Text of the Left Front’s Memorandum Submitted to the Chief Minister

9th June, 2014

Hon’ble Shrimati Mamata Banerjee
Chief Minister, West Bengal Govt
Nabanna, 325 Sarat Chatterjee Road

Mandirtala, Howrah 711102.

Madam,

            Sub: Attack on Life, Livelihood and 
Democratic Right

First of all, let us thank you for allowing your valuable time to the representatives of the Left Front for this discussion.

For your information and necessary action, we cite below certain grave issues regarding a serious deterioration in the law-and order situation of the state and serial attacks on lives, livelihood, democratic rights and personal freedom of ordinary people of the state including opposition parties.

(1) Continuous attacks have been launched for the last three years on the democratic rights and the lives and livelihood of all sections of common people in the state including workers, peasants, employees and teachers. The situation has been rendered more complex by the unconcerned role of the police which is partial to the ruling party in most cases. Up till now, 157 Left leaders, workers and supporters have lost their lives in attacks by a type of lawless gangs enjoying the support of the ruling party. In the list of those killed there are people from all walks of life including 2 former MLAs, a Chairman of a Panchayat Samiti, former members of the three-tier panchayats, office-bearers, students, workers, peasants, agricultural labourers, women, the physically challenged, members of minority communities, scheduled castes and tribes.

(2) From the declaration of the schedule of the 16th Loksabha elections on 5th March 2014 to 12th May, the last phase of polling, 5 Left Front workers have been killed by miscreants belonging to the ruling party. After the declaration of results, 7 Left workers have been killed to date. On 16th May 2014, the very day election results were declared, a CPI (M) worker Kajal Sheikh (45) was beaten to death at Manteswar in Burdwan district. At Mahul village of Ketugram 1 block in the same district, former panchayat member of CPI(M), Ashmira Begam (35) was killed on 21st May, Hashim Sheikh, RSP  worker, was killed on 6th June in Basanti area of South 24 Parganas, and only yesterday, 8th June, CPI (M) worker Saidul Bhuiyan was killed, all by Trinamool Congress miscreants. Under their attacks, at least 8785 persons have been injured and hospitalised. Attacks with intent to kill are going on unchecked in different places of the state including Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Maldaha, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Burdwan and Birbhum districts.

(3) In different districts of the state, attacks on houses of Left Front workers, looting, arson, terror etc. are taking place extensively. Attacks on livelihood are also continuing. Cattle, poultry, fishes in ponds, agricultural produce and seeds also have been looted. In some places, bargadars and pattadars have also been ejected and deprived of rights. This has at least 27283 persons and 9811.83 acres of land. Many incidents of peasants being prevented from tilling the land or harvesting are taking place. People are being prevented from going to their workplaces, including educational institutions, because they participated in election campaigns against the Trinamool Congress or even because they voted against them; shops and establishments of many Left Front activists-supporters-sympathisers have been forcibly closed down. The same reasons have led to disconnection of electricity and water supply which amounts to violation of human rights. At least 48382 persons have been evicted from their houses up till now, about 6152 houses damaged, looted or burnt down. So far, at least 9529 persons have been pressurised or intimidated to part with ransoms totalling 27 crore 87 lakh and 8 thousand rupees, levied by the miscreants.

(4) 1365 offices of Left Front parties and 398 offices of mass organisations have been ransacked, looted or forcibly occupied by miscreants of the ruling party. The constitutional rights of Left parties and mass organisations to carry on their activities are thus being taken away.

(5) On the one hand, Left Front leaders and workers are being terrorised by attacks and intimidations; on the other hand, false cases are being filed against Left activists. Even when someone is killed or injured in an internal fight of Trinamool Congress, it has become customary to charge leaders and workers of the Left Front and lock them up. They are part of a list of 5732 persons involved in false cases, all Left leaders or workers. When attacked activists go to the police stations, often their complaints are not recorded. On the contrary, the victims themselves are detained and harassed with false cases. Recently, elected members of panchayats and other Left activists are being arrested and harassed with false charges under several sections including the Arms Act; using the police force, elected members are being pressurised to resign. The deliberate aloofness and partiality of the police administration has helped the local leaders of the ruling party in exerting pressure in different ways on plaintiffs to terrorise and force them to withdraw criminal cases, even murder cases (Jharna Mandi and Sumana Mandi, Dhaniakhali PS, Hooghly, case no 24 dt. 23.02.2009).

