Siddharta Shankar Ray Denies Role In Murder of Naxalites
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Saturday, November 07, 1998
SECTION: Regional
Ray denies hand in killing of naxalites
Date: 07-11-1998 :: Pg: 15 :: Col: d
By Our Special Correspondent
CALCUTTA, Nov. 6.
The former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr. Siddhartha Shankar Ray, says that
he had no hand in the killings of naxalites in the State in the seventies,
contrary to popular belief.
The 79-year-old Mr. Ray says that he will kick up a debate on that bloody
period and prove with documentary evidences that he was absolutely innocent.
The real culprit, he claims, was the terror unleashed by the CPI(M) during
those turbulent years in the State. The killings gave Mr. Ray a bad name as he
was the Congress(I) Chief Minister between 1971 and 1977, a period when the
naxalite movement was at its peak and the Congress(I) was having a free run
because of its official position.
``The CPI(M) says I have blood on my hands. This is a blatant lie. Enough is
enough. I'll not tolerate such disinformation campaigns against me any more. I
challenge the communists to prove their charges,'' Mr. Ray says.
The well-known barrister, who had gone into near oblivion following his rout
in the last Lok Sabha poll,has reappeared with a fresh pledge to help the
Congress (I) regain its ground lost to Trinamul Congress led by Ms. Mamata
Banerjee. Mr. Ray had been Ms. Banerjee's advisor for quite sometime when the
Trinamul parliamentarian was still with the Congress(I).
According to Congress(I) insiders, Mr. Ray's keenness to clear his name at
this point of time is most certainly not without a reason. He realises that
if he succeeds in reviving the issue, he would instantly find himself
grabbing the headlines. The seventies are still fresh in people's memories
and a debate on it would generate a great deal of interest in the media as
well as the political circles.
``I will tell the people who actually killed the naxalites. It is the CPI(M)
which had a hand in those killings,'' Mr. Ray says.
The former Chief Minister touched off controversies with his return to State
politics a month ago. Much to his chagrin,he found the factional leaders who
learnt politics at his knees in the seventies in no mood to re-launch him in
State politics. The best way to come on centre- stage, he thinks, is by
talking about the most-talked about era in West Bengal.
Experienced in preparing briefs for others, Mr. Ray is currently busy doing
one for himself. He is reading a lot of books , talking to old- timers and
pondering a great deal relating to the seventies era.
Helping him in organising his thoughts and also providing him with what he
thinks the deadliest weapon to beat the CPI(M) with is a book published during
the period by the CPI entitled `CPI(M) Terror in West Bengal. '
Mr. Ray is planning to highlight what he claims the CPI leaders' recorded
views on that period suggesting that the CPI(M) was behind the murders of a
large number of naxalites. He would even quote Mr. Ranen Sen, the late
Bhupesh Gupta and others to prove his point. He claims that the late Promode
dasgupta, the then CPI(M) State secretary, provoked killings of the
naxalites. ''I don't remember having said anywhere in my article that the
CPI(M) killed the naxalites,`` Mr. Sen said when asked about the veracity of
such a serious charge. By the way, the CPI was then a Congress ally.
``The naxalites were formerly with the CPI(M). I respect them. I want to tell
them the CPI(M) killed you,`` he says.
As Mr. Ray expected, the CPI(M) and the naxalite outfits began responding to
his arguments which Mr. Ray thinks are irrefutable. The secretary of the CPI
(M)'s Bengal unit, Mr. Sailen Dasgupta, says the Congressman was trying to
misdirect the younger generation by placing wrong facts before them. ''We all
know what really happened and who killed whom. Will he create the evidences
just to remove the stigma attached to him,'' Mr. Dasgupta asked.
The naxalite leader Mr. Santosh Rana and the CPI-ML (Liberation) have
countered Mr. Ray's views charging him with having a hand in the killings of
Charu Mazumdar, Saroj Datta and hundreds of naxalites in police lock-ups. The
leaders admitted encounters with the CPI(M) at different points in time but
wholly dismissed Mr. Ray's idea that the CPI(M) was entirely responsible for
the terror in West Bengal in the seventies. ``Mr. Ray conspired to kill the
naxalites. We are certain about it,'' Mr. Rana said.
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Shamim A. Khandekar
> The killings gave Mr. Ray a bad name as he
> > was the Congress(I) Chief Minister between 1971 and 1977, a period when the
> > naxalite movement was at its peak and the Congress(I) was having a free run
> > because of its official position.
Thank you for posting it.
BB SMR 'open border' policy at that time pleased the then PM Indira Gandhi
and thereby helped the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr. Siddhartha
Shankar Ray to win the election.
After the formation of BAKSAL, out of euphoria BB SMR adopted his policy
to kill the pro-Bejing communist leader Shiraj Shkider....