Nandigram Myths Decoded: CBI Calls the Bluff

By Nilotpal Basu

HISTORY is cruel; in its own way, it squares up the truth. Seven years back, a rural tract in West Bengal – Nandigram – shot to prominence.  It resonated across the country. The cyber world took it beyond the national boundary and drew international attention. Political observers attributed electoral nemesis of the three decade electoral sway of the Left to the developments in Nandigram.  Nandigram was seen as the ‘diabolical’ anti-peasant face of the Left in Bengal. And overall, it contributed to undermine the credibility of the Indian Left.

What was the background of the unfortunate developments that unfolded in Nandigram in the early days of 2007?  The government of West Bengal in its attempt to industrialize the state had zeroed in on the Petroleum Investment Region scheme mooted by the central government; taking advantage of incentives of the scheme to facilitate the petroleum investment hub where Nandigram would be the core. The requirement for the scheme was a large amount of land.  The locational advantage of Nandigram was its proximity to port city Haldia and existing oil refinery and petro-chemical complex. These existing facilities provided important infrastructure to locate the petroleum investment zone. That agricultural land in Nandigram suffered from salinity, forcing people to migrate for work was another factor which weighed in favour of developing industrial activities in the region.

However, the decision of Left Front government did not find major support from the people. A major factor which affected the mood of the people was the lack of communication. The comprehensive consultative exercise which ought to have helped galvanise popular opinion for industrial activity failed to fructify. And this communication deficit was compounded by a tendentious propaganda blitz by the opposition. A rainbow coalition emerged to oppose acquisition of land for the project.

Taking advantage of the uncertainty that emerged, the broad platform virtually took physical control over the proposed project land. The platform took to violence; digging up roads and blowing up bridges, the entire area went out of the writ of the state government. The law and order situation became captive to these forces. Several killings ensured that discourse on the industrialization agenda could not reach the people. Discussion and debate towards any informed conclusion was the casualty.  

CATCH-22 SITUATION

It was a catch-22 situation for the state government. Given the broad opposition to the project and the related issue of land acquisition, it became clear that without concurrence of people, it was impossible to go ahead with the project; notwithstanding its importance in the overall context of the industrialization agenda. Thus, between January and March 2007, atmosphere of uncertainty and anarchy prevailed in the area.  In February itself, the state government and the chief minister announced that there will be no land acquisition against wishes of the people.  But despite that, the opposition was unrelenting and carried on their violent and lawless ways making the area incommunicado to the state government. The state government was found helpless in ensuring the right of the entrapped citizens. 

And, this was the backdrop of 14th March 2007. A police party which entered the area to restore communication to re-establish rule of law was confronted with. The consequent unfortunate police firing and related incidents resulted in the loss of 14 persons; widespread condemnation against ‘forcible acquisition’ followed.

Nandigram became the symbol around which opposition to the Left government galvanized.  From Maoists on the Left to communal forces of all hues on the Right combined. With TMC spearheading the opposition, its supremo and present chief minister Mamata Banerjee shot into national fame. She became the icon of the anti-Left forces not only nationally but also internationally. Those who were pathologically opposed to the Left catapulted her to lead against hitherto electorally invincible Left; so much so, that she featured on the cover of Time magazine.

Ironically, the Left in India, which had been in the forefront of the struggle for agrarian reforms and land redistribution, was shown as having betrayed that legacy. The overall neo-liberal policy environment featuring large-scale takeover of agricultural land by corporate sharks came to be equated with what happened in Nandigram on the 14th of March.

Of course, there have been several reasons which led to the setback of the Left in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections in 2011; but Nandigram was widely seen as the trigger which set out the course for undermining the credibility of the Left. 

Much as they attempted to explain their approach, the Left failed in getting its message across. Even before the Left Front government could order any independent probe into the firing on 14th March, the Kolkata High Court, at the insistence of the opposition, ordered a CBI probe.

LF GOVT VINDICATED

Finally, the propaganda blitz that led to institution of CBI probe has come full circle. On 18th December 2013, the CBI, after almost seven years of investigation, filed a chargesheet before the court.  The findings could not be any greater indictment of the then opposition led by TMC and its mercurial leader Mamata Banerjee. The CBI findings completely vindicate what the Left government had contended at that point of time.

The CBI chargesheet reveals – “Investigation has disclosed that efforts were made by the district administration and the police officers to normalize the situation in Nandigram. Many meetings were organized between the administration, leaders of the opposition parties and BUPC”; Bhumi Uchhhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) being the umbrella organisation spearheaded by the TMC which led the agitation in Nandigram. But, the CBI has now opined that –“However, there was no visible improvement in the law and order situation which remained out of control for the District Civil and Police administration”.

Detailing about how bad the situation was between January and March, 2007, the chargesheet states -“During this period at least 56 FIRs were registered at Nandigram and Khejuri police stations relating to violence, arson, loot and murder etc. The period also witnessed death of 11 persons and injuries to at least 25 persons due to these clashes. A police Sub Inspector namely Sadhu Charan Chatterjee was kidnapped and killed by the mob, police jeeps were burnt and police weapons were looted. The cases registered could not be investigated by the local police as the local police were unable to enter into the villages during this period”.

The chargesheet comprehensively calls the bluff that the police entry was ‘clandestine’. The chargesheet categorically states that - “On 12.03.2007, the state home secretary briefed the press, in which he informed them about the proposed police action in Nandigram”. Subsequently, “it was decided that the police operation would be conducted on 14.03.2007 at three places in Nandigram”.

The firing was ‘after all attempts to disperse the crowd’ who blocked the police entry through requests over PA system, lathicharge, firing of tear gas and firing in the air ‘failed’.

The chargesheet also nails down the claim that there were hundreds of people killed, with gory charges of children and women being torn apart and their bodies smuggled out. The chargesheet categorically points out that ‘opposition consciously spread rumours’ and ‘organised armed men’ to take on police which led to the unfortunate firing.  As if to add salt to injury, the CBI rejected the plea of the TMC that the political leadership of the Left was responsible.  In fact, despite these findings, the current state government and the chief minister has refused to allow CBI to proceed against police and civil officials whom they found to violate some procedures, insisting that Left leadership must be investigated.

The CBI is no ‘holy cow’. Neither has it done anything spectacular to erase the impression that it is not insulated from political interference having earned the description of ‘caged parrot’.  But, TMC and Ms Banerjee have forgotten that for almost six and a half years during which the CBI was carrying out its investigation, it was they who were in company with the ruling Congress – both in the state and the centre.  The state government had every opportunity to inform CBI towards an ‘informed conclusion’ in course of last almost three years; not to forget that this CBI investigation on firing in Nandigram was essentially at their own behest. 

Therefore, it is an irony that truth has finally come through the CBI chargesheet. Those who had chronicled contemporary events during that period will hopefully revisit conclusions that they had drawn on Nandigram – and, more importantly, on the Left and its intentions.

More Evidence, Mr Chidambaram?

MAOISTS ARRESTED FROM TMC CAMP IN MIDNAPORE

By Special Correspondent
People’s Democracy, February 06, 2011

KOLKATA: TRINAMUL Congress-‘Maoist’ nexus in West Bengal has been exposed once again after the Joint forces arrested two ‘Maoist’ activists from a Trinamul camp on 31 January. TMC turned a guest house “Rajeev Nilaya”, run by Midnapore Municipalty, into a camp of their party. The camp, situated in Midnapore town was a shelter for TMC activists operating in jangal mahal area.

On a tip off, the security forces arrested Asim Mahato and Amiya Mahato, both accused in several cases of murder and ‘Maoist’ attacks, from the camp. When the security forces moved in for a search of the camp, TMC activists resisted. They were soon joined in by TMC leaders from the town, including the chairman of the municipality run by TMC-Congress combine. In the chaos that followed at least four other ‘Maoists’ fled.

Blocked by TMC men, the security forces resorted to lathi charge and some journalists were also injured in the commotion. TMC chief and railway minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to Midnapore, probably for preventing further raids.

This incident took place just 24 hours before the chief ministers’ meeting on internal security in Delhi. In the meeting itself, both prime minister and union home minister sharply criticised the ‘Maoists’ and maintained that the threat from this violent force remained as dangerous as before. While they were stressing on increased co-ordination between centre and the states to effectively counter the Maoists, their cabinet colleague was furiously challenging the role of security forces.

Amiya Mahato (alias Lachchu) and Asim Mahato (alias Baichung), who were slapped with charges of conspiracy and other charges under the Arms Act, were produced under high security in the court of Midnapore chief judicial magistrate the next day. The magistrate remanded them to police custody for two days. According to police, Asim Mahato used to act as a courier for the elusive ‘Maoist’ top leader Kishenji and Amiya Mahato was a Maoist squad member and accused in several cases. According to police, several letters of senior ‘Maoist’ leaders including four from Kishenji were recovered from them. Amiya Mahato was a member of erstwhile Sidhu Soren squad of ‘Maoists’. He was injured earlier in a gun battle with joint forces in the jungle near Ranja, in which Sidhu himself was killed. Amiya was involved in several murder cases in West Midnapore. They were also involved with gruesome attack on security forces in Shilda in February last year in which 22 jawans were killed.

According to the reports, one of the leading ‘Maoist’ Kanchan Deb Sinha also spent days in that particular camp of TMC. Deb Sinha was later arrested.

