A year later

A little more than a year ago,when Operation Lalgarh began,the end was unambiguously defined,but the means were not even in sight. That end was the return of the writ of the state to Lalgarh in West Midnapore district and its neighbourhood whence the state administration had been forced to withdraw and the Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities,a Maoist front organisation,had become a law unto itself. An extremely impoverished lot as in most parts of rural West Bengal,these poor villagers,who had for years reeled under the diktats of CPM cadres,had found one tyranny quickly replaced by a more violent and lawless one,which enjoyed the not-too-hidden support of the Trinamool Congress. But the sway of the PCAPA-Maoists meant that when the paramilitary embarked on Operation Lalgarh,they were para-lysed by a lack of intelligence in addition to their unfamiliarity with the jungle terrain.

But as reported in The Sunday Express,Lalgarh,a year later,is quite a turnaround in fact,a successful battlefront against Maoists although the story is far from closure. The recent successful encounters against the Maoists-PCAPA,the fact of Maoists losing control of significant territory,and the Maoist leaderships increasing desperation to sever ties with the PCAPA,reflect the core of the anti-Naxal strategys success in Lalgarh winning over the villagers and thereby building a human intelligence network. Such diplomacy minimises collateral damage and convinces the villagers that the state is not battling them but lawless insurgents. These bridges will be necessary for resurrecting normal life and for subsequent development. Of course,public dis-illusionment helps,especially the swing of the popular mood after the Jnaneswari derailment.

However,its necessary to tread with caution on the political vacuum. Theres discouraging news of armed CPM cadre being pushed into Lalgarh,and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should know that the writ of the state and the ground strength of the party arent the same thing. The same goes for Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool cadre,with their penchant for apolitical rallies in trouble spots. If Bengals two main parties dont mend their ways,the cycle of violence and lawlessness in Lalgarh cannot be broken.