[Reader-list] Rallies Defy Terror

[A. Mani]

Source: PD
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Two Rallies That Defied Terror



>From Our Special

Correspondent in Kolkata



TWO terror-stricken districts of West Bengal witnessed large
mobilisations of defiance and vowed to build up peoples’ protest
against attacks on democratic rights. On 22nd December, a massive
rally was organised in Chuchura in Hooghly district and the city of
Burdwan saw another mammoth one on 24th December, both addressed by
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.



Large parts of Hooghly are practically ‘banned’ areas for any
activities by opposition for the last two and half years. Many Left
Front activists have been killed and hundreds rendered homeless. In
recent times, Benoy Dutta, a former CPI(M) MLA and Naren Dey, former
minister and veteran Forward Block leader were mercilessly beaten by
hooligans of ruling party. In Panchayat elections, Left Front was not
allowed to file candidates in more than fifty per cent of the
villages. The urge to fight back this throttling terror was reflected
in the Left Front rally in Chuchura. Thousands of people came from all
corners of the district, many of them in a clandestine manner.  Many
had turned up to the rally at Chinsurah Gorkha Maidan from the
villages of Arambagh, traversing many miles in a roundabout way. They
had to take a bath in the Ganges and many could not return home in the
night also. But nothing could dampen the spirit of the over
enthusiastic people of Hooghly who did not bow their head to terror.



On that very morning, a Left Front rally led by its chairman Biman
Basu and other leaders was attacked in Kolkata. Addressing the
Chuichura rally, Buddhadeb Bhatacharjee said, “They are afraid. So
they are hitting us. By using violence and creating fear they will not
be able to suppress people for long. People will resist”.



Criticising the state government, Bhattacharjee said in this two and a
half years no new hospital, madrasa, college has been built. Many
lakhs of jobless youth were promised jobs. They are not getting jobs
as the industrialists are not interested in setting up industries. The
entire state is sinking. He said, in the whole country prices of
commodities are rising but not like in this state. The saddest part is
the farmers are not getting their fair prices. The conditions of the
roads are precarious. Nobody is willing to work because of the fear of
not getting the payment. Then there are TMC extortionists.
Bhattacharjee urged the people to unite and strongly protest against
the misrule of TMC.



In Burdwan, the terror has spread from villages to towns. Apart from
killings of  popular leaders of CPI(M), including district secretariat
and district committee members, TMC government has initiated false
cases against 7348 Left Front leaders and activists, 756 of them had
to be behind the bars. After widespread rigging in panchayat
elections, a farce has been exhibited in Burdwan municipal elections
too where Left polling agents were thrown out of booths and voters
were chased away resulting in a ‘all-seat win’ for the ruling party.



The TMC led municipality denied the CPI(M) to use the big ground that
is generally used for rallies. The TMC goons disrupted the rally to be
organised even in the alternative place. Finally, the people of
Haradhan Pally sought the meeting to be organised in their locality.
The volunteers distributed 75,000 home-made chapaties among the people
who came from a long distance to attend the meeting. Despite the deep
rooted violence in Burdwan district, unending streams of people
thronged the meeting place. Finally an arrangement had to be made for
a giant screen in another ground beside. That too was not enough and
people flooded the national highway stopping traffic for long hours.
It was obviously the largest mobilisation in Burdwan after 2011
assembly elections.



Addressing the gathering, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee asserted, “We will
not yield to the organised violence. We have to be more organised. Get
prepared to stop the violence.” He also said that the poor and middle
class people are in very bad condition due to the anti-people policies
of the central government. Price rise is causing havoc. The centre is
talking about withdrawing subsidies from ration. And the TMC was part
of the centre whenever such anti-people steps were initiated. They
never stood for the protests against those anti-people policies.



Bhattacharjee also expressed concern about the recent condition of the
West Bengal. He said, the farmers are not getting price for their
crops. The production of paddy is coming down. The price of rice and
vegetables are going beyond control. The officers are sitting in the
panchayat offices but the goons are disbursing money. Last two and
half years witnessed no government initiatives in hospital, primary
health centres, roads, bridges, schools or madrassas. The scope of
employment is also shrinking, he said.



Bhattacharjee also said that Narendra Modi is being pushed forward by
big industrialists of the country. BJP and Narendra Modi are not only
threat for the minorities; they are equally dangerous for the Hindus
and for all the poor people. Modi has done nothing for the farmers and
poor people of Gujarat. He said that BJP and TMC are in a covert
alliance. This is not a new understanding. Earlier also we have seen
them as allies. “The people of West Bengal will not allow this
dangerous combination to succeed”, Bhattacharjee said.

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Rally Led By Biman Basu

Attacked in Kolkata



THE city of Kolkata witnessed a glaring example of Trinamool Congress
pattern of democracy on 22nd December.



A rally of Left Front, led by its chairman, Biman Basu, was attacked
in Sinthi area in Kolkata on that day. It was a Sunday morning and
Left Front activists and supporters gathered in Sinthi to protest
against the ongoing attacks on Left activists in the area. Trinamool
goons tried to block the rally at the start. They attacked with
sticks, iron rods and bricks, they even ransacked an auto rickshaw
carrying microphone for the rally. Braving this initial attack, the
rally marched through the streets of Sinthi. Apart from Biman Basu,
others present were Md Salim, Manab Mukherjee, Rajdeo Goala, Prashanta
Chatterjee and other leaders of Left Front.



As the procession of few thousands proceeded, TMC gangs, under the
leadership of local TMC councilor, started throwing bricks and other
missiles. CPI(M) activists were injured, some of them bledding
profusely. Women activists suffered grievous injuries. Biman Basu
escaped narrowly. TMC gangs continued the attack and even blocked the
road with broken glasses and garbage dumps. They chased the procession
with filthy language. All these happened in the presence of the
police. Repeated requests to them produced no results and the police
did not attempt to stop the attackers. Even the Deputy Police
Commissioner watched this heinous attack without any intervention. The
rally, however, refused to stop and marched through to the
destination.



It was a ruthless show of muscle power that is ruling West Bengal
today. The attack, despite the presence of Biman Basu and other
leaders, pointed to the fact that nobody would be spared.



The attack evoked angry responses all over the state. Protest rallies
were organised in the districts. On 24th December, a huge rally in
Kolkata marched towards the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar.
The police stopped the rally in some distance from headquarters. A
sit-in demonstration continued while Left Front leaders submitted
deputation to police commissioner. They presented reports from media,
photos of the attack and categorically complained against 17 persons
who inititated the attack. It was declared from the demonstration that
the ruling party and the police must be prepared for a peoples’
resistance if such attacks are not stopped immediately.



Under pressure, police arrested three TMC activists from the area but
did not dare to touch the councilor.


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A. Mani



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