Tea War Deaclared, No Respite in Nandigram
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: alashchandrabiswas@gmail.com">palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
Please read my Bengali article, AI MRITYU UPTYAKA AAMAR DESH BHARAT VARSHA ( This Valley of Death is My Country Bharat Varsha) IN AKKHA(R) JATRA`S LATEST ISSUE. Sorry, the little mag is not available on Net. Pl contact Mr Dibakar Sarkar for your copy. phone:033-25651329,9201492333,9339276044,9231636613.
Thus,Tea War is declared!
Closed tea gardens claim 571 lives.For the first time in four years since reports of hunger deaths started coming in from scores of closed tea gardens in North Bengal, the state government has admitted that 317 men and 254-odd women have died in the closed gardens in 15 months.The number translates to at least one death everyday in the 14-odd closed tea gardens of Jalpaiguri.
Unofficial reports peg the number of deaths at over 3,000 since the 2002 closure spree.
Mamata Bannerjee visited two closed tea gardens in Nort Bengal Sunday.Claiming that 1,000 workers havedied of starvation due to closure of tea gardens in North Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today saidher party will launch an agitation for reopening of the gardens.
Banerjee, who visited a number of closed tea gardens in Raipur, Shikarpur and Jalpaiguri along with party leaders, blamed the state government for the situation.
She said only Rs 70 crore could have saved several lives, but the chief minister did not take any initiative and spent Rs 135 crore to provide "undue facilities to the Tatas".
Party would launch an agitation for the reopening of the closed tea gardens, Banerjee said.
The government however, has refused to dub these as malnutrition deaths and cited a host of ailments plaguing the workers.
The peace process was further impairedbelying the state government’s yesterday’s claim that the situation was gradually improving. And there seems no respite in Nandigram Violence! In renewed violence, the supporters of Trinamool-led Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committe (BUPC) and CPI (M) hurled bombs and exchanged gunfire with each other in Nandigram today. Journalists were allegedly fired at as violence continued here for the third consecutive day on Sunday with more than 25 rounds fired. Are mainstream Opposition political parties like the Trinamul Congress and the Congress losing control of the movement in Nandigram? ...
The fire of Nandigram and singur touches Asansol Area today as the peasants violently protested land aquisition in Purushottampur! Nearly 12 people near Asansol in Burdwan, West Bengal were injured and 150 arrested after villagers were protesting inadequate compensation by the government for its expansion and modernisation plans for ailing steel company ISSCO. ISSO is acquiring 305 acres of land for the expansion which will render about a thousand people homeless. Clashes broke out when the District administration officials came to take possession of the land. The villagers had approached the court but their demands for higher compensation and jobs in the company were not met.
Meanwhile, in Siliguri in West Bengal, firebrand Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Bannerjee vowed to take her party's agitation over land row across the country.
Bannerjee said she would launch a campaign to highlight the farmers' plight.
"The 'Save (Farmland) Committee' will be going to Delhi, then Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Jamshedpur, Tripura...So, in the first phase of programme, they will start from the first week of July, when they will be visiting Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram, phase by phase we will take this programme all over the country and also create awareness across the world also," she told a public meeting yesterday.
Zionist Brahminical ruling class representing the Global Order, post modern Manusmriti damn care that the controversy surrounding the acquisition of farmlands for setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in several parts of the country does not seem to die down. After rocking West Bengal for months early this year, the issue has now entered Maharashtra. The government here has acquired 14 villages in Nagpur for a planned 30-billion-rupees cargo hub spread over 2,556 hectares near the airport. But this has not gone well with the villagers. And, to mark their protest, women in Shipangaon village, which is home to about 10,000 people, have tonsured their heads. This unique protest move came a week after authorities did not respond to a similar protest by their menfolk.
Only Bengal is not burning, friends! entire rural India, the enslaved majority underprevileged are up against the special exploitaion zones!
