Maoists call for 48-hour bandh in five states

Kolkata, May 15: Maoists have called for a 48-hour bandh in five states including Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh starting from Tuesday, May 18.

"Maoists will observe bandh on May 18 and May 19 in the five states to protest against the Centre's decision to sell ten per cent government's stake in 10 profit-making Public Sector Undertakings," top Maoist leader Kishenji told a news agency from an undisclosed location after three months of hiatus following the security forces' operation in Lalgarh, during which he was wounded.

CPI(Maoist) members are against dilution of government stake in state-owned banks to make way for the entry of international banks like Morgan Stanley, Citibank and Deutsche Bank.

CPI(Maoist) is also holding a rally in protest of the POSCO project on Saturday, May 15.

While the handing over of 15,000 acre land to steel maker Posco in Orissa was the key reason for the Maoists calling the bandh, several other demands were put forth by Kishenji including the scrapping of Indian Premier League (IPL).

Accusing the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of bing involved in the IPL scam, Kishenji said, "The government should immediately take action against these accused along with others who are behind the scam involving telecom spectrum allocation."

OneIndia News