Thaindian News

Kolkata, July 5 (IANS) An ally of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress Tuesday said the central government’s decision to restart joint forces operation against Maoists in West Bengal will lead to “useless bloodbath” and demanded the withdrawal of the forces from the state.

“We feel the motive behind Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s decision to resume joint forces action against Maoists in Junglemahal (the forested stretches of the three western districts Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore) is to plunder and kill innocent tribals as well as to hold them as slaves,” Socialist Unity Centre of India-Communist (SUCI-C) state secretary Soumen Basu said in a statement.

Stressing that the decision will foment anarchy, Basu called for an immediate withdrawal of the joint forces. He alleged that violence was being “deliberately re-ignited” in these areas, which have been otherwise peaceful, to justify the decision.

Chidambaram Monday asked Maoist-hit states to adopt a unified approach to deal with Maoists, underlining that while some states had performed well, there were some which had fared poorly in counter-Maoist operations.

Reiterating the demand for withdrawal of teh forces, Basu said in his statement if the newly elected state government wanted to realise all its promises made to the people, it must order the immediate removal of the forces.

Accusing the erstwhile rulers Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) of carrying out violence in the name of Maoists, Basu said the state police were capable of tackling them.

He said the Maoist problem could only be solved through dialogue, something which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also echoed.

Basu also demanded the immediate release of pro-Maoist leaders including Chattradhar Mahato, convenor of People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) whom the party holds as vanguards of the democratic movement in the state.