It is a moment of crisis: All India Forward Bloc

KOLKATA: The bandh sponsored by the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) in West Bengal on Wednesday is the first by a constituent of the Left Front, which assumed power in the State over 30 years ago. It came in protest against the “cruel murder of peaceful demonstrators” by the police at Dinhata on Tuesday.

“It is a moment of crisis for the Left Front. The government should learn that it cannot be run by the police bent on murdering our people,” AIFB State Secretary Ashok Ghosh said. He described the police firing at Dinhata as “pre-planned” and “a second Nandigram”.

“Will the Left Front government continue in power in such a manner, in the face of growing public resentment against such actions? There has been one Nandigram. This [the Dinhata firing] is the second. Let there not be a third Nandigram,” he said.

“The question of [the AIFB] leaving the government does not arise…We want to remain in power with the people’s support, not with guns aimed at their heads. The Left Front is not the property of any particular party.”

That the AIFB leadership’s ire is directed primarily at the CPI(M) is no secret and has only been reaffirmed over the past two days. Though the latter has been insisting on the need to strengthen unity among the Front partners and sort out differences through bilateral talks, the AIFB remains strident in its criticism of its bigger Left partner.