Fascist fang of Marxists

Author: Editorial
Publication: The Statesman
Date: May 6, 2003

Kespur-Garbeta line plays havoc in Chopra

Revenge killing of four Congress supporters in Chopra in north Dinajpur on Friday by CPI-M supporters is ominous for next Sunday's panchayat poll. Not only did the rampaging Marxists indulge in targeted murder, mayhem, arson, loot and molestation but also forced the residents of Chopra, a traditional Congress bastion which has a sitting congress MLA and seven of the eight panchayat samities under Congress control, to switch political allegiance and swear by the red flag and its hammer and sickle symbol so as to ensure that there is no trace of Congress in the area on polling day. While all able-bodied Congressmen have been driven out of Chopra, CPI-M party flags flutter from house tops of local Congress MLA and Congress panchayat functionaries. The Chopra carnage clearly shows that the fascist Kespur-Garbeta line so ruthlessly pursued by the CPI-M to drive the Opposition out of large areas of seven south Bengal districts and which, if one forgets principles, can be said to have provided rich political dividends, is now being applied in north Bengal as well with devastating effect. Shouting "Blood for blood" slogans they butchered four sexagenarian congressmen to square the tally. Sadly the Congress helped the Marxists in their takeover game. The murder of a CPI-M district committee member by Congress goons on Wednesday started it all. The CPI-M marauders took the law into their own hands by attacking the local thana which forced the police to open fire in self- defence resulting in three deaths. This led the enraged Marxists to vigorously apply the Garbeta-Kespur line to "liberate" Chopra where the silence of the grave now reigns. The dubious role of the police in aiding and abetting the carnage is shocking. No preventive action was taken to defuse the explosive situation despite having foreknowledge of what the Marxists were planning. The fear of losing majority in north Dinajpur Zilla Parishad drove the Marxists to adopt fascist tactics in Chopra. For them winning the Chopra panchayat seats holds the key to their retaining majority in the zilla parishad. The other objective is to "seriously disturb and wrest" in the next parliamentary poll - Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha Priyaranjan Dasmushi's Raiganj seat of which Chopra is a part. Ironically the CPI-M leadership had recently predicted a "bright future" for Congress in the form of emergence as the main Opposition in the state. Congressmen swallowed it hook, line and sinker; their guard was lowered when the blow fell.
 

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