That only goes to show the opportunism of the Maoists. After all, Mamata is a Minister in the UPA Government that is conducting Green Hunt! Of course, Kishenji has long ago declared that Mamata ought to be the next CM of W Bengal... Maoists should drop their claims of 'poll boycott' and so-called disdain for parliamentary politics, and should openly own and explain such alliances with ruling class parties.
On 10 August 2010 10:22, Sukla Sen <[email protected]> wrote: > [It is quite interesting to note how Ms. Mamata Banerjee, till the other > day widely perceived as a fascist hood in the broad Left circles in Bengal > and not without good reasons, is getting metamorphosed into a darling of a > section of it - the Maoists, to be specific.] > > I/III. > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mamata-to-maoists-just-wait-cpm-will-be-out-i-will-bring-development/658401/0 > > Mamata to Maoists: Just wait, CPM will be out, I will bring development > *Subrata Nagchoudhury* Posted online: Tue Aug 10 2010, 04:32 hrs > *Lalgarh : *Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today issued a “peace” > message to the Maoists and combined it with her pressing need to make > inroads in the Naxal heartland, a CPM bastion where her Trinamool Congress > has had little electoral success so far. > > Addressing a mammoth rally in Lalgarh in West Midnapore district this > afternoon, she urged the Maoists: “Tell me what you demand. Give a time. > Tell me the place and I am ready to initiate the peace process.” > > She asked Maoists and tribals in Lalgarh to spell out clearly what they > wanted. If they wanted schools, colleges, hospitals, roads, she said, that > would be ensured. “Just wait for a few more months and the Marxists will be > out of power. I promise to bring development here. If you want jobs, I can > set up a railway factory in Lalgarh to provide jobs to the unemployed.” > > On the July 2 killing of Maoist spokesperson Azad in an encounter with the > Andhra police, Banerjee said: “I believe Azad had been murdered. It was > unjust. But peace talks should be started... I pay my respect and tribute to > Azad.” > > She said she was ready to visit Dantewada in Chhattisgarh and was ready to > talk to the Maoists there too. She invited Swami Agnivesh, Medha Patekar and > other national leaders to visit Lalgarh and “areas of strife in West > Bengal.” > > At the same time, she tried to distance herself from Maoist violence and > bloodshed. “I have no support for those Maoists who are killing people. I do > have the guts to tell them standing here in Lalgarh that I do not support > them. On this historic day of Quit India movement, the people of Lalgarh > must take a pledge that terror has to quit Lalgarh,” she said. > > The Maoists will have to seek a solution to their problems through > Constitutional and democratic means, she said. “We have won battles in > Singur and Nandigram through peaceful means. And we can do it in Lalgarh.” > > If she was critical of Maoists indulging in the politics of killing, she > renewed her demand for withdrawal of joint operations in the region. “It is > only helping the CPM,” she said. “The CPM cadres are carrying out raids in > CRPF and police fatigues in the region and capturing villages. The leaders > at the Centre were being misled and fed wrong information,” Banerjee > alleged. > > Clearly, with this rally — after 13 months — Banerjee is testing the > political waters. In the 42 Assembly seats that cover the Naxal heartland of > West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, her party has none. Even in the > Panchayat elections and the 2009 Lok Sabha where she rode an anti-CPM wave, > the Trinamool made hardly a dent here. > > With her eyes firmly set on the 2011 Assembly polls, this is one region she > can hardly ignore. > > She even asked one of the most trusted lieutenants, Subhendu Ahikari, MP > from Tamluk, to take on the “Marxist challenge” in CPM bastions Lalgarh, > Jhargram and Salboni. > > She said she was ready to visit Chhattisgarh and Dantewada suggesting that > she was ready to talk to the Maoists there too. She invited Swami Agnivesh, > Medha Patekar and other national leaders to visit Lalgarh and “areas of > strife in West Bengal.” > > II. > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PCPA-steals-the-thunder-at-Didis-roadshow/articleshow/6284834.cms > > PCPA steals the thunder at Didi's roadshowCaesar Mandal, TNN, Aug 10, > 2010, 03.26am IST > LALGARH: As expected, Mamata Banerjee's > Lalgarh<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Lalgarh> rally > turned out to be a > PCPA<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=PCPA> show, > every mile of the way. The Maoist-backed outfit showed its might and reach, > marshalling foot soldiers from the remotest of villages, teaching the famed > Trinamool > Congress<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Trinamool%20Congress>machinery > a thing or two about crowd management. > > The white-and-green PCPA flags far outnumbered Trinamool flags in the > 60,000-strong rally. What's more, wanted PCPA leaders — including Asit > Mahato, who carries a reward of Rs 1 lakh for the Jnaneswari > Express<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Jnaneswari%20Express> > carnage, > and spokesperson Manoj Mahato — led huge processions to the venue, sending > police into a flutter. > > Busloads of PCPA supporters, shouting 