WEST BENGAL IN A STATE OF WAR

Gun battles and killings for control of villages in rural Bengal that began after CPM’s electoral debacle threaten to erupt into a full-fledged war. Maoist gunmen on June 17 emerged from their stronghold in jungles along the Bengal-Jharkhand border for an audacious strike near Jhargram town, killing a local CPM leader and two activists in full public glare. As Trinamool Congress activists and Maoists have battled to capture turf from weakened CPM cadres, nearly 25 people have been reportedly killed, mostly CPM workers and supporters. At many places, the anti-CPM forces have been supported by locals who see the CPM as a receding force in the face of Mamata Banerjee’s electoral surge. The Naxalites want to create a “liberated zone” in the area and sensing a weakened state, seem to have moved in for the kill. A demoralised police force has vacated posts in many places and the fury of the attacks has stunned CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s administration. However, central and state police forces are fighting the Maoists to reclaim the ground.