Banning Maoists is no solution: Buddha

Kolkata, July 3 : Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Thursday made it clear that his Government had no plans to ban Maoists as he thought the problem posed by them could not be solved by banning the outfit. Bhattacharjee made this statement while answering a question in the Assembly on whether the state Government had any plans to ban the Maoists.

“The Prime Minister called a meeting of the Maoists-affected states in Delhi some time back and a few states had proposed that the outfit be banned. But we opposed it. We believe that you can not rein in the activities of an organisation by banning it. We will tackle them politically and administratively,” the Chief Minister said. He also said Maoists had been active in five to six states.

According to the Chief Minister, 42 political leaders, most of whom were from CPI(M), lost their lives at the hands of the Maoists. And while 12 policemen had been killed at their hands, the police have arrested 314 Maoists. “Not a single Maoist had been killed by us (state police),” Bhattacharjee said.

Referring to the incident at Jadavpur where a few Jadavpur University students were heckled by the police on charges of keeping objectionable literature, the Chief Minister said what the police had done was entirely wrong. “Keeping a picture of Mao is not an offence. I too have one at my place. Keeping leaflets is also not wrong. But if you distribute leaflets that spread the message of mayhem and murder that will not be tolerated,” the Chief Minister said.

Bhattacharjee said ensuring safety of the railway track that runs through Purulia was becoming difficult for the state Government. He also said 74 blocks in the Maoist-affected districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia had been identified as underdeveloped and developmental work had been launched there.

Defending his party’s support for the Maoists in Nepal, the Chief Minister said his party began supporting them when they had shunned violence. “Earlier, they were carrying on with an armed struggle. But now since they have laid down arms and joined the Government we have no problem supporting them. They now disown the Maoists here. They were active at Nandigram. We have seized leaflets from there which showed that they were getting arms,” the Chief Minister added.

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