Volume 5, No. 11-12, November-December 2004

Arrests of revolutionary activists and sympathizers keep going on without break. Leadership of various ranks of the erstwhile CPI(ML)(PW) are not getting bail, even some mass organisation activists and sympathizers after 6-9 month of their arrest are not getting bail for ordinary cases. The land where social fascism rules, there the police and judiciary can never contradict the long hand of Allimuddin Street, the HQ of the CPI(M) state committee, the actual power center in current state politics.

The CM and Police Minister Buddha has been pursuing the policy of striking hard to smash the revolutionaries. After assuming power, to promote imperialist and comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie’s business interests in the state, he instructed the armed forces to smash the protest voice of the Marxist-Leninists. Regular combing operations, arrests, patrolling by the CRPF, EFR, RAF, SAF and special task forces have been going on in the 3 districts of south Bengal. Alongside such operations Jharkhand police forces are manning the W.B- Jharkhand borders. Particularly in East-Singhbhum the regular attacks by special forces on the struggling people have been a common feature.

Now Bengal CM Buddha is planning to call the Chief Ministers meet, comprising four adjoining states-WB, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa- as early as possible to draw up concrete plans on how to tackle the CPI(Maoist) party in these 4 bordering states. Already the joint coordination committee of 9 states is functioning and hosting regular sittings to plan how to curb Naxalism. The then Home Minister Advani declared in a meeting of this JCC that Left extremism is the main threat for the countries’ security, and long perspective plans were drawn which are now in operation.

In the last summer the whole of Bengal-Jharkhand-Orissa geurrilla zone perspective area was cordoned and white terror reigned in the area. Having seasonal advantage and on the pretext of parliamentary elections large contingents of para-military forces were deployed. Army helicopters hovered over the sky of this zone to assist the ground operations for quick deployment and coordination.

On 14 October 2004 a land mine went off in the jungle of Ramghar of West Midnapore. The EER Jawans who are camping at the Ramgarh Rajbari complex moved on foot to attack a group of Maoists who were in the area. The plan boomeranged. When the armed personnel were crossing a temporary bridge a mine went off at 5 P.M. resulting in the death of six jawans of whom 4 belonged to the First battalion and the rest two to the second battalion, another four jawans were also injured in the ambush. From the Loksabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee to Anil Biswas [West Bengal State Secretary of the CPI(M)] and from Buddha to DGP Shyamal Dutta everybody is issuing statement after statement.

In the area, where the land mine was blasted in the last Feb. Com. Asim Das, a leading State Committee member of the erstwhile People’s War was shot dead in a fake encounter, for which Maoists took revenge eliminating the paramilitary forces in memory of their beloved leader.

The top brass of the police visited the site and as usual issued statements crying for modernization of the state forces with sophisticated firearms. To justify such cook and bull stories like that Naxalites are armed with sophisticated weapons, people speaking Telugu are masterminding the attacks, etc. are intentionally spread. So to counter them the police needed auto weapons. Special plans were also drawn to give more teeth and cruelty to the ongoing operations.

40 Companies of paramilitary forces were deployed immediately in the area. The SPA of the South Bengal districts, the IG, DIG of intelligence and law and order, met under the leadership of S.Dutta, the DGP of West Bengal police in Lalgarh PS and discussed plans in a closed door meeting. The people of the area would certainly foil and resist the special plans drawn by the officials in their struggle for democracy, freedom and political power of the oppressed.

Within 24 hours after the ambush at Khasjungle, according to newspaper reports, 30 comrades were detained. They belonged to the near by villages of the ambush site such as Bankisole, Dumurgeria and Benchapra. The ‘Marxist’ government of West Bengal will continue arresting the people who are with the Maoists. Police seized all the ferryghats on the Kangsabati river, which affected the people of 50-60 villages at the time of the Puja festivals.

