CPI-Maoist says committed ‘mistakes’ during Lalgarh stir

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According to the document, the Maoists acknowledged that they had committed mistakes during the Lalgrah movement in Jangalmahal by killing people and removing their bodies covertly.

The Maoists’ admission of mistakes came at a time when there are reports that the ultras were trying to stage a comeback in Jangalmahal after a hiatus of four years since the death of CPI (Maoist) politburo member Kishenji in November, 2011.

A senior CRPF officer told PTI, “There has been a surge in their activities in the past six months. We have specific reports of their movements, both individually and in small groups, especially in Binpur, Lalgarh, and parts of Purulia.”

The officer said on the condition of anonymity that the joint forces comprising personnel of the CRPF and West Bengal police were conducting raids in the forest areas of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts in Jangalmahal.

Countering the CPI (Maoist)’s charge of being misled, TMC MP Suvendu Adhikari, however, alleged that Maoists were trying to mislead the masses.

“The Maoists have been completely isolated because of the developmental work the state government has done and the political movement the party has organised against them. They are now trying to mislead the masses but the people won’t get swayed by their false propaganda,” Adhikari said.

“It was a failure on our part when the people’s movement was on full force in Jangalmahal during the Lalgarh movement, we failed to create an alternative people’s democratic system there,” the document said.

“Then there were instances when after giving death punishment, we had hidden those bodies rather than announcing in public on the lines of the wrong doings by the goons of CPI(M). Those were mistakes we committed and we promise never to commit them again,” it stated.

According to IB officials, for the first time in four years, posters of Maoists and the Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), an organisation backed by the ultras, were found in the former bastion of the Maoists during the Martyrs’ Day observation.

CPI(M) politburo member Mohammed Salim said, “The state government thought things would be solved after the death of Kishenji. But that has not been the case as developmental promises have not been fulfilled. Now the Maoists are spilling the beans.”