Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that the tribal unrest in West Midnapore district was not a Maoist problem and described operations against the Naxals as a failure.
Pointing out that people of all political parties were being killed in West Midnapore, she told
reporters, "this is not a Maoist problem like in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. It is a group clash between the have's and have not's of CPI(M)".
Claiming that the joint operations carried out by the central and state police forces in the district were "a complete failure", she said, "If it has to succeed, then only central forces or the army should be deployed there."
"I do not support the joint operations. We support the tribal cause and not armed resistance," she said, adding that even former Naxalites who had taken to democracy were being killed.
Reiterating her allegation that "Maoists and Marxists were the same", Banerjee dubbed the operations by the joint forces as "a conspiracy to decimate opponents who are functioning in a democratic manner."
She also alleged that timber from jungles in Lalgarh was being sold to buy weapons for CPI(M) cadre with the help of the Left Front government.