Mr. Anil Biswas, the PBM and WB state secretary of the CPM, will always express his opinion on behalf of the government, prior to the CM or other government functionary, on state govt. policy matters. After the Kharjungle ambush Anil Biswas talked to the press and said "Due to this ambush the govt. closes its doors with Naxalites to conduct talks. Talks are not possible if they do this form of violence" and he ruled out any initiative from the side of the state to consider talks with the Naxalites.

The very next day a fitting reply came from the state secretary of the erstwhile CPI(ML)(PW) State Secretary Comrade Somen, , that they are not begging any thing nor standing at the doorsteps of the ‘Marxist’ government. There is no such situation for talks in the state and the ‘Marxist Government’ will only understand and can hear the sounds of blasts. Let the people decide what to do for their freedom and emancipation. A show of force is going on from the government side from Mahakarn and elsewhere daily.

In October 2003, a land mine was blasted as a part of resistance by the erstwhile PGA guerrillas in which a notorious officer Nilmadhab Das of Bandwan PS died and some others were injured. It was the first land mine blast in the state of West Bengal as a part of people’s resistance. Later on 25 February 2004, in the Khokrajar (Daldali forest) area of Belpahari 7 jawans of the state Special Forces and a civilian driver were killed by the guerrillas of the erstwhile PW party.

On 23 September a raid on the 4-member escort party of the police in a passenger Bus was successfully executed. The incident happened near Basdihi jungle in Bankuras Ranibandh area. The four police personnel were overpowered by the gurrillas of the erstwhile MCCI and captured four rifles and 140 bullets. People’s guerrillas used simply chilli powder to overpower the security personnel to seize the weapons. These incidents affected the morale of the police force.

To save their skin the top brass of the police officials started suspending the lower rank personnel. Four personnel of the escorting party were suspended. After the Kharjungle ambush of 14 October two intelligence officials near Saranda Police Station of Bankura district were also suspended on 16 October in the name of negligence of duty. On the other hand top police brass and their close followers instigated a section of women in the EFR HQ to demand sophisticated weapons. The crisis which the state is facing will further deepen the dissatisfaction of the people, which will culminate into further crisis in social life.

Those who are scape-goats to cover the ugly face of the ‘Marxist’ rulers will certainly revolt against the rulers in the coming years.

The first ‘Marxist’ speaker in parliament is serving the ruling classes living upto their expectation. Chatterjee told the media in West Midnapur that Naxalites should shun violence and join the ‘main stream’. He also sermonized that Indian democracy is deep rooted and it can’t tolerate any division or terrorism on its land.

What type of democracy we do really have in India will not come within the frame work of this article but we have to see how the Indian ‘Marxists’ are upto the ‘democratic norms’ in West Bengal. We can cite only one example.

West Bengal people know about the struggle in Garbeta in Midanapur. First the battle between the TMC-BJP combine on the one hand and the CPM on the other and afterwards when the PW party concentreted in this area a sharp contradiction arose between the CPI(ML)(PW) and the TMC-BJP. When the PW entered Garbeta to organize the masses for revolution there came about a sweeping change.

In the course of development the BJP-TMC combine was defeated. But revolutionary forces were weak to consolidate the gains. So, temporarily the CPM occupied the entire area. Since the last 4 years the entire area was seized by armed gangs and legal functionaries of the ‘Marxist’ Party with clear backing from the police department. So no freedom, democracy, individual rights or constitutional rights prevail in this period. Only the CPM goons will rule the area according to their fascist intention.

Nargeesh a little magazine which gets published from Garbeta came under the brutish glare of the CPM leadership. They started to issue threats to the 5 youths who questioned the "unquestionable authority" of the CPM. A gang of 50 goons ransacked the house of the editor publisher of the magazine. They took him to the paddy field and told that if he dared continue with the publication and stick to principles of freedom of the press or other such principles, which Nargeesh has been propagating, then he would be finished off. They kept a revolver at his forehead and threatened him. The young souls of Nargeesh stand firmly and continued their progressive activities.

