West Bengal The New Sanctuary And Command Center For Maoists

Maoist are planing something big as they have found the safest place to increase their ranks, re-organize, recuperate and train new cadres. In her infinite wisdom Ms Banerjee has decided to stop all anti-Maoist operations in West Bengal. According to agency sources this has helped the Maoist in a big way and have given them a center for operation. In all Maoist effected areas in the state any shred of law or government control has dissapeared with Maoist cadres taking over large part of the state.

Some analyst believe that it is just matter of time before the Maoist armies move from villages, toward cities in Bengal and the present Government will help them instead of hindering them. Either Ms Banerjee lacks the will to fight or she is hand in glove with Maoist. That is exactly what the CPI/CPM had alleged. They had clearly pointed out at a nexus between Maoist and Trinamool Congress.

Despite the fact that West Bengal has 36 companies of CRPF, 18 companies of Cobra and 6 of that of Naga, Interlocutors believe that Mamata would first have to create a congenial atmosphere for dialogue.

"If Mamata is serious about talks, she will have to create a congenial atmosphere and instill confidence among Maoists so that they can come forward to talk," Maoist sympathiser and poet Varvara Rao told reporters.

He said that to create confidence among Maoists, the state government would first have to withdraw the joint forces engaged in anti-Maoist operations in Junglemahal, lift the Unlawful Activities (Prevent) Act, and release all political political prisoners from jail.

"The government should release Maoist Central Committee members like Sushil Roy and Patipaban Halder--a demand which has repeatedly been made by Kishenji (Mallojula Koteswara Rao) and Azad, who was treacherously killed," he said.

Citing the example of Andhra Pradesh which in 2004 withdrew the elite Grey Hound forces before inviting Maoists for talks, Rao said, "If the West Bengal government is keen to solve the Maoist problem, it will have to take some positive steps."

Dandapani Mohanti, the interlocutor who played a crucial role in facilitating the release of Orissa's Malkangiri District Collector from the clutches of Maoists, said, "The Orissa government promised to release 47 prisoners, but what about 2000 prisoners in jail without trial.

Somehow all this seems one-way, with the Government ceding territory to the rebels and the rebels not doing a thing in return. More pragmatic approach would have been to withdraw only after the Maoist cadre agreed to dis-arm. Once Government forces withdraw and Maoist cadres are disarmed then the talks can continue. Experts are of the view that Maoist central committee is in no mood for any real talks, it just wants to buy time for its armies to increase in size and sophistication. More time we give them the bigger the threat will become, unfortunately Ms Banerjee lacks vision to look at the broader picture, she sees everything in relation to Bengal and believes the Maoist problem can be solved easily, forgetting that Maoist are an organisation bent upon overthrowing the democratic government of India and are in no way a localized phenomena. Her strategic blunder may bring peace in Bengal for few months but it will cost India dear in long run.