The days of the West Bengal CPI (M) are numbered, writes Chandrasekhar Bhattacharjee
In the last Lok Sabha elections the communists were left with just 24 seats – down from their previous tally of 61. In West Bengal – once the Red Citadel – the CPI (M)’s share of MPs dropped vertically, from 27 to nine. It lagged behind the Trinamool Congress and Congress in over 200 of the 294 assembly segments. Indeed the outlook is so bleak that in the 13th West Bengal Legislative Assembly polls in 2011, even the CPI (M)’s friends expect the once impregnable fortress to collapse as the Berlin Wall did in 1989!
Yes, the party seems pretty nearly over. The CPI (M) is tottering everywhere – far beyond the Bengal-Bihar-Orissa borders: a fact that went uncommented till the 15th LS polls. And now we need no comment. It’s staring us right in our faces. In Khejuri (East Midnapore district) – ever since the people’s revolt started on June 8 – unauthorised arms are being recovered almost every day.
The CPI (M) had once called Khejuri – till the mid twentieth century a stronghold of the Gandhians – Bengal’s Leningrad. Former Union minister and freedom fighter Abha Maiti hailed from this block. But post the 1990s the place came to be referred as the communists’ ‘Liberated Zone’, leaving space for no other political party. Indeed, even LF allies were not allowed to function there.
During the Nandigram agitation it was from Khejuri that the CPI (M)’s armed militia randomly sprayed bullets at innocent agitators. The infamous Janani brick kiln, the bunker of the CPI (M)’s armed militia and hired killers, still exists. The CBI arrested ten armed CPI (M) cadres from there three days after the Nandigram massacre on March 14, 2007 – coincidentally Karl Marx’s 124th death anniversary.
The Superintendent of Police, East Midnapore district, Pallab Kanti Ghosh, had told TSI on June 15 that five revolvers, 12 pieces of improvised rifles, 21 rifles, six country-made pipe-guns, 1,566 rounds of cartridges and 99 desi bombs had been seized from Khejuri. But villagers, who consider Ghosh to be a protector of CPI (M) toughies, say this is just the tip of the iceberg and that the illegal arms and ammunition in the party’s possession are far in excess of what has officially been accounted for.
The courtyard of the palatial party office at Kalagechhia in Khejuri block, which was ransacked by angry mobs, is littered with burnt papers, official documents and party flags. The half-burnt BPL cards and identity cards of the NREGA beneficiaries, which should have been kept in the panchayat’s offices, were strewn all around. The scene at the CPI (M) zonal committee office at Kunjapur was no different, except that it was under lock and key. The Kamardah party office had been razed to the ground. According to the West Bengal CPI (M)’s own admission, 60 party offices are currently controlled by the opposition Trinamool Congress. Its own men, say these reports, have resigned.
So which party or group mounted those raids? Says Swapan, the younger brother of Khejuri-based CPI (M) leader Makhan Panda: “Those who came to demolish our houses are CPI (M) workers and supporters. The TMC men did their best to save us and our property. CPI (M) leaders Kamalesh Maal and Lalu Maal were supervising the ghastly operation; and others like Himangshu, Prashanta and Nirapada, who killed and beat up innocent people, now have to pay the price”.
An elderly woman near the demolished Kamardah party office says she had seen the goons frequenting this party office before the Lok Sabha polls. She wasn’t sure whether they were party members. All she could say was that now, finally, she and others like her felt free to express their views before strangers, without any fear of being penalised. Some CPI (M) dissidents said the party’s armed network was controlled by Himangshu Das, who is currently a district committee member. His comrades-in-arms were said to be Prashanta Maiti, Bijan Roy (both ZC secretaries), Rabiul Islam and Makhan Panda.
Says local resident Tapan Maiti: “The hoodlums stole our land holdings decades back.They would threaten us saying the plots would be given away to share-croppers (bargadars) and that we would get these back only if we gave a written undertaking that we would support the CPI (M)”. The party’s Purbachara branch committee secretary Bimal Kumar Maity admitted that the party forcibly occupied a 10 bigha plot of the Maitis at Tentulbari with a fake barga claim, and that it was restored only after they made a down payment of Rs 20,000.
But that nightmare is going away. Recently 9 of 11 panchayat members (elected unopposed) quit the party. They handed over their two offices, both forcibly taken from two shop owners, to the TMC. Says a Khejuri stall owner referring to the unopposed elections: “We couldn’t even cast our votes. The comrades did that on our behalf. And as a reward we got food packets.”
