Statescan CPM afraid of its more extreme brother

Statescan
CPM afraid of its more extreme brother
By Basudeb Pal

The extreme leftist outfit, CPI (Maoist) has been giving sleepless nights to the CPM leaders and cadres of West Bengal. The ruling Left Front of the state is bound to rethink about its declining mass-base in the state. Their well-furnished party network and obedient police force have failed to increase the mass-base.

During the last four years, the Maoists have created the strong support and a compact network among the tribal and poor community of remote areas of Purulia, Bankura and Paschim Midnapore districts of West Bengal and the adjoining localities of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. Recently the Maoist activists informed the media that they wanted to have a good rapport with the state leaders of CPM if they agreed to do so on the ideology and performance of the state government. However, the leftist leaders refused the proposal.

According to reliable sources, the Maoists have constituted a common platform with the like-minded organisations like ?Fasivad Virodhi Manch?. They have also coined a slogan, ?Defeat CPM?. The politburo is preparing the programme, which will be annonced within a short period. Although the Manch declared the slogan to defeat CPM, it did not specify any name of any political party which will defeat CPM. Here it is worth mentioning that the same strategy was adopted during the assembly election in Andhra Pradesh to defeat TDP last year and it succeded in doing so.

A spokesman of the Maoists said that the CPM had turned into a reactionary force after using state power for a long period. It is very essential to outpower them to bring about a new revolution in the state. He also stated that CPM was enemy number one of the labour class. A master stroke is necessary to destroy the standstill position, he added.

When BJP and Trinamool Congress flourished in the districts like Bankura and Paschim Misnapore, and the active workers of CPM fled away from their villages, the People'sWar Group supported CPM by all means. Even an influential minister of the state from Paschim Midnapore secretly met with the leaders of the People'sWar Group to take help from them to recapture their old areas. But after attaining its goal the CPM started opposing the PWG. As a result, the Maoists changed their side and declared the new slogan: Defeat CPM.

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No more new madrasa

The Left Front Government of West Bengal will start no more new madrasas even in the minority-populated areas in the state. Education Minister Kanti Biswas thinks that new madrasas will not serve the minority community as madrasa education is not helpful in getting jobs.

So, the State Government will open new children'seducation centres and secondary education centres in minority-populated areas. However, the minister admitted that the state government is faced with scarcity of funds to start new school.

Madrasa teachers? union has opposed the move as it is a complete U-turn in Left Front Government'spolicy. Here it is to be noted that the number of madrasas has doubled during the Left rule in West Bengal. Only 99 madrasas were there in the state in 1947, that number reached to 237 in 1977-78 and at present their number stands at about 600. The infrastructure and pay-scale of the madrasa teachers have also increased since 1977.

Comrade Anil Biswas, state general secretary, commented that the education policy of his party has been explained in his party'selection manifesto. As far as madrasa education is concerned, it has been said in the manifesto, madrasa education system would be modernised and job-oriented curriculum would be introduced.

Mr. Nurul Haque, general secretary of madrasa teachers? union, described the state government'sdecision as very unfortunate. On July 27, madrasa students union protested against the unification of madrasas under secondary education at Esplanade in Kolkata.

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Bangladesh harbouring terrorists

The Central Bureau of Intelligence through its report, ? Bangladesh: Emerging Threats? has warned about the ongoing insurgent activities of Bangladesh which poses a serious threat to the internal security of India.

The report indicates that insurgent activities have increased since October 2001 when Khaleda Zia came to power in Bangladesh.

Jihadi training is going on in about 90,000 kaumi madrasas situated on the other side of the 4096-km-long border running along Assam, West Bengal and the North-eastern states. These madrasas are in turn controlled by the Pakistani ISI office situated in Dhaka. The ISI helps them through supply of fire-arms and money regularly. The trainers consist of the hardcore terrorists from Harkat-ul-Jehad-Al-Islami (HUJAI), Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JUM), Sahadat-e-Al-Hukma and Jaish-e-Mustafa and such other Jihadi organisations.

The CBI report also said that the Bangladesh government did not initiate any move to clsoe down these madrasas as the ruling political parties fully supported the activites of the madrasas.

Muslim youths from West Bengal, Assam and other North-eastern States, mainly from Coochbehar, Uttar & Daxin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia and border ares of North & South 24 Parganas are sent to Bangladesh. After completing their training they again come back to India to carry on with their activities.

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Mosque derails Kolkata airport expansion

There are thousands and thousands of mosques on the Indian soil. So what if one of these is shifted to another place for the sake of national security.

There is a mosque inside the Netaji Subash Ch. Basu International Airport of Dumdum in Kolkata. The security in charge of the Kolkata Airport Authority has appealed to the higher authorities to shift the mosque on grounds of security, but no response has come forth so far. Once Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Chief Minister of West Bengal, himself requested Shahnawaz Hussain, the then Minister for Civil Aviation, but no one showed courage to shift the mosque. Many unknown faces continue to offer namaj, without any security check up.

Recently the Central Cabinet passed a plan to extend and also to construct a parallel runway at the Kolkata airport. Therefore, it was decided to shift the mosque from the airport area. But the mosque committee of Narayan-pur of Barasat (North 24 Pargana district) did not agreed to do so. The Centre failed in its efforts and Mr. Prafulla Patel, Minister for Civil Aviation, refused to comment saying that the subject was old.

In India, no officer or minister dares to touch a mosque, wheather it is Shahnawaz Hussain or Prafulla Patel or anybody else.

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Left fails in right cause

A public interest litigation was filed in the Kolkata High Court by one Subash Dutta on behalf of Howrah Gantantrik Nagarik Samiti accusing the State Government of not supplying fresh drinking water to many areas of Howrah and Kolkata putting large section of urban citizens to hardship.

Hon?able Chief Justice expressed deep concern when the State Government placed an affidavit saying that it will take another 20 years to supply fresh drinking water in many important areas of Howrah and Kolkata.

It is well known that the Left Front has been in power for the last 28 years in the State.