CPI(M) and the chief minister have alleged many times in the past that the most crucial factor in the violence in jangal mahal was the nexus between ‘Maoists’ and a constituent partner of UPA. Two days prior to the Midnapore raid, TMC and PCPA, a frontal organisation of ‘Maoists’ held a joint rally in Lalgarh. The rally was addressed among others by Mukul Roy and Shishir Adhikary, both union ministers. The flags of both TMC and PCPA were put up on the dais itself. It may be noted, PCPA members are the prime accused in CBI chargesheet in Gyaneswari Express sabotage.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhatacharjee has warned that appropriate administrative actions would be taken against those who were providing shelters to ‘Maoist’ murderers. "The state government will no longer wait. We will take action immediately on the basis of evidence of Trinamul's link with the ‘Maoists’ which are tumbling out one after the other," he said.

Bhattacharjee said he would inform union home minister P Chidambaram about the Trinamul-‘Maoist’ nexus which had once again been confirmed after the arrest of two Maoists from a Trinamul-run camp in West Midnapore district, calling the incident "dangerous".

"I have asked them not to keep any relation with the killer ‘Maoists’. We want peace, development and industry in the state," he said. He told he would remind Chidambaram of what kind of party the UPA coalition had at the centre, asserting that even two days back Trinamul Congress had held a meeting with the ‘Maoists’ at Lalgarh.

"They want to facilitate the spread of the ‘Maoists’ throughout the state, causing concern for the people who will never allow this," Bhattacharjee said

There has been a meticulously motivated campaign about the so-called ‘armed camps’ of CPI(M) in jangal mahal. Even the union home minister joined in the campaign and wrote three letters to chief minister on this issue in December 2010. The joint forces have actually raided CPI(M) offices, the relief camps of homeless people, houses of CPI(M) leaders and activists for last few days. TMC even submitted a ‘list’ of places to be searched in Kolkata High Court and the court supplied the list to security forces. More than 80 places have been thoroughly searched. The IG, CRPF, T G B Rao has told the media that no arms have been found in these searches of CPI(M) places. Interestingly, there was no resistance from CPI(M) in any place during the raids. The question arises: why were the security forces challenged and blocked in Midnapore TMC camp?

However, after the incident in Netai on 7 January, 10 CPI(M) activists have been killed in renewed attacks by ‘Maoist’-TMC combine. Many houses have been burnt and destroyed by blasts.

Reminding about these incidents and the arrest of ‘Maoists’ from the TMC camp, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and MP, Sitaram Yechury, in a letter addressed to union home minister has stated, "One cannot escape an uneasy feeling that the noise over the 'armed camps' has helped the brazen activities of the Trinamul-‘Maoist’ nexus."

Does Mr Chidambaram need more evidence?

Sitaram Yechury’s Letter to Home Minister on TMC-Maoist Nexus

Date: 1 February 2011

CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member and Rajya Sabha MP, Sitaram Yechury, has in a letter written to the Home Minister, Shri P Chidambaran drawn attention to yet another serious development regarding the Maoist-TMC nexus in West Bengal. The full text of the letter is given below:
*****************

February 1, 2011

Shri P. Chidambaram
Minister for Home Affairs
Government of India
New Delhi

Dear Shri Chidambaramji,

In continuation of our communication on behalf of the Left parties and other secular opposition parties with you on January 6, 2011, I am compelled to draw your attention to yet another serious development regarding the Maoist-TMC nexus in West Bengal.

Yesterday, January 31, the police forces in West Bengal had raided the so-called relief camp run by the Trinamul Congress at the Municipal Guest House in Midnapur town of West Midnapur district. Two Maoist squad members – Amiya Mahato and Asim Mahato – were arrested. Both these have several cases against them. Particularly, both of them are said to have been involved in the attack on the EFR camp in Silda where over two dozens of EFR jawans were gruesomely murdered by the Maoists. One of them also was very close to Kishanji and acted as his personal guard and courier.

More startling is the fact that the Trinamul Congress leadership with its local activists tried their level best to stop the police in their action to nab the wanted Maoist squad members. Not only that, your colleague the Hon’ble Railway Minister has tried to trivialize the Silda massacre in her effort to shield these Maoist killers by disputing their Maoist credentials.

In the run-up to the coming Assembly elections, the Maoist-TMC nexus has become brazenly pronounced. Today, we have heard you speaking out against the Maoists underlining the danger they pose to democracy, peace and people’s right to life. You have also mentioned the ghastly Gyaneswari episode which claimed 150 innocent lives. Trinamul’s vile attempt to defame the CPI(M) for the tragedy is repudiated by CBI chargesheet making clear how the nexus operates. Couple of days back, in a meeting organized by the TMC, some of the Union Ministers like Shri Shishir Adhikari were also present. The media has reported the presence of PCPA activists – their banners and flags in the meeting. We would like to recollect that on the floor of the Rajya Sabha itself, you had designated the PCPA as a front organisation of the Maoists.

In the background of all this, yesterday’s incident sends out a chilling message that one constituent of the ruling coalition at the Centre is in league with the Maoists. So much so that the highest leadership of that party is doing everything to aid, abet and facilitate joint operation with forces that the Prime Minister designates as the `single biggest threat to internal security’.

Further, the CRPF search operations in all those so-called “armed camps” as listed by the opposition in the court have revealed no “arms”. But only people who have been evicted from their home and hearth were found in those camps who are being listed by the security forces.

One cannot escape an uneasy feeling that the noise over the “armed camps” has helped the brazen activities of the TMC-Maoist nexus.

This is for your kind information.

Anticipating your response.

(Sitaram Yechury)
Member, Polit Bureau
MP, Leader, Rajya Sabha

Violence in Lalgarh: The Truth Behind

THERE is now enough ground to conclude that the January 7 incident in Netai village in Lalgarh was pre-planned. For the last two years, many families in Netai were forced to leave the village. It was a kind of a den of the Maoists and the so-called People’s Committee. The villagers were tortured in many ways and a number of CPI(M) cadre were killed. In Lalgarh block alone, 72 CPI(M) activists were killed in the last two tears.

On December 31, 2010, a mammoth meeting of the CPI(M) was held in Lalgarh after nearly two years. Nearly a lakh people participated. It was the height of people’s desperate resistance to the Maoists. Many villagers from Netai participated in the meeting though the village itself is still dominated by the TMC-and the People’s Committee. After the meeting, the homeless people started to come back.

It is now reported that on January 6 night, a group of Maoists and trained cadre of the People’s Committee entered the village. They were led by one Tanmoy Roy, a TMC activist. He was the bike driver of Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of People’s Committee, now in jail. On January 7 morning, a team of Maoists along with TMC cadre attacked the houses of those who had returned. It was naturally resisted, resulting in clashes. According to the DIG (Western Range), Anil Kumar, there was “exchange of fire.” According to eye witnesses, the armed group that started the attack began to fire indiscriminately, killing and injuring many villagers. It is evident that they were instructed to fire randomly. What they wanted was dead bodies, not necessarily of whom. The post mortem report of at least three persons suggested that they were fired from the back side. Seven people were killed and 18 injured.

As a part of the anti-CPI(M) maligning campaign, they are now seeking to present the incident in a different way --- as if the villagers had encircled a house where ‘armed’ CPI(M) cadre had gathered and then the latter fired upon the unarmed villagers from inside the house or from the rooftop. It is a travesty of truth. If it had been so, many villagers won’t have died after receiving bullets from the backside. After the incident, moreover, the mediapersons who visited the village noted a large number of bullet marks on the walls of the house where the CPI(M) cadre had allegedly collected and also on the walls of the neighbouring houses. This indicates that in fact it is the CPI(M) cadre who were fired upon; it was not the other way round.

On the very next day of the Netai incident, PCPA spokesman Dileep Hansda gave an interview to a private TV channel, in which he confirmed that the incident was a result of the attack launched by his organisation and by the Maoists on its back. According to Hindi daily Jansatta, January 9, Hansda presented the incident as a big deed of his organisation, declaring that “the camps of the CPI(M)’s harmad vahini in West Medinipur, Purulia and Bankura will be razed to the ground. Hansda also announced that attacks on the CPI(M) camps would continue in future as well, adding that the police and administration would be responsible if anything untoward happens. Hansda labelled the accusation that the CPM has become active in Jangal Mahal because of its politics of vote.” However, as it happened in the Gyaneshwari case, Maoists later made Hansda keep silent.

Be that as it may, by the time the PCPA spokesman accepted the responsibility for this incident, the TMC, Congress and the media supporting them had got enough time to present the Left cadre as the oppressors while in reality they are facing the brunt of the TMC-Maoist attacks in Jangal Mahal area. On her part, TMC supremo Ms Mamata Banerjee was hell bent upon proving that there were “armed camps” of the CPI(M) in Jangal Mahal. On her behalf, parroting her accusation, the union home minister too has so far written three letters to the state chief minister. The incident in Netai was pre-planned to ‘prove’ that such camps are indeed there.

It is another thing that despite the iota of success that they have received, the TMC-Maoist grouping has not been able to mislead the people of Jangal Mahal area. On Saturday, January 8, TMC leaders were in fact chased away from Netai when they reached to oversee Ms Mamata Banerjee’s programme there. The railway minister, however, went there without much of a noise. She was scheduled to address a public meeting in Lalgarh. All preparations were made, including the erection of a big stage and security barricades. But the people’s response was so low that Ms Mamata Banerjee cancelled the meeting.

