From Jungle Mahal

The breakthrough that the joint anti-Naxal operations achieved in West Bengal last week,in the Kishenji encounter,was preceded by a visible regress in the battle against the Maoists in the state. This step back was the result of a hesitation on the part of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to pursue the police and paramilitary operations which had begun to yield gains in the last days of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee administration. With Banerjees preference for talks,without combing operations,the danger lay in Jungle Mahal in West Midnapore district slipping back altogether into Maoist hands and an increase in Maoist violence. The Kishenji encounter has changed the script,with Bengal now appearing to join the ranks of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in seriously and successfully curbing the insurgents.

Whether the turnaround happened because of Mamata Banerjee or despite Mamata Banerjee may yet be open to debate. However,it cannot be denied that this blow against Maoism came on her watch,and early in the day. Therefore,without the chief ministers consent,the scope and score of the operations would have been different. If Banerjee has correctly estimated the costs of dithering,that is to be welcomed. Elected representatives must be given time to get on the learning curve. But the sooner the better. These columns have time and again warned Banerjee and other chief ministers,most notably Naveen Patnaik of Orissa,about how unaffordable it is to not read Maoist threats and violence for what these are cuts that not only result in the needless deaths of civilians and security personnel but also thwart and retard development,the very development essential to uplift the lives of the villagers and at the same time deprive Maoists of recruits. The latter is precisely the reason why Maoists target all development,as it robs them of their raison detre.

So if Banerjee has signalled a new willingness to persist with the anti-Naxal operations,she has done no worse than the Congress in Andhra Pradesh,which too took its time to come to terms with the Maoist reality. But the chief minister will now have to learn to deal with the changed ground situation and take responsibility for it,paying a lot of attention to her rhetoric and little to the Maoist sympathisers lining up against her.