The Trinamul Congress has decided to turn its attention towards the tea industry of north Bengal.
Indicating her organisation’s future strategy, the Trinamul Congress leader Miss Mamata Banerjee who was in Siliguri yesterday along with other senior Trinamul leaders to attend a party workers’ meet said that “the state government is not committed to save the tea plantations or its workers. On the contrary, it wants to develop housing complexes destroying the tea plantations.” Commenting on her party’s line to save the tea industry she said that “the Trinamul Congress would be organising a movement, in aid of the distressed tea workers in the first week of August. We intend to gherao the divisional commissioner’s office in Jalpaiguri, and I plan to attend the programme personally.” On the Singur and the Nandigram issues, Miss Banerjee said that she would neither sit with chief minister Mr Buddahadeb Bhattacherjee nor with Mr Jyoti Basu again, unless the state government returned the cultivable land to the people at Singur. Commenting on the fresh violence in Nandigram, where a policeman has reportedly sustained a bullet injury she alleged that the CPI-M cadres equipped with firearms were creating such situations. “According to my information the injured policeman suffered a hit from a splinter, which indicates a bomb and not a bullet,” she added.
Centre to sign phase-I Special Purpose Tea Fund loan agreement
Kolkata: The Centre will disburse funds worth Rs 37 crore, under the Special Purpose Tea Fund(SPTF), to 58 out of 304 gardens in Bengal, to replant, rejuvenate the ageing tea bushes and increase quality production. The Centre would sign the second phase of loan agreement in Bengal on June 29 after the first one on June 25 in Asom. The Union Commerce Ministry aims to bring in 11,000 hectares of land under replantation and another 2,800 hectares under rejuvenation in the current fiscal.
Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh would disburse the fund. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Union Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi would be present on June 29, the day the the first phase of funds would be disbursed in North Bengal.
Leading Tea companies were making beeline for the Rs 4700 crore Special Purpose Tea Fund. Tata Tea, Mcleod Russel India, Warren Tea, Dhunseri Tea, among others, have applied for the fund.
Talking to UNI, Tea Board Chairman Basudeb Banerjee today said that the first tranche of agreement under SPTF would also be signed on June 25 in Guwahati.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Union Minister for development of the NE Mani Shankar Aiyar would be present in Guwahati on that day.
The actual loan disbursement would depend on the appraisals on SBI Capital Markets, he said. The loan requirement for the current year had been estimated at Rs 167.56 crore and subsidy at Rs 89.64 crore.Asom would get 50 per cent of the total Rs 4700 crore fund, followed by West Bengal at 25 per cent, Kerala and Tamil Nadu at 25 per cent each. The Centre would give 25 per cent of subsidy, garden owners would give 25 per cent while the rest 50 per cent would be soft loan component.
Sixty-four-year old Gopal Baraik has worked all his life at the Bharnobari tea estate in Dooars at the foothills of the Himalayas where the best tea is produced in the country.
Today Gopal has lost everything to the gardens. His son Basant, daughter-in-law Jasmati and granddaughter Gita died of severe anaemia and malnutrition within a span of nine months last year.
''If my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter been alive things would have been so different. I don't know what crime I have done and why God is keeping me alive?'' said Gopal Baraik, retired worker.
Fighting hunger
Gopal's family isn't the only one fighting hunger. Only 100 km away in Raipur Tea Estate, Ghumni - a mother of four - lost two of her children.
She lost her 16-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son a few months ago to acute diarrhoea. Today, she is struggling to feed the other two. Her husband lost his job when the garden closed.
''If the garden was open, my children would have been here. They could have got proper food. I have given birth to them, so they are always at the back of my mind,'' said Ghumni, Raipur Garden Worker.
Fighting TB, Mangri Uraon is unable to breast feed her newborn. With no money to buy powder milk, she feeds the kid with whatever she has.
''Since there is no milk, I dip my roti in water and feed him. Or at times I give him rice and salt,'' said Mangri Urao, Tribal.
