People's Democracy

COMMENT

Heinous Conspiracy in the

Name of Arms Seizures

HISTORY is witness to the planned incident of ‘Reichstag’ in Nazi Germany to defame the Communists and carry out further attacks on them. Looking back to the history has become even more pertinent in the context of today’s West Bengal.

In many parts of the state, the TMC workers are celebrating their victory by attacking CPI(M) and Left Front workers. In the first ten days since the new regime took over, ten CPI(M) leaders and supporters have been brutally murdered, women have been raped and molested and hundreds have been forced to flee from their residences. Above all, the newly elected government is using the administration to conspire against CPI(M) in the name of ‘seizure of illegal arms’. This is being carried out to give legitimacy to the ongoing heinous attacks.

TMC has taken recourse to a campaign of ‘arms search’ in CPI(M) offices. A section of the media is also playing a dangerous role in orchestrating this hate campaign. TMC gangs are attacking or cordoning Party offices and houses of Party leaders by raising false allegations of ‘storing of arms’. In most cases, they themselves are taking responsibility of such a ‘search’. In some cases, when the police reached the place, ransacking had already been completed. In Haldia, IOC union office was attacked under the same pretext. However, police reached there and nothing has been found. While interrogating, police confronted Sheikh Ali, a TMC activist of Haldia, who admitted that he tried to keep a pistol near the union office as directed by the TMC leaders. In Kotulpur, in Bankura district, villagers confronted local police when TMC activists ‘found’ a firearm in a pond and kept it in CPI(M) office. In most cases, no arms were found in any such search. In West Midnapore, TMC leaders were compelled to sign as witness to a seizure list that nothing has been found. This happened, among other places, in CPI(M) Keshpur and Shalboni zonal committee offices.

All this is a part of a nefarious game to malign the CPI(M).The weapons which were being ‘recovered’ allegedly from the houses of  CPI(M) leaders and Party offices in rural Bengal, particularly in areas under jangal mahal of Midnapore and Bankura district and which were being publicized by a section of media houses actually belong to Trinamool activists. It was also evident that the same ‘cache of arms’ are being exhibited in many places. In many such instances, photographers of media were seen present sbefore such a ‘search’.

The nature of ‘recovery’ itself clearly indicates that the weapons are being dumped in ponds and paddy fields by TMC activists in the vicinity of houses of CPI(M) leaders and Party offices in the night and they themselves call the police and identify those spots.  In Bankura, attacks on CPI(M) offices in the name of ‘search’ were led by hardened criminals, some of who are even accused of murders. They are moving with police who are reeling under tremendous political pressure. Asked about the allegation regarding recovery of arms from places close to Party leaders and Party offices, CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu accused TMC activists of planting weapons near the Party offices and homes of local leaders of Left parties which is the reason for the haul of arms that have been recovered over the past few days.

The climax of the lot is perhaps the recent attempt to link up CPI(M) with the incident of Silda EFR camp attack. The incident occurred in February 2010 and 24 EFR jawans were killed in that attack. The top ‘Maoist’ leaders admitted that the action squad of their party attacked the Silda EFR camp, killed 24 jawans and looted a large quantity of arms and ammunition.  The CID enquiry clearly revealed the ‘Maoists’ involvement in the Silda incident and charges were framed against ‘Maoist’ leaders Kishenji and Sasadhar Mahato. Many top ‘Maoist’ leaders, including their state secretary Sudip Chongdar alias Kanchan , Telegu Deepak, have been arrested. Suddenly in recent ‘search’ led by TMC gang, some arms were recovered in Enayetpur in West Midnapore. The arms were neatly packed and buried under in a field, one and half kilometer away from local CPI(M) office, as if waiting for someone to find it. Police claimed that among other things, an ‘INSAS” rifle was found which belonged to Silda EFR camp. Frantic attempts to link CPI(M) with Silda attack started. The press meet of Naparajit Mukherjee, DGP West Bengal, telecast live, has raised some serious questions regarding the intention of the arms seizure. The DGP was telling the reporters about the seizure of arms in Enayetpur and retrieval of an INSAS rifle which was looted during the attack on EFR camp in Silda in the same operation. Initially, he was telling about the ‘Maoist’ connection with the Silda incident. Suddenly his cell phone rang. It was clearly visible that he was given some instruction about what to brief in the press meet. After disconnecting the phone, to the utter disbelief of the reporters, he said the CID will probe into the connection between CPI(M) and the ‘Maoists’. This instant somersault of the DGP revealed the blueprint of maligning CPI(M) and the conspiracy is deep rooted. The state secretary of the CPI(M) Biman Basu has demanded that people have a right to know under whose instructions the  DGP had to change his stand instantly.

Union home minister P Chidambaram , in his suo moto press briefing on the issue, tried the same trick to link CPI(M) with arms seizures. But, he did not have the courage to state that arms were recovered from CPI(M) offices. Instead, he said that most of the arms were recovered from ‘unclaimed’ places. In the case of Enayetpur, union home minister admitted that arms were seized from a place ‘not known as a CPI(M) area’.

A concerted effort to bulldoze CPI(M), not merely through an electoral defeat, has been unleashed in West Bengal. It is apprehended that the so-called ‘arms recovery’ campaign is a prelude to more ferocious attacks.