Opinion - News Analysis   

Kalaichandi blast: some vital questions

Besides raising vital questions on security, the November 2 blast at Kalaichandi in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district, moments after Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy passed by, has sparked a fresh bout of sparring by political rivals.

While the Left parties have been quick to describe the incident as yet another evidence of attempts to create anarchy in the State by forces that are in league with a section of the Opposition, the credibility of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has come under scrutiny.

Her claim that the Maoists — only suspected then of being behind the explosion — were activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) “in disguise” sounds hollow in the wake of an official statement from the Maoist leadership owning up the attempt on the Chief Minister’s life.

The Maoists’ admission makes it difficult for Ms Banerjee to defend her allegation that the explosion was a CPI(M) “stunt.” In her recent tirades she has gone a step further, alleging that the party is just another face of the Maoists. “Were it not so, why is the State government not banning the Maoists?” Ms Banerjee’s overreactions to the charge by her adversaries that her party has — at least in some parts of the State — banded together with forces “ranging from the ultra-left to the reactionary right” to derail the development process initiated by the Left Front government seem to border on the paranoiac.

She perceives such attacks as a ploy by the CPI(M) which, with a section of the political administration, is bent on carrying out “atrocities on its political opponents labelling them as Maoists simply to justify their actions.” This is a mere pretext for the CPI(M) to spread terror and commit “genocide” as it did at Nandigram, Ms Banerjee keeps asserting.

What has, however, been difficult for her to repudiate is the active involvement of the Maoists in what was essentially a turf war between the Trinamool and the CPI(M) that lasted nearly a year there in 2007 ostensibly on the issue of resisting acquisition of farm land for setting up industry. That the “movement” continued even after the government called off its plans for starting a chemical hub at Nandigram is history.

Also history — more recent — is the relocation of the Tata Motors’ Nano project, a consequence of the Trinamool agitation at Singur. The Maoists might not have been overtly active there but there can be no denying that the Trinamool movement had the support of various naxalite groups which found an ally in Ms Banerjee.

A leader of one such group is the convener of the committee that spearheaded the agitation, which its leaders vow to continue until 400 acres of land is returned to the farmers who have not taken compensation for their plots acquired for the Nano project.

The CPI(M), at a recent State Committee meeting, has underscored the need to expose the designs of the anti-Left Front forces, ranging from the extreme left to the far-right, that are bent on creating lawlessness and thwarting all moves for development. It has also cautioned against organised attacks on party leaders, workers and organisers that, it fears, will continue till the Lok Sabha elections.

Ms Banerjee might wonder what is stopping outlawing of the Maoists but the government has reiterated that a ban is not the answer to the problem. It aims at tackling the Maoists politically even as it focusses on development in areas where disaffection among the locals makes them vulnerable to the influence of the ultras.

Its most recent concern over ultra extremism are the developments at Lalgarh, where Maoists are suspected to be behind the continuing protests by locals against alleged excesses by the police in their attempts to track down those responsible for the Kalaichandi blast.

Roads have been dug up, trees felled to set up blockades and large parts of the area cut off from the rest of the State — a scenario reminiscent of the one at Nandigram when it became virtually inaccessible to both civil and police authorities during the months of violence there last year.

The government has its work cut out. The CPI (Maoist), in its statement owning responsibility for the Kalaichandi incident, has warned of many such blasts in the future.The Trinamool leadership, on the other hand, has stepped up its campaign against the Left Front government which, according to Ms Banerjee, “has no moral right to continue,” having trampled on the democratic rights of the people and “stifled the voice of the Opposition.”

“The people of Nandigram and those of Singur have seen through the “CPI(M) falsehood;” the rest of the State will follow suit, she believes. Is Lalgarh next in line?

The rhetoric sounds familiar. Investigations into the blast are far from over. Even as steps are being contemplated for upgrading the Chief Minister’s security, the political leadership has set its sights elsewhere. The Lok Sabha elections, after all, are only a few months away.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

A gigantic stimulus
Reforming India’s public institutions
Waiting for the promise of change
Yunnan reaches out to India
A delayed silence descends on Verdun
Kalaichandi blast: some vital questions
Crisis is opportunity
Corrections and clarifications
Alva’s outburst
Worrisome
Obama & Iraq war
Prologue

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu