to “rush the required number of paramilitary forces” as requested by
the state government.
“One company of central armed forces has reached the state and is already on
its way to the Lalgarh area which saw renewed violence in the last couple of
days,” chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said at Writers’ Buildings.
“We had asked for five companies of armed forces from the Centre but have
received one so far. More forces will be sent in shortly. We have to
understand that it is not always possible for Delhi to sanction whatever
states ask for immediately.”
<javascript:MM_openBrWindow('../../images/17minbig.jpg','ThumbNail','resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,width=500,height=400')>
Official sources did not give any indication whether the political
leadership had given the go-ahead for tough action. The CPM state
secretariat meeting discussed the issue for three hours this evening but did
not announce any step specific to Lalgarh.
However, a CPM statement urged citizens to come out for
*pratibad-pratirodh*(protest and resistance) — considered a euphemism
for strikeback. But party
sources said the call to retaliate was addressed more at cadres in
strongholds like Burdwan which has witnessed murders blamed on the Trinamul
Congress.
The sources said the final decision on using force in Lalgarh was unlikely
to be taken before the chief minister meets the Prime Minister in Delhi on
Friday.
Had the state government wanted to launch an operation earlier, some central
forces were available in the state. The chief secretary said that “around
seven companies” of central forces were already working in the state. Asked
if the administration is taking a “soft stance”, Chakrabarti said: “We are
doing what we think is best to return normality in the area as soon as
possible.”
On the outskirts of Lalgarh, the Maoists used the day to further tighten
their grip. About 5,000 residents of Dharampur, for 30 years a CPM bastion,
returned to their homes today from neighbouring areas where they had taken
shelter.
Party supporter Biswajit Mahato said the Maoists had “sent word to us that
if we joined” the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities and backed
their movement, “we could return home and live peacefully”. “Since all our
CPM leaders had fled and accepted defeat, we decided to accept the terms set
by the Maoists.”
After the villagers returned to Dharampur, a dozen CPM cadres surrendered
their arms to representatives of the People’s Committee Against Police
Atrocities.
Later in the evening, committee leader Chhatradhar Mahato warned at a rally
in Lalgarh bazaar attended by 20,000 people that Salboni could be the next
target.
“We have information that the CPM in Salboni is bringing in arms and men
from Panskura (a CPM stronghold in East Midnapore). I’m warning them they
will face the same fate as the people of Dharampur if they don’t stop their
designs to hit at us,” Mahato said.
CPI (Maoist) spokesperson Gour Chakraborty later said: “We have been with
the committee and wherever armed resistance is required, we’ll be there with
them.”
After the meeting, as the crowd dispersed, about 2,000 people converged on
the Lalgarh CPM office and ransacked it.
*From The Telegraph*
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Green Youth Movement" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