January 16, 2011

Trinamul Congress-Maoist Links

New Delhi, January 8: The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The tragic loss of lives and injuries to several in the Netai village under Binpur block, West Midnapur district of West Bengal on January 7 is a result of the violent politics indulged in by the Maoist-Trinamul combine. It should be recalled that earlier on December 16, 2010 when seven workers including a woman gram pradhan of Forward Bloc were brutally murdered in Jhalda in the Purulia district by Maoists, the TMC did not even issue a statement to condemn the killings, showing their complicity in the crime. This combine has sought to drive out Left cadre from the Jangal Mahal area using brutal methods in which over 122 tribal activists of the CPI(M) have been killed, hundreds of homes burnt and thousands driven out of the area.

Peoples’ resistance in many areas has led to an improvement in the situation which is not to the liking of this combine. It is reported that on January 7, in a pre-planned move, efforts were made to violently attack those families of the CPI(M) who had returned to the village and those waiting in the displaced peoples camp to return, resulting in the violence in which precious lives were lost.

It is essential for the Home Minister Shri Chidambaram, instead of issuing partisan statements, to ensure that his Cabinet colleague Railway Minister Mamta Bannerjee break her party’s links with the Maoists which is the single biggest factor responsible for the present situation.

Brutal Killing by Maoist-Trinamool combine at Lalgarh

January 07,2011

KOLKATA: In yet another brutal attack six people were killed and 15 others seriously injured when Maoists and Trinamool Congress activists jointly opened fire on a group of villagers at Netai at Lalgarh under Binpur block in West Midnapore district of West Bengal January 7 morning. Scared by the growing people’s resistance against Maoist-Trinamool terrorism and violence the Maoists have resorted to a reign of terror with the help of Trinamool activists.

It was on December 31 a massive rally was held at Lalgarh in which participation of local villagers was spontaneous to voice against Maoist-Trinamool violence and for restoration of peace in Jangalmahal. It created wrath among the Maoists who in retaliatory measures have started terrorizing the innocent village people.With this in mind a group of armed Maoist cadres under the leadership of Tanmoy Roy, who was once a secretary of the pro-Maoist Janaganer Committee (PCPA) but now a Trinamool leader, swung into armed action in the morning of January 7 and started indiscriminate firing on villagers protesting against the Maoist menaces. As a result 6 villagers were killed and 15 others seriously injured.

Deepak Sarkar, secretary of West Midnapore district CPI(M), in a statement, demanded immediate arrest of those who were responsible for the murder. The CPIM) brought out processions in Lalgarah on January 8 to condemn the incident.

Maoist-Trinamul Nexus: Memorandum to Home Minister

New Delhi, January 6: A delegation comprising CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, TDP and JD(S) met Shri. Chidambaram, Minister for Home Affairs today.

The text of the memorandum given below:

January 6, 2011

Shri. Chidambaram
Minister for Home Affairs
Government of India
New Delhi

Dear Shri Chidambaram,

In the light of your recent communication with the Chief Minister of West Bengal, on behalf of the CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, TDP and JD(S), we, the undersigned, are constrained to draw your attention to certain facts pertaining to the nexus between the Maoists and a major component of the UPA coalition – the Trinamul Congress party.

It is our contention that certain facts have come to light of late which further vindicate the reality of the nexus between the Maoists and Trinamul Congress are in addition to the detailed references appearing in the media during the last three years revealing the nature of the nexus. A synopsis of these reports are appended herewith as Annexure 1.

Additionally, we are also attaching some specific facts about the Maoist-TMC links in Annexure – 2.

Recently, the Trinamul Congress MP from Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency, Shri Kabir Suman, has written a book - an autobiographical narrative named `Nishner nam Taposhi Malik’ (the name of the flag is Taposhi Malik). The book, significantly, has been dedicated to Kishanji – reportedly the Polit Bureau member of CPI(Maoist) operating in West Bengal. In the book, he has given an eye witness account of a meeting held in Trinamul Congress headquarters in Kolkata attended by two individuals – Raja Sarkhel and Prasun Chattopadhyaya – who are at present in judicial custody booked under certain provisions of the UAPA for their links with the Maoists. The concerned meeting, Shri Suman informs, was also attended by Ms. Mamata Banerjee and Shri Sougata Roy who are currently ministers of your government. The meeting discussed of possible intervention in Nandigram in which implicitly the Maoists would also be involved. The Maoists have earlier given detailed accounts of their involvement in Nandigram with the Trinamul Congress through public statements which had never been contradicted.

The media has also widely reported the confession of Madhusudan Mondal, since arrested, and who happened to be the Nandigram Zonal Committee secretary of the CPI(Maoist) confirming this association.

The TMC is, however, now denying any links with Shri Kabir Suman, MP. We are hereby attaching relevant portions of his book with its English translation as Annexure – 3, along with a media report.

We would also like to attach herewith a copy of the statement of one Vikram – a state committee member of CPI(Maoist) – released to the media on 4.1.2011 claiming links with TMC and the functional unity between the Maoists and TMC in joint agitational activities. He has claimed that in the past, the Maoists were not in a position to openly come out with assertions about these links but now the situation has changed. He has further claimed that though he has some criticisms about TMC, he would like the Maoist-TMC association to continue to ensure the defeat of the Left Front in the coming Assembly elections. In spite of some misgivings about the TMC, the continuation of the relationship is important – has been his assertion. He has also demanded that the Railway Minister must resign from the Cabinet protesting corruptions on the Union Government. We are attaching media reports on Vikram’s statement as Annexure – 4.

We would also like to remind you on this occasion that you had in the past confirmed on the Floor of Rajya Sabha that the PCPA is a frontal organisation of the Maoists. Now that the CBI chargesheet on the Gyaneswari Express tragedy has been filed which squarely charges the PCPA for having hatched the conspiracy which led to the tragedy. This totally refutes the insinuations by TMC leadership and intellectuals close to that party. The insinuation itself was a vile attempt to deflect responsibility of the Gyanaswari disaster further reinforces the nexus between the TMC and the Maoists in West Bengal.

On the question of your description of CPI(M) activists as `harmads’ and your further justification with reference to the term being used by other political parties and sections of the media is not in keeping with the majesty of your office. We would like to specifically inform you that it is the same Maoist leadership who use this word in their interactions with the media and which is caught on camera with covered faces. Video recording of such interviews must be available with the intelligence establishment. To further inform you on the subject, we can add that this term is derogatorily used to describe hapless victims belonging to the CPI(M) activists who are eliminated through cowardly individual assassinations and through their self appointed kangaroo courts as declared in the posters left behind with the dead bodies.

What is happening today in Jangal Mahal – the forest range areas of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapur of West Bengal – is an awakening, a popular mobilization and mass resistance of the people against the murders, extortions, rapes, tortures and all such depredations of the Maoists. Not only the CPI(M) but all those who cherish democracy and rule of law must associate with such a fight back by the common people.

We must also inform you that the day you were reiterating your justification for the use of the term `harmad’ more than one and half lakh local people converged in Lalgarh on the 31st of December, 2010 to express their resolve to fight for peace, democracy and development in a rally organized by the Left Front.

In spite of the Prime Minister’s assertion that `Maoists are the single biggest threat to internal security’, why do you use the very same term that Maoists use to describe those very people who are part of a popular mobilization and resistance to Maoist depredations? We are sure that the government’s intelligence apparatus must have kept you informed about the success of the joint operations because of the isolation of the Maoists from the people and the role of the villagers in apprehending and informing the security forces about the whereabouts and activities of the Maoists.

In the light of all these reports, we would urge you to spell out what do you propose in dealing with the TMC-Maoist nexus. The responsibility of overcoming the impact of the Maoist violence is not the responsibility of the state governments alone, it is a phenomenon which spans across several states. Therefore, the Union Government also has a responsibility, which you have not only acknowledged but acted upon by taking some initiatives. And, may we add that it is necessary to desist from taking positions which undermine the spirit of resistance that seeks to bring an end to Maoist violence and depredations.

With warm regards,

Yours sincerely


(Sitaram Yechury)

MP (Rajya Sabha)

Leader, CPI(M)

(Basudeb Acharia)

MP (Lok Sabha)

Leader, CPI(M)

(Shyamal Chakraborty)
MP (Rajya Sabha), CPI(M)

(Prabodh Panda)

MP (Lok Sabha), CPI

(Manohar Tirkey)

MP (Lok Sabha)
Leader, RSP

(Narahari Mahato)

MP (Lok Sabha)

Leader, AIFB

(Danish Ali)

General Secretary, JD(S)

(Nama Nageswara Rao)

MP (Lok Sabha)
Leader, TDP

Trinamul-Maoist Nexus Endangers National Security

Mamata Banerjee and Chatradhar Mahato in a meeting in Lalgarh on 4th Feb., 2009

THROUGH these columns, we had been repeatedly exposing the diabolic nexus between the Trinamul Congress and the Maoists in West Bengal. If any reconfirmation was ever necessary, it has now come in a resounding manner through voluntary declarations by leaders of both the Trinamul and the Maoists that have appeared in the media.

