Kishenji attends public meet

The Economic Times, 7 Dec 2009


KOLKATA: After a gap of a month, fugitive Maoist leader Kishenji attended an open gathering in Jangalmahal on December 2 to observe the foundation day of the Peoples Liberation Group Army (PLGA).

Another Maoist activist, Rakesh, leader of the West Bengal-Jharkhand-Orissa border regional committee also attended the function along with the commander-in-chief of Jangalmahal, Bikash. The gathering was held amid tight security provided by PLGA activists who had surrounded the area with sophisticated arms and weapons to prevent the joint forces from attempting to foil the function and arrest top Maoist leaders like Kishenji.

Kishenji had left Lalgarh and Jangalmahal after the Maoist activists killed four jawans of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) at Gidhni bazar area in West Midnapore district on November 8. It is, however, not clear whether Kishenji is staying at Jangalmahal or left the place after attending the function there on December 2.

The function was attended by the inhabitants at least 50 villages in the region. The function begun with the hoisting of red flags and singing of international songs. Two minutes silence was also observed in memory of those Maoist leaders and activists who were killed in police encounters.

In a statement issued recently, Kishenji had alleged that the joint force was preventing the poor villagers from collecting rice from the paddy fields. “Joint force jawans are torturing the poor villagers and are not allowed them to harvest rice. We had urged the government to stop operation against us for at least 15 days to enable tribal farmers to harvest rice. We also promised not to attack the joint force jawans during the 15 days if the government agreed to accept our proposal. But the government refused to do so and we are now determined to protect the poor farmers from the tortures and attacks on them by the joint forces,” Kishenji claimed.

He also said that “PLGA soldiers will now protect the farmers in every field of Lalgarh and Jangalmahal. Our soldiers with their arms and ammunition, will be on the paddy fields to protect the poor tribals from being attacked by the joint forces.” “This we will do because the government has refused to accept our proposal and lift their operation against us.”