After Nandigram now it is Lalgarh. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government and CPI (M) have resorted to state sponsored ruthless terror to crush people’s democratic movement.
But while in Nandigram they unleashed offensive by the combine of police and party goons surreptitiously under the cover of the darkness of night, in Lalgarh they launched the armed operation – in reality an undeclared war jointly with the congress led UPA government (of which Mamata Banarjee’s Trinamul congress is a formidable partner) in broad daylight.
Incidentally, it is not the Manmohan sing government that pressurized the WB government for this paramilitary operation. But it is Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who with the nod from the state and the central leadership of his party sought Para-military help on a wider scale from the Prime Minister Manmohan Sing.
In Nandigram, for Buddhadeb and the CPI (M) the pretext was to “bring back peace in the area” and in Lalgarh the pre text is to get rid of terrorism and establish rule of law in the area”.
Lalgarh in West Medinipur situated about 200 KM away from Kolkata is one of the 18 blocks out of total 241 blocks of West Bengal where as the report goes the ruling CPI (M) at present is no longer able “to rule and govern in the same old way as they used to before”- which actually means like a colonial rule. These 18 blocks encompass three adjacent districts – West Midnapur, Bankura and Purulia. Incidentally 43 most backward and poverty stricken blocks of West Bengal are situated in this area.
Lalgarh issue has developed over the past few months following brutal police torture on the people of Chhotopelia village in the aftermath of land mine blast at Salboni along the chief Minister convoy returning Kolkata after the ceremony of laying foundation stone of the proposed SEZ project of the Zindals.
The blast took place on 2nd November, 2008 and CPI (Maoist) claimed its responsibility. On the night of 5 November, Police raided Chhotopelia village situated about 30 KM from Salboni in search of the persons responsible for the blast and let loose hell upon the sleeping villagers. Police hounded each and every house. Inmates were dragged out and beaten up mercilessly. Women were humiliated and roughed up. Many were injured seriously. One tribal woman Chhitamani Murmu lost one of her eyes. Many people were arrested. They were implicated in false cases. Even two school going minor boys were not spared.
Now this sort of police atrocity is nothing new in Lalgarh and in entire Jungle Mahal including adjacent to rural area of Bankura and Purulia.
To Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s police, tribes and activist of CPI (Maoist) are one and the same. And people mostly tribes have been subjected to worst kind of police repressions over the past one decade. Besides, corrupt and muscles wielding local Party BOSSES OF CPI (m) are in no mood and temper to tolerate any opposition to their policy and programme. So persons having dissenting voice are brought to the police stations and beaten up.
In fact, of late police stations in this area have been virtually turned into CPI (M) party offices. But the fall out of 5th November police repression has a different tale to tell. Entire village rose up in spontaneous protest and in no time the protest developed into spontaneous resistance movement of the mass of Lalgarh and vast rural area of entire jungle mahal under the banner of POLICE SANTRAS BIRODHI PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE formed by the people of 91 villages of Lalgarh block and neighboring rural area. Representation of many political organizations including CPI (Maoist) was also there.
The villagers boycotted the administration and police. They stopped paying taxes. Felled trees, dug-up roads, protest rallies of tribes armed with traditional weapons were part of this resistance movement. Police and administration dared not enter into the area. Even the polling in Lalgarh for the Jhargram Lok Sabha Constituency had to be held outside the boycotted area on the terms and conditions of the Police Santras Birodhi People’s committee.
It needs to be pointed out here that though brutal police repression on the night of 5th November sparked off the Lalgarh movement, the real cause behind the explosion of people’s wrath is their long deprivation and denial of basic human needs like food and clothing. It being a land of marinate, agriculture is extremely difficult here. Among the populace of the area are Adivasis like Santals, Munda, Lodha belonging to ST, Bagdi, Mal belonging to SC. Besides, there are OBC like Kurmi, Mahato and Bagal etc. Their life during 32 years of uninterrupted rule of Left Front government first under Jyoti Basu and then under Buddhdeb has not changed much from what it was under the congress govt. of Bidhan Roy or Prafulla Ch.sen or Siddharth Shankar Roy. It remains the same – a life of oppression, exploitation, destitution, lack of human rights. Even in 2009 health and hospital care, drinking water, education, road ways and communication facilities, electricity all are a distant dream for them.
The money that is allotted by the govt. – central or state under different development schemes hardly reached the needy as major amount used to be pocketed by local CPI (m) functionaries. Job cards are not issued to persons who are really below poverty line. Hardly any villagers have got work for mandatory 100 days under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. At best work for 10-15 days were given and that too, to a few and they are yet to receive full payment for the work.
Almost the entire amount of money allotted for the scheme is simply siphoned off in one way or the other by the corrupt panchayet officials who are mostly CPI (m) men. In fact corruption and CPI (m) have become synonymous in Lalgarh.
The deprivation, poverty and hunger coupled with repression and oppression by the corrupt police-corrupt CPI (m) leadership for a pretty long time, ultimately led to the outburst of the pent up anger of the villagers.
