The Marxists first lit the fire by letting loose the police and its cadres, as in Nandigram earlier, to ferret out the Maoists who were believed to be behind a landmine explosion which targeted Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's convoy last November, which also included the then Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan. For years, the CPI(M) has followed such brutal tactics to browbeat its opponents.

After Singur and Nandigram, however, there has apparently been a change in the mood of the people. A so-called people's committee against police atrocities was set up, therefore, in Lalgarh on the lines of a similar outfit in Nandigram, which drove out the police and the Left's supporters and locked up the thana. Nothing like this had happened since the colonial days when the freedom fighters also declared certain parts of Midnapore district out of bounds for the British rulers.

In Lalgarh, the Maoist instigation behind this latest act of anarchy was evident. But if the state government succumbed meekly and abandoned the people of Lalgarh to the tender mercies of the lawless elements, the reason was that the CPI(M) had lost its moral authority to enforce its writ. The administration, too, had become toothless because of the long years of subservience to political bosses, which had robbed the officials of their professionalism.

The Trinamool Congress's role in this abdication of authority in a part of the state is no less reprehensible. Having collaborated with the Maoists in Singur and Nandigram, it didn't have the guts, or the willingness, to condemn the virtual conversion of Lalgarh into a “liberated zone”, to use a phrase favoured by the Maoists. Mamata Banerjee may have also been happy that the Left had lost control over another area. The cynicism of her tactics was highlighted by the Maoists themselves when they called upon her to support their stand against the police operation as they had supported her in Singur and Nandigram.

Rarely before has there been such an opportunistic alliance between a mainstream party and underground elements, who have no loyalty towards the Indian state. Yet, if such a deplorable state of affairs prevailed for more than six months in Lalgarh, the reason was the degeneration of the CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress into parties largely dependent on time-servers and anti-socials.

As a result, neither is able to provide responsible leadership with the state's overall interests and the reaffirmation of the rule of law in mind. Instead, recklessness has been their hallmark, with the Left banking on a politicized administration and unsavoury characters masquerading as cadres to retain its hold, and the Trinamool Congress taking to the streets at the slightest opportunity. The latter's success in evicting the Tatas from Singur has also emboldened it to become more irresponsible.

All of this has been a godsend to the Maoists. For years they have been trying to expand their influence into the tribal areas of West Bengal from neighbouring Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand. While the police action last November gave them an opportunity to establish themselves in Lalgarh by utilizing the popular grievances, the latest police operations to flush them out have provided them with another chance to undertake guerrilla activities in remote, jungle-infested areas in accordance with Chairman Mao's theories.

They may not be able to win a frontal battle, but by provoking the police into harassing the locals, they will be able to extend their areas of influence while their hit-and-run guerrilla tactics will keep the state authorities on tenterhooks. They can also expect a measure of indirect support from West Bengal's traditionally Left-inclined intelligentsia and artistes whose across-the-board condemnation of violence, for form's sake, can inhibit the police without making the slightest impact on the Maoists.

The situation in Lalgarh has been made all the more complicated by the fact that the state administration is unable to reach out to the Maoists because it is seen as an extension of Alimuddin Street, the CPI(M) office in Kolkata, whereas in other states, the official machinery is better placed as it has largely been able to retain a modicum of independence.

The result is that the West Bengal government has to depend almost entirely on the paramilitary forces, which always tend to be highhanded because of their lack of acquaintance with local language and customs. Since Lalgarh is a tribal area, the vulnerability of the villagers before an outside force is all the greater because of the simple-mindedness and destitution of the tribals. All the ingredients which can make a situation explosive are there in Lalgarh. (IPA Service)