For the toddlers of Daluakhaki village no Children’s Day has ever been as cruel as this one. “My son hasn’t eaten a grain for the last 36 hours ... there is no trace of his father who along with other male members of the village have fled the area ... and cannot return lest they are bombed to death by the Trinamool (Congress) harmads,” says Zahira bibi whose house was burnt and livestock herded away by the raiders.

Rina Khantun (name changed) describes how her 5-year-old child was thrown into the pond by the attackers. “Some 300-400 of them ... who came charging at the village from all directions ... hurling bombs firing in the air and pelting stones ... as our men ran away for their lives through the paddy fields they attacked women ... set our houses to fire and took away our livestock ... When I protested they threw my child in the pond,” says Khatun.

True, with not a soul in sight and no trace of human activity this South 24 Parganas village bears the silence of a graveyard.

Another old woman who was given a broken leg recollects how “I was playing with my grandchild when they charged in ... and upon seeing our men fleeing simply seized the little one and tossed him in the pond ... when I was protesting they hit my legs with iron rods and ... they did not allow the injured to be taken to the hospital.”

Says Babu Sheikh, a 10-year-old who was hiding with his mother in a paddy field how the fire “brigade uncle’s” were stopped from entering the burning village.

“Our children and we have not eaten a single gulp of grain for the past 36 hours and ... but for some brothers of the media who purchased us biscuit packets these little ones would have been starving ... and all these in front of the police which watched the village go up in flames for more than 3 hours from a distance and then intervened with small buckets of water for video footages,” said Munna Sheikh a daily wager who was crying relentlessly after losing the entire earning of his life.

“In a matter of hours we have been rendered into beggars ... and now they are threatening us not to return to our village ... they have said that in the coming years they will till our lands and milk our cattle ... tell me what will we do sir ... I don’t know where my brothers are ... who will help us,” he cries on.

“Much of this is because we are CPI(M) and have refused to submit to their diktats,” said one of about 50-60 victims taking shelter at a district CPI(M) office at Baruipur some 35 km from Kolkata. “If you are from Laal party (CPI(M) then you are destined to be killed ...that is TMC’s law ... Didi’s justice ,” he says.

The arson and loot took place after the murder of Saifuddin Laskar --- a TMC toughie and a zonal party president --- which TMC strongman and MLA Shaukat Molla claimed to be a handiwork of the Marxists. “We have reports that the CPI(M) got our leader killed as they wanted to capture this area politically by killing Saifuddin who is a popular leader.”

Regardless of his claims, subsequent reports filtering out of the police closet suggest the murder to be a result of inner fighting within the ruling outfit. “The family members of one of the murderers who were subsequently lynched by the mob and another hit man who was arrested and presently in police custody claim that they were active TMC men,” a former police officer who recently retired from his service said.

“This is a fight between three local TMC MLAs for the control of the massive syndicate that ranges from earth quarrying, to extortion rackets to other underworld activities ... after having killed the rival leader the mastermind found it easy to direct the mob anger to a village where the CPI(M) still has some followers ... or else in most of the villages the people are not allowed to speak ... their votes are cast by the TMC goons,” CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakrabrty said.

Chakrabarty and other senior Left leaders on Tuesday tried to lead the evicted villagers back to their homes but were restrained by the police. “We will wait for two days and if these people are not allowed to return to their village with proper security then there will be a bigger movement,”