01-07-2007, 07:51 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nandigram boils over: 7 killed </b>
Pioneer.com
Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata
CPM activists clash with activists of Trinamool, SUCI, Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind and Naxalites
It's now the killing fields in Nandigram. Seven people perished early on Sunday in the boiling boondocks of Sonachura and Garchakraberia off Nandigram in East Midnapore district prompting Opposition, Congress Trinamool Congress and the BJP to call a 24-hour and 12-hour bandh on Monday. This, even as a hapless West Bengal Police continued "keeping a close watch" on the situation, as protesters declared Nandigram a muktanchal - liberated zone.
The deaths occurred in clashes between activists of the ruling CPI(M) and the Bhumi Uchhed Birudhi Committee (Land Eviction Resistance Committee) comprising the Trinamool Congress, SUCI, Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind and a Naxalite faction. The violence in West East Midnapore district was sparked off over the acquisition of land for a SEZ to be set up by Indonesia's Salim group.
Indeed Nandigram continued to remain an island cut off from the rest of the country till reports last came in on Sunday. Senior police officials were contemplating "different plans to take back the control of remote villages," sources said. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee called the incident unfortunate but vouched fortune will be in the farmers' side if they surrendered farmlands for industry.
Most of the dead bore bullet injuries and half-a-dozen critically wounded were on their way to Kolkata, SP East Midnapore AK Dutta said. The police were unable to recover many bodies as the villagers had denied them entry into the village, senior officials said adding injury marks suggest use of muskets and "sophisticated guns perhaps imported from Bangladesh."
Deploring the Opposition role CPI-M State committee member and former Chief Whip Rabin Deb said, "the mainstream Opposition had joined hands with the Naxalites and Jamaat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind to create tension in the area."
Incidentally according to senior intelligence officials the Jamaat had been spreading a disinformation campaign among the Muslim farmers that the Government in its bid to promote industry had been eyeing the lands belonging to the minorities.
Earlier also the Jamaat had organised protest movement against the CPM at neighbouring Bhangor in South 24 Parganas alleging that the CPI-M was working against the interests of the minorities and that most lands being taken for industrialization belonged to the them. Minorities constitute little more than 24 per cent of total population in the State.
<b>Much like Singur the people of Nandigram have been protesting against a reported administrative move to acquire farmlands - some 19,000 acres in the first phase - for Indonesian Salim Group's SEZ project. Earlier on last Wednesday 5,000 strong crowd had torched three police vehicles and snapped all roads and bridges leading to Sonachura and Garchakraberia the two villages likely to be most affected by the acquisition. </b>
Though the Chief Minister later said that what ever had happened at Nandigram was the product of a rumour the locals continued to mobilize under the banner of Save Farmland movement the Trinamool-led umbrella group that had been spearheading the Singur agitation.
While the police decided to soft-pedal the issue and kept off the affected villages the CPI-M mobilized cadres at the entry point of the two villages leading the existing tension to intensify, local Trinamool leaders feel. "The CPI-M is following the Garbeta-Keshpur line here at Nandigram ... they have been importing hordes of armed-cadres from Garbeta to finish off the protesters ... but we reply brickbat for brickbat," thundered senior Trinamool leader and former local MLA Sisir Adhikari. "We have been camping here for the last 7-8 months to build up a resistance movement," he said not denying that the naxalites were also present in the affected areas.
"<b>The fascist Government has unleashed a reign of terror in Bengal villages, particularly Singur and Nandigram leading to death and destruction. It is in the interest of the poor farmers that the Trinamool Congress has been forced to call a bandh on Monday ... we invite the like-minded parties to support the bandh," </b>State Opposition Leader Partho Chattopadhyay told the media after meeting DIG Eastern Range NR Babu.
A day after the all-party peace meeting featuring Left Front Trinamool Congress, SUCI and Jamaat ul Ulema e Hind Nandigram erupted once again with only gunshots tearing the foggy darkness. Nothing could be seen or heard baring sporadic flashes of bomb blast and anti Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee slogans, panicked sources fleeing the war zone in hordes said late on Sunday.
<b>"Buddhababu's irresponsible way of tackling the situation precipitated the crisis which is akin to a civil war," </b>commented Congress Legislature Party Leader Dr Manas Bhuian before leaving for the affected area. "We are not for calling bandhs but it was the reckless handling of the situation and the ruling party's highhandedness that has forced us to call a 24-hour bandh for the first time in last one year," PCC acting president Pradip Bhattacharya said adding his party would however, the flagship IT sector was excluded from bandh.
SUCI, BJP and Kamptapur Progressive Party have also called a dawn-to-dusk bandh on Monday leaders said.