This anti-CPI (M) movement has caught on in a big way. Now people in Vajachauli and Dharampur under the Lalgarh block have also begun speaking the same language. Vajachauli was tense on June 15 and 16 after police broke open the CPI (M) office and raided its leader Anil Giri’s residence. They seized two revolvers, two pistols, a few muskets and gun powder. So the writing on the wall is clear. And the rally taken out by 15,000 of Dharampur’s tribals on June 16 was proof, were proof needed, of what a thorough beating the CPI (M) goons have taken. Red never looked so faded as it does today.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
In the last Lok Sabha elections the communists were left with just 24 seats – down from their previous tally of 61. In West Bengal – once the Red Citadel – the CPI (M)’s share of MPs dropped vertically, from 27 to nine. It lagged behind the Trinamool Congress and Congress in over 200 of the 294 assembly segments. Indeed the outlook is so bleak that in the 13th West Bengal Legislative Assembly polls in 2011, even the CPI (M)’s friends expect the once impregnable fortress to collapse as the Berlin Wall did in 1989!
Yes, the party seems pretty nearly over. The CPI (M) is tottering everywhere – far beyond the Bengal-Bihar-Orissa borders: a fact that went uncommented till the 15th LS polls. And now we need no comment. It’s staring us right in our faces. In Khejuri (East Midnapore district) – ever since the people’s revolt started on June 8 – unauthorised arms are being recovered almost every day.
The CPI (M) had once called Khejuri – till the mid twentieth century a stronghold of the Gandhians – Bengal’s Leningrad. Former Union minister and freedom fighter Abha Maiti hailed from this block. But post the 1990s the place came to be referred as the communists’ ‘Liberated Zone’, leaving space for no other political party. Indeed, even LF allies were not allowed to function there.
During the Nandigram agitation it was from Khejuri that the CPI (M)’s armed militia randomly sprayed bullets at innocent agitators. The infamous Janani brick kiln, the bunker of the CPI (M)’s armed militia and hired killers, still exists. The CBI arrested ten armed CPI (M) cadres from there three days after the Nandigram massacre on March 14, 2007 – coincidentally Karl Marx’s 124th death anniversary.
The Superintendent of Police, East Midnapore district, Pallab Kanti Ghosh, had told TSI on June 15 that five revolvers, 12 pieces of improvised rifles, 21 rifles, six country-made pipe-guns, 1,566 rounds of cartridges and 99 desi bombs had been seized from Khejuri. But villagers, who consider Ghosh to be a protector of CPI (M) toughies, say this is just the tip of the iceberg and that the illegal arms and ammunition in the party’s possession are far in excess of what has officially been accounted for.
The courtyard of the palatial party office at Kalagechhia in Khejuri block, which was ransacked by angry mobs, is littered with burnt papers, official documents and party flags. The half-burnt BPL cards and identity cards of the NREGA beneficiaries, which should have been kept in the panchayat’s offices, were strewn all around. The scene at the CPI (M) zonal committee office at Kunjapur was no different, except that it was under lock and key. The Kamardah party office had been razed to the ground. According to the West Bengal CPI (M)’s own admission, 60 party offices are currently controlled by the opposition Trinamool Congress. Its own men, say these reports, have resigned.
So which party or group mounted those raids? Says Swapan, the younger brother of Khejuri-based CPI (M) leader Makhan Panda: “Those who came to demolish our houses are CPI (M) workers and supporters. The TMC men did their best to save us and our property. CPI (M) leaders Kamalesh Maal and Lalu Maal were supervising the ghastly operation; and others like Himangshu, Prashanta and Nirapada, who killed and beat up innocent people, now have to pay the price”.
An elderly woman near the demolished Kamardah party office says she had seen the goons frequenting this party office before the Lok Sabha polls. She wasn’t sure whether they were party members. All she could say was that now, finally, she and others like her felt free to express their views before strangers, without any fear of being penalised. Some CPI (M) dissidents said the party’s armed network was controlled by Himangshu Das, who is currently a district committee member. His comrades-in-arms were said to be Prashanta Maiti, Bijan Roy (both ZC secretaries), Rabiul Islam and Makhan Panda.
Says local resident Tapan Maiti: “The hoodlums stole our land holdings decades back.They would threaten us saying the plots would be given away to share-croppers (bargadars) and that we would get these back only if we gave a written undertaking that we would support the CPI (M)”. The party’s Purbachara branch committee secretary Bimal Kumar Maity admitted that the party forcibly occupied a 10 bigha plot of the Maitis at Tentulbari with a fake barga claim, and that it was restored only after they made a down payment of Rs 20,000.
But that nightmare is going away. Recently 9 of 11 panchayat members (elected unopposed) quit the party. They handed over their two offices, both forcibly taken from two shop owners, to the TMC. Says a Khejuri stall owner referring to the unopposed elections: “We couldn’t even cast our votes. The comrades did that on our behalf. And as a reward we got food packets.”
This anti-CPI (M) movement has caught on in a big way. Now people in Vajachauli and Dharampur under the Lalgarh block have also begun speaking the same language. Vajachauli was tense on June 15 and 16 after police broke open the CPI (M) office and raided its leader Anil Giri’s residence. They seized two revolvers, two pistols, a few muskets and gun powder. So the writing on the wall is clear. And the rally taken out by 15,000 of Dharampur’s tribals on June 16 was proof, were proof needed, of what a thorough beating the CPI (M) goons have taken. Red never looked so faded as it does today.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
