The face-off between the government and tribals at Lalgarh was the outcome of "goondaraj" unleashed by the CPM-led Left Front during the three decades of its rule in West Bengal, a JMM leader claimed on Friday.
The state government's indifferent approach towards the genuine demands of the tribals was also to be blamed for the prevailing situation at Lalgarh and the Centre and West Bengal governments should hold talks to resolve the issue immediately, Ramesh Hansda, a member of the JMM central committee said in a statement in Jamshedpur.
He alleged that CPM cadres had indulged in the killing of its opponents during the Left Front regime and accused the West Bengal government, the Centre and the media for branding the boycott by the tribals at Lalgarh as a Maoist movement.
"The tribal community across the country would be forced to take up the agitational path if the state government did not stop harassing innocent tribals," Hansda, who is also a leader of the Jharkhand Chatra Morcha (JCM), said.
The boycott by tribals at Lalgarh became violent since the government adopted repressive measures against them in November after Maoists triggered a landmine blast at Salboni in which the then union minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee escaped narrowly, he said.
{{/usCountry}}The boycott by tribals at Lalgarh became violent since the government adopted repressive measures against them in November after Maoists triggered a landmine blast at Salboni in which the then union minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee escaped narrowly, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Innocent tribals, including women, were deliberately being harassed by the state government since the landmine blast, he alleged.