If the Village Prishes India Will Perish Too
Hindu fanatacs as well as the parlimaentary opportunist so called communists align together to kill the villages!

Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
What Bapu said:
“I would say that if the village perishes India will perish too. India will be no more India. Her own mission in the world will get lost. The revival of the village is possible only when it is no more exploited. Industrialisation on a mass scale will necessarily lead to passive or active exploitation of the villagers as the problems of competition and marketing come in. Therefore we have to concentrate on the village being self-contained, manufacturing mainly for use. Provided this character of the village industry is maintained, there would be no objection to villagers using even the modern machines and tools that they can make and can afford to use. Only they should not be used as a means of exploitation of others”.
M.K.Gandhi -1936
Kannan Devan to me
Communism, Islam, Nazism and Fascism are evil, dangerous, destructive and fanatic political dogmas for conflict, violence and terrorism. Recently Indian communists have joined with Islamofascists to spread hatred and violence in India and abroad. Peace, harmony and coexistence are not part of these dreaded ideologies. No wonder this phony Indian communist is against Gayantri Mantra.

Action Village India has long-term relationships with six Gandhian organisations all working for non-violent change in rural India. For almost 20 years, it has supported programmes which enable disadvantaged communities to help themselves.
Current programmes include: girls’ education (Jharkhand), women’s employment (Tamil Nadu), organic farming (Kerala) and land rights (Orissa).

The Indian economy is expected to slow down further in 2007-08 due to surging interest rates, appreciating rupee and poor infrastructure, says a survey.
During the fourth quarter of 2006-07 ending in March 2007 the economy grew at 9.4 per cent compared to 10 per cent in the same quarter of 2005-06. The GDP is now pegged at 9.2 per cent. So even though positive growth is expected for sectors such as agriculture, industry and services, the economy would face a downward pull, CII said in its survey - State of the Economy.

Contrarily, the U.S. stock market is at an all-time high, unemployment is near record lows, yet poll after poll shows American workers uneasy over job security and worried that they are losing out in a global economy. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French candidate to head the IMF, will visit developing countries to seek their backing following criticism of the long-standing custom that a European always gets the job.The debate over selection of the IMF head is critical to broader IMF reforms underway that seek to recognise the rise of economic powers such as China and India and give developing countries more say in the running of the fund.
On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund's board said it would accept nominations from any of the 185 member countries, and weigh the choice in September, before IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato of Spain steps down in October.

IN United States OF America, the disconnect between the seemingly rosy economic data and the dour mood has caught the attention of some influential politicians who are concerned the middle class has soured on globalization, tingeing the debate on hot-button issues ranging from immigration to trade.
On the same day in June that Republican senators scuttled a U.S. immigration bill, many Democrats were applauding the demise of the fast-track trade authority that the Bush administration desperately wanted.
But our Ruling comradors, the slaves of Zionist Hindu US Imperialism want to implement Post Modern Manusmriti whatever may com. Hindu fanatacs as well as the parlimaentary opportunist so called communists align together to kill the villages! They celebrate as, for the first time in its 218-year history, the American Senate began its session with the recitation of a Hindu prayer, but only after police removed three shouting protesters from visitors' gallery. But they do not see the danger ahead as NIMITZ loiters in the Bay of Bengal!
We do not enjoy the freedom and sovereignity anymore, thus we overlook the deepening crisis in this divided geopolitics. We may enjoy the love story of Edwina Nehru, but would not understand the holocaust of Partition! Bangladesh is already captured. Now it is the turn of Pakistan. And we surrender to US strategy! They kill our culture . They annihilate our villages. they destroy our polity, economy and society but we are obliged since they pleased to open their senate with Vedic mantras for World Peace. What peace they want, they history may tell you.
The tragedy is that Indian Nation has become a technocrate country with software dependence discarding our great tradition of education and research. All the Nonsense head institutions and illiterate caste Hindus and quota men and women lead the country and make policies suicidal. We talk too much of Chiana and America without taking the pain to know them! Chinese line of development is not modelled on US lines as ours is! We discard higher studies and depend on commands only, so we are being commanded so well! No one reads history and the common sense is quite absent as we have become geneticall modified seeds to produce poison as expressed by Sangh Modi clan!
The developments in Pakistan and direct interference of US strike Power represented by NImitz has to change the entire geopolitcs of South Asia, mind you. The common sense demands that you may not celebrate when your neighbour`s house is burning. The fire does not spare anyone!
Why Pakistan or Bangladesh, IRaq and afganistan destruction has deepy influenced us, just realise!
Making it clear the actions by Pakistan against Taliban in northwestern region of the country are "not adequate and not effective", a top US official on Sunday said President Pervez Musharraf needs to do "more" and that America would fully support him in this regard. On the other hand, Major American companies like GE and Boeing as well as a prominent trade body are ready to launch a big lobbying campaign to persuade the Congress to bless the Indo-US civil nuclear deal as soon as any compromise between the two governments is nailed down, according to a media report.
Militants in one of Pakistan's most volatile regions, where Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents operate, announced on Sunday that they were breaking a 10-month old peace deal with the government.On the other hand,Stepping up its offensive in a backlash to the storming of Lal Masjid, suspected Taliban and al Qaeda militants on Sunday carried out a series of suicide bombings in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province (NWFP), killing 41 people, most of them security personnel, and scrapped a peace pact with the government.The country's volatile tribal areas turned into virtual battle zones following three separate suicide attacks.
A document, passed out in Miran Shah, said the agreement was being terminated because government forces had attacked the militants, failed to pay compensation to those harmed and created problems at check points.The document's authenticity was verified by a militant spokesman, Abdullah Farhad, who called journalists in the main northwestern city of Peshawar.The document, signed by the shura, or council, of North Waziristan, warned local militia and elders against cooperating with the government.
The signatories referred to themselves as the Taliban, a term commonly used by some Pakistani militants in northwest Pakistan.

Comrade Jyoti Basu flays Mamata, front constituents on Nandigram!

Solidly supporting West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's industrialisation moves, veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu on Sunday accused opposition Trinamool Congress of having acted irresponsibly by demanding Bhattacharjee's resignation on farmland acquisition.
'' (TC chief) Mamata Banerjee said she wanted discussions. Now she wants the chief minister to resign. Can any responsible party demand this when the chief minister is doing such good work? They have been elected by the people,'' Basu said at a public reception accorded to him by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation at the historic town hall.
Recalling his attempt to set up the petrochemical unit at Haldia during his chief ministership, Basu said he had invited opposition Congress MPs to accompany him to Delhi to persuade the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for help.
''We went to Delhi and the meeting was to begin. Mamata Banerjee and Ajit Panja - both were in Congress then - left the room saying they would not join..? he said.