Trinamul Congress MP from the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency, Shri Kabir Suman, has recently launched his autobiographical narrative named `Nishner nam Taposhi Malik’ (the name of the flag is Taposhi Malik). The book, significantly, has been dedicated to Kishenji, the Polit Bureau member of CPI(Maoist) operating in West Bengal. In the book, Mr Suman has given an eye witness account of a meeting held in Trinamul Congress headquarters in Kolkata attended by two individuals – Raja Sarkhel and Prasun Chattopadhyaya – who are at present in judicial custody booked under certain provisions of the UAPA for their links with the Maoists. The concerned meeting, Shri Suman informs, was also attended by Ms Mamata Banerjee and Shri Sougata Roy who are currently ministers of the UPA government. The meeting discussed the possibilities of intervention in Nandigram in which implicitly the Maoists would also be involved.

The Maoists have earlier given detailed accounts of their involvement in Nandigram with the Trinamul Congress through public statements which have never been contradicted. The media reported on January 8, 2009 the following: “To wipe out CPI(M) from West Bengal, we must work together with all parties of the ruling class like, Trinamool Congress, Congress, BJP etc. The CPI(Maoist) document, titled `Some important problems and its solutions’ was circulated to the members after the incidents of Shalboni and Lalgarh. We must get all ruling parties associated as long they desire to be. We call CPI(M) as a Social Fascist organisation. Relations with Trinamool Congress and railway minister Mamata Banerjee must be strengthened.”

Such reports appeared periodically in various sections of the media all through the year. More exposures came in 2010. The Bengali daily, Aaj Kal, reported under the heading “Maoist leader detained from TMC leaders car” on November 10, 2010, the following: “Maoist leader Kanchan Deb Singh was arrested from Trinamool block president Nepal Singh’s car in Shalbani. Police stopped the car for checking and recognised Kanchan inside the car. Nepal Singh as well as Kanchan was taken to the police station though the block president was released within no time. Kanchan was associated with the PSBJC arms training in 2008. He was charged with various landmine blasts, looting of police van etc.”

The Delhi edition of The Hindustan Times has reported on January 5, 2011 a media statement : “purportedly signed by CPI(Maoist) West Bengal state committee member Vikram said: `We want our movement-oriented alliance with Mamata Banerjee to flourish…”. Further: “The declaration said both Maoists and TMC were silent on their alliance because of political compulsions, but they are coming out in the open as there is nothing more to hide. `We fought together during the struggles in Singur, Nandigram….”

It is now, clearly, beyond doubt that the Trinamul Congress had provided and continues to provide both the political cover and all assistance for the Maoists to penetrate into West Bengal in order to be used to mount terror attacks against the CPI(M) cadre and the common people aiming at extracting electoral benefit in the forthcoming elections.

We had drawn attention earlier to an irreconcilable contradiction within the UPA. On the one hand, the prime minister describes the Maoists as “posing the single gravest threat to India’s internal security”. On the other, in the union cabinet led by this very prime minister, there are members of the Trinamul Congress who are collaborating with the Maoists in order to achieve electoral gains at the expense of jeopardising India’s internal security.

Can this be allowed? Can such crass political opportunism (to retain a majority for the government) that endangers our country’s unity and integrity be permissible? Further, can such diabolic and cynical politics, for the sake of electoral gains that destroys democracy, peace and development so crucially required for creating better livelihood conditions for our people be tolerated?

Such politics, for the sake of not only Bengal and its people but for the sake of India and its people, needs to be defeated if the struggle for building a better India has to be carried forward.

PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY,
Editorial
January 5, 2011

Your observation not acceptable: Chief Minister writes to Chidambaram

procession in Jhilimili, Bankura

KOLKATA, 31st December: Immediately after receiving Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s second letter to him West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattcharjee, sent his reply on December 31 saying, “I am unable to accept with your attitude towards Left Front workers in our State and also your observation regarding failure of law and order in certain areas.”

The Chief Minister who did not want to disclose the content of his letter to the media but was compelled to do this as all correspondences “between us” were released to the media by the Union Home Minister prior to his meeting with the Union Home Minister in Delhi. The Chief Minister has been invited by Chidambaram to Delhi to “have a frank discussion” on the law and order situation in West Bengal.

Referring to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee taking serious exception to the use of the word “Harmad” to mean CPI(M) cadres in his first letter Chidambaram in his latest letter wanted to know a synonymous word of “Harmad” from the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister, however, said in reply, “I am unable to replace it with any better word that I may suggest.” He said he could not offer him any such word since he was unable to accept with Union Home Minister’s attitude toward Left Front workers.

Chief Minister Bhattacharjee has drawn Chidambaram’s attention to Trinamool Congress’s nexus with Maoist.” You are aware there is clinching evidence of the encouragement and support that the Maoists are getting from the Trinamool Congress. “Unfortunately, you have chosen not to mention this problem in your letter,” the Chief Minister said in his reply to the two letters sent by Chidambaram.

FULL TEXT

D.O. No. 121-CM

Decemebr 31, 2010

Chief Minister’s letter to Union Home Minister

Dear Shri Chidambaram,

I wanted not to open all our correspondences before media but to discuss with you the problems when I meet you in Delhi. Bust as you have already released the correspondence between us to media. I feel compelled to write further on the issues raised by you.

I have noted the reasons behind late arrival of your letter in my office but I cannot accept the deliberate leakage of letters to the Press. I objected to the use of the ward “harmad” for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, you have proposed to replace it with any better word that I may suggest. I am sorry I cannot offer you any such word since I am unable to accept with your attitude towards Left Front workers in our State and also your observation regarding failure of law and order in certain areas.While I share your anxiety on the found situation in Maoist affected areas, I again assure you that our policy is to take appropriate administrative steps against all armed groups who may try to disturb law and order.

The role being by TMC by joining the Maoists and their outfits and now openly organizing public meetings is a dangerous development of which serious note should be taken by your Ministry. You are aware that there are clinching evidence of the encouragement and support that the Maoists are getting from Trinamool Congress. Unfortunately you have chosen not to mention this problem in your letter.The deaths resulting from political clashes clearly show that CPI(M) workers were killed in far greater numbers than TMC supporters. I deeply deplore all deaths in such clashes irrespective of their political affiliations. In no way the violence is justified. I am trying my best to put a stop to such violence. Unfortunately, TMC is not cooperating with the administration in this effort and you are fully aware of this.

I conclude here by saying once again that I will try to go to Delhi as early as possible to meet you and discuss all the related issues.

With regards,

Yours sincerely

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

31.12.2010

Fair-weather friends

By SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADYYAY

FRONTLINE, Volume 27 - Issue 18 :: Aug. 28-Sep. 10, 2010

West Bengal: The PCPA's support of Mamata Banerjee's Lalgarh rally points to a covert Trinamool Congress-Maoist understanding.

UNION Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's rally in the Maoist stronghold of Lalgarh in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal on August 9 could not have come at a better time for the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). At a time when its influence was seen to be waning in the forested Jangalmahal region spread across the three districts of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia, it found a sympathetic friend in the Trinamool Congress, a key constituent of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre. Mamata's “apolitical” rally calling for peace and development in the region becomes significant when viewed in the backdrop of the recent reverses the Maoists received at the hands of the Central forces and increasing resistance to them from the local population.

Addressing a large gathering on the Ramkrishna Vidyalaya grounds in Lalgarh, with social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh sharing the dais with her, Mamata appealed for an end to the violence in the region and asked the Maoists to come to the negotiating table. “I want you to give me a date for talks. Let this politics of terror stop. If necessary, the joint operations [of the Central and State forces] will also cease during negotiations,” she said at the rally, which had the full support of the Maoists and the Maoist-backed People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA).

This was the first time in over one and a half years that a mainstream political leader had held a rally in the trouble-torn region, and the first time that Mamata openly admitted to the presence of Maoists in West Bengal. Not long ago, she had even refused to attribute the violence and murders in the region to the Maoists, claiming it was activists of different factions of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) that were killing each other.

CHANGE OF STAND

From openly supporting the PCPA and even sharing the dais with former PCPA convener Chhatradhar Mahato in February last year, Mamata was seen to be distancing herself from the organisation as the violence perpetrated by it in the region began spiralling out of control. Initially, she did object to Central and State police forces carrying out joint operations in Jangalmahal, but her subsequent silence on the situation, supposedly out of political compulsions, led to considerable resentment among the Maoist leadership. However, on August 9, for the first time she publicly acknowledged their hand in the violence. “I appeal to everyone, including Maoist friends, to abjure violence and come to the dialogue table,” she said.

Mamata's reference to Maoists as “Maobadi bandhu” (Maoist friends) is significant. Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji, polit bureau member in charge of the CPI (Maoist)'s operations in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa, had earlier exhorted Mamata to “choose a side”. He had at one point even accused her of indulging in “political opportunism”, pointing out that the Trinamool Congress accepted the Maoists' help in fighting the CPI(M) in Nandigram and Singur and turned its back on them when Mamata's political fortunes soared after a series of electoral successes in the State. But things have now changed between the two parties, with Kishenji welcoming her initiative for “restoring peace” and extending his full support to the rally and Mamata in turn resuming her call for the withdrawal of the joint forces once the Maoists declared a ceasefire.