(6) Incidents of assaults, molestation and rape of women and violation of their modesty are on the increase in the state. The administration has looked on helplessly while 291 women have been raped so far, 675 have been molested, 1035 physically assaulted. In a majority of cases, the police took no steps against the criminals. 

(7) Those attacked during the 16th Loksabha elections include Basudeb Acharia, Member of the CPI(M) Central Committee and candidate for Bankura PC, Tapas Sinha, candidate for Kanthi PC, Archana Biswas, candidate for Ranaghat PC, and CPI leader Prabodh Panda, candidate for Medinipur PC. Apart from this Forward Bloc leader and legislator Udayan Guha has been attacked in Coochbehar, CPI(M) legislator Rameswar Dolui in Paschim Medinipur and former legislators Tapas Chattopadhyay and Samar Hazra in Burdwan. In none of these cases did the police administration display any alacrity or effort in taking appropriate action against the criminals.

(8) In holding meetings, conventions and rallies, the opposition is facing a prejudiced treatment by the state government, police and administration when seeking their permission and opposition parties are being subjected to virtual discrimination when seeking permission for the use of government auditoriums.The opposition parties are also subject to a biased attitude when seeking statutory permission to use government guest houses.

(9) The intervention of the ruling party has spread a chaotic influence on schools, colleges and universities, at every stage of education. The face of the education sector in the state is being blackened by incidents like the political control of the ruling party in educational institutions, serial attacks on teachers, pupils and staff, the grabbing of managing committees and students’ unions by the ruling party, the dishonest control over admissions, forcible extraction of money in different ways and encouragement of copying during examinations. Violent incidents, even death, have marked students’ union elections. A police officer died when he was shot in Kolkata. The 23-year old student Sudipto Gupta participated in a democratic movement and died in police custody. The just demand for a judicial inquiry into this matter is yet to be accepted by the government.

It is worth mentioning in this connection that the Left Front legislature party also has drawn your attention to the above issues again and again. In spite of that no positive move has been made on behalf of the government.

Madam,

Secularism and democracy in West Bengal are seriously jeopardised by the continuous attacks on the Left in the state. Even ordinary individuals, peace-loving and democratic, are not exempt from such attacks. Some instances of such attacks on the livelihood, democratic rights and individual freedom of the common people have been mentioned above. Some more incidents are cited in annexures to this letter.
In such a complex situation in the state, for the restoration of peace, order and democratic rights, and for the protection of unity, solidarity and harmony, we request you to take immediate and effective steps regarding the following demands.

DEMANDS:

1. All necessary measures for the protection of democracy, personal freedom and human rights, including the right of the Left, other opposition and each citizen to protest and to criticise, must be taken in the state immediately.

2. Stop assault, murder, terror and plunder and harshly punish the criminals involved.

3. Stop the attacks on the lives and livelihood of common people including workers, employees, professionals, teachers, peasants and agricultural labourers.

4. False cases forced on workers and supporters of political parties and on common people must be withdrawn immediately. Every evicted person must be brought back home. Security must be provided to offices of all opposition political parties including the Left and those of mass organisations; rights of holding meetings and conferences must be secured.

5. Harsh punishment must be given to those guilty of assaults on women, rape, molestation and murder. Police officials guilty of neglecting duties must be punished.

6. The police administration must overcome political pressure in the interests of law and order and take strict steps against criminals.

7. Effective steps must be taken to keep communal harmony in the state intact. All-party meetings at all levels including the state and district levels must be held to maintain peace, order, unity, solidarity and harmony.

8. The educational institutions must be freed from chaos. A healthy democratic environment must be maintained in elections of managing committees and students’ unions. The admission system for pupils must be merit-based and transparent.  The security of everyone concerned must be provided in educational institutions. Steps must immediately be taken to hold a judicial inquiry into the custodial death of Sudipto Gupta.

With thanks

Sd/-

Biman Basu
Chairman

Communist Party of India (Marxist)   Sd/- Rabin Deb

All India Forward Bloc    Sd/- Jayanta Roy

Revolutionary Socialist Party    Sd/- Kshiti Goswami
Communist Party of India    Sd/- Manju Kumar Majumder

Democratic Socialist Party    Sd/- Ratan Majumder

Revolutionary Communist Party of India  Sd/- Mihir Bain

Marxist Forward Bloc     Sd/- Kuheli Chatterjee

Biplabi Bangla Congress    Sd/- Umesh Chowdhury

Workers’  Party     Sd/- Saibal Chatterjee

Bharatiya Bolshevik Party    Sd/- Prabir Ghosh

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