Govt's retail policy shortsighted, says CPI.CPI accused the Congress party, which leads the ruling coalition, of reversing land reforms by allowing big businesses to divest farmers of their land through contract farming. The party has threatened a countrywide agitation to protest against UPA's "failure" to change the economic conditions of farmers. Listing several other issues on which the government had "failed" to deliver, the CPI national council sought a review of the UPA's performance in the past three years and stressed "the need for a mid-course correction".
What about Bengal? What about land reforms and rural development in Bengal? Neither Basu, nor Bardhan would answer! Why the CPI is so detached with Nandigram resistance which it started!

Angered over the economic policies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the Communist Party of India (CPI) Sunday asked its Left partners to "review the situation and redefine their approach" to the government that they support from outside.Lashing out at UPA's economic policies, the Communist Party of India, (CPI) has particularly warned against the entry of big business in retail, as it would render a huge population jobless.Briefing media persons on the deliberations of a three-day party meet, A B Bardhan, general secretary, alleged that the government is misleading people on the jobs opportunities in the retail stores being opened by big business houses.
"The CPI is of the view that the four Left parties, which together extend outside support to the UPA government, should also review the situation and redefine their approach to it," CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan told reporters after a three-day meeting of its national council here.
Asked to elaborate on what was meant by "redefining", he said: "I am not saying that we should withdraw support right now. What I am saying is to redefine our attitude towards UPA and decide on how to go about our relationship."
Earlier, Bardhan had met Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat. The four Left parties will meet July 19 to discuss these issues as also the upcoming vice-presidential election.
Keeping up its attack on the policy for the retail sector, he warned the government against allowing big businesses in this area.
He alleged that the government was misleading people on the job opportunities said to be created in this sector by the entry of big businesses. "May be some 50,000 people get employed by these stores. But at the same time, it would threaten the livelihood of about 40 million retailers in the country."
In a strong indictment of the UPA government's flagship legislation, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the party said its implementation was disappointing, as it had failed to tackle the problem of unemployment, a party resolution said.It wanted the government to undertake a mid-term review of all its policies relating to price rise, employment, livelihood, special economic zones (SEZ), and farmers.
"We are not going to withdraw support to the UPA government on these issues, but along with other Left partners, we would press for a mid-term correction in the government's policies and also review our relationship with UPA in the context," Bardhan said.Bardhan alleged that party workers in Andhra Pradesh who were spearheading a land reforms campaign, were being subjected to police atrocities.
The CPI meet has issued a strong indictment of the UPA government's policies including the flag-ship legislation - the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). "NREGA's implementation is disappointing. It has failed to tackle unemployment," the party resolution said.
The party has sought a sincere mid-term review by the UPA government on all its policies that has bearing on price rise, employment, livelihood, SEZ, and farmers. "We are not going to withdraw support to the UPA government on these issues, but along with other Left partners, we would press for a mid-term correction in the government's policies and also review our relationship with UPA in the context," Bardhan said.
CPI has also accused the Congress party of reversing land reforms by allowing big businesses to divest farmers of their land through contract farming. The party has threatened a country-wide agitation to protest against UPA's failure to change the economic conditions of farmers.
Bardhan alleged that in Andhra Pradesh CPI workers, who were spearheading the land reforms campaign, were being subjected to police atrocities. "Our general secretary was to be charged for sedition as he demanded land reforms, and it was only under media-pressure that the police relented," Bardhan said.

A Joint Committee of Muslim Organizations for
Empowerment formed
By Khabrein Staff Reporter,
http://www.khabrein .info/index. php?option= com_content& task=view& id=2283&Itemid= 88
New Delhi, July 15: Several Indian Muslim
organizations have come together to form a Joint
Committee of Muslim Organizations for Empowerment
(JCMOE). The committee has been formed to press for
recognition of Muslim community backward as a whole
and seek reservation for the whole Muslims community.
Read more:
http://www.khabrein .info/index. php?option= com_content& task=view& id=2283&Itemid= 88

South Asian Network for Secularism & Democracy
(SANSAD)
with the support and co-sponsorship of
Punjabi Vichaar Manch
cordially invites you to a
PUBLIC FORUM
Peasants vs. the State:
A Report from Nandigram and Kolkata
by
Hari Sharma
SANSAD president

on the basis of his recent visit to Nandigram
and his participation in the
"All-India Peoples' Convention on Nandigram and SEZs"

What has been happening in West Bengal, ruled for three decades by a Left Front government, headed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)?
****
For more than six months now, tens of thousands of peasants and fisherfolk remain barricaded behind dug-up roads and bridges, in Nandigram and surrounding villages.
*
Thousands of police and party cadre have committed large-scale killings, rapes and arson.
*
Peasants are continuing to resist the take over of their lands for the Tatas in Singur also.
*
What is the confrontation about?
Is it a struggle between industry and agriculture; between modernization and oudated peasant economy? A struggle between the "left" forces and the rightists?
**
Or, is it imperialism, helped by the local capitalists and the State power, running rough shod over people, their lands, their livelihold, their resources, and also their lives?
**
What is SEZ (Special Economic Zone) and why are hundreds of SEZs coming up all-over India; how do they benefit the international capital?
**
Can a political party in power unleashing not only the repressive state machiney but also its own cadre, against its own people, still call itself "communist"?
**
What are the people, not only in West Bengal, but all across the land, doing about it?
**
Come, share the observations and analysis, and participate in the discussion.

Saturday, July 21, 2007
1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Guilford Public Library
(Meeting room)
15105 - 105th Avenue, Surrey

[On Hwy 1, take first exit in Surrey (152nd St.). Turn right on 105 Ave. The library is only a block away. Separate entrance to the Meeting Room is on the left side of the library door]

Refreshments served

For further information, contact:
Chin Banerjee, 604-421-6752; Amarjit Chahal, 604-825-9240, Sarabjit Hundal, 604-597-9464; or SANSAD at : 604-420-2972
__._,_.___
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Lieberman: US will back Israeli strike on Iran
Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that he received the tacit blessing of Europe and the United States for an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
“If we start military operations against Iran alone, then Europe and the US will support us,” Lieberman told Army Radio following a meeting earlier in the week with NATO and European Union officials.
Lieberman said the Western powers acknowledged the severity of the Iranian nuclear threat to the Jewish state, but said that ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are “going to prevent the leaders of countries in Europe and America from deciding on the use of force to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities,” even if diplomacy ultimately fails.
The message Lieberman said the NATO and EU officials conveyed to him is that Israel should “prevent the threat herself.”
http://www.israelto day.co.il/ default.aspx? tabid=178&nid=13407
Israel's elder statesman and Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres was sworn in president on Sunday, crowning an unrivaled career stretching back half a century.Peres assumes the largely ceremonial post less than three weeks shy of his 84th birthday, replacing the disgraced Moshe Katsav, and will serve a seven-year term as Israel's ninth president.
Update on Shrawasti Mass rape case. Please see the two links-
http://dhaiakhar.blogspot.com/2007/07/blog-post_15.html
http://dhaiakhar.blogspot.com/2007/07/blog-post_1231.html
nasiruddin
--
Nasiruddin Haider Khan
Faraz Manzil
375/3. Shakti Nagar
Indira Nagar A-Block
Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh (INDIA)
Visit my Blogs
www.dhaiakhar.blogspot.com
www.shaheedeazam.blogspot.com
Nehru, Edwina were in love: Edwina's daughter

