Tone of caution in CPM’s action plan against Maoists

The CPM is under tremendous pressure from its cadres on the ground who are being attacked by the Maoists on a regular basis. “They want the government to go hard at the Maoists and their demand is in a way legitimate. But the state government will have to be extra careful. The Maoists and the Trinamool workers will pounce upon us if there is any incident of targeting of innocents,” a senior CPM leader said.

“The action against Maoists has to be very effective. But in the name of action,if we fall into the trap of the Maoists and hurt people who are innocent,that will be unfortunate,” CPM Central Committee member Nilotpal Basu said. Sources said the party has advised the Bhattacharjee government to tread cautiously.

The CPM has also fast-tracked its efforts to “isolate” the Maoists politically,sources said. The idea is to wage a political campaign discrediting the Maoists as “murderers” and “extortionists” and rob them of their “ideological pretensions”. Efforts are also on to woo the tribals,among whom the Maoists have a significant base. The CPM’s youth wing DYFI has already begun efforts in this direction.

“In Tripura,we have a formation called the Tribal Youth Federation. We are planning to replicate the model in Bengal,Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh,” DYFI national president P Sriramakrishnan said. The DYFI recenlty held a National Tribal Youth Convention in Ranchi where it finalised a blueprint for action.

Antony rejects Mamata’s demand for use of Army in Naxal areas

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday rejected Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s demand for deploying the Army in Maoist-affected areas of West Bengal,saying use of Armed Forces for internal security was the “last resort”. “Whether in West Bengal or any other area,our view is that employing Armed forces for internal security is the last resort. Only as the last resort we will deploy armed forces in Naxal areas,” he said.

Antony said law and order issues should be handled by respective states and ruled out talks with Maoists before they abjure violence. The government would “not tolerate” attacks by the Left extremists,he said. Agreeing that Naxal violence was a serious threat,Antony said the Centre would render all help to the affected states as it was of the view that Maoist-affected states needed more development.

PTI