An estimated 17,000 workers are jobless in 13 closed tea gardens of Jalpaiguri. Closures began in 1998 with a slump in tea prices.
Some gardens reopened after that but in 2002, about 30 shut down again. Reports of hunger deaths started trickling in from 2003.
Food scarcity and lack of basic amenities like safe drinking water and health facilities has led to widespread disease -including TB, vision defects, anemia and enteric diseases.
Govt silent
The West Bengal government has remained silent through this crisis. Only now the health department has confirmed 571 deaths between 2006 and March this year but refuses to acknowledge them as malnutrition deaths.
''The gardens which are running good, they also have the same problem. This is no excuse that man is mortal and death is eventual. It could probably be delayed, the death period, time, could be delayed, some deaths could be avoided also,'' said Dr B Chakraborti, Chief Medical Officer, Jalpaiguri.
''At least 2,500- 3,000 deaths have taken place in the tea gardens so far. Not all these deaths are due to starvation, but I would say a large majority are due to hunger and hunger related reasons.
''We did a study in 2005 of open, closed and sick gardens. There we found much to our surprise that even in open gardens many workers had Body Mass Indexes less than 18.5, which is the starvation level,'' said Anuradha Talwar, Advisor to Supreme Court Food Commissioner.
Operating and Management Committees (OMCs) have now been set up in different gardens to pay workers between Rs 20-30 per day for plucking leaves, which is not enough to fight starvation.
Is there then a real solution to this crisis? The best option probably is to reopen all the closed tea gardens.
But for the time being, the government is toying with the idea of opening up at least five per cent land in all the closed tea gardens and promote agriculture, floriculture and even tourism.
But what is most important is proper implementation of the welfare schemes meant for these workers.
Nandigram
Nandigram voilence continues, BUPC, CPI(M) exchange bombs.Violence continued for the third consecutive day here today with more than 25 rounds fired and bombs hurled from a brick kiln at neighbouring Kejuri since this morning.The latest round of violence, which began on June 15 when four police personnel were injured in bomb blasts and firing allegedly by Trinamool Congress-backed BUPC, dealt a blow to the ongoing peace process in Nandigram. Yesterday too, BUPC and CPI(M) activists fired and hurled bombs at each other injuring five persons. Police had to fire in the air to disperse the two warring sides.
Most areas in Nandigram in East Midnapore district still remain out of bounds for the police as they are unable to enter with roads in the area dug up since January when the violence first flared.
On the other hand , June 16: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Behrampore saturday said all political parties should come together for industrialisation and cited a “Bankura” model for unity.
“I request all parties in the Opposition to forget political rivalries and join hands to allow industry to flourish in the state. Please don’t resist or oppose moves to set up industry,” the chief minister said after laying the foundation stone for an 11-acre industrial estate in Behrampore.
“All parties in Bankura have sent a signed letter to me, expressing willingness to have industry there. That makes me hopeful, and I am going to meet them on Monday.”
Bhattacharjee’s next stop was Rejinagar in Murshidabad, 165 km from Calcutta, where he laid the foundation stone for another industrial estate.
The government would have to take industry initiatives not only in Calcutta, Howrah and Hooghly but in other districts as well, he said. “Our target is to set up industry in all districts of Bengal depending on the facilities available.”
West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd will set up the Rejinagar estate on 186 acres. It will have a jute park and silk and leather factories.
“Apart from Murshidabad, industries are also coming up in Siliguri, Coochbehar, and Malda. While mango factories will be set up in Malda, tanneries will come up in North Dinajpur. People there will be given training so that they can be employed in the factories,” the chief minister said.
The Congress zilla parishad sabhadhipati, Siddika Begum, who was present at the programme, voiced her support for Bhattacharjee’s drive. “All of us, irrespective of the parties we belong to, will have to come forward to make this a success,” she said.
