STATESCAN | west bengal | maoists
Myths and Reality about the Trinamool-Maoist NEXUS What the CPI(M) is trying to do, ably assisted by junior cohorts of the Left Front, is to pass off Maoist killings as the deeds of joint Trinamool-Maoist forces
by DIPTENDRA RAYCHAUDHURI
The Myth
OF late, on almost every occasion the CPI(M) has been harping on the Trinamool-Maoist nexus in southwest Bengal. A pro-CPI(M) Bengali TV channel regularly reports the attacks carried out by a “Trinamool-Maoist” forces. Ganashakti, the CPI(M) party organ, even tried to portray the Netai killings as committed by the Trinamool-Maoist armed gang. But the CPI(M)’s effort to pass on Netai as the handiwork of a Trinamool-Maoist gang fell flat on its face. It was proven beyond doubt that an armed CPI(M) gang fired from a local CPI(M) leader’s house and killed unarmed villagers protesting against the gang’s diktat on compulsory arms training.
The gang was thus a replica of an armed Maoist squad. For months the Trinamool Congress had been emphasizing the “occupation” of areas deserted by the Maoists by such gangs.
Finally, even the Union Home Minister echoed it in his letters to the Chief Minister. The CPI(M) wants to deny the existence of such gangs even after Netai. It wants to carry on the campaign against the Trinamool- Maoist “joint forces”. In a way, this shows the helplessness of our democracy against the vandals of a ruling party in a State. The Delhi of 1984 and the Gujarat of 2001 are blatant examples of this. But that is another story.
Chief Minister Buddha dev Bhattacharya recently dashed off a letter to the Union Home Minister, claiming he had proof of the connection. He has been saying it for the past three years (since his police force killed farmers in Nandigram) without ever bothering to present any credible evidence.
Evidently, the CPI(M) wants to divert the people’s attention from allegations of atrocities committed by another “joint force” – that of the CRPF and the State police – in the tribal areas of south-west Bengal. It is thus trying to subtly justify Netai as a panic reaction by its men, fearing an attack by the Maoists. Like Goebbels, the CPI(M) believes that if a lie is repeated a hundred times, it becomes truth. They are sure that at least some voters will be swayed by this campaign and return to their fold.
To add some conviction, as soon as two Trinamool Congress workers were arrested, State Secretary Biman Bose announced that they were connected to the Silda massacre by the Maoists. Though the police in its preliminary report dropped no such hint, three days later it toed Bose’s line and brought fresh charges against the duo.
Again, in its petition to the Election Commission, the CPI(M) brought up the allegation of the nexus and followed this with arguments. Apart from stating the non-existence of their own armed gangs’ camps, they have equated the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) with the Maoists.
The recent Supreme Court judgement by Justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra on the tenability of criminal charges even against members of a banned organization not connected with violent activities (State vs Arup Bhuyan, a member of ULFA) said that mere membership of a banned organization does not make a person criminal unless one resorts to violence or incites people to violence.
The CPI(M) cites the arrest of PCPA members for the Gyaneshwari Express tragedy as proof that the organization is a terrorist outfit. By the same logic, it too belongs in that category for many of its members are in jail with murder charges against them. More than a dozen have been convicted for murdering Trinamool Congress members.
The Reality
HOWEVER, it is true that at local levels there was and is a connection between Trinamool Congress workers and the Maoists. The Maoists have helped the Trinamool Congress and have taken help in return in the past couple of years. The Maoists do this in various states. Years ago, they supported a reel-life hero who was a new entrant in Andhra politics – seeing in him a chance of being in power.
That man, NT Rama Rao, also said “Lal Salaam” in those days. During his regime, a Maoist group helped his party workers to eliminate political opponents. A few years later, Rama Rao turned against the Naxalites and the latter then supported Marri Channa Reddy of the Congress. Like NTR, Channa Reddy, the next CM, hailed the Maoists as “patriots”. Again, the Naxalites (Maoist Communist Centre) tacitly supported Lalu Yadav in the 1990s. In the last election in Jharkhand, they supported Shibu Soren.