MAOIST STRATEGY

Apart from the irony that the very perpetrators of violence have now welcomed the process of peace, there is also the matter of Maoist strategy to be considered here. Violence is central to the Maoist political ideology. “Prepare for peace during war, prepare for war during peace, because war and peace are essential parts to the art of war,” a military manual of the Maoists says, quoting from Sun Tzu's “The Art of War”. The call for peace at a time when their hold on the region is seen to be weakening may have come as a welcome breather to the Maoists and allows them valuable time to regroup and reassess the situation. “They do not believe in renouncing violence. Experience shows that they are very unlikely to lay down arms, and all this talk of peace and negotiations may be tactical measures, perhaps to buy time or create confusion, as their military manual suggests,” A.K. Maliwal, Additional Director General of Police and Director, Security, told Frontline. The fact that Maoists killed six people in the region in less than a week after the rally serves as an indication of the little regard they have for Mamata's call for peace.

The turnout of around 40,000 people at the rally may not be truly reflective of the political mood in the region, if police reports are to be considered. “We had information three days before the rally that PCPA and Maoist activists were mobilising villagers at gunpoint,” said a source in the police.

The people of Dalilpur Chowk, Chhotopelia and Boropelia, the villages where the PCPA movement originated, refused to attend the rally, while a procession of barely 20 people came from Mahato's Amelia village. “It is clear that the Maoists are under tremendous pressure as people are fed up with them and want to come out of their influence. The number of villages that were once with them and which now did not join the rally is a pointer in that direction,” said Manoj Verma, Superintendent of Police, Paschim Medinipur. Though there have been reports of armed Maoists and members of the PCPA, including its new chief Manoj Mahato and spokesperson Asit Mahato, roaming the interior villages of Lalgarh, marshalling people and leading processions on the day of the rally, they were conspicuous by their absence at the venue itself.

CONGRESS' EMBARRASSMENT

Another shot in the arm for Mamata's “Maoist friends” came when she, in her speech, denounced the killing of top Maoist leader and spokesperson Azad in a supposed encounter with the police in July in Andhra Pradesh. She called it “khoon” (murder), a point that did not escape the CPI (Maoist). “There is no doubt that Azad was killed in a fake encounter. Mamata Banerjee spoke the truth and there is no reason for the furore over the issue in Parliament,” Kishenji reportedly said. The “furore” in Parliament that he referred to, putting the Congress in a very uncomfortable spot, was the offensive launched by the Opposition parties, including the CPI(M) and the Bharatiya Janata Party, in both the Houses against Mamata's statements.

Though the State-level leadership of the Congress has lauded Mamata's endeavour to “create an atmosphere for negotiation”, it has been guarded in its response to certain comments by her pertaining to the withdrawal of the security forces and Azad's “khoon”. “It is certainly somewhat embarrassing for us, and the leadership is a little concerned where this is heading and whether in the long run it will help the Maoists to spread their influence or actually persuade them to come for talks,” a senior Congress leader in the State told Frontline.

On August 18, Kishenji reportedly suggested a ceasefire for 72 days and indicated the Maoists' willingness to sit down for talks with Mamata as mediator. “The President and the Prime Minister in their Independence Day speeches have appealed to the Maoists to abjure violence. We are never for violence, but the government has instigated us to take up arms,” he said.

However, he made it clear that if the government was keen to end violence and establish normality in the disturbed areas, then it would have to take the initiative and withdraw the joint forces and order a judicial inquiry into Azad's murder. Kishenji also apparently demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Asked Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member: “When the Trinamool and the Maoists are in collaboration, how can one party serve as a mediator?”

NOTHING APOLITICAL

While it is true that Mamata was careful not to have any Trinamool colours flying at the Lalgarh rally in order to emphasise the “apolitical” nature of it, in truth it turned out to be yet another exercise in vitriol against the ruling CPI(M). The speeches of Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh sounded more like an election campaign; Medha Patkar accused West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of “playing the politics of bloodshed” and Agnivesh announced that the time had run out for the CPI(M)-led Left Front government in West Bengal and that “the new era is that of Mamata Banerjee”. Mamata too, after showing initial restraint, lapsed into her usual aggression and warned the CPI(M) that it would not even get one seat from Jangalmahal in the Assembly elections due next year.

The inconsistencies were glaring. On the one hand she acknowledged the killings by the Maoists and implored them to lay down their arms. On the other, she said, “Who is benefiting from these murders? CPI(M) cadre are taking advantage of the situation and murdering people and blaming the Maoists.”

Police statistics tell a different story. “So far, of the 200-odd people who were murdered, three or four belonged to the Trinamool and around 180 were from the CPI(M),” said Manoj Verma. “The killings have served to set an example to others to fall in line or be eliminated. It is clear that there is a design to create a political vacuum.”

Whoever fills this vacuum will politically benefit from it.

Mamata's dangerous game

The Hindu, Editorial, August 11, 2010

In her eagerness to mobilise every dissenting section and use every available weapon against the Left Front government in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is playing a dangerous game fraught with major, long-term implications for the internal security of the country.

First, Monday's rally in Lalgarh was a joint Trinamool-Maoist enterprise, with the latter dominant in the mobilisation. Ms Banerjee not only called for the resumption of negotiations with the Maoists, but also pressed for withdrawal of security operations in the Jangalmahal region (though this time she set a condition: the extremists should declare a ceasefire). This is in direct opposition to the stance of the central government, which is struggling to meet the Maoist armed threat in West Bengal and other parts of the country. Although the Railways under her charge have been repeatedly targeted by the Maoists, the Trinamool chief spoke up for the Maoist front, the ‘People's Committee Against Police Atrocities,' whose members are known to take the law into their own hands.

Ms Banerjee also managed to enlist the support of ‘social activists' Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar in this politically loaded endeavour. Both extended vocal support to the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists in the name of protecting the rights of Adivasis — speciously asking the ultra-left outfit to abjure violence and take to the democratic path. In such a situation, arms-wielding Maoists have seamlessly merged with Trinamool cadre in West Bengal, posing a serious threat to public order in the region.

Political India knows Ms Banerjee to be a law unto herself, and her politics to be irresponsible. But this cannot be a rationalisation for the United Progressive Alliance government to allow one of its important constituents and a senior Minister to publicly support, and collaborate on the ground with, armed extremism that does not have any compunction in unleashing terror against political opponents as well as civilians. The Congress, which heads the UPA, is itself mired in contradictions on this vital issue. Although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Naxalites as the “greatest internal security threat to our country,” his party extended moral support to the rally. Not surprisingly, the issue has rocked Parliament with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties questioning the commitment of the government in tackling the Maoist violence when one of its constituents is deeply enmeshed with Naxalite groups.

With Assembly elections in West Bengal due in less than a year, political opportunism has given short shrift to internal security considerations. There will be a huge price to pay if the central government continues to look the other way as Ms Banerjee pursues her akratic course for power at any cost.

Trinamul Maoist Nexus Reconfirmed

THE rally held by the TMC – Trinamul Maoist Combine – at Lalgarh on August 9 reconfirms, if ever such a reconfirmation was required, that the Trinamul Congress and the Maoists have, indeed, been political collaborators in creating mayhem and anarchy in certain areas of West Bengal. The murderous assaults by this combine has already martyred 255 leaders of the CPI(M). Most, if not all of these, belong to the poorest of the exploited classes and tribals, whose interests, ironically, the Maoists claim to champion drawing the blind romantic adulation by some `intellectuals’ and `social activists’.

An embarrassed and cornered Manmohan Singh-led government tried to duck, unsuccessfully, the issue of one of its cabinet members being caught red handed in the open political collaboration with the Maoists. They took refuge behind the argument that they shall return to both the houses of parliament after having “ascertained the facts”. Ironically, the very next day, August 11, the minister of state for home affairs stood up in reply to a starred question in the Rajya Sabha on the involvement of Maoists in railway accidents stating: “Investigation conducted reveals that Police Santras Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (PSBJC/PCPA), a frontal organisation of Maoists, was involved in damaging the railway track, thereby causing the accident. CBI has arrested 12 persons so far in this case”. It is the very same minister for railways, whose primary job, under oath of the constitution is to protect the life of passengers traveling on the Indian railways and to improve its safety standards, who is openly collaborating with the Maoists. She has openly advocated the withdrawal of the operations of the security forces against the Maoist violence. She, in fact, has gone to the extent of asserting that Maoist leader Azad was `murdered’ and not killed in an encounter as claimed by the security forces.

The Trinamul-Maoist nexus became abundantly clear when, according to media reports: “Maoist politburo member Koteswar Rao alias Kishanji once again batted for Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Azad issue. “There is no doubt that our politburo member and central committee spokesperson Charakuri Rajkumar alias Azad was treacherously killed by the members of Andhra Pradesh police special intelligence branch in a fake encounter. Mamata Banerjee spoke the truth and there is no reason behind the furore over the issue in parliament”. This comes from a Maoist leader whose party openly rejects parliamentary democracy and calls for a `people’s war’ against the Indian State!

Unable to defend the role of an important ally and cabinet colleague, the UPA-II government through its minister for home affairs, P Chidambaram, stated in the Rajya Sabha, “No one should support the Maoists and the government will certainly not encourage anybody who does so.” However, the UPA-II government, in a crass display of political opportunism, requiring the numbers of TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha for the survival of this government, is tolerating such `support to the Maoists’ making a mockery of its commitment to safeguard India’s internal security.

Through these columns, we had drawn attention to an irreconcilable contradiction that continues to plague the UPA-II government. The prime minister has repeatedly asserted that Maoist violence constitutes “the gravest threat to India’s internal security”. Yet, its own cabinet colleague, under the leadership of this very prime minister, openly collaborates with Maoist violence and defends the attempted subversion of parliamentary democracy.

