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It's Left versus the ultra-Left in the Marxist citadel of West Bengal now.
In a major crackdown on the People's War group of the Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist, the West Bengal police have arrested more than 100 activists over the last 15 days.
Three men were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the murder of a politician belonging to the Communist Party of India, Marxist, in Midnapore district. The murder itself was in retaliation for the arrest of a prominent chemistry lecturer in Kolkata, accused of being a PW activist.
Though the battle of attrition between the ruling Left Front and the far-left has continued for a while, the puzzle is the timing of the crackdown.
Inspector General of Police (law and order) C K Mukherjee explains, "After the crackdown in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal has become a safe corridor for PW activists. They come here via Orissa. We have received inputs from the central government also about the increasing threat."
"This operation [against the Naxals] was going on for the last few months, but with no significant achievement," confesses IGP (western range) J R Bhagat. "They have a strong support base in the villages. [But] now we have cracked down on a few people connected to the group in various parts of the state."
These activists, who are lodged in various district jails in West Bengal, say the police are torturing them. Kaushik Ganguly, 38, the chemistry lecturer who is now in Midnapore jail, has even filed an appeal with the National Human Rights Commission.
Ganguly's father, a professor in the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, says his son is paying the price for his ideology. A hard-core leftist himself, Ganguly, Sr, finds the situation hard to digest in a Marxist-ruled state. "You cannot be made to pay for your opinions," he insists. "My son was not participating in anti-national activities. He has become a victim of police terrorism."
Manasi Sinha, widow of Abhijit Sinha, a young customs officer in Kolkata who was also picked up by the police for his alleged links with the PW, agrees. "This is not expected from a Left-ruled state," she says. "If I appreciate Hitler, that does not make me a fascist."
Sinha committed suicide on his release from detention.
It is alleged that while Kaushik Ganguly was subjected to the third degree to force him to divulge the names of his associates, Sinha was made to witness the torture. And on his release, Sinha was warned that he could be brought back in for similar treatment. The customs officer jumped into a train's path.
The police insist that Ganguly was involved in Naxalite operations. But Manasi Sinha says, "It appears that the police are settling scores."
Surprisingly, the PW is not banned in Bengal. It is active only in a few police station areas of Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts. And, unlike in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar or Jharkhand, activists in Bengal have not targeted policemen. Instead, they have been going after CPI-M politicians.
In the past 12 months, more than a dozen CPI-M leaders have been killed. But these killings have been more out of personal or local animosities than for reasons of ideology.
Otherwise, the state has actually been a safe haven for peaceful activities of the Naxals. With a frontal organisation like the Mazdoor Krishak Sangram Samiti, PW activists have even been involved in protest demonstrations.
But now the police are coming down hard on them. Recently, in a night operation, they arrested several people allegedly connected to the PW.
The activists say no arrest warrant or memo was produced. But IGP Mukherjee claims these documents are not required in "such cases". "In fact," he says, "these people have not been arrested for being PW activists. They have been arrested in specific cases of murder and treachery."
A senior officer of the Criminal Investigation Department claimed that there are reports of serious attacks by the PW as many weapons are now being sent to Bengal from Andhra Pradesh.
The state government has ordered a sub-judicial inquiry into reports of police excesses on the detained activists. The main opposition Trinamool Congress is demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Interestingly, many of those arrested are people of repute in their respective fields. It is claimed that while they were not directly involved, these well-educated youths were the brains behind the PW strikes. But the police confess that in a Marxist-ruled state it is hard to distinguish between moderate and extreme leftists.
The state government, however, is in no mood to ban the PW. "We are not against peaceful operation of one's ideologies, but there should be no bloodshed", says Left Front chairman Biman Bose.
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