Bengal governor visits massacre sites of Netai, Baghbinda
By IANSWednesday, January 19, 2011
KOLKATA - West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan Wednesday visited Netai and Baghbinda villages, which have recently witnessed cold-blooded killings. He said he would file a report to both the central and state governments detailing his experiences.
Narayanan began the day with a visit to Netai village near the Maoist hub of Lalgarh, about 200 km west of Kolkata in West Midnapore district. He later went to Baghbinda, a hilly village in Jhalda block of Purulia district, around 225 km from Kolkata.
On Jan 7, nine people were killed and at least 17 others were injured in Netai in firing allegedly triggered by people sheltered in an armed camp run by the state’s ruling Left Front major Communist party of India-Marxist (CPIM).
On Dec 17, seven supporters of the ruling Left Front partner Forward Bloc were gunned down by suspected Maoist guerillas.
At Netai, Narayanan spoke to villagers and heard their tales of apprehension and horror since the Jan 7 carnage.
The bloodbath had sent shockwaves through the country, prompting union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to summon Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to New Delhi. Narayanan then called it a day of sorrow and shame and asked the state government to act decisively.
The governor also surveyed the house in which the culprits were said to have been sheltered and spoke to the district administration and police officers.
At Baghbinda, too, Narayanan visited the spot of the massacre and interacted with the locals.
The Left Front has been sharply critical of politicians and intellectuals who have condemned the Netai tragedy and questioned their silence on Baghbinda.
The governors decision to include both Netai and Baghbinda in his itinerary has been interpreted as a conscious decision to ward off any such criticism of partiality.
At Netai, Narayanan told mediapersons that the purpose of his tour was to ascertain the feelings of the villagers. I will file a report to both central and state governments regarding the feelings and demands of the villagers.
Now I am going to Jhalda, where the Maoists are supposed to have killed Forward Bloc supporters. I want to go and sympathise.
On the Maoist menace, he said: I know about the Maoist problem. I have a fair idea about what the Maoists are capable of.