The composition of the people gathered in Lalgarh clearly exposes the reasons for organising this meeting. The overwhelming bulk of the people were brought by huge number of transportation vehicles from outside of Lalgarh. The fact that the people of that area stayed away in large numbers shows the growing political isolation of the Trinamul Congress combine. It is precisely in order to strike terror and browbeat the local population into supporting them that this rally was organised.

Clearly, the Trinamul Congress has exposed itself to stooping to the lowest of levels in its quest to gain in the forthcoming assembly elections in West Bengal. In the bargain, neither the safeguarding of innocent life nor strengthening the unity and integrity of India are of any concern. If the UPA-II government and prime minister Manmohan Singh continue to turn a deaf ear to this threat, then India will have to pay a heavy price. Brazen political opportunism to continue to remain in office cannot be allowed to sacrifice the interests of India’s unity, integrity and internal security. Like in the late-sixties and early-seventies when the CPI(M) politically fought and defeated the mindless terror and violence unleashed by the Naxalites, so shall it do now with their latest avatar of Maoists.

The defence of India’s unity and integrity must rise above the petty electoral pursuits and crass political opportunism.

Editorial,

People's Democracy,

15th August, 2010

Development at Junglemahal: Reality vs Falsehood

By Meghnad Bhuian

“Junglemahal”, a word whose use is objected by some. Cloaked in the natural beauty & mystery of the jungle, its origin lies in the word ‘Junglemahaal’. A section of the people believes that this word should be banned as it was, for a long period of time, popularized by British imperialism.

Junglemahal comprises of parts of 5 districts in the western region of the state, larger chunks belonging to West Medinipur & Purulia, followed by Bankura. Bardhamaan & Birbhum have small contributions. In all, 74 blocks under the state’s development council for the western region, of which, 18 belong to W Medinipur, 20 to Purulia & 16 with Bankura. However, not all of these belong to the much talked disturbed region. The Maoists have not even set foot on all of these areas.

The areas plagued by the Maoist terrorism are parts of W Medinipur; Binpur-2(the hub being Belpahari), Binpur-1( Lalgarh), Shalboni, Jhargram, Garbeta-2( Goaltore), Aarsha, Balarampur, Bandowan, Bagmundi, Barabazaar in Purulia; Sarenga & Raniband in Bankura. This apart, Khairashol in Birbhum, parts of Manbazaar in Purulia, W Medinipur’s Gopiballavpur, Medinipur Sadar, Sankrail & some parts Nayagram in Medinipur are victims of the Maoist destructive agenda.

An oft repeated propaganda cites lack of development as the primary reason for the rise in influence of the Maoists. However, we need to appreciate the role of geography as the biggest hurdle; unfertile soil, uneven rough terrain. This region has only 55.45% fertile soil as opposed to the state average of 66.03%. Forests occupy 13.8% of the state, this western region, however, has 19.3%. Has less rainfall comparatively. Marginal workers comprise 8.05% across the state, while this region has an average of 35.7%. IIT Kharagpur, under the aegis of the state’s department of development for this western region has published a comprehensive report on this region, in Jan, 2007, citing 20 of the 74 blocks as being backward. The ones terrorized by the Maoists are Binpur-2, Bandowan, Bagmundi, Aarsha. On the other hand, blocks such as Sarenga, Sankrail, Goaltore, Medinipur Sadar, Jhargram are amongst the most developed. Therefore, the logic of non-development as a justification for terrorism, destruction & murder is a false one.

The real reason lies in the “Jungle” being at the center of the Maoist war strategy. They have chosen harsh terrain, mountains, forest-ridden regions for their so called ‘revolutionary agenda’. Also, it is their stated policy.

These locations, have primarily witnessed secret murders on account of the “revolutionary” activities of the Maoists. History is a witness to the fact that secret murders of individual terrorism had never reared its ugly head throughout the Chuad revolt, Munda uprising or the Indian freedom movements that followed in this Junglemahal area, the reason being social. Junglemahal has, primarily been organized, community based living being the established form. Protests, Resistance, festivals or even daily livelihood have all been united & community led. This harsh, un-fertile, forest ridden region of West Bengal has the essential character suitable to a communist movement. The falsehood of the middle-class, petty-bourgeoisie impulsive ‘annihilation’ has never made a mark in this forest region paved with Mahua & Shal. Pre & post-independence times have seen a series of movements led by the leftists, mostly by communists; struggle for land being at the core. The era of Naxalite delusion saw only a handful of villagers from a few pockets in Belpahari, Gopiballavpur, Jhargram, etc becoming workers or sympathisers of certain groupings of the Naxalites, but was never able to establish their tactic of secret murders in this region. Therefore, the Maoists have been completely wrong in their analysis of the situation from the very beginning. They have had to consistently retreat in Lalgarh & the credit doesn’t entirely go to the joint forces. The Maoists have not been able to get a safe haven in these villages, nestled deep in the hills & forests. The villagers are getting increasingly impatient for peace & want liberty from the blood drenched clutches of the Maoists.

Subject “Development”

Their current discomfiture has suddenly reminded the Maoists of ‘development’. That it is the Maoists & their fronts who create the roadblocks to development is increasingly becoming clear to people. It is also a desperate attempt at shoring up their image with the urbane intellectuals that development makes an entry into the destructive Maoist lexicon. There are some who, frustrated by the complete failure of the Naxalism, but unable to accept this truth, are taking up the pen again, having lived a good part of their lives in the safe confines of the city. They are trying to prove 2 things, 1) No development in this region for the last 34 years; 2) Maoists have apparently started off developmental work in the two blocks of Binpur since Nov, ’08.

What would this development be? Before we start judging this, we need to see the path that development has taken the last 34 yrs in these blocks of red Junglemahal. We should also parallely study the general Maoist position on all matters related to development & what the CPI(M)’s position has been on development?

The party program approved by the 9th congress of the Maoists, in 2007 says – no development is possible in the current structure of the state. Development is not a part of their political position. In fact, they consider even partial development, aimed at reducing the poverty of the poor & the exploited, to be a betrayal or revisionism of the revolution. Why, then are they raising this bogie of development? It is just a part of their political strategy. Like all the other bourgeoisie-capitalist parties & the media, they too want to establish, with this false propaganda, the left front having done nothing for the poor man.

The CPI (M) view on development, however, is completely clear. In his book, ‘Cynicism in the name of Maoism’, Comrade Anil Biswas has rightfully stated, “West Bengal is the foremost state in the entire country in matters of poverty alleviation & human development indices. The left front government has always advanced by establishing a clear difference in its policies vis-à-vis other parties. There is a fast growing disparity on economic, social & regional lines. How does one then fantasise that a left front government, just an oasis amidst this environment of extreme capitalism & liberalisation, can shield West Bengal from its disastrous affect. Parallely, CPI(M) in its 21st congress under the resolution of “ The Left front government & our work” has proposed, ‘ To expect a left front government, born out of democratic revolution to override the obvious reactionary effects of hyper-capitalism, & bring about socialism or even a left alternative is not in the realm of reality. The party will try creating & implementing the “Alternative Policy”, highlighted in the party manifesto & protecting the interests of the poor & the dispossessed sections of society to its fullest.

The left front government primary objective is to try protecting the interests of the weakest sections of the society in this hyper-capitalist environment. So is the perspective of development & the class direction! Therefore, by putting such a government into danger, making the CPI(M) the primary target of attack, what could be the possible revolutionary objective being achieved by the Maoists? In reality, they are disarming the weakest sections, which are battling the neo-liberal economic policies & imperialism.

What has been the role played by the Maoists on the subject of development? They have willfully destroyed government property one after the other, forgetting that these have been built with the common man’s money & for his development. Neither have they faltered in brutally beating up poor workers engaged in developmental work, in Kankrajhod, on 4th Dec, 2004, for their rasta-roko campaign. The govt, in Belpahari had taken the decision of creating a lake to enhance farming. The Maoists, betrayed their true element by even threatening the poor villagers to sabotage this. It is their terrorist obstruction which has prevented 20,000 pattas of land from being distributed in West Medinipur & Bankura forest regions. So much for speaking up for development!!

On this issue, let us once go back to Nov, 2008. On the 2nd of Nov, at Shalboni, the convoy carrying the Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, Union Steel minister, Ramvilas Paswan was exploded using an IED by the Maoists. While the Maoists have taken responsibility for this murderous attack, their new-found ally in the state, Trinamul’s leader, Mamata Banerjee curiously, dubbed this‘eyewash’. Right after this, from the 6th of Nov, they unleashed terror in 2 blocks of Binpur, Jhargram, Garbeta-1, Sarenga, Balarampur, etc; obstructed & even destroyed roads, gutted bridges, murderous attacks on CPI(M) workers & even their family & quite a few murders too. A resident of Aamlia village, Lalgarh, Trinamul leader Chattradhar Mahato became the spokesman of the newly created committee, “PCPA”, its main office in Lalgarh bordering Dalilpur Chowk in Shinjua panchayat.

