Further, Kolkata has emerged as a main operational base forthe Naxalites. This was revealed by Sushil Ray and Patit Paban Halder, twosenior Maoist leaders arrested from Belpahari by the Special Operations Group (SOG)on May 24, 2005. Following this disclosure, on June 1, CPI-Maoist 'politburo'member Asit Jana was arrested from the Hind Motor area of the capital city. Asitreportedly confessed during interrogation that the house where he and hisassociates had been staying was their main operational base in the region.According to Asit, they used small-time courier companies even to sendconsignments of explosives to states like Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and Assam.
An internal assessment by the CPI-M reportedly corroborates the fact that, inBagmari, Jadavpur and Behala areas of Kolkata, the Maoists are actively workingagainst the ruling party and the Government. The assessment also recorded thatMaoists were making efforts to infiltrate the academic community both inJadavpur and Calcutta University, especially the students. In the urban areasthe Naxalites are adopting a different strategy, taking part in anti-CPI-M andanti-Government agitations through front organisations. Revolutionary postersand underground campaign leaflets against the CPI-M and state Government havebeen put up and distributed in key areas like the Writers' Building, differentGovernment offices, Calcutta University, Jadavpur University and railwaystations.
The current Maoist strategy for West Bengal appears to be a much-improvedversion of the Naxalbari uprising of March 1967. In an interview to TheTelegraph published on July 15, a 'central committee' member of theCPI-Maoist, identified as 'Comrade Dhruba' remarked that, apart from the Bankura,Purulia and Medinipur Districts, "our mass base in Murshidabad, Malda,Burdwan and Nadia is ready. After five years, we will launch our strikes."When asked whether the Maoists had any plans for Kolkata, he said, "We donot plan violence in Kolkata because we know when we establish our base there,people will be forced to obey us."
While replying to a debate in the state Legislative Assembly on July 14, ChiefMinister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee stated that, "the current version ofterror culture is an import from Andhra Pradesh", adding, "neitherthis is an extension of the Naxalite Movement nor this has any local basis. Theyaren't local people. They are outsiders who are using some local youth in a gameof bloodshed."
But this assessment is, at best, partial. The Andhra influence cannot be denied,and the current disorders are not an extension of the Naxalite Movement of the1960's and 70's. There are, in fact, a much better and efficiently organizedmovement, which is rapidly extending its tentacles. The Naxalites definitelycross state boundaries, depending on the ground situation, and the ChiefMinister's position that the present violence in the state has no 'local basis'is no more than an attempt to avoid responsibility for the incompetence of hisown state machinery. Such denials will only lead to a deepening of the existingunrest.