Lalgarh, July 26: It has been over a month since security forces ‘ liberated’ Lalgarh.
But Maoists continue to have a free run in the area, striking at will.
In a startling revelation, the Maoists’ Midnapur- Purulia- Bankura zonal committee leader Bikash said the rebels were planning to attack Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. They were also thinking of targeting Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.
But the Maoists would ‘ spare’ Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee for now.
In an interview to Mail Today, Bikash said, “ We do only what the people want. At present, their wrath is primarily directed against the CPM. We missed Buddha ( the CM) when we had targeted him in a landmine blast last November.
But we will try again.” “ If we get a chance, we will also target Pranab ( Mukherjee), because the people feel the Centre and the state governments are jointly trying to crush their struggle,” he added.
On Mamata, the top Maoist leader said: “ There is no plan to attack Mamata now. We will expose her politically.” But Bikash denied that the Maoists have a tacit understanding with the Trinamool, as is being alleged by the CPM. “ Trinamool is no different from the CPM or the Congress. They represent the same reactionary interests. But unless the people understand that and demand action against them, we will not do anything,” he said.
Decked in his olive green uniform with an AK 47 at his side, a relaxed Bikash explained how the Maoists were dodging a staggering 50- company strong police force in Lalgarh.
“ The media is blowing the police operation out of proportion.
This is helping the government divert attention from its failure to rehabilitate victims of the cyclone Aila,” he said.
“ The CRPF ( Central Reserve Police Force), the IRB ( India Reserve Battalion), Straco and the state police have been present here ( in Lalgarh) for the last 10 years. Our party, the PLGA ( People’s Liberation Guerilla Army) and the locals are used to tackling such police operations,” Bikash said about the recent crackdown on the rebels.
Bikash also said the Maoists were ready to talk to the government on the issue of Lalgarh.
However, he ruled out laying down arms.
“ It is only because we are arming the people that the government now wants a dialogue with us. Otherwise, they would have simply crushed us,” he said.
Denying the government’s charge that Maoist violence was preventing development of the area, Bikash said, “ Was there much development before we came here 10 years ago? The CPM says we have killed about 100 people so far. But they also admit over 30,000 were killed during 32 years of Left Front rule and 50 per cent of those were political killings. Now who is indulging in the politics of violence?” He also shrugged off allegations that the Maoists were killing CPM men from poor families and challenged the media or any independent agency to prove his claim wrong.
“ We awarded death penalty only to extremely bad elements — those who tortured people, were utterly corrupt or were police informers. In each case, it was the people who wanted such action. Most policemen come from poor families too. But when they come here to crush the peoples’ movement, we have to fight them,” he said.
Bikash also denied that his party was resorting to extortion.
“ We only collect taxes and issue receipts for them. It is not extortion. Our tax is much less than what contractors used to pay as bribe to CPM leaders and government officers.” He said, “ The police encouraged local criminals to extort money from people to give Maoists a bad name. We will put a stop to that.”
–Agencies