Lamat R Hasan in New Delhi

July 15, 2007 15:55 IST
"Love blossomed" between a "lonely" Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, and the last viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten' s wife Edwina, who had had other "lovers" before, says her daughter.
Pamela Mountabatten, who fondly called Nehru 'Mamu' (maternal uncle), has used diary entries and extracts from family albums as documentary evidence to write India Remembered: A Personal Account of the Mountbattens During the Transfer of Power.
In a section titled 'A Special Relationship' Pamela writes: "My mother had already had lovers. My father was inured to it. It broke his heart the first time, but it was somehow different with Nehru."
She quotes a letter which Lord Mountbatten wrote to her elder sister in June 1948 on the Edwina-Nehru relationship: "'She and Jawaharlal are so sweet together, they really dote on each other in the nicest way and Pammy and I are doing everything we can to be tactful and help. Mummy has been incredibly sweet lately and we've been such a happy family'."
So there existed a "happy threesome" based on firm understanding on all sides, writes Pamela, which strengthened during a trip to Mashobra.
Pamela, who thought Nehru spoke and wrote beautiful English, also quotes a letter written by Nehru to Edwina in March 1957: "Suddenly I realised (and perhaps you also did) that there was a deeper attachment between us, that some uncontrollable force, of which I was dimly aware, drew us to one another. I was overwhelmed and at the same time exhilarated by this new discovery.
We talked more intimately as if some veil had been removed and we could look into each other's eyes without fear or embarrassment. "
http://www.rediff. com/news/ 2007/jul/ 15love.htm

Analytical booklet on government policy : In the Clutches of Development - Singur, Nandigram
“Unnayoner J(N)atakole Singur, Nandigram…” ( In the Clutches of Development - Singur, Nandigram…) - a booklet by academics and intellectuals.
Includes articles by Pinaki Mitra “Singur, mithye bolchhe Sarkar” (Singur - The Government is Lying), Shakti Das “CPM-er unnoyon dorshone Marx(bad)” (Marxism and the CPM’s Philosophy of Development), Anindita Sanyal “Shilpayan : Bhobishyoter bhittihin swapno” (Industrialisation : The Utopia of the Future).
The first article contains detailed data analysis of the nature of land acquisition and peasant “consent” in Singur, “compensation” by the government, and an analysis of the prospect of creation of new jobs by the Tata plant there.
The second article critically examines various slogans of the State such as “Agriculture is our foundation, Industry is our Future”, “Industry is needed for the uplift of peasants”, “This model of Industrialisation will create jobs, reduce unemployment”, “If we don’t give Corporations what they want, they will go to other States”, and “This is not the time for revolution, but for bargaining with world capital”.
The third article contains detailed discussions of the nature of industrialisation and its relation to jobless growth.
Click here to download the booklet [PDF] »

Booklet by female activists : Singur Movement : Our Thoughts, Our Resistance
SINGUR ANDOLAN : AAMADER BHABNA AAMADER PRATIBAD
Edited by : Emancipation Publication
A compilation of articles by women intellectuals and artists. Articles range from detailed analysis of land acquisition in Singur, the nature and personalities of the struggle, to an interview of 80-year old activist Saraswati Das.
Includes pieces by Poushali Thakur, Saraswati Das, Tanika Sarkar, Minakshi Sen, Sarmistha Chaudhuri, Prathama Bandyopadhyay, Aparajita Mukherjee, Sudeshna Chakraborty, Shaoli Mitra, Miratun Nahar, Bolan Gangopadhyay, Taslima Nasreen, Saswati Ghosh, Chandreyee Niyogi, Sumita Das, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Ishita Pain, Barnali Pain, Rajasri Mukhopadhyay, Jolly Bagchi, Chandana Mitra, Anindita Sanyal, Anuradha Deb, Chaitali Sen, Soma Mukherjee, Jashodhara Bagchi, Nandini Dhar, Susmita De, Neha Hui, Munmun.
Poems by Maitreyi Chattopadhyay, Swapna Ghosh, Susmita Bhattacharya, Swapna.
Interviews with Mahasweta Devi, Jaya Mitra.
Click here to download the booklet [PDF] »

Assorted leaflets from Sanhati Mancha, graffiti from Jadavpur University - following Nandigram massacre
This is the story of that night. The night of 14th March. The CPIM call a local 12-hour bandh after the end of “Operation Nandigram” during the day. In this remote area, where people don’t come out after dark anyway, why would they call a bandh? During the day, as we had watched the police attack unfurl in all its fury, shivered in terror as we heard that perhaps sixty people had been killed, we could never have imagined that the most horrifying episodes, the most brutal events had yet to unfold.
Read the leaflet - page 1 [JPG] »
Read the leaflet - page 2 [JPG] »
Read the leaflet - page 3 [JPG] »
And now? After 14th March, after this massacre, do we not understand what Narendra Modi did in Gujarat? Have we not seen world (bank) capital, flowing out of constricted first world markets and jumping hungrily into the third world, with its allure of “industrialisation” - have we not seen what it translates to?
Sanhati Mancha Leaflet [JPG] »
Even after the massacre of Nandigram - those of you who have chosen not to choose sides - I leave behind a rifle. Kill yourself if you can.
Graffiti in Jadavpur University [JPG] »

Medical Team report in Bengali, Poster from MCDSA
Report of Team of Doctor’s visit to Nandigram
On March 18, 2007, a group consisting of Sramajibi Swathya Udyog, Dr. Bhaskar Rao Janaswasthya Committee, Peoples Health, Janaswasthya Adhikar Mancha, Peoples Right to Health, and MCDSA (represented by six doctors, three junior doctors, three nurses and two health workers), visited Nandigram, Sonachura and Gokulnagar to treat people injured in the police firing of March 14th.
Click here to read latest report in English
Read their Report in Bengali- Page 1 [JPG] »
Read their Report in Bengali- Page 2 [JPG] »
Poster from MCDSA: Singur to Nandigram, Bangla will be Vietnam
Friend,
Nandigram is bleeding again. After 7th January, 14th March. The so-called “peasant-workers loving” Left Front snuffed out more than a hundred lives with their murderous police force and army of cadres. Their crime - they protested, they protested against the government’s advertisement of “development and progress”. Not for petty electoral games - they protested to save their land, their homes, their food, clothes, and the fundamental right to live.
Click here to read poster [JPG] »