Scribes allegedly fired at in violence-hit Nandigram
Journalists were allegedly fired at as violence continued here for the third consecutive day today with more than 25 rounds fired and bombs hurled from a brick kiln at neighbouring Kejuri. Police sources here said the shots were fired and the bombs thrown allegedly by CPI(M) cadres from a brick kiln from where ten persons with sophisticated firearms were arrested after the March 14 police firing in which 14 people were killed. No one, however, was injured, they said.
A PTI correspondent present at the site said five journalists travelling on two motorbikes were fired at from the 'Janani' brick kiln but they jumped off their bikes and took shelter in a nearby house.
IGP (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia and IGP (Western Range) Arun Gupta, however, denied any such incident had taken place.
"We had heard of the incident. We verified it but found it to be untrue," Kanojia said in Kolkata.
Main Opposition Trinamool Congress-backed Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (Committee Against Eviction From Land), spearheading the movement against acquisition of farm land for a SEZ in the area, alleged a large number of bombs were hurled at Nandigram from Chowk Kendramari, near Haldia, all through the night by outsiders brought in by the CPI(M). It asked people over microphones since this morning to stay indoors and not venture out in view of the hurling of bombs. The BUPC charged the police deployed near the area remained mute spectators.
Police present at the spot said the shots were being fired and the bombs thrown allegedly by CPI-M cadres from 'Janani' brick kiln, from where 10 persons alongwith sophisticated firearms were arrested after the March 14 police firing.However, none was injured or killed in the firing or bomb explosions.
BUPC claimed that the police deployed on Tekhali bridge adjoining the area have remained mute spectators. BUPC alleged that a large number of bombs were hurled at Nandigram from Chowk Kendramari, near Haldia, all through the night by outsiders brought in by CPI-M. It asked people over microphones since this morning to stay indoors and not venture out in view of the hurling of bombs.
Incidentally, around the same time CPI(M) State Secretary Biman Basu, who was holding a top level party meeting at Maniktala in Tamluk Town with East Midnapur district party bosses, to discuss about the future steps taken to maintain peace. Not mentioning the name of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, veteram marxist leader Jyoti Basu said the Opposition was responsible for making the CPI (M) supporters homeless.
''The move for bringing peace in the area received a rude jolt after Saturday's incident. They are bringing back uncertainty and playing with fire. The administration should take proper steps,'' Mr Basu said.
Criticising Mr Basu's meeting at Tamluk, MLA and BUPC leader Sisir Adhikary said CPI(M) supporters tried to enter Nandigram on Saturday with police, which was against the earlier settlement talks between Mr Basu and Ms Banerjee.
Put up a united fight against SEZs: Medha Patkar
Accusing the politicians and bureaucrats of favouring the corporate sector on the issue of setting up of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Maharashtra, noted activist Medha Patkar today called for a united fight over the issue.
''The only solution is to unitedly protest forcefully against such a policy and making sure that politicians who backed SEZs were not elected in the forthcoming elections,'' Ms Patkar said here during a rally, organised to protest against the Maharshtra government's decision to set up an SEZ near Gorai.Over 5,000 protestors had gathered in Uttan to join her at the public rally, organised by the Dharavi Beth (island) Bachav Samiti, along with activist organisations including the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), besides others protesting against the SEZs.
Coming down heavily on the promoters and the state government, who are jointly developing the project, she said the SEZ policy was not just anti-environment or anti-people, but violated the very letter and spirit of the Constitution of India. She said the basic idea was to cut the country into pieces and sell each off to the highest bidder, among the influential business houses in the country.
Ms Patkar said the founding fathers of the Constitution were clearly of the opinion that economic planning should aim at no concentration of economic wealth. She went on to describe the double-speak of politicians, irrespective of their party affiliations, who passed the SEZ policy in Parliament, with little or no discussion, within a couple of days.