Lalgarh movement against administration and police and CPI (m) misdeeds has been sustained for the past seven months. It indicates tribes are united and have risen up against economic exploitation, social neglect and political repression. Any injustice to them from now on is to meet with resolute protest. They are fighting for elementary human rights and democracy for themselves. Buddhadeb Govt. and cpi (m) tried to break the movement by applying the tactics of divide and rule among the villagers, but their attempt failed and they did not proceed further.
Perhaps, with the memory of Nandigram backlash (forcing them to roll back the proposed SEZ of chemical hub and massive erosion of support base among mass of the people all over the state) fresh in their mind they dared not press into service their Harmed leaders like Susanta (Cabinet Minister in Buddhadeb Govt.) Tapan -Sukur, notorious killers of Chhoto Angaria and king pins of Nandigram carnage, to break the Lalgarh movement in similar fashion.
It is some incidents during Loksabha poll and after, like mine blast causing deaths of poll personals, setting ablaze Police stations, and residential buildings of some local cpi (m) leaders (who earned a very bad name locally) and individual killings in and around Lalgarh provided Buddhadeb Govt. and cpi (m) with much needed opportune movement to strike back- i.e. to launch joint armed operation with central govt.
Buddhadeb govt. and cpi (m) are under heavy compulsion to crush the movement – to help create a “congenial law and order situation” in the state for smooth implementation of liberal economic reform programmes. Congress- the most trusted representative of the rulings class and Trinamul congress too, has the same compulsion – perhaps greater, as they are in power at the centre.
Besides, Buddhadeb govt. and cpi(m) have another great stake to prove before the domestic ruling class and imperialism that notwithstanding set back in Nandigram and worst ever poll debacle in Lok Sabha election they have the ability and acumen to tide over opposition and go ahead with policy and programmes as desired by them (ruling class and imperialism).
To prove, further that they are for the dictum “Either reform or perish “not in words only but in deeds also. Buddhadeb govt. and the CPI (M) readily bowed before the central govt. to ban the CPI (Maoist) though they have been mouthing to counter CPI (Maoist) politically. Without an iota of hesitation, Buddhadeb govt. applied newly enacted draconian black law – Unlawful Activities Prevention Act – to arrest the spokesman of CPI (Maoist) in West Bengal.
The riders –‘selective use’ of the black law and a ‘prior discussion in core committee’ before its selective use are nothing but show piece attempt to distance themselves from central govt. on the issue and not to be seen on identical stand with the UPA govt.of Congress and Trinamul on ban and black law.
From the stand point of parliamentary politics, the twist and turn in post poll political situation of the state following launching of joint armed operation in Lalgarh provided beleaguered Buddhadeb govt. and CPI (M) after the worst ever drubbing they received in Loksabha election, with some breathing space at least for the time being to try for salvaging their tarnished image as well as eroded support base.
In the first place, much to their relief the disturbing news of analysis and review of their poll debacle accompanied by wide spread criticism of the leadership, both from inside and out side the party; no longer draw media attention and hence no discomposing public exposure of the unpalatable truth about their misdeeds. Instead Lalgarh operation has hit the news headline.
Besides, they have been able to send the feeler to their rank & file as well as to the sympathizers and supporters that the Buddhadeb ministry with the backing of party leadership do have the ability to rule and govern and become firm in taking effective steps to protect and save the party me who are increasingly coming under the threat of physical elimination by the political opponents and onoccasions are also getting eliminated.
Next, they have got the much needed scope of making re entry into some areas of Lalgarh Block which were so long inaccessible to them because of their earlier misdeeds.
So CPI (M) and Buddhadeb govt. must be thankful to CPI(MAOIST) for extending their helping hand directly to help them extricate at least for the time being from the quagmire of crisis arisen out of their out and out pro-imperialist pro- ruling class policy and programmes of implementing imperialist globalization – a policy that has already caused considerable erosion of their support base in Bengal and there by have reduced the importance and relevance of their role in present day parliamentary politics of coalition govt.
Rendering organizational and political help to ruling class parties or to ruling CPI (M) whom they called ‘Social Fascist’, is nothing new to CPI (Maoist). They helped CPI (M) during the period of 1998 – 2001 to wipe out BJP – Trinamul combine from Garbeta-Keshpur-Arambag belt. It helped CPI (M) to strengthen their political and organizational influence in the area and since then it has been paying them rich dividend in successive elections from panchayet to Loksabha. In the recently concluded Loksabha election CPI (M) supported CPI candidate won the Ghatal seat by huge margin despite considerable erosion of their tribal support base.
Again, as their political equation with the CPI (M) changed, they opted for a new equation with – a regional ruling class party TMC. But TMC at that time could not exact any political benefit from the alliance as their joint armed squads were simply ambushed by the CPI (M) killers.
Again, it is CPI (Maoist that helped TMC and its supremo Mamata Banerjee to impose their leadership in Nandigram movement that started as a spontaneous people’s protest against forcible acquisition of land. It helped Mamata to channelize a potential people movement into the blind lane of electoral politics- gradually killing its potentiality of developing into massive anti SEZ and for that matter anti imperialist movement.
