11th day of Lalgarh siege: Admn for direct talk with tribals

“We were aware that there were discontent among the tribals of the Lalgarh area. But we could never have imagined that it will become such a big issue,” said NS Nigam, District Magistrate of West Midnapur, on the 11th day of the impasse in Lalgarh and Jhargram.

“This blockade has seriously affected emergency services of the area. Essential food commodities, education and health services are suffering,” Nigam said.

Discontent among the tribals spread to three blocks of Lalgarh, Jhargram and Binpur after the arrest of several villagers, allegedly linked to the blast targetted at the convoy of the chief minister in Salboni on November 2. Roads leading to the area have either been dug up or blocked by huge tree trunks. The tribals are demanding immediate release of those arrested.

Meetings between the district administration and the tribal leaders of the Bharat Jakat Majhi Madwa have been going on for the last 10 days. But they have not resulted in any significant outcome.

In one case, tribals who have been agitating on the ground, refused to listen to the leaders who had assured the district administration that blockades would be lifted in Jhargram. “One cannot say that the meetings have failed altogether, there have been some positive results in some places,” Nigam said.

“We were told from all quarters that the Bharat Jakat Majhi Madwa was the supreme organisation of the tribals. So we initiated talks with them,” Nigam said. Now, however, the administration is trying to get in touch with the agitating tribals directly.

“One such meeting with the tribals in Lalgarh on Friday has yielded good results,” said a senior officer of the district administration. Tribals had, on Friday, agreed to discuss lifting of blockades among themselves. “We want to meet more and more tribals and not the leaders only,” Nigam said.