The Indian press was forthright in its condemnation of the sabotage to a railway line that caused Friday's West Bengal train crash, in which more than 100 people died.
Police blamed the incident - which happened in a known Maoist stronghold - on Maoist rebels. Most of the press accepted this assessment and lamented the fact that it appeared to indicate the insurgents had few qualms over targeting civilians in what one paper described as "systematic bloodbaths".
However, several papers also said the authorities had to bear some responsibility for the loss of life, for failing to ensure adequate security along railway lines.
THE HINDU (in English)
Friday's tragedy… suggests Maoist groups see the deaths of ever-larger numbers of civilians as an acceptable part of the macabre war they have inflicted on large swathes of central and eastern India… A movement that used to claim it targeted only "combatants" is increasingly resorting to excitative terrorism against "non-combatants"... Language like this advertises the fact that a movement carried out in the name of India's poor has, for all practical purposes, degenerated into an inhuman cult of death.
HINDUSTAN (in Hindi)
While the debate on whether the Maoist problem is one of security or economic development is still raging on in influential political circles, the Maoists are indulging in acts of inhuman massacre with impunity one after the other… Maoists have now stopped killing one or two people and have resorted to carrying out acts of violence resulting in the loss of hundreds of innocent lives… Safety of civilians is the responsibility of every government… improving security along the railway tracks is daunting but not impossible.
RASHTRIYA SAHARA (in Hindi)
Innocent people had to pay the price for the ongoing battle for existence between the government and the Maoists… Once again, the Maoists have been successful in their deadly plans and the government is busy giving explanations and defending itself.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS (in English)
Maoists never intended to "distinguish" between civilians and police-paramilitary in choosing the targets of their systematic bloodbaths… This tragedy is a message to the self-appointed spokespersons of civil society.
HINDUSTAN TIMES (in English)
Perhaps nothing was more indicative of the paralysis that now plagues any discourse on Maoist violence than the confusion, tentativeness and prevarications that followed Bengal's train tragedy yesterday… While the Bengal police was quick to call the attack the work of Maoists, others were far more cautious; even muted in their response… We seek an end to the politicisation of a conflict that has repeatedly been called India's biggest internal security threat… The issue of Maoist violence has finally moved from the margins of public thought to the centre stage of national debate.
THE ECONOMIC TIMES (in English)
The Maoists have notched up a huge tally with their latest act of rail track sabotage, with a helping hand from the railways.
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.
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