Then the Zonal CPI(M) leader came to their homes to warn their parents not to send their sons for any political activity. He told them that if they did not stop them from continuing such activities then the Zonal committee would finalise who would kill them, the party cadres or the police! Then the parents grew afraid like any thing. However, the youth did not stop their activities. They met the District Collector to give a picture of the ongoing threats and danger to their lives from the CPM. They asked the District Collector to give them a patient hearing. What followed instead was the raids by the police. Twice. Thrice …. And so far many times the police search their houses but the CPI(M) culprits move freely.

To protest this the RSF students marched to Nandan – the cultural hub of the babus – where Buddha, Sabana Azmi etal attended a cultural festival organized by the CPM led government. There the students distributed leaflets and questioned the S.F.I., CPM’s goondas about their methods in the name of democracy. A women activist announced from the mike that ‘Lathi raj chalbe na’ (The rule of batons shall not be allowed to go on] Nargeesh must not be attacked.

The ‘Marxist’ party leaders, particularly its paid intellectuals, used certain vulgar, slang language towards the women activists and others at Nandan, which no civilized person can imagine. Even the American soldiers who indulged in the atrocities on Iraqi prisoners would bow their heads in shame if they heard the vituperatives used at the cultural centre by the ‘Marxist’ babus.

The things further worsened in Gorbeta. At the time of writing this article we don’t know what happened to the young literary activists of Gorbeta, because no one was present at their residences due to the harassment of the police.

This is the ‘deep rooted democracy’, which Somanth like CPI(M) babus are preaching. The CPI(M) led ‘Left’ Front rule has come to such a pass that even the ‘Left’ Front constituents occasionally receive beating and some of their leaders get manhandled by the CPI(M) ruffians.. A news item was published in all the Bengali and English dailies on 19.10.04 that a renowned trade union leader of the Coal Belt that too CITU’s and twice elected MP Haradhan Roy resigned from the CPI(M) and informed this to the press.

He wrote in his letter to the CPI(M) State Secretary that "After serving the party for 50 years I found that I had no other option but to quit because the CPM I knew had changed. The party no longer respects the critical minority view… I am still a believer in communism, but I realize I have no place in the party, which is controlled by contractors and the mafias." He further criticised the Bhattacharjee government, which is "serving the rich and the trading community by ignoring the rights of the working class and the poor". Roy, 80 years old, a prominent trade unionist in the coal belt, spoke of the dangerous reality obtaining here.

Fajul Nagar, a village in Murshidabad district stands witness to the crime and lumpen activities of the ‘Marxist’ mafias. To control the financial resources of the village for their petty interests they made it a regular feature to abuse, threaten and beat the villagers. Two police pickets were set up to control the people. Police always supported and backed the mafias.

Women folk of the village were the real fighters in the ongoing struggle against the ‘Marxist’ anti social leaders. These gangs imposed high tariffs for the ferry. So people damaged the Ferrighat to avenge the CPM goons’ atrocities. Comrades Lujvan and Shuiphool were attacked by the anti-Social group led by the CPM in the village. After hearing this news people gathered in the village and torched the police camp on Sept. 20. Women led this struggle.

In another incident in Nadia district, people’s guerriallas anhilated Kalu Ghosh, a notorious criminal who was the right hand of the Binpur CPM MLA Sunil Biswas. He raped women, looted the property of the peasants and rebuked, beat villagers at will. He created a terror in almost 6 villages. He acted as an agent of the police and passed on information to them. On 13 October Kalu was dragged from his hideout and annihilated in Bathjungla village.

Notwithstanding these protests, till now, the revolutionary movement is still weak . A massive political mobilisation and a constistent resistence needs to be developed to counter the CPI(M) government. Also an ideological fight and political debates need to be made to educate the vast masses who are opposing Buddha’s brand of Marxism. It is essential thereby to strengthen the revolutionary movement in West Bengal.

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