Please find an item from Times of India(19-06-09), written by Jhimil Mukherjee Pandey:
KOLKATA: It's been just over three decades since the Naxalite uprising, but old-timers haven't forgotten the heady whiff of revolution. So, parallels are being drawn with the Lalgarh movement just as the Maoists have rattled the CPM government, the Naxalites, back in the '60s and '70s, had put the Congress government in a fix. There are similarities in the two operations. But yesteryear Naxalites don't think so. In fact, they brand the Lalgarh offensive a "misadventure". Many feel the time was not suitable for an armed offensive. According to them, it was the time for a democratic movement through which the masses could have been mobilised and demands placed. As the Left Front's losses in the Lok Sabha elections show, change is in the air. Had the democratic movement failed to get a better deal for the tribals, only then would an armed struggle be imperative. At this stage, it would just see innocent lives sacrificed without managing to get a fair deal for the masses, they feel. One of the most well-known faces of the Naxalite movement, Kanu Sanyal, felt that from the very beginning, the Lalgarh movement lacked the character of a mass uprising. This is the main difference with the Naxalite movement, which started off with farmers capturing land. The struggle revolved around keeping the land away from the state or the rich landowner. "Our agenda was fixed. We led the farmers from the forefront and were ready to die. So many of us got caught and killed, but it was for the cause of a revolution. But the Maoists are egging on the tribals of Lalgarh from the rear. When the state machinery strikes, they have their retreat route ready. Do you call this a revolution?" Sanyal asked. He still lives in Naxalbari in Darjeeling district and has been keenly following the developments in Lalgarh. "I had expected them to at least come up with a charter of demands for the people. Instead, they have always played on the emotions of the tribals by calling them a class. During the Naxalite movement we just had two classes the rich and the poor we didn't create such caste divides." All that the Maoists had done for the tribals was create a small armed group that would fight police while they themselves beat a retreat. The unarmed masses would be left to die, he feared. Another well-known Naxalite leader, Purnendu Basu, feels the Maoists are not good strategists. "They are using helpless tribals as bait to increase their influence. Several Naxalite leaders like Santosh Rana, Pradip Banerjee and Aditya Kisku, have been trying for the past year to visit them and start a dialogue. It would have actually helped the Maoists as these three leaders had led the struggle in the same zone in the 70s and could have shared their experiences and seen that there were no excesses," Basu added. Azizul Haq is upset with the way in which the Maoist movement is progressing in Lalgarh. "Listen to their leader Kishanji's interviews. He has himself said that Maoists helped oust Trinamool from Keshpur while he is now trying to oust CPM from Lalgarh. Are they hired goons or leaders of a mass movement?" Haq asked. He also questioned the new-found friendship between Maoists and Trinamool. "How can a movement like this find a friend in Trinamool that represents the remnants of feudalism? A party that has a leader who was the publicity officer in Voice of America against the Nicaragua struggle (Kabir Suman) will help Maoists in their pro-people struggle?" Haq asked cynically. He felt that the state operation at Lalgarh is nothing but big drama, which will help them escape. It might also see Maoist leaders take refuge in Trinamool leaders' homes initially and establish themselves elsewhere. On Jun 18, 12:29 pm, damodar prasad <[email protected]> wrote: > As we now it did not happen all of a sudden. Something really troubling. > Actually, "second liberation struggle" is happening in WB not in Kerala. The > rainbow coalition of TMC, Maoist with the support of Congress party perhaps > is behind the Lalgarh violence as alleged by CPM. But CPM is no saintly > crowd. Some argues that the violence is a reaction to CPM totalitarian > terror for the last many years. > But something terrible is happening in the rural WB as many studies > indicate. > Congress wants to depict this as mere Law and Order problem. The TMC demand > of dismissing WB govt. is alive. > > On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 12:40 PM, Santhosh Kumar < > > [email protected]> wrote: > > It is really unfortunate situation. All spectrum of Communist Parties using > > violence to their end, constitutional or extra constitutional - using state > > and outside state,against common people and their struggles. Violence > > breading and justifying violence. > > > On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 12:29 PM, damodar prasad <[email protected] > > > wrote: > > >> Hi, > > >> Cross-posting Aditya Nigam's write-up from Kafila > > >> *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<http://kafila.org/2009/04/22/lalgarh-media-and-the-maoists-monobina-g...>. > >> 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. > > >> 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<http://kafila.org/2008/10/19/maoist-disruption-of-the-non-violent-hum...>of > >> the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram and the wanton killings > >> by them in > >> Nayagarh<http://kafila.org/2008/02/22/condemnation-of-maoist-and-state-violenc...>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. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
