Threat to Constitutional Democracy

A spate of political killings in West Bengal, which in a few months from now will hold state assembly elections, is a matter of deep concern.

Hitherto the media and the authorities had confi ned themselves to condemning killings by the CPI (Maoists) in the Jangalmahal area, in which offi cially it was claimed that 79 persons have lost their lives. But the killing by CPM cadres on 7 January, who fi red around 300 rounds on a 250 strong crowd, primarily women, protesting the local CPM diktat that each family send one person for arms training, killing eight persons and injuring 20 with most bullets fi red on the back, show how it is becoming a free-for-all between political parties.