Maoist Killings Condemned

The brutal killings of the five CPI (M) members and supporters in West Midinapore and Purulia districts in West Bengal on a single day, May 14, by Maoist gangs is yet another instance of the true nature of the Maoists. It gives the lie to the manufactured campaign that the Maoists are engaged in a struggle to defend the cause of the tribal people and other oppressed sections.

The Maoists killed four CPI(M) supporters Nazrul Mir, Sanatan Ahir, Swapan Ahir and Ashok Ahir in Chandavilla village in Binpur-2 Block of West Midnapore by taking them out of their homes in the middle of the night. Their bodies were found near the Highway, bearing marks of torture. All the killed were agricultural labourers.

Another CPI (M) activist, Srikanata Mahato, was picked up from his house in Pathardi village in Arsha Police station area in Purulia district and shot death after his family members were beaten up.

With these murders, the number of CPI (M) members and supporters killed by the Maoists since the Lok Sabha elections in the three districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura is now 121. They all mostly came from tribal and poor backgrounds.

The civil rights groups and intellectuals who support the Maoists by speaking out only against the police and paramilitary operations must answer the question – are they defending the Maoists so that they carry on such killings of political opponents with impunity?

The CPI (M) will continue to fight the Maoists politically and organizationally with all the resources at its command. It will expose the game of the Maoists who are out to help the anti-Communist forces like the Trinamul Congress in West Bengal.

The Polit Bureau expresses its deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the martyred comrades.