Elsewhere in Kolkata a group of 30 Trinamool Congress-backed Save Farmland activists on Sunday raided the Taj Bengal Hotel where a delegation of Dubai-based investors were putting up. The investors had come to talk the development of Kulpi Port in South 24 Parganas. The protesters reportedly clashed with the hotel guards and blows were exchanged between some women activists and the security guards before the police finally intervened and brought things under control, sources said. Later Save Farmland activists said they had come to protest because there was a plan to acquire farmlands in the name of developing Kulpi port.
Meanwhile the Nandigram incident has brought to the fore a sharp divide both within the Left Front and in the CPI-M, informed sources said.
In an unprecedented war of words septuagenarian Marxist leader and central committee member on Saturday dared the Forward Bloc to quit the Left Front and join the Trinamool Congress after senior Bloc leader Debabrato Biswas reportedly told that "Buddhababu's fate would be no different from that of Chandrababu" in the formers mad quest for industrialisation.
Reacting to Biswas' comments CPI-M politburo member to-be Mr Konar said: "I wonder which Forward Bloc leader have said so ... but if they really think like that then they are free to leave the Front and join the Trinamool Congress to dislodge the Government ... why don't they do it now!" The Bloc leadership however refused comments but insisted the Government would do good to bring transparency in its style of functioning.
Both the CPI and the RSP have also registered their protests with the way the Government went about acquiring lands leading the Chief Minister to comment it had become a habit with the (CPI) leaders to give statements in order to get front page treatment in newspapers.
Apart from the Front partners the Chief Minister also came in for sharp criticism from within his party. Requesting anonymity a State committee member on Sunday said, "the way our Chief Minister is functioning it seems he will soon turn out to be the Gorbachev of CPI-M... one wonders how the party will fare in the next years Panchayat polls."
Notwithstanding the backlash the Chief Minister on Sunday put up a brave front saying, "Bengal unlike many other States has 62 percent land under agriculture. Only 1 percent land is fallow and there is no other way but to acquire some farmland for industrialization... we can't flee from this stage."
<b>HIGHLIGHTS </b>
Bullet injuries suggest import of sophisticated weapon perhaps from Bangladesh
Jamat ul Ulema e Hind alleges Government taking minority lands for industry
Jamaat had its head quarters at near Raotara neighbouring Egra but had only limited presence
The organisation only gained popularity after land grab movement
Naxalites equally involved in uprising
Buddhababu responsible for this civil war, says Manas Bhuian
Buddhababu's condition will be like that of Chandrababu Naidu if we go on taking farmlands forcibly: Forward Bloc
The Chief Minister is fast turning into the Gorbachev of CPI-M: anonymous Marxist leader
Why doesn't the Bloc quit the Front and join the Trinamool Congress: Central committee member Benoy Konar.
<b>BAREFACTS</b>
Nandigram Assembly seat is held by CPI
Trinamool has four Panchayts in its control
Police say making crude bombs has taken cottage industry proportion in the area covering Nandigram, Khejuri, Garbeta, Keshpur and a large number of people are involved in dacoity and highway robbery.
<b>OF MYTHOLOGY AND HISTORY BOOKS</b>
Locals claim Bharata, the brother of King Rama was visiting his maternal uncles at Nandigram when King Dasrath sent Rama to exile
In Khejuri is the country's oldest modern post office built during the Raj. The building is in a dilapidated shapeÂ
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Pioneer.com
Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata
CPM activists clash with activists of Trinamool, SUCI, Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind and Naxalites
It's now the killing fields in Nandigram. Seven people perished early on Sunday in the boiling boondocks of Sonachura and Garchakraberia off Nandigram in East Midnapore district prompting Opposition, Congress Trinamool Congress and the BJP to call a 24-hour and 12-hour bandh on Monday. This, even as a hapless West Bengal Police continued "keeping a close watch" on the situation, as protesters declared Nandigram a muktanchal - liberated zone.
The deaths occurred in clashes between activists of the ruling CPI(M) and the Bhumi Uchhed Birudhi Committee (Land Eviction Resistance Committee) comprising the Trinamool Congress, SUCI, Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind and a Naxalite faction. The violence in West East Midnapore district was sparked off over the acquisition of land for a SEZ to be set up by Indonesia's Salim group.
Indeed Nandigram continued to remain an island cut off from the rest of the country till reports last came in on Sunday. Senior police officials were contemplating "different plans to take back the control of remote villages," sources said. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee called the incident unfortunate but vouched fortune will be in the farmers' side if they surrendered farmlands for industry.