''On the one hand the government was wooing industrialists with the SEZ policy and on the other hand, it was fooling the voter saying that SEZs would come up only on barren land, which would not be acquired by force and in consulation with the locals,'' she said.She also accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh of paying lip-service to public participation to stiffle opposition to SEZs, and added that Revenue Minister Narayan Rane was going ahead in implementing the policy, by initiating the process of land acquisition.
CSF general secretary Joseph Dias said the President A P J Abdul Kalam had forwarded their representation to state Chief Secretary Johny Joseph and they are awaiting a response from him. He also stated that the issue would be taken up on various fronts -- legal, political, religious, government, economic, environmental and human rights.
By way of follow-up on the issue, CSF has also filed an affidavit with the state government and should there be no response, the organisation will organise a huge demonstration in the city next month, he added.
Shahi Imam takes on Jamait
Statesman reports:
KOLKATA: At a time when Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is drawing flak from Left Front allies for letting the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid visit Nandigram earlier this week despite strong agitation by members of the Jomi Uchched Protirodh Committee, the religious leader has come out in support of the chief minister and accused the Jamait Ulema-e-Hind of taking up the movement in the troubled area at the instance of the US government since West Bengal is ruled by Communists.
The Shahi Imam, Maulana Syed Ahmad Bukhari has alleged that Mr Siddiqullah Chowdhury, general secretary of the Jamait, had a confidential meeting with US Embassy personnel a few days ago and Muslims in Kolkata staged a strong protest against the general secretary. A Jamait team visited the USA to support Mr George W Bush during the last presidential election, the Shahi Imam has further alleged.
“It’s pointless reacting to such baseless accusations. It only brings out their desperation”, Jamait state general secretary Mr Siddiqullah Chowdhury told The Statesman. “People of this state know us very well. These kind of statements cannot disturb us. Our foundation is as strong as ever”, he said.
In a strongly-worded statement issued from Jama Masjid in Delhi today, the Shahi Imam has accused the Jamait of creating communal tension in Nandigram “in view of the panchayat and Parliamentary elections in West Bengal”.
Interestingly, the statement issued by the Shahi Imam’s secretariat and faxed to virtually all newspapers refers to the Jamait as “Jamiat-e-Ulama” and not “Jamait Ulema-e-Hind”.
Adopting a line that could only make the CPI-M happy, the Shahi Imam described the Jamait as a “pro-American” organisation that is “running tainted politics utilising the innocent Madrasa students, destroying their future and ruining the hopes of their parents who have admitted their wards in Madrasas for their bright future”.
The Shahi Imam has argued that he visited Nandigram as “Muslims of West Bengal” requested him.
The “so-called leaders” of West Bengal Jamiat-e-Ulama have created havoc among people who want to go back to their homes and this continues even after the chief minister’s assurance that no land will be acquired in Nandigram, the Shahi Imam said.
THE LEFT’S GOOD EARTH
Land seems to be the only visible asset that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his minions can
dangle before the hordes of industrial invaders reportedly knocking at their doors.
By DIPAK RUDRA
There has been a sudden spate lately, in newspaper columns and elsewhere, of opinions and interpretations ~ dark forebodings and high-minded laments, mainly ~ from a section of former Bengal bureaucrats about the land-for-industry controversy. Barring one or two exceptions, these worthies have been men for all seasons and trusted flag bearers of the system at the Centre and in the state. If today they are critical of their successors, can it be presumed that they could have ensured course-correction, sanity and temperance in policy and action if they were still around?
A difficult poser for any generation, past or present, for ground realities are like shifting sands. Land acquisition for large industrial and infrastructure projects, admittedly, has always been fraught with problems ~ human problems of displacement, re-settlement and alternative employment, actuarial problems of valuation and compensation assessment, problems of cultural, social and environmental shifts. Seldom, if ever, have land losers been reconciled to the loss-gain matrices set before them ~ visionaries and hard-headed implementers have stumbled upon opportunists and fortune-seekers as frequently as on genuine objectors and victims. Invariably, procrastination and delay, time and cost overruns have been part of the price of progress, but a process of stop-and-go, consultation and compromise, re-calculation and re-assessment along the way has ultimately led to conflict-resolution and a tolerable convergence of interests. Or else, the “temples of modern India” would never have come up ~ the steel and power plants, the irrigation dams and canal systems, the highways and industrial cities. To agonise endlessly over the agriculture-industry trade-off, see spectres of famine and mass unrest behind every Tata and Salim would be sanctifying the status quo.