The Maoists have also worked with the CPI(M) in West Bengal. The CPI(M) recently mentioned the statement of one Comrade Bikram, a squad leader, to prove a nexus between the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress.
However, a leader of a far higher status, Ganapathy, the general secretary of the CPI (Maoist), in an interview in Open magazine (October 17, 2009), spoke about his organization’s connection with the CPI(M): “We came to know earlier that some ammunition was taken by our local cadre from the CPM unit in the area. There was, however, no understanding with the leadership of the CPM in this regard. Our approach was to unite all sections of the oppressed masses at the lower levels against the goondaism and oppression of Trinamool goons in the area at that time. And since a section of the oppressed masses were in the fold of the CPM at that time, we fought together with them against Trinamool.
Still, taking into consideration the overall situation in West Bengal, it was not a wise step to take arms and ammunition from the CPM even at the local level when the contradiction was basically between two sections of the reactionary ruling classes.”
The area in question is the same: West Midnapore. In the same interview, Ganapathy also talked about a later period when they built a similar local-level connection with the Trinamool Congress. So, in keeping with their long tradition of providing support to any of the rival parties in a state to further their own organizational interest, now the Maoists have extended a helping hand to the Trinamool Congress. It started from the days of the Nandigram struggle, where only a handful of Maoists were involved – trying to convert and arm some locals.
In other parts of south-west Bengal, according to reliable sources, some Maoists masquerading as Trinamool Congress workers or local leaders have been operating for quite some time. This is another tactic the Maoists employ nowadays. Many of their political workers have apparently entered the JMM in Jharkhand and the TRS (Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh) also. In Bengal, since Nandigram, the Maoists were eager to get a firm foothold to break the CPI(M) hegemony in the south-west of the State.
Naturally, they were eager to infiltrate the Trinamool Congress and cajoled some Trinamool workers into sharing strategic interests. This also suited the local people’s urge to fight the CPI(M) and the partisan police force. There was no other option available to the people of Nandigram or Lalgarh for they live in a State where, after the CPI(M) reoccupies an area with arms, the Chief Minister marks that they will be “paid back with the same coin”. Recently, two grassroots-level Trinamool workers were arrested in Orissa when they took an injured Maoist guerrilla for treatment.
The Future
THIS connection does not foretell any possibility of the armed cadre of the Maoists getting any favours from Mamata Banerjee after the coming election, in which her victory is almost certain.
The Trinamool Congress, like the CPI(M), is a party dominated by urban and semi-urban middle-class people. By its very nature, it cannot provide support to any organization which wants thorough socio-economic change. Further, in Bengal, the Maoists have behaved like an anarchist organization, killing a large number of CPI(M) and other Left workers. As CM, Banerjee will be bound to hurt the Maoists.
But will the Maoists support the Trinamool Congress in the election, jettisoning their traditional boycott of elections? They might if they feel Banerjee will go soft on them, as Soren did in Jharkhand. For that, they will prefer Banerjee to be weakened.
Bikram, the mysterious spokesperson of the Maoists, regularly urges Mamata to resign from the Central government and take up the people’s fight against price rise and corruption. He has reportedly stated that the Maoists will vote for the Trinamool Congress if she does this. The motive is to delink the Trinamool Congress from the Congress, so that after the election Banerjee stops the “joint force” operation against the Maoists.
The Maoists know she will not do this if she remains connected with the Central government. They have probably understood that the chances of a Congress-Trinamool break-up have thinned. So they have started attacking Banerjee politically.
However, if the Maoists do ask the people to boycott the election, there will be some violence and less voting in jangal-mahal and the CPI(M) will be in a comfortable position to sweep the districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. This is the likely scenario as the Maoists do not understand that physically eliminating opponents (as they have done with about 200 leftists) is barbaric, and the easiest way to curb the opposition is by defeating it politically.