'Mamata Banerjee zindabad', streamed > into Lalgarh all day and well into the evening, even after Mamata had > finished her speech and the rally had wound up. Trinamool leaders went into > a tizzy on seeing their supporters hopelessly outnumbered. Party MP > > Subhendu Adhikary was heard announcing in a desperate manner: "This is an > apolitical rally. We ask everyone to lower their party flags and banners." > > In the morning, police had done their best to corner the PCPA. Villages > were raided to prevent PCPA from mobilizing villagers. Teams went looking > for Asit and Manoj but the duo was already in Purnapani village by then, > hardly 2km from the venue. Trinamool leaders waiting at the school grounds > got a shock when they saw the PCPA flags in the first procession to reach > the spot. That was just the beginning. > > With their big drums, the Jangalmahal locals announced their resounding > presence. The Trinamool crowd had been mainly brought in from East Midnapore > and other South Bengal districts, but most of them were caught in a massive > traffic jam in Jhitka forest, caused mainly by the flood of PCPA supporters. > It was almost surreal to see jhitka, a > Maoist<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Maoist> den > that has seen much bloodshed, jam-packed with honking vehicles. The road > through the forest is generally deserted all day, or sometimes dotted with > burning trucks. > > Police managed to stop some of the rallies, mainly in Jhargram. PCPA worker > Sushil Mahato was arrested near Lodhashuli while organizing a procession. > Three others were rounded up near the rally venue. "Sushil was nabbed in > Nischintapur village. He was arrested earlier but had fled from custody. The > three others were picked up from Gohmidanga village. They are accused of > extortion," West Midnapore SP Manoj Varma said. > > Manoj Mahato accused police of trying every means to thwart the rally. "In > areas where police cannot find anyone to arrest, they are asking vehicle > owners and drivers not to provide us cars," he alleged when TOI spotted him > in Purnapani. > > III. > http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/10/stories/2010081062351000.htm > > *Mamata's show of strength at what cost to Congress at Centre?* > > Smita Gupta > > New Delhi: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's public rally at Lalgarh in > West Bengal on Monday has put the ruling Congress at the Centre in a spot: a > Union Minister acknowledged that his party would have to “pay a heavy price” > for her show of strength, backed as it was by the People's Committee Against > Police Atrocities (PCPA), which is a front for Maoists — and whose leader, > Chattradhar Mahato, is currently behind bars. > > Political compulsions are forcing the UPA government, currently putting > together a strategy to take on the Maoist domination of a swathe of the > country — which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the single > largest internal security threat — to turn a blind eye to Ms. Banerjee's > association with the PCPA. For, the Congress is dependent on her party, > Trinamool Congress' 19 MPs for the government's survival. > > Ms. Banerjee's oblique attack on the UPA government at the rally, when she > criticised the recent killing in an encounter of Maoist spokesperson > Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, is also an embarrassment to the government. > Pointing out that social activist Swami Agnivesh, the interlocutor between > the government and the Maoists, had persuaded Azad to agree to talks, she > stressed, “I feel the way Azad was killed is not right. He had reposed faith > in the democratic process.” > > The police claimed that Azad, No. 3 in the Maoist hierarchy, had died > during a firefight with the security forces in the jungles of Adilabad in > the Congress-ruled A.P. > > The Congress' dilemma on Monday was only too evident. Privately, party > leaders were critical of Ms. Banerjee's rally; for the record, party > spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said: “The Congress has extended moral support to > the rally as intellectuals, writers, artists and others are working for > restoration of peace in the area.” He, however, dodged all questions on the > role of the PCPA and the Maoists in mobilising people for the rally. > Meanwhile, the Congress' State unit members, who were not invited for the > rally, are upset at the position that they have been placed in. > > “The government has a holistic approach to deal with the Maoists,” Mr Ahmed > said. “If there are genuine grievances, those should be removed, if there > are perceived grievances, the perception should be removed, if development > is needed, it should be carried out but if some people believe in the cult > of the gun, they should be firmly dealt with.” > > The rally also provided the Left parties with an opportunity to score some > political points in the Lok Sabha, where their leaders asked the Centre to > clarify its stand on the Maoists as a “responsible party in the government > and its Ministers” had decided to organise the event in Lalgarh. > > ** > > > -- > Peace Is Doable > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Green Youth Movement" group. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<greenyouth%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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