Parallels are being repeatedly drawn between instances of state repression in communist Russia and China, and recent happenings in Nandigram and Singur. (and, lest we forget, the earlier horrors of Marichjhanpi, Nanur, Chhoto Angaria, Keshpur). The point missed in these comparisons is that the strong arm of the state has not, until the last year or so, been invoked in favour of potential investors in the public or private sector. In fact, over much of the three decades of leftist rule, the administration in Writers’ Buildings and in the districts has by and large been a mute spectator of the demise of organised industry ~ jute, cotton, paper, rice, flour and sugar mills, foundries, cycle and tyre factories, engineering and chemical units, tea gardens, railway workshops, shipyards, even hotels and cinema halls. Militant trade unions, fly-by-night asset-stripping businessmen, shrinking order books, siphoning and misuse of institutional funds ~ nothing seemed to animate the “progressive” rulers of Bengal except perfecting the art of winning elections, creating more and more frontal organisations, and penetrating deeper and deeper into the countryside. True, Operation Barga made sense out of a long-shelved Land Reforms Act, cereal and fish production grew to unprecedented levels, a literacy drive claimed its place in the sun, but power supply declined abysmally (until Bakreswar and Kolaghat came good) and computers were resisted tooth and nail till the mid-1990s. For almost two-thirds of their reign the Left Front government ran up huge revenue account deficits and baled out loss-making public undertakings, while fuming and fretting over the Centre’s “conspiracy” and “injustice”.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=159799
Cops take a beating
The Nandigram mayhem has taken a toll on the men in khaki in more ways than one. Forced to flee from the Bhangabera police camp yesterday after Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) supporters raided it, their morale is at an all-time low.Since the March 14 police firing that left 14 people dead and put the government on the backfoot, the police here say they have had their hands virtually tied behind their backs.The East Midnapore superintendent of police, Anil Srinivas, refused to comment.
There is also widespread resentment in the force against the government following yesterday’s attack on two policemen in the Bhangabera camp. So much so, that some are planning to quit the force.
“We have been sent here to die,” an officer said.
Flare-up blame on outsiders
IMRAN AHMED SIDDIQUI
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070617/asp/frontpage/story_7934690.asp
Nandigram, June 16: Police have blamed yesterday’s Nandigram violence on “outsiders”, claiming off the record that Maoists had led the attack on CPM refugee camps and the force.The CPM’s retaliation bid, too, was spearheaded by armed cadre brought in from outside, officers said.
“The attack was led by outsiders who had incited villagers. These people, who are bringing in arms, are bent on disrupting the peace process,” the inspector-general of police (south Bengal), Arun Gupta, said.
“That’s why, when things were generally looking up and there was no reason for trouble, these outsiders struck. We have their names and will reveal them soon.”
Police sources said these “outsiders” were Maoists. “They are inciting the villagers, who don’t want any more violence,” a senior officer said.
He added that Maoists from Calcutta had “entrenched” themselves in Nandigram, infiltrating the land movement and trying to build a base there.
The sources said certain lobbies in the CPM, too, wanted the refugee stalemate to continue despite the government’s appeals for their safe return. This could be a reason why cadres were brought from outside.
“This section feels the party can gain if, during next year’s panchayat polls, it can holler that thousands of its supporters are still homeless because of Trinamul Congress attacks,” the officer said. “But if all the refugees return and there is peace, Trinamul can claim credit and earn goodwill.”