This committee quickly announced its charter comprising 11 demands. These ranges from abrogating the conspiracy case against Shashadhar Mahato, stop police vigil from 5-6 pm, cancel all chargesheets against arrested Maoists since 1998 & other such demands to facilitate destruction. There is not a single one involving developmental issues! Thereafter, at a press conference at the Press club on the 29th of Jan, 2009, Chatradhar admits that they haven’t raised the issue of development in their movement since the 6th of Nov, their movement being primarily against exploitation & for democracy. Chatradhar, that day, with a fair bit of élan, had proclaimed, ‘it is not that the moment I ask for development, it will be given. It takes time’.

Surprising, this bogie of development is being brought up again to the forefront while discussing this region. This time too, it is both the Trinamul & the Maoists who, together are attempting to confuse the people of this region by harping on this issue. Reason, the imminent elections! Ravaged by cynicism, anarchy, the people of Jhargram in the last Lok Sabha elections returned the Left front candidate with a lead of 2 lacs, 92 thousand & 345 votes over the joint opposition. The left front won this LS constituency comprising the Binpur, Jhargram, Shalboni areas. Therefore, let’s raise the boogie of development again! Not just in the Junglemahal area, the attempt is to embroil the entire tribal population in the state. What chilling hypocrisy!

Land Reforms

It is imperative that we judge the overall development of this region, the principal point being land-relations. Land reforms have taken place in this state, though not ideal, something impossible in our country’s governance structure. However, by leveraging the provisions provided by the constitution, it was pushed to the hilt in Bengal. So far, more than 13.13 lac acres have been acquired in Bengal, off which 11 lac acres have been distributed. The rest have been stopped through litigation by vested interests, quite a few of them Trinamul leaders now, some workers. So much for “Change”.29lac, 85 thousand persons have received pattas of the land distributed so far, which includes about 11.1 lac from the scheduled classes. Adivasis have received 5.37 lac pattas. In Bengal, the scheduled classes & adivasis form 30% of the population whereas they have received 55% of the pattas distributed. Interestingly, Jadavpur Univ professor, Amit Bhattacharjee, curiously claims, in his article in the Economic & Political weekly that it was Charu Mazumdar who first raised the demand for total land reforms. He also goes on to allege that the distribution of land has not touched the Junglemahal area, including Lalgarh. But then, absolute land reform has been the primary demand of the Indian Communist movement from the very beginning. The CPI (M), born on 1964 led movements across numerous states in the country on this demand. Therefore, to ascribe this demand to a person, let alone the Naxals is completely erroneous.

It is under this situation that the Bengal Left front government has kept pushing the agenda of land distribution. Why just the left front government, this demand had set on fire the kishan movement across the state. Even then, the Naxal faction had dubbed this revisionist. Statistics prove that 8727 hectares have been declared excess by the state government in just the Binpur-1 block area, better known as the Lalgarh area now, about 7953 hectares + in Jhargram. The number of families covered by the land reforms here total 26,878. Garbeta-2 block, better known as the Goaltore area has seen an announcement of about an excess of 7051 hectares. Patta recipients number 20,666 families here. Shalboni has seen distribution of 10,439 hectares of land amongst 30,855 families, 1961 hectares in Gopiballavpur, 3680 hectares in Nayagram. 73% of the total land is in the possession of small & mid-sized farmers. As across the state, excess land has been distributed amongst the landless in this region.

Incidentally, the Yojana Commission in its report, in 2008, ‘ Development challenges in extremist affected areas’ has said that land distribution as per the land ceiling act in the states of West Bengal, Kerala & Maharashtra is unmatched across the country. It goes on to say “Acquisition of excess land as per the land ceiling has ceased in most parts of the country for the last 3 decades. It is as if there is no opportunity at all left in this regard.’ The only exceptions are West Bengal & Kerala. In this regard, it is important to mention the land distribution activity in the forest areas. It has been possible, so far, to distribute 18,360 pattas in these areas, resulting in the forest dwellers getting in excess of 8000 hectares. Currently, Maoist terrorism has resulted in a failure in granting about 20,000+ pattas. They need to accept responsibility. Development?

Development of Adivasis & West Bengal

5.5 % of the state’s population is Adivasi, totaling about 44 lacs, of which, according to the 2002 population survey, 22.24lac being male & 21.83 lac female.28% of Bengal’s planned expenditure is targeted at scheduled castes & tribes, out of which a disproportionate share, vis-à-vis their population is spent on Adivasis-7.9%. This is unmatched by most of the states in the country.

Nowhere in the country is there a pension plan for the tribal aged. Bengal has it. The aged, above 60 & living below the poverty line is supported by a pension in this state.1.21lac persons were covered by this scheme in the yr. 2008-09, provided with 750 rupees per month. It is being planned to enhance the coverage. All this funded by the state.Rs.16,50,256 was spent in Purulia on this scheme in the yr,08-09. This pension covers about 50,000 persons in the 3 districts of Purulia, Bankura & West Medinipur, at a total expense of Rs.48cr. While it has no plans to introducing this scheme across the country, the center has applauded the state govt. on this initiative.


The government has also focused on the task of spreading education amongst the tribals. Statistics show that, in 2008-09, Rs.5.05 cr was spent to enable 3.05 lac students to buy books & examination charges. Significantly, this scheme covered 15,352 students in the yr.77-78. 48000 students across 1395 colleges were provided with grants for hostel stay in the yr, 08-09, totaling Rs. 26 crs. In the yr, 07-08, 3.6 lac students were provided with Rs.1.72 crs for transportation to colleges. This scheme, providing transportation relief is unique across the country. This apart, 40,000 of the brightest students have been helped with Rs.45 lacs for higher studies. The subsidy for post-Madhyamik students in the scheduled castes & tribes is to the tune of Rs.10.71crs.The state’s 5 Eklavya colleges have 2100 students & the govt has spent Rs.3.6 crs on their education. Interestingly, the central govt provides only Rs.2.5 crs for building Eklavya colleges & our state government spends double that amount & creates the education infrastructure. Rs. 15 crs is being spent to build 5 Pandit Raghunath Murmu colleges.

The government has also put special focus on educating the Adivasi girl child. Amongst other blocks, Belpahari too has a residential girl school. It is important to mention the efforts of the govt in getting recognition for the Santhali language & its cirricullum. The cynics have pointed towards this, whereas it is the pressure of the left front which has forced the central govt to grant this recognition. It is in Goaltore, very close to Lalgarh, parts of which have been destabilized by the Maoist, where students of the Santhal Revolt centenary College are being taught in the Santhali medium. West Medinipur itself has 57 primary schools where the Alchiki script is taught. In order to further improve the study of & in this language, 1103 out of 1171 adivasi primary teachers have been provided training on the Alchiki script.

Well, that explains a certain letter which reaches the assembly. This letter has been sent by a school, Pandit Raghunath Murmu Memorial School, in the Ramgarh “Shaluka” of Lalgarh. This is a Santhali medium school. The villagers themselves had built this school. The managing committee of the school mostly comprises local leaders of Trinamul & Jharkhand parties. The same coalition rules over the panchayat too. This missive signed by the Panchayat Pradhan, A.N. Dule, member , Dukhi Soren & 9 other members says, “ The West Bengal government, on the 5th of July, 1979, gave recognition to the Alchiki script to aid studies in the Santhali language, approval no. W-311. The government took it further & by the yr. 1982-83, textbooks up to Class -5, in the Alchiki script, were printed…..” West Bengal is unique in this regard, across the entire country of India. The letter further states,”…It is with the intent of uplifting the education of the Santhali students that we teach this from Class-1 to Class-4.” Their demand in this letter lies ensconced right in the very center of the state govt’s policy. Significantly, apart from the 57 schools in West Medinipur, there are many such schools in Purulia, Bardhamaan & Bankura.

In tandem with education, employment programs have been executed too. Work education programs have been created for the Adivasi students of this state. 400 students have studied in Polytechnics in the yr. 2007-08 alone. The govt has also run numerous programs along with ATDC, CIL, TCPC. The Central govt has been forced to acknowledge the consistent development programs for the Adivasis, even providing a bonus of Rs.3 crs for the state. This part, the state has been leading in its endeavour to create self employment programs for the adivasis, deserving of special mention are the plans to strengthen the Adivasi woman. This scheme allows a Adivasi woman to do business with a capital of around Rs.20-25 thousand, 90% of which is given as a loan. This is provided by the state’s “Adivasi Unnayan Nigam”. The remaining 10% is provided by the state as a grant or a subsidy. West Bengal has 65% more than all the women across India who have benefited from this program, fiscal yrs. 06-07 & 07-08. These 2 yrs have seen more than19,000 benefit from this scheme, 55% of which lies in the three districts of Purulia, Bankura & West Medinipur. Interestingly, more than 80% of the loans taken in these 2 yrs have been repaid, unparalleled across the country. The central Adivasi development committee have come & conducted a detailed study of this success, post which not only have they praised the state’s role but also formally mentioned, by written communication, that Bengal should be the model for the entire country.


Now, specifically, the second program that began, solely for Adivasi women, is the subsidy for their self-help groups. Under the supervision of the state’s Adivasi development cooperative corporation, 3000 adivasi women self-help groups will be provided subsidy to strengthen production & promotion. A majority of these groups are based out of West Medinipur, Bankura & Purulia. Rs. 5 cr & 26.4 lacs will be spent on this account. It has been reported that work has already commenced. In Bankura, Medinipur, Purulia, there are 14 such blocks where the Adivasi population exceed 90%. These are named ITDP blocks. Small infrastructure projects such as roads, ditches, irrigation canals, culverts have been funded to the tune of Rs.13.1 crs in the yr., 2008-09. The state has plans of spending about Rs.10.14 crs on employment generation programs.