Then Came the End of Beliefs - Pamphlet from students in JNU
Source : Anandaroop, Anil, Banojyotsna, Bodhisattva, Jeet, Kaustubhmani, Oeendrila, Sanjukta, Sukanya, Upal
Then came the end of beliefs. In our half-reached, quarter-dreamt, woken-in-between, little-believed and broadly accepted CPI (M) parenthetic lives. Development in Nandigram is now measured as the investor-friendly space between the legs of nine year old girls.
14th March. Nandigram. 100 people mowed down. Firing squads replicated.
Read this article »

Poster of Sanhati Mancha (announcing Mahamichhil), 2 posters of PDSF
In Protest of Nandigram Massacre - unite for Mahamichhil on
24th March, 1:30 p.m. , Deshbandhu Park. We invite people from every
stratum of society, and every social organisation to join us in solidarity.
Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha
Click here to see poster 1 [JPG] »
Click here to see poster of PDSF 1 [JPG] »
Click here to see poster of PDSF 2 [JPG] »

Leaflet from Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha, December 18th, 2006
The following is a leaflet announcing the first convention of the Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha, December 18th, 2006. Around 300 students from more than a dozen organisations attended the convention in Students Hall, near College Square. Speakers included Subhendu Dasgupta, Srijan Sen, representatives from all participating groups, and a number of other intellectuals. This was also the day Tapasi Malik was murdered in Singur. After the convention, hundreds of students organized into a spontaneous march down College Street, thundering slogans against the State.
Click here to read page 1 [JPG] »
Click here to read page 2 [JPG] »
Nandigram has stood up
March 30, 2007

By Saroj Giri
Everytime in India, large numbers of people, as in Kalingangar, Singur and Nandigram today, stood in a direct and antagonistic relation to capital and the state, a middle class ideology of alternative plans and people’s plans has not just acted to limit the initiative and political character of the movement to the ‘enlightened interests’ of the urban radical intelligentsia but, as a consequence, capital has instead ultimately gone ahead with its own original plans without even any kind of green restructuring. And this happened since the problem is always identified at the level of a particular technology or system of production (industrial modernisation) and not in terms of social relations, not in terms of class and power relations.
http://sanhati.com/excerpted/164/
JNU students expelled protesting exploitation - Act Now
Stand in solidarity with the student and worker community in JNU against the continued attacks of the administration.
Write to /Call/Fax Vice Chancellor and others - contacts inside
Read this article »

Dilip Singha (PBKMS member) illegaly detained - June 28, 2007
An active member of our union, Dilip Singha , was picked up on 28th June 2007 at 1 AM from his house by the police. No custody memo or arrest warrant was given. Till now ( 5 PM ), no case has been filed, nor has Dilip been produced in court so far. He has been in illegal detention for the past 16 hours.
Read this article »

Compensation protests in Purushottampur, Asansol
The Purushottampur villagers are agitating over 240 acres of non-farm land, earmarked in 1989 for modernising the IISCO Steel Plant. Unlike in Nandigram, villagers here are ready to give up and, but they want a higher compensation and jobs in the plant.
Read this article »

SEZ war looms over Mahishadal, West Bengal
Land-war clouds now threaten to gather over Mahishadal, 10km from Nandigram across the Haldi, with the Centre on Friday approving “in principle” a special economic zone there.
Read this article »

WBEN Panel discussion on Development
The West Bengal Education Network (WBEN)is holding a panel discussion on Development and Industrialisation on June 23, Saturday, at 3p.m. at the University Institute Library Hall (2nd floor). This is the first in a series of Panel Discussions that WBEN has planned for the next few months in the wake of the recent controversy over development issues.
Read this article »

All India Citizens’ Initiative forms committee to steer country-wide Anti-SEZ movements
June 19, 2007
Eminent jurists, lawyers, educationists, teachers, poets, litterateurs, scientists, artists, social activists, doctors, engineers and people from all walks of life, gathered at Hindi Bhavan, New Delhi today for the All India Citizens’ Convention Against Atrocities on the People of Nandigram and Against Special Economic Zones. Delegates from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, UP, MP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala.
Read this article »

Reliance Fresh gets Park Circus Market - retail, displacement, and joblessness
The Calcutta Municipal Corporation mayor-in-council cleared its deal with Reliance to “redevelop” the Park Circus market on June 8, 2007.
India has 35 towns each with a population of over one million. If WalMart were to open, on an average, one store in each of these 35 cities and if each achieved the average Wal-Mart performance per store, the turnover would amount to over Rs 8,033 crore and number of employees to only 10,195. Extrapolated to the rest of the country, it would mean displacing around 4,32,000 persons. In other words, every new Wal-Mart employee will render 40 retailers surplus.
Read this article »

Press Release of Peoples’ Tribunal on Nandigram, 28 May 2007 and TASAM Report on Nandigram Massacre
Members of TASAM (Teachers and Scientists Against Maldevelopment) visited Nandigram to distribute aid and find out what the situation was. This is their report, prepared by Debasish Sen, Kunal Chattopadhyay, Kuntal Ghosh, Maroona Murmu, Safiul Mollick, and Soma Marik.
Click here to read TASAM report on Nandigram massacre [PDF, 0.2 MB]
The Peoples’ Tribunal on Nandigram was set up by the All India Citizens’ Initiative, comprising of eminent citizens from various sections of society of India. Its members include Justice Bhargava, Ex-Chief Justice Sikkim High Court; Prabash Joshi, Editor, Jansatta; Minakshi Sen Bandopadhyay, Ex-Member, Womens Commission, Tripura; Lalita Ramdas, Social Activist; John Dayal, Journalist and Human Rights Activist; Jyotirmay Samajder, Doctor; and others. Their aim was to to inquire into the background, causes, course, nature and motive, if any leading to the incident of 14th March.
Read this article »

Appeal to save the life of Dr Pradip Das, serving Nandigram victims
The long and short of it is, Dr. Das has been prevented from attending those patients through the totally illegal interference by the DISTRICT SARBADHIPATI Sri Niranjan Sihi, a non-medical person, with active (willing and unwilling) collaboration of the Hospital Superintendent and some other doctors attending the victims. Sri Sihi, a party man, directly threatened Dr. Das in uncivilized language, over phone while latter was attending the victims on 3rd April morning. Doctor’s crime was that he refused to be a party to the effort of the hospital administration, obviously at the instance of Sarbadhipati to release (i.e. to get rid of) the patients before they are medically fit to go home.
Read this article »

Amnesty International Statement on State force build-up in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa
Amnesty International is deeply concerned at reports that farmers in Jagatsinghpur in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, protesting against their proposed displacement by the state government for a new industrial project, currently fear forced evictio

