New Delhi: The CPI-M on Sunday defended West Bengal government's action in swapping women Maoist supporters with a police officer held captive by the Naxals and said it did not consider the extremists as Leftists.
"The state government is carrying out joint operations to isolate them in Lalgarh and other areas. The government exercised its judgement and decide to get them (26 women) released. We have nothing more to say on this," CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat said.
In reply to a question, he described the move to swap the 26 women agitators with a senior police officer as an "appropriate step". The women released were "not important cadres but ordinarily people mobilised by the Maoists".
"We do not consider Maoists as a Left trend or a Left organisation. They have killed over 60 of our people in West Bengal. They are targeting our offices and workers also in Chhattisgarh and killed our leader in Sundergarh area of Orissa," Karat said, adding that the party will carry out a vigorous nationwide political campaign to isolate the Maoists.
To a question, Karat said, "We are very much present (in Lalgarh). We are working there. We will mobilise the people to resist them and fight them back. We don't rely on the police and the administration.”
Faced with electoral reverses in its traditional strongholds of Kerala and West Bengal, the three-day central committee meeting of the CPI-M decided to initiate a "rectification campaign" in the party.
"The process of the rectification campaign at the political, ideological and organisational level is to remove the wrong trends and shortcomings so that the party emerges more unified and strengthened," Karat said.
Karat said the rectification document has prepared guidelines for strengthening democratic centralism as the organisational principle of the party, ensuring proper integration of parliamentary and extra-parliamentary work, maintenance of Communist norms and values and remoulding the outlook of the party members towards upholding progressive values.
"Guidelines for conducting the rectification campaign have been set out. The rectification campaign based on this document, will be initiated at all levels of the party," Karat added.
The CPI-M's Lok Sabha tally plummetted to 16 seats in the May 2009 General Elections from the previous 43 seats it had won nationwide in 2004 polls.
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