Memories of the Naxalbari incident of March 1967 were revived on July 9, 2005,when three Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M) leaders and a policemanwere killed in two separate attacks by Naxalites of the Communist Party ofIndia-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).
In Bankura district, two district-level leaders, RaghunathMurmu and Bablu Mudi, were shot dead by the Naxalites at Majgeria under Barikulpolice station. When the police reached the spot, a bomb intentionally leftbehind by the Maoists exploded killing a policeman and injuring 16 others.Within an hour of the Bankura incident, another CPI-M activist, Mahendra Mahato,was shot dead in the adjoining Purulia district by the Maoists.
The incident was a chilling reminder that it was West Bengal's soil thatproduced the first Naxalite movement. The 'Naxalites' take their name from thetiny hamlet of Naxalbari in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal where aninsurrection commenced in March 1967, to spread across the state and ravage itfor the better part of six years, till it was crushed in 1973, and eventuallywiped out under the Emergency of 1975. Since then, West Bengal had remainedlargely free of the scourge of violence inspired by the radical Marxist-Leninistor Maoist ideology, even as large areas in its neighbouring states fell underthe renewed spell of this ferocious dogma.
The July 9 incident, however, was not the first time that the state has woken upto Naxalite violence in the recent past. On October 14, 2004, six EasternFrontier Rifles personnel were killed in a landmine attack triggered byNaxalites inside the Ormara forest in Medinipur district. Traditionally, thethree districts of Bankura, Purulia and Medinipur have been the worst affectedin Naxalite violence, especially the Jhalda, Bundwan and Jaipur areas in PuruliaDistrict; the Ranibundh, Raipur, Sarenga and Simlapal areas in Bankura District;and the Belpahari, Lalgarh, Banspahari and Khejuri areas in Medinipur District.
Reacting to the attacks on the CPI-M activists, state home secretary PrasadRanjan Roy, on July 11, admitted there was a total 'intelligence failure' on thepolice's part in anticipating the attacks. Roy said that, in spite of 29companies of paramilitary forces, including the Border Security Force (BSF) andthe Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), deployed in the three districts, theforces had proved ineffective in facing up to the Maoist threat.
Apart from the 'intelligence failure', a more important aspect that has allowedthe Naxalites to flex their muscle is the apparent lack of development in theregion, as compared to other districts of the state. According to the WestBengal Human Development Report 2004, published by the state's Development andPlanning Department,
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The western parts of the state (the districts of Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia or the Paschimanchal region) include some of the most backward areas from the point of view of infrastructure and material development, with the lowest levels of per capita income and also relatively poor HDI rankings……the lack of development in this region is evident not only in terms of the level of basic infrastucture in the region but also with respect to agricultural development. This is compounded by the fact that this region is relatively speaking the driest in the state; it receives the least amount of annual rainfall and is more prone to drought than other parts of West Bengal… There are large tracts of land which remain fallow because of inadequate irrigation facilities and rainwater harvesting techniques… The problems of the Paschimanchal region therefore appear at one level to be more tractable than those in the other regions, because they stem more directly from poor infrastructure and material development.
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It is this poor infrastructure and underdevelopment that havebeen fodder to the Naxalites. Documents seized from three CPI-Maoist leaders,Prasanta Roy, Gautam Bhattacharya and Ajit Haldar, from a forest in Burdwandistrict on July 2, 2005, revealed details of their plans for the threedistricts. According to District Police chief, Niraj Singh, "We have foundin the papers plans to attack or blow up police stations. There were alsonotebooks with details of how tribals of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore are'exploited' and how they could be freed."
On July 12, echoing the findings of the Human Development Report 2004, theMinister for Tribal Affairs, Upen Kisku, stated at a public meeting atBijaharpur, about 70 kilometres from the state capital, Kolkata, that Maoistshave spread their tentacles among the tribal people as "we have not beenable to provide irrigation facilities and electricity to them". This wasreiterated by state CPI-M Secretary Anil Biswas, who said, "The Maoists aremisguiding a section of youths in the poverty-stricken areas, cashing in on thelack of development."
Recent evidences indicate that the Naxalite spread is not just confined to theBankura, Purulia and Medinipur Districts, but is making inroads in the Hooghlyand Nadia Districts as well. In December 2004, nine Naxalites, six from Nadiaand three from Hooghly, were arrested with propaganda material. In Hooghly, thepolice have identified the Jangipara police station area as the hub of Naxaliteactivities in the District, while Naxalite presence has also been reported fromother areas like Goghata, Khanakul, Chanditala and Dadpur. North and South 24Parganas are also being considered as 'targeted' districts. Barasat, Belgharia,Agarpara, Barrackore and Naihati areas in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba, Basantiareas in South 24 Parganas are said to be witnessing an increase in the supportbase of the Maoists.
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.
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Saji Cherian is Research Associate, Institute for ConflictManagement. Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South AsiaTerrorism Portal
