Buddha’s police pin PWG tag on students

It doesn’t matter that this is a CPI(M) government, led by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who’s trying to put forward a pro-reforms face. It doesn’t matter that this government is packed by party workers and former Naxalites who, on paper at least, swear by dissent and political freedom.

Besides the schoolboy and the college student, three small farmers from neighbouring areas have also been arrested and booked for the same offence.

In its crackdown against the Naxalites — particularly the People’s War Group — these four are the state’s latest ‘‘catch,’’ those who do not agree with the Marxists. For the government, the best way to deal with them is to slap charges so serious that they will ensure their prolonged judicial or police remand.

A visit to Bochadanga exposes the extent of police highhandedness. Sections under the Indian Penal Code that deal with ‘‘sedition against the state’’ (the same sections under which British national Peter Bleach was tried and convicted for airdropping 300 AK-47 rifles in Purulia in 1995) have been slapped against the Class VIII student, the college girl and three others.

Villagers are angry. ‘‘We never heard the name of PWG, we knew them as Naxals. But they never ever did anything that should earn them a bad name. Instead, they wrested some vested char lands from unscrupulous people and distributed them among us,’’ says a local resident.

In fact, because of this campaign led by the Revolutionary Socialist Party — which ironically is one of the Left’s constituents in the government — there are few families here who don’t have land to cultivate.

‘‘Coming from a poor family, Shampa always empathised with the poor,’’ says her father Nirmal Dasgupta who met her at the Berhampore jail on Friday. He finds it hard to understand why she has been arrested when there is no ban on her group.

Relatives of Eton say the boy was asked to stay back in his house while they — some of them are elected functionaries of the RSP — went to attend a marriage. They are more upset about the manner in which policemen from the local police station visited the village after the raid and got blank papers signed by at least three villagers. ‘‘We refused to sign but they forced us. If there is an independent inquiry, we will definitely say this,’’ says Israel Malithy, a farmer in his 40s. This was seconded by Habibur Rehman Mondal, another farmer in his 40s. When contacted, the officer-in-charge at the local police station at Naoda, Shyama Prasad Saha, said: ‘‘I can’t speak to the press.’’

Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad, Virendra was hard put to explain the charges. ‘‘Their basic objective was to capture state power. They were certainly up to something. Or, why should they assemble in such a remote village and escape at the sight of the police?’’ he asked.

‘‘They aren’t accused of political murders,’’ Virendra said, adding: ‘‘They are trying to set up their own system, an own justice system. Besides, there were cases of arms snatching and recovery of arms in recent times.