Most Dangerous
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
India is close to taking a decision on signing the Access and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) to allow U.S. fighter planes and aircraft freer use of its facilities such as fuel, supplies and non-offensive equipment, a senior American military official said here on Saturday. The Left parties oppose the proposed pact, for fear that some Indian naval bases could turn into permanent ports of call for the U.S. military.
Pakistan and US troops are cooperating on military raids in the frontier region of Pakistan to weed out the Al Qaeda presence on the Pak-Afghan border, said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday.
A major effort gets underway next week to resolve the differences arisen between India and the US with regards to certain provisions of the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation agreement.In WASHINGTON,According to the State Department, the US “looks forward to welcoming Indian National Security Adviser MK Narayanan, Department of Atomic Energy Chairman Anil Kakodkar, and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon to Washington from July 16 to July 19”. On July 17, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns will host the Indian delegation for meetings and a dinner to discuss the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, including the bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation. Indian officials will also participate in meetings with US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley at the White House.
The State Department said the US stands ready to resolve the remaining outstanding issues on the ‘123 Agreement’. “The United States understands the importance of the agreement to our relationship and the benefits it will bring to both nations. We are confident that with continued hard work, flexibility, and good spirit, we will reach a final agreement. In addition, Under Secretary Burns and Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher will hold discussions with the Indian delegation regarding our broader bilateral relationship, and ways to work together to bring stability to the South Asia region,” the department added. khalid hasan
A leading conservative with a known entrée in the Bush administration has said that in his view the president is “going to have to take military action there (Waziristan) over the next few weeks or months” because he has to disrupt that sanctuary”.
Bill Kristol, political analyst at the conservative journal, The Standard, said in a Fox News programme on 12 July, “I think, frankly, we won’t even tell Musharraf. We’ll do what we have to do in western Pakistan and Musharraf can say, ‘Hey! they didn’t tell me’.” He said Al Qaeda has gained sanctuaries in Waziristan “and this is not acceptable.” He claimed that Al Qaeda has a safe haven in western Pakistan, more specifically in Waziristan, adding, “Al Qaeda ... is running from Iraq, apparently to Pakistan.” Asked if this report had come out on purpose so that “we will have the right ... to go after Pakistan now,” he replied that the president is going to have to take military action “over the next few weeks or months” so as to disrupt that sanctuary.

Sri Lanka signed the ACSA in March this year after much cajoling and absence of any opposition from India due to its currently close ties with the U.S. The LSA was mentioned in the Bush-Manmohan statement of March 2006 which also cleared the decks for the civil nuclear agreement.
A Taliban commander warned Western nations in an interview broadcast on US television on Friday that they could expect more attacks.Mansour Dadullah, in the interview shown on ABC News, said the July 2005 suicide attacks on London’s transport system, in which 52 people had died, were “not enough” and that bigger attacks were coming.

In admiration for the people of Bhopal, of Nandigram, of Chharanagar, and for the struggles that do not make it to newsprint, we remember three stanzas of a poem by Paash, (1950-1988) a revolutionary Punjabi poet.
Sabse Khatarnak
Mehnat ki loot sabse khatarnak nahi hoti,
Police ki maar sabse khatarnak nahi hoti,
Gaddari, lobh ki mutthi sabse khatarnak nahi hoti.
Baithe bithaye pakde jana bura to hai,
Sahmi si chhup me jakde jana bura to hai,
Par sabse khatarnak nahi hoti.
Sabse khatarnak hota hai murda shanti se bhar jana,
Na hona tadap ka, sab kuch sahan kar jana,
Ghar se nikalna kaam par, aur kaam se loutkar ghar aana,
Sabse khatarnak hota hai,
Hamare sapno ka mar jana.
Most Dangerous
Most treacherous is not the robbery of hard-earned wages,
Most horrible is not the torture by the police,
Most dangerous is not treason, or the fist of greed.
To be caught while asleep is surely bad,
surely bad is to be buried in silence,
But it is not the most dangerous.
Most dangerous is to be filled with dead peace,
Not to feel agony, simply bear it all,
Leaving home for work, and from work returning home,
Most dangerous is
the dying of our dreams.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been voted the best Chief Minister in terms of governance and industrialisation drive, with the State emerging as the fifth best industrial destination in a survey. It was conducted by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) among the city’s apex industry bodies.
The survey with a sample base which includes the Tatas, Birlas, Goenkas, the B.M. Khaitan group and ITC gave a thumbs-up to Mr. Bhattacharjee for his clean image, and aggressive industry stance. The ICC began the survey to gauge the State’s investment climate, in the wake of the Nandigram killings in March 2007.
A majority of the city’s top corporate houses felt that the jolt given to West Bengal’s industrialisation process by the land acquisition turmoil will not last long. They said that they will go ahead with their planned expansion programmes and hire new people in 2007-08.
A senior ICC official told The Hindu that while 600 questionnaires were sent out since April, 150 responses were received till mid-June from industry houses which have a pan-Indian presence. They were thus in a good position to com pare the State’s scenario. “The ICC Investment Climate Survey 2007-08 covers a wide range of industry-sectors with responses from people who have their bases in Bengal but also operate in other States,” the official said.
However, a number of corporates felt that the Government must detach itself from the party for all issues barring broad policy decisions. They stressed on the importance of dialogue with the Opposition, which they felt was necessary for the smooth functioning of the State as well as industry.
While admitting that land acquisition was a problem, a sizeable portion felt that the Government must not stop its drive to acquire land for new industries to maintain the growth momentum. However, 80 per cent of the respondents felt the Government must chalk out a suitable rehabilitation package before formally handing over land to new industrial units. About 12 per cent of the respondents felt this was not necessary because the overall socio-economic benefits generated by new industries would outweigh those generated by normal farming practices.
As an attractive investment destination West Bengal was ranked fifth, after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Karnataka. States such as Punjab and Andhra Pradesh were found to be trailing West Bengal as the preferred industry address in the survey.
Industry pushes tax cuts instead of quota as the Left said it is opposed to the India-US Logistics Support Agreement, reports our special correspondent. The three rival industry chambers — CII, Ficci and Assocham — made separate presentations on steps being taken on affirmative action and agreed to set up independent monitors.Captains of Indian industry today agreed to intensify efforts in developing the skill sets of persons belonging to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, while agreeing to set up an ombudsman with regional benches of each of the apex industry chambers. However, they opposed any law for introducing job quotas in the private sector.
Suicide bombers killed almost 60 people in three weekend attacks in Pakistan, police said on Sunday, after Islamic militants called for holy war over a deadly army raid on a pro-Taleban mosque.
Stock markets in America and Europe hit new highs last week as investors shrugged off the worries in debt markets and the general gloominess surrounding the American economy.Disappointing US retail figures failed to stop the benchmark Dow Jones from probing all-time highs, with the S&P 500 in similar territory. The US conglomerate GE saw a strong performance after it declared it was selling off its sub-prime lending arm, while housing shares were up sharply on news that the legendary investor Warren Buffet was buying into the sector. Credit and bond markets were said to be relatively calm. However, the dollar stayed unloved; sterling hit a fresh 26-year high against the sagging greenback during the week.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday fulfilled his promise to the Kashmiri Pandit migrants as he laid the foundation stone of a township for them near this winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir.Singh said in Jammu that he believed the state of Jammu and Kashmir will become a symbol of India-Pakistan cooperation rather than conflict. ...
Dayanidhi Maran, who was forced by DMK to quit the communications ministry, today struck back by asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to inquire into attempts by an NRI businessman and other vested interests to stall the tendering process of Bharat ...