Recently, the state has embarked on another program, identifying, thru a comprehensive survey, all the adivasi farming families caught in a debt trap with local Mahajans. The pilot in Doars identified 41 such debt-ridden families & now the govt plans to extend the survey to all the 18 districts, esp., targeting the adivasi majority blocks, which wd be done first. However, special plans will be made for the Mao-terror affected & bloody region of Junglemahal.

We have seen significant progress in reaching clean drinking water to these 3 districts, characterized by an extremely dry terrain & a lack of water sources. It is worth mentioning here that, Amit Bhattacharya’s article which credits the Maoists for mini-development projects & installation of submersible pumps, is clearly based on ‘hearsay’. It wd be to his benefit to know that his data is completely false. He should know that prior to the Left front coming into power, not even 10% of the mouzas in this Junglemahal region had tube wells providing drinking water. Currently, there is not a single inhabited mouza without one. 69 irrigation schemes have been started. Thousands of fresh water wells have been dug. A Mahkuma hospital apart, 13 block health centers, 335 health sub-centers have been opened in Junglemahal. The number of beds has increased by 346. A 60 bed hospital is being built at Belpahari.3284 child health clinics have been instituted. Lakhs of people have benefited with these programs that provide care to pregnant mothers, the new born child & children up to 6 yrs of age. 90% of the homes have now constructed toilets, and health consciousness has grown. The mortality rates of pregnant women & babies have come down. Rs. 35.74 crs of money has been spent in the fiscal 08-09 to provide drinking water to these 3 districts. This year might see a spending of another 40 crs. This apart, the irrigation projects have an outlay of Rs.15 crs, just for this 3 districts. There are 30 schemes to bring water to villages through pipelines at Purulia, 51 in Bankura & 64 in W Medinipur. In all, 185 such schemes are benefitting 15.03 lac people, which comprises of 1.37lac adivasis. In all the 3 districts, all adivasi majority villages are being provided drinking by laying water pipes. The govt, in the last one year has provided drinking water to 2258 colleges.

In all the 3 districts the state has emphasized improvement in the nutrition available to children & the just born. There are 74 ICDS projects & 17,932 anganwadi centers in this region, covering about 10 lac, 54 thousand, 317 people.

In this period, these 3 districts have been given 776 kms of permanent roads, with another 274 kms being work in progress.

Under the Indira housing project, 29,970 families, living below the poverty line, have been provided with housing, by Dec 2009.The state has undertaken creation of another 15 thousand houses.

The 100 day work project – Obstacles & Progress

It seems that the Kishenjis have apparently initiated the “ Lalgarh rural employment guarantee scheme( Maoist)” at Lalgarh. Amit Bhattacharjee says so in his article. He apparently landed this nugget of wisdom in an English daily, dated 24th June, a page dedicated to the yr.2009. Shocking!? For people who do not believe in a parliamentary democracy, consider the country’s middle-class as petty bourgeoisie, how do they take as gospel reports of a commercially motivated newspaper dependant on ad dollars from greedy multinationals? This is an example of the depths ideological poverty could go to. However, the entire responsibility of the debilitating loss caused to the NREGA & 100 days work programs goes completely to the likes of Chatradhar Mahato & the Maoists. Inspite of such a negative ideology, on a whole, the outlay for the 100-day work program in Purulia has increased by 179% & work days have grown by 147%. This is a record! The progress in Bankura & West Medinipur is equally worth a mention. In all, the work days in this Junglemahal region this year has grown by 103%.

In Bankura, the adivasis have contributed to 20.24% of the gross workdays created, 24.99% in West Medinipur, 25.96% in Purulia. A recent report of the state govt says – firstly, in the case of the 100-day work program in West Medinipur, Rs.59.592crs has been spent till Dec, 2008. The amount spent from Jan, 2009 till Dec, 2009 has increased to Rs.117 crs, 51 lac & 4 thousand, the rate of growth being 97.19%. In this district the no of workdays (man days) have grown by 41 lac, 79 thousand, rate of growth being 84.87%. Bankura, in the same period has seen the expenditure increase from Rs.50.358 cr to Rs.90.298 crs, rate of growth – 79%. In Bankura, the man days have increased to 66.95 lacs, an increase of 94.79%. It has increased by 146.95% in Purulia, actual expenditure increasing from Rs. 25.11 crs to Rs. 70.19 cr, an increase of 179.57%.

The Adivasi cooperatives, Lamps are being used to facilitate these 100-day work programs. There are 63 such Lamps. The picture would be left incomplete without mentioning that quite a few pantheist in this region have not utilized this 100-day work program. The reason, the adivasi loving Maoist & their sympathizers! They have completely destroyed the atmosphere conducive to work. We can use a couple of panchayat samities for a comparison. Binpur-2 had only a couple of panchayats to avail of this 100-day work program, Binpur & Andharia, with 2731 workdays created last year, of which Andharia has only 5 days. Significantly, this panchayat is run by a Trinamul-Jharkhand party coalition. On the other hand, Binpur -2 panchayat samiti, better known as Belpahari, saw all its panchayats, with the exception of Bhulabheda, implement this program. In comparison with the Binpur-1,Lalgarh samities, the workdays created were much more – 68,150 days. While both these samities are plagued by Mao terrorism, it is important to note that the Belpahari area had a CPI (M) run panchayat samiti, having come into power after 20 long years. The CPI (M) workers have tried their best to keep the atmosphere conducive for executing this program.

Therefore, it is crystal clear that the Maoist point of view towards development is the extremely opposite to the CPI (M) efforts. This, unfortunately, is being exploited by the Trinamul leaders in places such as Lalgarh, garnished by the fantasies spun by a few Kolkata based Maoist websites egged on by intellectuals such as Amit Bhattacharjee.

In the subject of development, it is important to compare the other states of India with West Bengal. Since the Maoist & its sympathizers have repeatedly raise the bogie of Adivasi development in the Junglemahal region, let us see how a similar state, Jharkhand has fared. Jharkhand’s current chief minister, Shri Shibu Soren has always demanded the inclusion of the border areas on Bengal side to be merged with its western areas. The Maoists, with an ingeniously flawed logic have even supported this demand. But this sate which was built & known as one belonging to the adivasis doesn’t even have a department for adivasi development, 10 years since its birth. Numerous hunger related deaths have been reported every year since 2000, a single month of Nov-09 saw 20 deaths caused by hunger, which included 3 children. This is unimaginable in Bengal.

Bengal has 555 grain silos in the Adivasi region, none in Jharkhand. Neither do they have any plans. On the other hand, Bengal has further sanctioned another 500 such silos. Locations are being identified. An expenditure of Rs.2.5 crs will be incurred on this account, each costing about Rs.50k. Adivasi villages, during the cropping season, deposit a part of their output in these silos, to be used in times of low or bad yields. The last 4 years have seen the construction of 555 such silos, 250 of them coming up in the fiscal, 07-08 itself. As stated earlier, these help bridge the shortfall in agri output in the less-fertile regions of the state.

The idea of Jharkhand created its space in Indian politics by seeking a state for the indigenous Adivasi population. Yet, this very state, in its 10 yrs of existence, having had governments of all the national parties, has not seen a single piece of such infrastructure. The result being countless hunger-deaths! In 2008, 3 children died due to hunger in the Birhar colony, Jharnakund village in the Jhumari Talaiya block in Koderma. Bithahit, in Chatra district saw 9 people of the Bega tribe die due to hunger. There is nothing more pathetic than hunger-death in a country like India, but what takes the cake is the Shibu Soren government’s attempt to pass off all these deaths due to poisoning. However the committee, instituted to investigate these deaths, has clearly stated hunger as the reason. This apart, Jharkhand doesn’t come anywhere near to Bengal on parameters such as education, self-reliance, health of the adivasi people. Why then this Maoist chicanery?

But is all this enough? The CPI (M) does not think so. The state govt has identified 4612 villages which are languishing. The last year has seen a separate allocation of Rs.17 crs, apart from all the other schemes. But then, it is important to understand that comprehensive development is impossible in the current ultra-capitalist econo-political environment. For real sustainable development, a government which fundamentally identifies with the people is required, for which you need a fundamental change of the politics, the environment, right at the center, across the nation, not just a state. Well, as long as all this is reality, we communists have to keep fighting to protect & extend the limited means the poor can use & go ahead in life. In reality, these efforts of taking development ahead, whatever little is possible, along with the people, is actually in line with the objectives of class struggle. We want to grow our class-conscious actions. This is the reason why the CPI(M) continuous to identify the weakest areas, a sensibility developed by a clear understanding of the constraints of the current system. The imperialist-bourgeoisie refuses to work for the people even when there are opportunities, it is for the CPI(M) to take up these initiatives.

The Maoists clearly do not think so. The policy of keeping themselves & the people away from developmental work only strengthens the fundamental objectives of the ruling class. Why? Comrade Lenin’s analysis was – ‘The petty-bourgeoisie, driven by the madness of the horror named capitalism, is a social reality, a specialty, which like anarchy, exists in every country. The instability of such a revolution, its sterile nature & a tendency to quickly surrender, cynicism, fantasy & even petty-bourgeoisie whims & mad frenzy is known to all.