Keeping pace with the central government's combative mood against the Naxalites in the country, the state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has declared today that the state government will soon raise a special ‘combat force’ to tackle the Naxalites and other terrorist elements. Only yesterday, the central government declared a ban on the Naxalite activities throughout the country.
This did not go well with the CPI(M) central leadership, and its general secretary Prakash Karat went on record that the “ban does not serve any purpose.” But contrary to his party’s tenor, the chief minister has clarified today that the ban imposed by the centre “automatically applies to West Bengal as well.” The new anti-terrorist force will raised under the Kolkata police.
Meanwhile, the operation Lalgarh has entered into its sixth day, and the joint force has now been reinforced with 10 more companies of Central force, indicating that they are planning a sustained campaign. But according to senior police officials, no major thrust will be made against the Naxalites in the coming two-three days and the joint force will now focus on consolidating their gains.
Accordingly, the joint force has started setting up check posts along the Jharkhand border to monitor and restrict the movements of the Naxalites. Also, because of the sweltering heat in the region, jawans are increasingly becoming sick. Already one jawan has died of heat stroke and several others have been incapacitated, the senior commanders have decided to go slow with the operation.
The Naxalites, on the other hand, presumably tried to register their presence and bolster their moral by attacking and ransacking a few party offices of CPI(M) in Jhargram and Purulia on the second day of the two day bandh called by them.
The chief minister has another fight in his hands. After a two-day long meeting, the party central committee has reached a conclusion that the recent electoral setback suffered by the party has much to do with the poor performance of the Left Front government.
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In a strongly worded statement, the CPI(M) central committee said yesterday, “In West Bengal…there are shortcomings in the functioning of the government, panchayats and municipalitie. This is due to the failure of the government to implement various measures directly concerning the lives of the people.”
What the party leaders have found out now was not unknown to the people in the state. Mahasweta Devi, a noted novelist and social worker, who has been working among the tribal communities in West Midnapur and Purulia for years, has reiterated that the administration needs to pay attention to the economic development of the people of the area urgently. The common grievances of the people there is that they have been deprived of development for long. The chief minister today denied that no development had been done in that area. He merely conceded that more development was needed in Lalgarh.