Mangalore, Termed as the second commercial capital of Karnataka, is now becoming the darling of Major investors in the country. Strategically located along the west coast, the region is expecting huge investements. Union government has approved one more SEZ besides ONGC SEZ in Mangalore on Friday Jul 13.Union government SEZ Approval Committee has given the final nod for setting up another SEZ here. This has drawn the curtains on the controversies related to SEZ.
India and the USA are close to signing an agreement under which their armed forces will provide each other logistics support on a reciprocal basis even as New Delhi may bid to buy another American amphibious warship. A logistics support agreement is in the final stages, said top Pentagon officials now on a visit to the country. They also said Washington had offered the landing ship, USS Nashwill, to the Indian Navy. The warship is of the same class as the 17,000-tonne USS Trenton that was bought by the Indian Navy.
Meanwhile, the USA has sought a “fair” chance from the Indian government for an American firm in the bidding for an 800-million-dollar contract to buy 197 helicopters for the army should it decide to re-think the contract. Government had earlier this year called Eurocopter for price negotiations after rejecting US aviation major Bell’s 407 helicopter on technical grounds.
“We are against it,” CPI national secretary D. Raja said.
It is also opposed to the five-nation naval exercises India is hosting in September.
Apart from the US, Australia, Japan and Singapore will also participate.
The CPM politburo, in a statement on the naval exercises, said Japan and Australia were close military allies of the US. “India is now moving to join their ranks.”
India Inc. has asked the government not to force a job quota on it and, instead, sought tax sops to set up industry in Scheduled Caste- and tribal-dominated districts.At a meeting between business captains like Sunil Bharti Mittal, V.N. Dhoot and K.K. Modi and top PMO officials led by principal secretary T.K.A. Nair, the industry leaders sought excise rebates and corporate tax breaks.
“We have asked for tax incentives to set up industry in 27 districts which boast of substantial Scheduled Caste or tribal population and which have basic infrastructure. These excise rebates and income-tax concessions could be in line with what is given in places like Uttarakhand,” Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra said.
Assocham president Dhoot proposed that the government levy an annual 1 per cent tax on corporate profits. “This money will go,” he said, “for the elementary education of SCs, STs and OBCs.”
The industry leaders also offered to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Castes and tribals but asked the government to step in by guaranteeing loans to SC/ST entrepreneurs. “This would be similar to loan guarantees in the US for coloured citizens,” Mitra said.
“There was an agreement that an ombudsman with regional benches will be set up by each apex chamber to monitor compliance with the voluntary code of conduct by its members,” a release from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The PMO release said Ficci has agreed to soon evolve a code on affirmative action for its members, while CII and Assocham said such codes were already in place. “The discussion revolved around affirmative action and the government did not press for reservation,” CII president Mittal told reporters.
Dhoot said industry has begun work on improving the employability of SCs/STs. “We have created a corpus of Rs 5 crore” for upgrading skills of SCs/STs, he said.
The meeting on affirmative action came after demands from political parties that the private sector bring in a policy of reserving jobs for the weaker sections just as state-run companies do.
The chambers say they are already participating in a public-private partnership launched by the ministry of labour and employment to adopt around 300 ITIs (Indian Technical Institutes) this year and develop them as centres of excellence.
“It was agreed that the presidents of the chambers of industry will deliberate what further action needs to be initiated to make the programme of affirmative action more responsive,” a statement by the chambers said.
CII said 345 SC/ST members were being trained at seven centres to become entrepreneurs. FICCI announced four entrepreneurial development centres and said each of them will train 600 SC/ST members every year, while Assocham said 300 candidates have already benefited from its schemes.

Nearly 11,500 Farmer Suicides
Indo-Asian News Service, NEW DELHI, June 30
Around 11,500 farmers have committed suicide in different parts of India in the last six years, most of them due to their inability to pay debts, says a new study that indicates the problem is bigger than what has been reported so far. The study, carried out by a conglomerate of voluntary groups called the National Social Watch Coalition (NCWC), says that at least 11,387 farmers have committed suicide between 2001 and 2006. The situation has gone from bad to worse in several states, the report points out.
According to the ‘Citizen’s Report on Governance and Development ~ 2007’, over 5,980 farmers from the southern Indian state of Karnataka have committed suicide and more than 2,410 farmers ended their lives in Andhra Pradesh since 2001. In Karnataka, 2,505 farmers committed suicide in 2001-02 alone. In Andhra Pradesh, 1,126 farmers ended their lives in 2004. In the last five years, at least 2,280 farmers have committed suicide in Maharashtra. In 2001, the state reported 50 cases of farmer suicides. The figure went up to 122 in 2002 and 170 in 2003 before jumping to 620 in 2004. There was a slight dip in 2005 with 572 farmers ending their lives, but it rose sharply to 746 in 2006.
http://sanhati.com/front-page/314/
From Raichowk to Singur - Notes on Industrialisation
April 23, 2007

By Saikat Bandyopadhyay, Sanhati - Courtesy Axarjatra
This essay starts its journey from a famous presentation by Ashwin Adarkar in Raychowk, 1999, looking at the prescriptions made current in its wake, and moves on to a long, chilling excerpt from “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” by John Perkins. It ends with a meditation on the function of ideology in the establishment of economic truths, and the proactive and reactive functions of the seemingly warring players in this brutal game whose result has been fixed by its very existence.
Click to read essay [Bengali, PDF - 25 pages]
http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/singur.pdf