Thus facts tell that the tactics CPI (Maoist) followed in West Medinipur or in Nandigram served the cause of pro-imperialist and pro-ruling class party CPI (M) and TMC, at the cost of people’s cause. This line has no relation with Marxism-Leninism. Theirs is not the Marxist-Leninist line of mobilizing and organizing the mass of the people to develop mass revolutionary struggle. The politics of class based organization and class struggle is alien to their ideological and political line of left adventurism. What they practiced in West Medinipur and in Nandigram is their old tactical line. They have been practicing it for a long time in AP sometimes to the advantage of TDP and at other time to the advantage of Congress. In Lalgarh they made their entry in to the Police Santras Birodhi Peoples Committee and began to assert their line in the core body of the committee. Their line of individual killings- to name only a few, of Vishnu Murmu, Nirmal Sardar,Indrajit Sahis,Sudhir Mandi,Sadhana Besra[Reference : com.Santhosh Rana’s open letter to CPI(Maoist) dated 30th May2009].
All the victims were landless oppressed poor people. It seems that the Marxist concept of “class” and “class struggle” which com.Mao-tse-Tung applied while conducting Chinese Revolution do not find any place in the political lexicon of CPI(Maoist).
Again, their some other activities in the area can in no way be supported. For example some tribal women were forced to put on garlands of shoes and take part in the procession. One Gopinath Murmu, happened to be a CPI (M) supporter, was clubbed to death and his widow was forced to take part in the procession of the Committee.[Ref.Com.santhosh Rana’s open letter to CPI(Maoist) dated 30th May 2009]
These sorts of activities have harmed Lalgarh movement. While on the one hand they indulged in such practice of individual killings, on the other hand in the face of joint armed operation except for blasting a few indigenous land mines and firing some shots at the advancing force they have failed to put up any resistance. Peoples resistance remains far cry one may interpret it as a part of their guerilla war. But it was seen that on the very next day of the police atrocities in Chhotopelia village – the entire area rose up in spontaneous protest that soon developed into a resistance movement of the thousands of Adivasi people. But now exodus of alarmed villagers from their village in Lalgarh and many of them both men and women got severely wounded as the joint force mercilessly beat up them. And one villager was shot dead.
Thus a democratic upsurge of the oppressed Adivasi people having the potentiality of developing into mass revolutionary movement was simply blown over by the left adventurist activities of CPI(Maoist) that invited state onslaught on the scale of an undeclared war, at a time when people involved in the movement were not politically organized and needed to be trained and awakened to class consciousness by mass revolutionary action combining political and economic demands, before taking on the state onslaught of such a magnitude. Lalgarh has given exposure once again to the left adventurism – one of the twin dangers of Communist movement – the other being Revisionism.
At the same time Lalgarh has nakedly exposed Mamata and her TMC in their true color –its out and out anti-people people ruling class character. TMC supremo who once lent her support to the Lalgarh Peoples Committee and even attended a rally did not utter a single word decrying the joint armed operation. Her plea was that she did not have any prior information. But she demanded a stop to armed operation. Her only concern is that joint operation would help CPI (M) to regain their lost support base in Lalgarh and as a counter measure to contain CPI (M), demanded declaring Garbeta, Kespur and Bankura as disturbed area. She has welcomed the imposition of ban on CPI (Maoist).
For CPI (M) Lalgarh has again exposed their compulsion to go against peoples interest – a compulsion arising out of their policy of surrender before the combine of domestic ruling class and imperialism with the avowed objective of having a share in the state power ( at the centre ) within the present socio-economic system of the country through parliamentary cretinism.
Indeed, CPI (M)’s role in Lalgarh development has proved once again that in no way they can be called a Leftist Party not to speak of calling them a Marxist Party. Their ready acceptance to the ban imposed on CPI (Maoist) and immediate applying of the draconian black law UAPA in the state have shown it nakedly that they have degenerated to the position where it can well be called that Congress - surrendered to imperialism and CPI(M) are two sides of a coin. In the context it needs to be pointed out here that all these draconian measures applied in Lalgarh would backfire
It is observed that people from different walks of life have come out in protest against joint armed operation. They include among others writers, poets, dramatists, film makers’ actors. And there is unanimous demand that :-
1. Joint armed operation in Lalgarh should be immediately stopped.
2. Ban on CPI (Maoist) should be revoked immediately.
3. Black Law UAPA should be revoked immediately.
4. Maoist spokesman arrested under UAPA should be unconditionally released.
5. Lalgarh problem should be solved politically.
This voice of protest needs to be louder and intensified. For the Communist Revolutionary and struggling left forces Lalgarh development sends a clear message - which dark days are ahead. Lalgarh is not an isolated case. Situation warrants that these forces should act. In the context we reiterate what ou Organization observed at the time of Nandigram movement that – “It is the peoples interest that these forces ( CR and Struggling Left) rise up to the occasion shunning their habitual inertia, incapacity and passivity to react properly and effectively to the demand of the situation”.
