Naxalites go on a statue-smashing spree in Calcutta

Vidyasagar - uneasy lies the headFrom one corner of a park in central Calcutta, facing the country's largest university, Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, the doyen of 19th century Bengal enlightenment, casts a rather vacant look at the new generation. Uneasy lies the head, on the marble statue, since it had been made to roll down from the shoulders in June last by alleged Naxalites. Six rifle-toting constables keep vigil round the clock at the statue, while police in plain clothes watch.Equally protected are the statues of Netaji Subhash Chandra at Shyambazar crossing in north Calcutta and of Jatin Das in south Calcutta. The protection has been costing Calcutta Police Rs 3,500 each month for each statue. And there are 56 statues on the "protection list" in Calcutta alone.The security of the city's marble and bronze statues was threatened once before in the past, in 1970-71. The attack on statues, publicized as a part of Naxalite-style "cultural revolution", turned out to be the precursor for a year-long mayhem and bloodshed on the streets of Calcutta.Vivekananda - closely guardedThis time, however, the statue-smashing is being described by a section of the Naxalites as a part of their "Charu Mazumdar fortnight" programmes. The late Charu Mazumdar, the prime theoretician and founding father of the Naxalite movement, died in police custody on July 28,1972.The powerful state secretary of the ruling CPI(M), Promode Dasgupta, claims that the Naxalites today have no base and are isolated from the people. But intelligence sources tell a different story.Surprise: The Naxalites who still believe in individual killing and are opposed to parliamentarianism of any form are broadly grouped as the pro-Charu Mazumdar Naxalites. They operate in a clandestine manner, and confine their activities to rural or semi-rural areas, as at Bhojpur in Bihar, Bankura in West Bengal and at Naxalbari - the North Bengal forest land which cradled the movement.The police and the intelligence department were aghast when they discovered, some time in May, that the "rural" revolutionaries had advanced as far as Calcutta's industrial suburbs, and had actually formed a "Red Brigade" comprising urban activists. Their strength is estimated at around 2,000. At the end of April, this group startled the police by actually bringing out a procession of about 800 boys. The procession dispersed before the police could close in on them.New Heroes: Since June last, the statues that have been "beheaded" are those of Netaji Subhash, Iswarchandra and Raja Rammohun Roy. In each case, the Red Brigade owned up, through poster campaigns, for the actions. The Brigade has also brought out a leaflet which describes Iswarchandra as a "stooge" of the British imperialists who had sheltered troops of the British East India Company at Sanskrit College, Calcutta, as the Sepoy Mutiny was raging. The posters further urge the demolishing of the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and install, "at every home", the statues of Charu Mazumdar and Mangal Pandey, the sepoy who fired the first shot to herald the 1857 mutiny.The police have so far rounded up 10 boys in this connection. But are they the real culprits? At least one of the arrested boys was later found out to be the "bodyguard" of a Youth Congress leader.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Feb 9, 2015 11:28 IST--- ENDS ---

Download App

Get 37% off on an annual Print +Digital subscription of India Today Magazine

Naxalites go on a statue-smashing spree in Calcutta

The powerful state secretary of the ruling CPI(M), Promode Dasgupta, claims that the Naxalites today have no base and are isolated from the people. But intelligence sources tell a different story.

PUBLICATIONS

TELEVISION

EVENTS

RADIO

GAMING

USEFUL LINKS

PRINTING

WELFARE

DISTRIBUTION

SYNDICATIONS

WEBSITES

EDUCATION