The CPI(M) has always used violence to achieve its goals
Rudrangshu Mukherjee

Face of fear
I stood on a hill and I saw the Old approaching, but it came as the New…The New went fettered and in rags; they revealed its splendid limbs. And the procession moved through the night, but what they thought was the light of dawn was the light of fires in the sky. And the cry: Here comes the New, it’s all new, salute the New, be new like us! would have been easier to hear if all had not been drowned in a thunder of guns.
— Bertolt Brecht, “Parade of the Old New”.
I deliberately begin with a poem by Brecht because he is a writer who, I think, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee once read and admired because Brecht was a communist. Maybe he still does read poetry, if he gets the time to read. I chose this poem because it talks about an illusion, and how the old and the new are often inextricably intertwined. Also, more obviously, because it speaks about the thunder of guns. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s promise of a new West Bengal has been drowned by the thunder of guns in Nandigram.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee epitomized the new West Bengal. He projected himself thus, and he was perceived by many (including this writer), as the herald of a new and vibrant West Bengal. What constituted this new? There was the promise that capital and investment would be brought back to the state. There was the commitment that work culture would be revived and greater transparency brought back into governance and public affairs. There was also the promise — more honoured in the breach — that life in the state, especially in Calcutta, would not be disrupted through political rallies, demonstrations and bandhs. Implicit in the last promise was the assurance that cadre power and show of political muscle would be reduced, if not obliterated.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070318/asp/opinion/story_7530898.asp

Joy Goswami reciting to protest Nandigram mass killing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMJ3YrzDmQ
Biman comments stir hornet’s nest
Tanmay Chatterjee
KOLKATA, July 14: Differences within the Left Front have surfaced once again, within days of its 30th anniversary celebrations. Comments made by Left Front chairman Mr Biman Bose and an article, written by him for a booklet published by the CPI-M to commemorate the 30th anniversary, has irked CPI and RSP leaders. They feel that existing differences over ideology and policy matters is being slowly overshadowed by Mr Bose’s growing tendency to “dictate terms” for the smaller allies and even “show them in a poor light” in public.
Although Forward Bloc leaders have so far kept silent on the issue ~ not that they don’t share the same view ~ RSP and CPI leaders have discussed Mr Bose’s recent remarks and articles at three internal meetings.
On 7 June, Mr Bose alleged that “some parties” in the Front are trying to gain political mileage out of the Nandigram crisis. He was speaking at the inauguration of a renovated CPI-M office in North Kolkata. “Some of our allies think they will be stronger if the CPI-M becomes weak. So they keep silent when the CPI-M draws flak. Some leaders even fan the fire from the sidelines. They think they can solve the Nandigram crisis from Kolkata so long the television cameras are focused on them”. The target of the attack was clearly Bloc state secretary Mr Ashok Ghosh who had been entrusted with the task of initiating talks with Miss Mamata Banerjee. After this statement, Mr Ghosh refused to play the negotiator.
Earlier, on 30 April, Mr Bose told the media: “If they (the partners) think that I am not performing then let someone else take over as chairman”. His outburst was caused by a statement made by RSP leader and PWD minister Mr Kshiti Goswami who said the Front leadership had failed to restore peace in Nandigram. Mr Goswami was compelled by his party to offer an apology.
But the signed article in the commemorative booklet had peeved the allies like never before, said a senior Front leader.
A portion of the article which is at the heart of the controversy reads: “It would be wrong to assume that the Front has not kept its electoral promises if some so-called bhadrolok (gentleman) passes a criticism on our election manifesto....
A good speech can bring someone in the limelight for a brief period but it cannot help anyone protect the rights of the people or implement the government’s policies.... The CPI-M never makes any statement against its allies at any public meeting but some of the allies don’t hesitate to shower us with bitter words”. Although Mr Bose did not name any party in the article, CPI and RSP leaders feel that the Front chairman deliberately tried to belittle them by making such references in a commemorative booklet that is being sold all over the state.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=162755
Brutal State Repression at Nandigram, West Bengal, India
[I have refrained from commenting extensively on Singur-Nandigram land acquisition issues, precisely because I do not live in Kolkata any longer. Yes, I support the struggles there, but it's a support from afar. Also, I am not very comfortable with all the quick spotlights we, the middle-class intellectuals in diaspora get whenever we decide to support any progressive movement. Such spotlights are often counter-productive, precisely because they obscure the hard everyday realities of the activists and the supporters who work on the ground for these movements. But this is simply too much. I have to write something. And this is something we, that is, me and some of my friends have been circulating over the web. If you want to know more about these struggles against forcible land acquisition, please visit these websites:
1) Sanhati--Fighting Neo-Liberalism in Bengal
2) Protest Against Neo-Liberal Policies
In Solidarity,

Zooey]
We, a loose network of students, activists and researchers in diaspora, along with thousands of others throughout the world, highly condemn the recent police firing on the villagers of Nandigram in West Bengal, India. Equally condemnable is the West Bengal Government’s attempts to acquire land forcibly from the people at Nandigram for the proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) amidst all the popular resistance and resentment. This incident brings to mind the historic Marichjhapi Massacre, where the Left Front government fired indiscriminately on the refugees. The Nandigram incident also points out to the fact that in spite of their “leftist” rhetoric, the CPI(M) government in West Bengal would not hesitate to join forces with the MNC interests in the state.

Organize in whatever ways you can!

Condemn the Brutal State Repression!

Esplanade, March 17, 2007. Reetabrata, a student, describes the protest meeting
The meeting at Dharmatola today was one of the most memorable ones of my life.
Nabarun Bhattacharyya spoke at the meeting. He declared that he was giving up the Bankim Award that he had received for his novel, Herbert.
Among other speakers, there was painter Samir Aich and also Jaya Mitra and Mridul Dasgupta. In the meantime, a statement by a listener created a stir. He demanded poetry be written about buses burnt on the Bandh Day. Perhaps he found some similarity between charred bodies of raped women and burnt buses…
Poet Joy Goswami read 2 poems, young actor Parambrata Chattopadhyay also spoke. Srijato spoke too. He read a statement from Sanhati, a forum of students and academics in various universities. He also mentioned the website sanhati.com
On stage, Kabir Suman sang the song “Hal chhero na bondhu” (Don’t give up, my friend!). Another artist named Bidyut sang too…and his song was captivating. Young poets read their poems. Poets read poems from little magazines like Bijanto, Ohornish and Onushtoop. Srijato read two poems, one his and one by Shankha Ghosh. Srijato also announced Shankha Ghosh’s message that he was resigning from the Bangla Academy.
It was late afternoon by now. 2000 people had been standing, listening, talking, discussing. Kabir Suman said “Come let’s bury this CPM government. After having meat and rice today, the Chief Minister has announced that he is sorry about the incident!” Bringing a girl to the stage, “Son of a whore Laxman Seth, dumbfuck Binoy Kongar, come and rape in CPM style…lets see what can you do!”
A DYFI leader who had left the party also spoke. Sunanda Sanyal spoke, Sourav spoke for Saptarshi publsihers. The meeting organizers requested people to hold candlelight processions in their respective localities.
At the end, Kabir Suman shared his experiences in Nandigram. He was relatively calm at this stage. He said “Come, let’s love. Let’s celebrate this day! Because there cannot be a revolt without love. Come , let’s laugh heartily when we see CPM leaders! Then let’s join hands ourselves and sing a song “Tahole ekhuno harani protibad” (So protest is still not lost…).
Doctors announced that they were sending a medical team to Nandigram - Dr.Siddhartha Gupta, Dr.Punnaprata Gun and many others. This is how the program ended.
I loved how people from different political affiliations came together and participated, sometimes silent, sometimes excited, but without creating violence.