Myths and Reality about the Trinamool-Maoist NEXUS What the CPI(M) is trying to do, ably assisted by junior cohorts of the Left Front, is to pass off Maoist killings as the deeds of joint Trinamool-Maoist forces
by DIPTENDRA RAYCHAUDHURI
The Myth
OF late, on almost every occasion the CPI(M) has been harping on the Trinamool-Maoist nexus in southwest Bengal. A pro-CPI(M) Bengali TV channel regularly reports the attacks carried out by a “Trinamool-Maoist” forces. Ganashakti, the CPI(M) party organ, even tried to portray the Netai killings as committed by the Trinamool-Maoist armed gang. But the CPI(M)’s effort to pass on Netai as the handiwork of a Trinamool-Maoist gang fell flat on its face. It was proven beyond doubt that an armed CPI(M) gang fired from a local CPI(M) leader’s house and killed unarmed villagers protesting against the gang’s diktat on compulsory arms training.
The gang was thus a replica of an armed Maoist squad. For months the Trinamool Congress had been emphasizing the “occupation” of areas deserted by the Maoists by such gangs.
Finally, even the Union Home Minister echoed it in his letters to the Chief Minister. The CPI(M) wants to deny the existence of such gangs even after Netai. It wants to carry on the campaign against the Trinamool- Maoist “joint forces”. In a way, this shows the helplessness of our democracy against the vandals of a ruling party in a State. The Delhi of 1984 and the Gujarat of 2001 are blatant examples of this. But that is another story.
Chief Minister Buddha dev Bhattacharya recently dashed off a letter to the Union Home Minister, claiming he had proof of the connection. He has been saying it for the past three years (since his police force killed farmers in Nandigram) without ever bothering to present any credible evidence.
Evidently, the CPI(M) wants to divert the people’s attention from allegations of atrocities committed by another “joint force” – that of the CRPF and the State police – in the tribal areas of south-west Bengal. It is thus trying to subtly justify Netai as a panic reaction by its men, fearing an attack by the Maoists. Like Goebbels, the CPI(M) believes that if a lie is repeated a hundred times, it becomes truth. They are sure that at least some voters will be swayed by this campaign and return to their fold.
To add some conviction, as soon as two Trinamool Congress workers were arrested, State Secretary Biman Bose announced that they were connected to the Silda massacre by the Maoists. Though the police in its preliminary report dropped no such hint, three days later it toed Bose’s line and brought fresh charges against the duo.
Again, in its petition to the Election Commission, the CPI(M) brought up the allegation of the nexus and followed this with arguments. Apart from stating the non-existence of their own armed gangs’ camps, they have equated the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) with the Maoists.
The CPI(M) wants to divert attention from allegations of atrocities committed by another ‘joint force’ – that of the CRPF and the State police.
The recent Supreme Court judgement by Justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra on the tenability of criminal charges even against members of a banned organization not connected with violent activities (State vs Arup Bhuyan, a member of ULFA) said that mere membership of a banned organization does not make a person criminal unless one resorts to violence or incites people to violence.
The CPI(M) cites the arrest of PCPA members for the Gyaneshwari Express tragedy as proof that the organization is a terrorist outfit. By the same logic, it too belongs in that category for many of its members are in jail with murder charges against them. More than a dozen have been convicted for murdering Trinamool Congress members.
The Reality
HOWEVER, it is true that at local levels there was and is a connection between Trinamool Congress workers and the Maoists. The Maoists have helped the Trinamool Congress and have taken help in return in the past couple of years. The Maoists do this in various states. Years ago, they supported a reel-life hero who was a new entrant in Andhra politics – seeing in him a chance of being in power. That man, NT Rama Rao, also said “Lal Salaam” in those days. During his regime, a Maoist group helped his party workers to eliminate political opponents. A few years later, Rama Rao turned against the Naxalites and the latter then supported Marri Channa Reddy of the Congress. Like NTR, Channa Reddy, the next CM, hailed the Maoists as “patriots”. Again, the Naxalites (Maoist Communist Centre) tacitly supported Lalu Yadav in the 1990s. In the last election in Jharkhand, they supported Shibu Soren.
