In rally run-up,Maoist-Mamata line gets very blurred in Lalgarh
Union Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee insists that her August 9 meeting in Lalgarh under the aegis of Santras Virodhi Manch is an apolitical one.
Union Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee insists that her August 9 meeting in Lalgarh under the aegis of “Santras Virodhi Manch” is an “apolitical” one. Facts on the ground not only contradict this claim but also reinforce how blurred the line is between the Maoists,the Union Minister and her party.
Consider the following:
* The secretary of the Maoist front,the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA),Manoj Mahato,has announced that his group will support and participate in Banerjee’s rally.
* A visit to Lalgarh shows that Tota Hembram,the newly appointed chief of the Sidhu-Kanho militia,the armed wing of the PCAPA,is one of the key men asked to organise the rally and mobilising people from CPM strongholds. Sources said that Hembram has sought TMC flags which have been put up in CPM-dominated areas like Bhadutala,Bagmari and Kashijhora in the Salboni police station area and Dharampur and Dherua in the Lalgarh police station area. “Dada (Hembram) has given us 200 TMC flags to plant across the Bhadutala Panchayat,these flags were distributed in our village and we are planting these at night. We support the cause of Mamata Banerjee and are helping the TMC leadership organize the meeting,” said a PCAPA member who was arrested and is out on bail. He spoke on the condition that he not be named.
* Banerjee has said that no TMC flag or banner will be used. But TMC flags and banners are seen in several places,mostly in Maoist-dominated areas. More than 1000 TMC flags were seen in Pirakata,a Maoist stronghold.
* Villagers in Maoist strongholds have been asked to send two members from each family to the rally.
* In Bhulageda village,once a favourite shelter of Kishenji,villagers said that they would join the meeting spontaneously. Those organising the mobilisation in this area are Santosh Mahato,Dilip Mahato and Rajiv Mahato. According to police records,all are dreaded members of the militia.
Many here believe that the Santra Virodhi Manch is going to soon replace PCAPA. The PCAPA has not only been stigmatized after the Jnaneswari train attack but its top brass are either killed or in custody. The Santras Viroshi Manch,therefore,provides a broadbase platform. Those who have already come under the banner include JMM (Anushilon),JMM ( Naren Hansda faction),Socialist Unity Center of India,the Congress in Jhargram,the CPI(ML),Bandi Mukti Committee,the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights,the National Alliance of People’s Alliance,the Lalgarh Samhati Manch,the Forum for Peace,Justice and Democracy.
Said a senior police official: “Within a few days of the Aug 9 meeting,the Santras Virodhi Mancha will start functioning in Lalgarh with the same people of the PCAPA but with a much broader platform. This is a time-worn strategy of the Maoists of dismantling a frontal organization after it gets exposed and then forming a new organization with a new name. The people of the old outfit continue to be leaders in the new outfit. The PCAPA will be converted to the Santras Virodhi Manch and the TMC will retain control.”
Mukul Roy,Union Shipping Minister and one of Banerjee’s most trusted lieutenants in the TMC,said: “We follow this model of bringing in small splinter groups under an umbrella to fight CPM terror and injustice. We are also inviting the farmers’ organizations who had spearheaded the movement in Singur and the Save Land Committee in Nandigram to come and join the Santrs Virodhi Manch.”
Asked about the PCAPA general secretary Mahato clearly announcing its support to the rally,Roy said he was not aware of this.
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