April 4: Calling the Maoists “cowards,” Union home minister P. Chidambaram launched a direct attack on the ultra-left rebels and their front organisations during his first visit to their bastion at Lalgarh, in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, on Sunday.

Mr Chidambaram reiterated that the government’s earlier offer to hold talks with the Maoists remained open, but only if they “abjure violence first”. He continued: “The Maoists are cowards. Why do they live in the forests? I had earlier invited them for talks. We could talk about almost anything. Just abjure violence first.”
Much to the embarrassment of West Bengal’s Left Front government, the home minister also expressed displeasure over the surge in political violence in the state, and said he had asked chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to take “stern measures” to maintain law and order across the state. The entire responsibility of maintaining peace in the state lay on its government and its chief minister, Mr Chidambaram said. “I told him that the buck is on the chief minister’s table, and it should not go beyond the chief minister’s table. If it does, it is a failure of the state administration.”
In remarks that should make the Opposition Trinamul Congress and its chief Mamata Banerjee extremely happy, Mr Chidambaram said that West Bengal had a “mixed record” regarding maintenance of law and order, and in some cases this “need to be rectified” by the state administration.
“It is the responsibility of the state government to ensure that political clashes come to an end. The chief minister himself has identified half a dozen police station areas like Mangalkot, Nanur, Canning, Khanakul, Khejuri ... where the law and order situation is not effective at all. It is upto the state DGP and the district police superintendent to immediately look into it. I also told the CM to take stern measures to maintain law and order in these areas,” Mr Chidambaram added.
The home minister also severely criticised the Maoist-backed People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), which had spearheaded the Lalgarh movement in recent years, saying: “If they want development, they are welcome. If their aim is to protest against police atrocities that may or may not have been carried out, why do they have to support the Maoists as a front organisation?” He went on to add, though, that any decision on banning this organisation was solely that of the West Bengal government.
He said if the PCPA was seriously interested in holding talks about the alleged police atrocities, it should sever all links with the Maoists. “If the PCPA wants to talk about police atrocities, they have to leave the Maoists... I will ensure that a dialogue is initiated,” he said.
The home minister urged the leaders of all political parties to visit Lalgarh. “All political party leaders should visit Lalgarh, go to villages and talk to the villagers. This will help the cause of the villagers,” he said.
Referring to the joint inter-state operations to flush out Maoists from four Maoist-infested states, Mr Chidambaram categorically ruled out the possibility of military intervention. “Only the state police and Central forces will carry out operations as before. We are not contemplating involving the military,” he said.
On the anti-Maoist operations in West Bengal, Mr Chidambaram said: “I am going back with a mixed impression. The good part is that the state and Central forces have been able to arrest a number of persons and neutralise some key Naxals. But the weak point is that Naxals are getting away with killing civilians.” Official records show that at least 55 civilians have been killed in West Bengal in 2010, while the death of 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles jawans at Sildah is the only instance of security personnel losing their lives in anti-Maoist operations this year. “I have asked the DGP and state home secretary to look into the weaker points,” Mr Chidambaram added, referring to the 50-minute meeting held inside the Lalgarh police station on Sunday. The meeting was attended by director-general of police Bhupinder Singh, state home secretary Ardhendu Sen, senior officers of the West Midnapore district administration and top CRPF officers.
The Union home minister said that in his conversations with villagers on Sunday he had appealed to them not to support the Maoists. “I told them not to give moral or material support. I know these people are very, very poor — they do not have proper education, rations, medical facilities, electricity — and this has left them all the more agitated. But they also know the difference between the Naxals and the government. They understand that whatever development they seek cannot be brought about by the Maoists,” Mr Chidambaram said, adding: “I will convey their concerns to the state government, and ask them to look into it.”
Fuelling speculation, the Union home minister claimed that the state police had “no evidence” to believe that Kishenji was still alive. “The West Bengal police is not buying the authenticity of Kishenji’s interview,” he said. He also quoted intelligence reports to claim that the Maoists were constantly regrouping to carry out low-intensity warfare.
 

Monalisa Chaudhuri
Lalgarh (West Bengal)