Kolkata, January 06: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday termed the anti-Maoist operation in the Lalgarh-Jhargram belt as a “total failure” and demanded immediate withdrawal of joint security forces from the area.
“The Central forces are doing what the state police are asking them to do. The CPM is using the Central forces to re-establish its cadres in the area and bringing in arms,” Benerjee told mediapersons at her Kalighat residence.
She alleged that the CPM was using the Central forces to “capture” villages and stem out any kind of opposition from the area. On Tuesday, Banerjee had demanded that the Centre should directly oversee the operations and deploy the Army in the Maoist-affected part of the state.
She, at the same time, distanced herself from the tribal uprising and said her party does not support either the tribal movement in Lalgarh or the Maoists.
No one has the right to kill anyone. If anyone is guilty, action should be taken against them under the law,” she said.
She accused the CPM for being behind the murders of people belonging to several political outfits in the Lalgarh-Jhargram belt.
“The supporters of our party, Naren and Chunibala Hansda groups of Jharkhand Party and even converted Naxals are being killed. The CPM is behind all this,” she added. The Railways Minister also accused the Left Front government of misleading Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the law and order situation in the state.
“When the chief minister met the Prime Minister recently, he said Hooghly is the only place where political violence is going on. He has misled the Prime Minister. The CPM is engaged in political violence in other parts of the state as well,” said Banerjee.
Though she refused to comment on Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had sent a team to Bengal to review the situation, she said the Centre should not maintain silence on the issue.
Forty-eight Congress leaders, meanwhile, formally joined the Trinamool. The leaders include former MLAs, chairpersons of a number of municipalities and councillors.
Kabir Suman hits jarring note, gets earful from Mamata
Singing a different tune again from his party Trinamool Congress, singer and MP from Jadavpur Kabir Suman was on Wednesday rebuked by party chief Mamata Banerjee, who said he is a “guest” in her party, which does not “approve of the ideas expressed by him”.
The flashpoint was a recently recorded album, in which Suman has gone lyrical about the Lalgarh movement and demanded the release of tribal leader Chattradhar Mahato, a line that was no music to the ears for Mamata who is already facing fire from the Left for alleged links with Maoists and Mahato’s outfit, PCAPA.
“The party does not approve of the ideas expressed by him. He is a singer and he has his own ideas. There are some guests in the party. He is one of them,” Mamata said, adding that her party’s stand on Lalgarh is diametrically opposite to what the singer has expressed in the album.
“His is an individual opinion; our party opinion is collective,” she said. This is not the first time the singer has hit a jarring note. A few months ago, Mamata had to rush veteran writer Mahasweta Devi and other intellectuals to Suman’s residence to pacify him after a rebellious outburst.
The singer openly said some party leaders were interfering in his functioning as an MP. He also said he wanted to raise the Lalgarh issue in the Parliament but was not allowed to do so by his party.
Now, Suman has recorded eight songs for an album called “Chhatradharer Gaan” in support of the Lalgarh movement and demanded Mahato’s release.
—Agencies