Most of you, I assume, read the ToI edit along with the news that yesterday was the bloddiest-ever polling day in West Bengal. The police minister - the chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee - who has been formally looking after law and order since 1996 (actually, informally, from 1993). During his regime, Suchpur (Nanoor, Birbhum district), Keshpur, Nandigram and numerous killings took place, proving his incompetence or deliberate inaction.
Reproduced are ToI edit and news.
SR
18 die on bloodiest day of polls by Saikat Ray, Subrata Mukherjee & Someswar Boral 19 May 08 (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata_/18_die_on_bloodiest_day_of_polls/articleshow/3052022.cms)
BEHRAMPORE/SURI: West Bengal witnessed the bloodiest round of violence in the last phase of the panchayat polls on Sunday, leaving 18 dead and hundreds injured in Murshidabad and Birbhum.
The highest body count was in Murshidabad, where 16 persons were killed.
The toll in this year's elections stands at 30, making it the bloodiest in Bengal's history, surpassing even the 2003 death count. Scores more are battling for life in hospitals across all seven districts that went to the polls.
That is because the stakes are much higher than the panchayat and zilla parishad seats. With the Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year, the ruling CPM is desperate to gain territorial control over the state, marginalize the
Opposition, and even Left Front partners RSP and Forward Bloc, which have been critical of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's policies.
The CPM's main targets were the Murshidabad and Malda zilla parishads, which were controlled by Congress. CPM is desperate to curb Congress' prospects in the coming Parliament elections, while Congress is fighting tooth and nail to retain these bastions, which sent heavyweights Pranab Mukherjee and Priya Ranjan Das Munshi to the Lok Sabha in the last elections.
On Sunday, when violence spread like wildfire across the district, outnumbered security personnel could do little but run here and there to mop up after clashes.
Domkal was the vortex of the bloodbath. Marjina Biwi, wife of Nazrul Islam, one of the victims in Ghoramara, recalled the horror: "One second he was standing in queue with me, the next moment he was no more. I heard a gunshot and he collapsed in front of me."
Allegations flew as thick as the bombs and bullets. "Congress unleashed a reign of terror. Police remained a mute spectator," alleged CPM MLA from Domkal and animal husbandry minister Anisur Rehman. CPM state secretary Biman Bose, too, blamed Congress. "They had threatened violence a day before the polls. Congress was determined to provoke violence in Domkal, Raninagar and Beldanga," Bose said.
Congress strongman Adhir Chowdhury accused the CPM of "state-sponsored terrorism". "Our supporters could not even reach the polling booths because CPM was hand-in-glove with a section of the police and attacked our men," Chowdhury said.
Even district magistrate Subir Bhadra and IG (South Bengal) Surojit Kar Purokayastha were not spared. Hoodlums hurled bombs at the duo while they were rushing to Kupila village in Domkal to defuse an explosive situation. They escaped unhurt.
The Red brigade didn't spare its Left Front partners either. CPM goons torched houses and looted ballot boxes in RSP strongholds in Birbhum. Two persons were killed in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar.
>>
Hammer, Sickle, Bombs 19 May 08 (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/Hammer_Sickle_Bombs/articleshow/3051499.cms)
It is rare that ministers speak so candidly in public. Two ministers of the Left Front government in West Bengal have gone on record about the arsenals their respective parties stock to fight political battles. RSP minister Kshiti Goswami regrets that his party has only hand bombs whereas CPM cadre carry light machine guns, muskets, revolvers and explosives.
Besides the weapons, the minister added, the CPM has the backing of the police and the civil administration. Abdur Razzak Molla, the CPM minister, didn't deny his colleague's allegations; he said that violent clashes were inevitable because it's a turf war out there.
The ministers have only revealed the truth about politics in West Bengal, which appears to flow from the barrel of a gun. Unfortunately, even senior leaders who are part of the government are unwilling to recognise that they are reducing democracy to a sham. Political parties compete to build and expand their bases, sure. But should they do it by refusing to yield space to competitors?
The recent RSP-CPM clashes are hardly ideological but aimed at achieving territorial control. They reflect a total disregard for a fundamental feature of democratic politics: Democracy is a battle of ideas that ought to be resolved through debate and dialogue in a peaceful manner. The participants are morally and legally bound to respect the right of their rivals to espouse views and ideals.
Senior Left Front leaders like Jyoti Basu have called for restraint among allies. That's understandable because the invincibility of the Left Front government - the coalition has been in office since 1977 - is largely because of the cohesive nature of the alliance. A split within the Left Front can seriously damage its electoral prospects.
Basu, one of the architects of the coalition and its leader in government for more than two decades, is well aware of the consequences of Left Front allies turning against each other. But a statesman like him should look beyond the needs of the Left Front and impress upon party members and allies to adopt an accommodative political culture.
The authoritarian ways of parties like CPM have had a brutalising effect on politics and development in the state. The continuing violence in places like Nandigram is because of the party's refusal to recognise the democratic right of the people to disagree with the government's policies.
There's no point blaming the opposition or fringe elements like Maoists for ushering in a political culture of violence. If it continues in this manner, the tide is going to turn against the CPM at some point.
__._,_.___
*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
*****************************************
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
*****************************************
Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___