The Maoists have also worked with the CPI(M) in West Bengal. The CPI(M) recently mentioned the statement of one Comrade Bikram, a squad leader, to prove a nexus between the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress.
However, a leader of a far higher status, Ganapathy, the general secretary of the CPI (Maoist), in an interview in Open magazine (October 17, 2009), spoke about his organization’s connection with the CPI(M): “We came to know earlier that some ammunition was taken by our local cadre from the CPM unit in the area. There was, however, no understanding with the leadership of the CPM in this regard. Our approach was to unite all sections of the oppressed masses at the lower levels against the goondaism and oppression of Trinamool goons in the area at that time. And since a section of the oppressed masses were in the fold of the CPM at that time, we fought together with them against Trinamool.
Still, taking into consideration the overall situation in West Bengal, it was not a wise step to take arms and ammunition from the CPM even at the local level when the contradiction was basically between two sections of the reactionary ruling classes.”
The area in question is the same: West Midnapore. In the same interview, Ganapathy also talked about a later period when they built a similar local-level connection with the Trinamool Congress. So, in keeping with their long tradition of providing support to any of the rival parties in a state to further their own organizational interest, now the Maoists have extended a helping hand to the Trinamool Congress. It started from the days of the Nandigram struggle, where only a handful of Maoists were involved – trying to convert and arm some locals.
In other parts of south-west Bengal, according to reliable sources, some Maoists masquerading as Trinamool Congress workers or local leaders have been operating for quite some time. This is another tactic the Maoists employ nowadays. Many of their political workers have apparently entered the JMM in Jharkhand and the TRS (Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh) also. In Bengal, since Nandigram, the Maoists were eager to get a firm foothold to break the CPI(M) hegemony in the south-west of the State.
Naturally, they were eager to infiltrate the Trinamool Congress and cajoled some Trinamool workers into sharing strategic interests. This also suited the local people’s urge to fight the CPI(M) and the partisan police force. There was no other option available to the people of Nandigram or Lalgarh for they live in a State where, after the CPI(M) reoccupies an area with arms, the Chief Minister marks that they will be “paid back with the same coin”. Recently, two grassroots-level Trinamool workers were arrested in Orissa when they took an injured Maoist guerrilla for treatment.
The Future
THIS connection does not foretell any possibility of the armed cadre of the Maoists getting any favours from Mamata Banerjee after the coming election, in which her victory is almost certain. The Trinamool Congress, like the CPI(M), is a party dominated by urban and semi-urban middle-class people. By its very nature, it cannot provide support to any organization which wants thorough socio-economic change. Further, in Bengal, the Maoists have behaved like an anarchist organization, killing a large number of CPI(M) and other Left workers. As CM, Banerjee will be bound to hurt the Maoists.
In order to further their own organizational interests, now the Maoists have extended a helping hand to the Trinamool Congress.
But will the Maoists support the Trinamool Congress in the election, jettisoning their traditional boycott of elections? They might if they feel Banerjee will go soft on them, as Soren did in Jharkhand. For that, they will prefer Banerjee to be weakened.
Bikram, the mysterious spokesperson of the Maoists, regularly urges Mamata to resign from the Central government and take up the people’s fight against price rise and corruption. He has reportedly stated that the Maoists will vote for the Trinamool Congress if she does this. The motive is to delink the Trinamool Congress from the Congress, so that after the election Banerjee stops the “joint force” operation against the Maoists.
The Maoists know she will not do this if she remains connected with the Central government. They have probably understood that the chances of a Congress-Trinamool break-up have thinned. So they have started attacking Banerjee politically.
However, if the Maoists do ask the people to boycott the election, there will be some violence and less voting in jangal-mahal and the CPI(M) will be in a comfortable position to sweep the districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. This is the likely scenario as the Maoists do not understand that physically eliminating opponents (as they have done with about 200 leftists) is barbaric, and the easiest way to curb the opposition is by defeating it politically.
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