“Even today’s violence was led by outsiders,” Gupta said.
He was referring to fresh clashes this morning around Tekhali bridge, about 12 km from Bhangabera where a CPM refugee camp was burnt down yesterday and a police camp ransacked.
CPM supporters hurled bombs and stones across the bridge at the Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee’s areas, bringing quick retaliation. After about 45 minutes, the police managed to chase both groups away by firing in the air. No one was injured.
Local CPM leader Ashok Guria and the Pratirodh Committee’s Sheikh Sufian agreed that there were outsiders but blamed each other for bringing them in first.
The outsider angle isn’t new. Late last year, the government had blamed the Singur land battles on the Maoists. Even in Nandigram, the police have picked up a few alleged Maoists now and then.
Immediately after the March 14 police firing when 14 protesters were killed, Nandigram villagers had alleged that CPM cadres from outside had joined in the attack. On March 17, 10 armed cadres were arrested from the CPM stronghold of Khejuri and admitted they had been sent to regain lost territory in Nandigram.
“We know there are outsiders,” district police chief A.G. Srinivas said, “but since we can’t enter Nandigram we can hardly do anything about them.”
Driven out to the road
From home to hell, Kalpana Mondal made the journey in a few hours.
The 39-year-old and her husband Sampada had fled to a nearby road yesterday when Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) supporters ransacked their house in Ranichowk village. But when they reached there, the couple realised their three children were missing.
They got to know this morning that their daughter had taken shelter in a relative’s house nearby. But there is still no news of their two sons.
Kalpana and Sampada were joined by hordes of villagers who had fled their homes and refugee camps and taken shelter under the sky.
“We spent the whole night on the road awaiting the return of our children,” Kalpana sobbed.
“Outsiders from both sides have made life hell for us. We do not need any party but want to live in peace,” said Shankar Das, a fellow villager.
About 100 armed BUPC supporters had entered Ranichowk around 2 pm yesterday and fired indiscriminately. They ransacked over 20 houses and set the refugee camp on fire.
The refugees living in CPM camps have been rendered homeless a second time. “We lost our homes five months back and have been staying in the refugee camp. Where will we go now?” asked Sabita Mondal, a resident of Satengabari.
Sheela Raut had a narrow escape when a bullet missed her head as she was fleeing the Bhangabera camp . “How long will we keep on running from one place to another?” she asked, sitting at the Burotolla CPM office with her husband and two children aged 7 and 10.
The CPM justified its action today. “After yesterday’s attack at Bhangabera, we had been living in fear. Today’s retaliation was just an outburst resulting from our humiliation,” said Rabiul Hassan, a zonal committee member.BUPC convener Sheikh Sufian said the CPM was responsible for the fresh round of violence. “We had to hit back as a last resort.”
Mamata Banerjee echoed him. “It was the CPM who first started firing at Pratirodh Committee members,” the Trinamul Congress chief said.
Addressing a meeting of the East Midnapore district committee in Haldia, CPM state secretary Biman Bose said peace would not return to Nandigram unless talks were held at the district level. “Moreover, decisions have to be translated into action.”
Bose, also the Left Front chairman, regretted that those participating in the peace initiative were later creating trouble in Nandigram.
CPM state secretariat member Benoy Konar, who was at the meeting, drew a parallel with Panskura, where 94 “comrades” had been killed between 1998 and 2000.
“We had to wait for two-and-a-half years to bring back normality in Panskura. We are no doubt in favour of peace but at the same time, we know how to fight those who are creating trouble,” he said.
“A tiger has to be caged if it has to be made to eat grass,” Konar added.
SEZs: A tipping point
17 Jun, 2007 l 0038 hrs ISTlGurcharan Das
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/SEZs_A_tipping_point/articleshow/2128534.cms
Budhadeb Bhatattacharya, chief minister of West Bengal, must wonder what he did in his previous life to deserve Mamata Banerjee i
