Kolkata: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata
Banerjee on Sunday appealed to Maoists to abjure violence and sit
for a dialogue while demanding cessation of the joint forces`
operation in Lalgarh which, she alleged, was "helping the
CPI-M".
"The joint operation is not being handled properly. It is
only helping the CPI(M). Though the Centre was providing funds
and forces, it is not in control of the operation. It is being
controlled by the state government and the CPI(M)," she
alleged.
She told a private TV channel tonight that CPI(M) West
Midnapore district secretary Dipak Sarkar was masterminding
the operation.
Saying that she had taken up the issue several times with
the Prime Minister, Union Finance Minister and Home Minister,
Banerjee regretted, "They are not listening to us. I have not
been consulted before the joint operation was launched."
Asked why her party was still in the government, Banerjee
said, "We are in the government since people have voted for
us. We have the commitment. We said that we will support the
Centre, but we will ventilate our views in a democratic way.
If we leave the government, then people will blame us."
Condemning violence by Maoists, she said, "Let there be a
competition on development. Let there be talk. They should
stop terror and give up arms. What is the use in killing and
kidnapping people?
She said her party was opposed to the terror campaign
unleashed by the Maoists in Lalgarh and adjoining belts. "I am
ready for talk provided they stop violence and killing, and
give up arms and take to the democratic path."
Without directly blaming the Maoists, she said, "In the
name of agitation for the tribals` rights, jungle mafia
business should be stopped".
"All development activities have come to a halt. The
panchayat is not functioning," she said when asked why the
Maoist-backed PCPA in Lalgarh was not helping so that
development work in the area was carried on.
She claimed that "A section of the Maoists are
hand-in-glove with the CPI(M) in Lalgarh who are indulging
in violence. The CPI(M) is killing our party workers in the
name of dealing with the Maoists.
"Even journalists are not being allowed to enter", she
claimed.
She said forest rights should be left with the forest
dwellers only. "This job has not been done by the state
government, nor the Centre."
PTI
