The Hindu : National : Buddhadeb asks Opposition to join fight against Maoists

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 10, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Buddhadeb asks Opposition to join fight against Maoists

Indrani Dutta

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Thursday asked the Opposition to reach a consensus on the Maoist issue, and to join hands to “free our State from the terrorist group of Maoists.”

Replying to cut motions on the police budget in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bhattacharjee appealed to the Opposition not to underestimate the threat from theMaoists.

“You may be having a guilty conscience, since you tried to gain political mileage by using them in Khejuri and Nandigram, but please do not overlook the problem that is being created by them,” he said.

In this context, he pointed out that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said the Maoists posed the biggest threat to the internal security of the country.

“Please do not ignore this issue,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said to the Opposition.

Between 2006 and 2009, at least 31 people have been killed by the Maoists.

Pointing out that peace was now returning to Lalgarh and Binpur, the Chief Minister also asked the people not to support the Maoists, who do not care either for the laws of the land or for democracy.

Mr. Bhattacharjee also told the Opposition that just because some party members were caught carrying arms, they cannot be equated with Maoists.

“We who are sitting in this room have a fundamental difference with them in that we respect democracy,” he said.

He told the House that 253 Maoists have been arrested in the State between 2006 and 2009, with 39 arrests being made since the launch of joint operations in Lalgarh.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National