Petition from Little Magazine Somonnoy (group of more than 150 little magazines from Bengal)
This is to share our concern with you over the developments happening in this state in the name of industrialization, resulting in massive land-grabbing and eviction of farmers from the fertile lands. Especially, the murders at Singur and the genocide at Nandigram have broken our hearts and made us panic-stricken. We vehemently condemn these incidents and demand for severe punishment of the culprits. We would request you to intervene at your capacity, at the most, to book these murderers so that such incidents never occur in future.
Read this article »

But, Is It “Development”? This ‘Development’ & “SHILPAYAN” Drive of The CPI(M) Led Govt In Singur, Bangur etc
By S. Das , For A Proletarian Party Journal
Here we want to discuss the very question of Development as being proposed by them for WB from revolutionary proletarian perspective. Though ‘development’ in general as propounded by the Indian bourgeoisie, the govt at the centre and those in the states, and parties like the CPI (M), is an important subject to confront, and an urgent one, to save time and space we’ll only probe the issue partially. Next we shall see what is development in proper that the people needs.
Read this article »

Report on Nandigram from Manthan Samayiki - Bengali little magazine
We, associated with a Bengali bi-monthly little magazine, ‘Manthan Samayiki’, went Nandigram three times during January to March. Being the residents of Metiabruj in Kolkata, we are neighbored by the people involved in garment industry, a community-based industry of muslim bengalees. Thousands of male villagers (about seventy-five thousand, according to Morsalin Molla, MLA, Mahestala, South 24 Parganas) from Nandigram block stay in Metiabruz and around temporarily for working in the community garment industry. We went Nandigram each time along with these people. We visited there on 18th January, 17-18 March and 27-29 March 2007. We travelled within Nandigram by bicycles and van-rickshaw.
Click to read report [PDF, 10 pgs]

Ekak Matra - Issue on Land Acquisition - November 2006
Kalponic Pujibadi Bikash Dharona - by Debdas Bandyopadhyay
Shashok Bamponthider Gramin Bhitti Dhoni Chashi - by Debabrata Bandyopadhyay
Sapto Purush Jethay Manush - by Goutam Ray
Roilo Patit Abad Korle… - Achin Chakraborty
Ak Sorkari Krishok Netar Shonge Singur Niye Sanlap - by Subhendu Dasgupta
Silpayon O Bamponthar Sankat - by Ratan Khashnabis
Parinati Ki JatiyotaPanthi Samajbaad - by Sarbajit Sengupta
Uchhed Michhil - by Soumen Nag
Click here to read Ekak Matra [PDF, 29 pages]
Email: ekakmatra@yahoo.com
Editor : Anindya Bhattacharya. Letters and Contact : A E-520, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700064. Phone : 2359-8162, 98302-36076, 2402-8091. Direct Contact : Asis Das, 150 Muktarambabu Street, Kolkata 07. Phone : 98304-93239.

Manthan - April 2007 Issue on land acquisition issues throughout Bengal
Nandigram articles : Osmanchok theke Meyera Bolchhi - voices of female resistance fighters. Arai Masher Juddho - A microscopic look at events and dates as they unfolded. Jokhon Somaj Uthey Dariyechhe Protirodhe - an intimate look at the resistance. Nandigramer Nijosyo Silpayoner Itihas - a detailed look at local industry. Tebhagar Nandigram - A Political History of Nandigram in the 1940s. Singur o Nandigram - Citizens Committee Report
Haldia and Haripur Articles : Silponagori Haldia, Aktukro Abhigyata. Haripur Abong Paramanu Bidyut Kendra , A detailed timeline of Haripur Resistance.
Analytical Articles and International Affairs: - Silper Jonyo Krishijomi Adhigrohon Bishoye interactive session by Ashoke Sen, Indian Radical Humanist Association. Dakhal Andolon - A look at Iraq and Argentina in the background of imperialism. Seattle Byarthota - on the WTO protests in Seattle, 1999.
Click Here to Download Issue [PDF, 57 pages]
EPW letters on Nandigram and the role of intellectuals like Patnaik
What should be the role of a Communist party in a situation as exists in India? Should they say that the middle class demand industrialization, and therefore industrialization must take place at any cost, even if it means pushing farmers off the land? Is it sufficient to say that the capital for industrialization can be raised only by the private sector, and that all states are wooing them, and therefore West Bengal should do the same?
Click here to read article »
http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/10735.pdf
Fact-Finding Report on POSCO Project in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa
A strong people’s resistance has been going on in the parts of Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa against a steel plant and captive port proposed in the area, since July 2005, a month after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the project was signed between the Government of Orissa and Pohang Steel Company Limited (POSCO). This fact-finding team (19-22 April) had the following objectives : to get an insight into the concerns being raised in relation to the project by the affected communities, to understand the steps being taken by the authorities concerned to address these issues, and to assess the processes that have taken place in the last two years in relation to the project.
Click to read Report [PDF, 13 pages] »
Read previous updates on state terror in Jagatsinghpur, and sign petition.

An APDR publication in Bengali - Land Acquisition in Singur, A Rights Perspective
This publication from APDR collects many documents related to Singur and Nandigram, as well as a detailed timeline. Included are fact-finding reports on the death of Rajkumar Bhul (7 pages), the original protest letter from his father Dwarikanath Bhul, a fact-finding report on Singur dated December 8th (17 pages), original Government and Tata notifications and press releases on land acquisition, APDR responses and letters, and the text of the Land Acquisition Act. Also included is an analytical piece by Amitdyuti Kumar (33 pages).
Click to read publication [PDF, 56 pages] »

Special Bulletin from Mazdoor Kranti Parishad (MKP), December 2006
Articles include : a discussion of Singur and the Posco project, and why the MKP is fighting - by Biswajit Hazra, an introduction to SEZs, a call for solidarity against the brutal murder of Tapasi Malik, an article explaining that farmers of Singur hadn’t given their land (opposing State propaganda that farmers had spontaneously sold their land) - by Amrita Poira, and the two sides of “development” - “Oder Unnoyon, Amader Unnyon” - by Kushal Debnath.
Click here to download the booklet [PDF] »

Bikalpa : A publication from PDSF
A publication called Bikalpa from Progressive Democratic Students Federation (PDSF), edited by Amit, published by Sourav.
Articles include: The role of students in the movement against land acquisition (by Arijit), A summary of the movement in Nandigram (by Parag), Data analysis of land acquisition in Singur ( by MunMun), A discussion of nuclear power plants and their implications ( by Somnath), and an open letter to Tapasi Malik.
This publication came out soon after 11 students