Mamata demands Centre to take strong action against Maoists

Sonachura, Nandigram, Nov 3: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee today demanded the Centre to take strong action against the Maoists operating in Jungle Mahal area in West Bengal.

''I welcome action against the Maoists and want recovery of arms by deploying the Army in the affected areas in the state,'' she said while addressing a gathering here.

''But at the same time arms should also be recovered from the CPI(M)-built arsenals throughout the state,'' she added.

Claiming that there was no difference between the Maoists and the Marxists in West Bengal, she alleged that they were only the two sides of the same coin.

''If Marxism is the face, Maoism is the mask,'' Ms Banerjee averred.

''It were the CPI(M), who cadres had gunned down Nishikanta Mandal, Sonachura Gram Panchayet Pradhan, in Sonachura some time back and then the CPI(M) claimed that the Maoists were responsible for the incident,'' she charged.

''If they are not sponsoring the Maoists, why big Maoist leaders were given a free passage by the Chief Minister in Lalgarh forest after the OC of Sankrail police station Atindranath Dutta was freed by the Maoists?,'' the Trinamool supremo asked.

Ms Banerjee said she could not understand why armed CPI(M) cadres were entering Jungle Mahal area in the name of combating the Maoists when combined forces were already deployed.

If the Trinamool Congress comes to power in the next Assembly elections in the state, a flood of developmental activities would take place, she claimed.

''I will show you how development and progress go hand in hand in all the areas of the state from Singur to Nandigram, from Lalgarh to Darjeeling and other areas and that too without unnecessarily grabbing poor man's land,'' she added.

Five Trinamool Congress supporters were, meanwhile, seriously injured when their two party offices were ransacked by CPI(M) activists in the City Centre areas in Haldia this morning.

East Midnapore Superintendent of Police Bastab Baidya said the injured were proceeding toward Nandigram to join Ms Banerjee's meeting.

Three CPI(M) supporters were arrested in this connection, the SP added.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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