Buddhadeb writes to Chidambaram on 'Trinamool-Maoist nexus'

NDTV Correspondent,

Updated: February 03, 2011

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today wrote to the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on suspected Maoists sheltering in Trinamool Congress run relief camps.

After two inmates of a Trinamool-run relief camp were arrested by joint security forces on Monday for alleged links with Maoists, Bhattacharjee had issued a late night statement saying that he would inform the Home Minister about 'Trinamool-Maoist nexus' and would be forced to take administrative steps against Trinamool leaders involved in sheltering Maoists.

Mamata Banerjee had said that she too would inform the Centre about the incident. On the arrest of the alleged Maoists, she said the entire incident was the handiwork of pro-CPM police forces.

Alleging arbitrary action of the joint forces, Trinamool Congress activists had blocked the station road in the town, stalling traffic movement for hours after the arrest.

CPI(M): camps set up to lodge people evicted by Maoists

The Hindu, Kolkata, September 2, 2010

A day after Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said there was a general agreement on the existence of camps of armed cadres in parts of West Bengal, Biman Basu, secretary of the State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said here on Thursday that his party set up camps on the fringes of the Jangalmahal area only to shelter those evicted from their homes by Maoists.

“Our party is working in the Jangalmahal area [that spans the forest areas of the districts of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia], but that does not mean we have set up camps for armed cadres,” Mr. Bose said, when asked to comment on Mr. Chidambaram's statement.

Mr. Chidambaram might not have mentioned the CPI(M) while making his remarks, but they came in the background of allegations by the Trinamool Congress that the CPI(M) set up several armed camps in the region under the cover of the joint security operations to flush out Maoists.

Mr. Bose said the people of the region were united in offering resistance to Maoists.

The camps set up by the CPI(M) were for “those driven out of their homes,” some of which were set on fire and ones who were “under a constant threat from Maoists.”

The CPI(M) was trying to revive its activities in the region and could not remain silent in the face of atrocities being committed on people, he said.

“The people are also rising up against the extremists' activities having learnt from their bitter experience,” Mr. Bose said.

Senior leader of the CPI(M) and member of its central committee, Nilotpal Basu said the least expected of the Centre was that it got together all political forces against those violating the Constitution and breaking the law.

IG refutes charges

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) S.K. Purakayastha discounted reports of armed camps being set up in the Jangalmahal area by any political party.

Camps there belonged to the security forces, who were engaged in activity related to area domination.

The police did not receive any formal complaint from any political quarter of armed cadres being housed in camps.

CHIDAMBARAM COMES A-VISITING BUT SKIPS MANGOLKOTE

KOLKATA: Besides West Bengal, the joint action force is operating in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, and Bihar to oust the ‘Maoist’ from this region.

To inspect this operation, readers will not fail to note, Chidambaram has chosen Lalgarh in Bengal as his place of visitation In relation to this it is to be noted that the now-hot-now-cold ‘ally’ of the central government the Trinamul Congress has been persistently condemning the role of the joint action forces’ drives.

On 3 April in Delhi, Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata had a half-an hour meeting with Chidambaram. According to the central home ministry, Lalgarh has been chosen for the visit mainly for ‘security-related’ [?] reasons.

It is important to note that Andhra Pradesh is greatly affected by the ‘Maoist’ predicament. Nevertheless, none from the central home ministry much less than the home minister, has visited that state. On Thursday the home ministry claimed, much to Didi’s chagrin, to have been a ‘success’ in bringing down ‘Maoist’ activities under control, especially at Lalgarh thanks to the ops of the joint action force.

From 18 June of last year onwards, in the western part of Bengal, the joint action force has begun its work. Before this operation in Bengal, the joint force has been in operation in Chattisgarh. Later on, the joint action force has been in operation in Orissa and Jharkhand against the ‘Maoist’ brutality. No visits from the home ministry were warranted in these instances.

We recall how, to combat the ‘Maoist’ force, there had been a meeting organized by the central home ministry with the chief ministers of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar. The meeting was conducted in absence of the chief ministers of Bihar and Jharkhand. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee the chief minister of Bengal and the chief minister of Orissa Navin Pattanayak attended the meeting among others.

We note here how the state Left Front government came to know about this ‘surprise’ visit of the home minister at the last possible moment. The present call of Chidambaram is merely for political reasons and this is the view of the mass of the people of Bengal and beyond. Through this visit, the Pradesh Congress wants to gain electoral mileage before the next and upcoming civic election.

Nonetheless it is interesting that despite tall promises and much drumming up of the political kind by the rainbow opposition here in Bengal, Chidambaram has nay’ed visits to those villages of Mangolkote in Burdwan where Trinamulis and Congressites have jointly carried on bloody and murderous assaults on both the CPI (M) leadership and the CPI (M) workers. (B PRASANT)