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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | ‘Kishanji’s home’ votes out fear -Pronob Mondal

‘Kishanji’s home’ votes out fear -Pronob Mondal

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published Published on Jul 12, 2013   modified Modified on Jul 12, 2013
-The Telegraph


Mathurapur (West Midnapore): Voters of a tiny hamlet in the heart of Jungle Mahal cast aside the fear of Maoists and exercised their franchise today for the first time in seven years.

Since 2006, not a single resident of Mathurapur, about 8km from Lalgarh, has voted in any election - Assembly, panchayat or the Lok Sabha - for fear of "retribution" from the Maoists.

Mathurapur was then known as the "home of Kishanji" for the long periods of time the Maoist guerrilla leader had spent here.

But with Kishan gunned down and the Maoists on the backfoot, the residents today cast their votes.

"The villagers unshackled themselves from their Maoist bondage and have come out to vote in large numbers," said Sujan Mahato, a former Maoist guerrilla who is now a Trinamul supporter.

Sujan, who has served time in jail and is now out on bail, said that since 2006 "not a single" resident of this village had the "guts" to vote - a version corroborated by several others.

"Like this time, two polling booths used to be set up in this village for every election but no one voted," Sujan said. "But see how different it is now. There are so many women who have queued up for several hours."

Kalipada Mahato, another Mathurapur villager, recalled the peculiar situation in the 2011 Assembly polls. Trinamul had then enjoyed the tacit support of the Maoists, and the rebels, who had always called for a poll boycott, said that Jungle Mahal residents could vote "if they wished to".

"But no one in Mathurapur voted," Kalipada said. "They were unsure and scared. They didn't know what would happen if Trinamul was not voted to power and decided to stay away from the polling booths."

Long before the Salboni bomb explosion on the route of then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's convoy made Lalgarh the "ground zero" of the Maoist movement in Bengal, the rebels had been "cultivating" Mathurapur and several villages in the vicinity.

"The Maoists entered Mathurapur in 2002 or 2003," said Haradhan Mahato, a resident. "Till the Salboni blast in November 2008, nobody was bothered about this area and the Maoists could go about their work unhindered."

This was the time Kishan started frequenting the area to mobilise support. "This was not a very difficult task for them," said Haradhan. Neglected and wallowing in poverty, many found resonance in what the Maoists were preaching and joined the movement.

Sujan said: "It was for this reason that I took up arms for the Maoists. We were totally neglected, in fact we still are, but at least we are getting some attention because of the Maoist movement. I grew disillusioned with the movement when the rampant killings started getting out of hand."

As the outfit struck roots in the area, Kishan started spending more time there. Sujan said that it was "sometime" in 2008, but before the Salboni blast, that Kishan moved into a hut on the edge of the village, bordering the Lakshmanpur forest.

"The hut is next to the forest and provided a quick escape route for Kishanji in case police arrived," Sujan said.

Sujan said that by the time Kishan was killed in November 2011, the rebel leader had been away from Mathurapur for several months.

After Kishan's death, the Maoists started withdrawing from Jungle Mahal. With heightened security, peace began returning to the area.

Today, Radharani Tudu, standing in a queue at one of the polling stations, said: "We never knew a time would come when we would be able to vote again. I've been standing in the queue for nearly two hours but I am not complaining."

Another lady, Sabita Hembrum, said: "In 2009, five CPM supporters were killed by the Maoists 50 metres from this booth. But I feel no fear today."


The Telegraph, 12 July, 2013, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130712/jsp/frontpage/story_17109009.jsp#.Ud_Dxqzcjco


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