Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said on Wednesday that the Centre would not encourage anyone to support the Maoists. “No one should support the CPI (Maoist) and the government certainly will not encourage anyone to support the CPI (Maoist),” he said during question hour in the Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Chidambaram was replying to questions raised by Ramdas Agarwal (BJP). who alleged that anti-national activities were being carried out in Naxal-affected areas.
Without naming Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who recently organised a controversial rally in Lalgarh, Mr. Agarwal wanted to know whether the government would take action against “influential” people who were openly supporting the Maoists.
Prasanta Chatterjee (CPI(M)) demanded a CBI inquiry into the Lalgarh issue.
The Left, the BJP and a few other parties have been disrupting Parliament proceedings for the past two days over the alleged involvement of the Maoists in organising Trinamool Congress rally at Lalgarh in West Bengal. They have been demanding a probe. To a question, Mr. Chidambaram said there was no evidence that the CPI (Maoist) was getting overt support from any international terrorist organisation or international militant organisation.
“There was one report about a contact between an organisation in Nepal and the CPI (Maoist), but that has not been confirmed either. There is no evidence that they receive money or weapons from China — China as a country or China as an entity. Weapons are indeed smuggled from across the border — both the Bangladesh border and the Myanmar border.”
Mr. Chidambaram also pointed out that the CPI (Maoist) was able to raise funds within the country. “They are able to raise money through extortion, through levies, and through looting. But we are keeping a careful watch. If there is any evidence that they receive money or receive other support from any organisation abroad, certainly, we shall look into the matter very carefully and, with the help of friendly countries, take action against those organisations which are reported to be supporting the CPI (Maoist).”