Most of the dead bore bullet injuries and half-a-dozen critically wounded were on their way to Kolkata, SP East Midnapore AK Dutta said. The police were unable to recover many bodies as the villagers had denied them entry into the village, senior officials said adding injury marks suggest use of muskets and "sophisticated guns perhaps imported from Bangladesh."
Deploring the Opposition role CPI-M State committee member and former Chief Whip Rabin Deb said, "the mainstream Opposition had joined hands with the Naxalites and Jamaat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind to create tension in the area."
Incidentally according to senior intelligence officials the Jamaat had been spreading a disinformation campaign among the Muslim farmers that the Government in its bid to promote industry had been eyeing the lands belonging to the minorities.
Earlier also the Jamaat had organised protest movement against the CPM at neighbouring Bhangor in South 24 Parganas alleging that the CPI-M was working against the interests of the minorities and that most lands being taken for industrialization belonged to the them. Minorities constitute little more than 24 per cent of total population in the State.
<b>Much like Singur the people of Nandigram have been protesting against a reported administrative move to acquire farmlands - some 19,000 acres in the first phase - for Indonesian Salim Group's SEZ project. Earlier on last Wednesday 5,000 strong crowd had torched three police vehicles and snapped all roads and bridges leading to Sonachura and Garchakraberia the two villages likely to be most affected by the acquisition. </b>
Though the Chief Minister later said that what ever had happened at Nandigram was the product of a rumour the locals continued to mobilize under the banner of Save Farmland movement the Trinamool-led umbrella group that had been spearheading the Singur agitation.
While the police decided to soft-pedal the issue and kept off the affected villages the CPI-M mobilized cadres at the entry point of the two villages leading the existing tension to intensify, local Trinamool leaders feel. "The CPI-M is following the Garbeta-Keshpur line here at Nandigram ... they have been importing hordes of armed-cadres from Garbeta to finish off the protesters ... but we reply brickbat for brickbat," thundered senior Trinamool leader and former local MLA Sisir Adhikari. "We have been camping here for the last 7-8 months to build up a resistance movement," he said not denying that the naxalites were also present in the affected areas.
"<b>The fascist Government has unleashed a reign of terror in Bengal villages, particularly Singur and Nandigram leading to death and destruction. It is in the interest of the poor farmers that the Trinamool Congress has been forced to call a bandh on Monday ... we invite the like-minded parties to support the bandh," </b>State Opposition Leader Partho Chattopadhyay told the media after meeting DIG Eastern Range NR Babu.
A day after the all-party peace meeting featuring Left Front Trinamool Congress, SUCI and Jamaat ul Ulema e Hind Nandigram erupted once again with only gunshots tearing the foggy darkness. Nothing could be seen or heard baring sporadic flashes of bomb blast and anti Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee slogans, panicked sources fleeing the war zone in hordes said late on Sunday.
<b>"Buddhababu's irresponsible way of tackling the situation precipitated the crisis which is akin to a civil war," </b>commented Congress Legislature Party Leader Dr Manas Bhuian before leaving for the affected area. "We are not for calling bandhs but it was the reckless handling of the situation and the ruling party's highhandedness that has forced us to call a 24-hour bandh for the first time in last one year," PCC acting president Pradip Bhattacharya said adding his party would however, the flagship IT sector was excluded from bandh.
SUCI, BJP and Kamptapur Progressive Party have also called a dawn-to-dusk bandh on Monday leaders said.
Elsewhere in Kolkata a group of 30 Trinamool Congress-backed Save Farmland activists on Sunday raided the Taj Bengal Hotel where a delegation of Dubai-based investors were putting up. The investors had come to talk the development of Kulpi Port in South 24 Parganas. The protesters reportedly clashed with the hotel guards and blows were exchanged between some women activists and the security guards before the police finally intervened and brought things under control, sources said. Later Save Farmland activists said they had come to protest because there was a plan to acquire farmlands in the name of developing Kulpi port.
Meanwhile the Nandigram incident has brought to the fore a sharp divide both within the Left Front and in the CPI-M, informed sources said.
In an unprecedented war of words septuagenarian Marxist leader and central committee member on Saturday dared the Forward Bloc to quit the Left Front and join the Trinamool Congress after senior Bloc leader Debabrato Biswas reportedly told that "Buddhababu's fate would be no different from that of Chandrababu" in the formers mad quest for industrialisation.
Reacting to Biswas' comments CPI-M politburo member to-be Mr Konar said: "I wonder which Forward Bloc leader have said so ... but if they really think like that then they are free to leave the Front and join the Trinamool Congress to dislodge the Government ... why don't they do it now!" The Bloc leadership however refused comments but insisted the Government would do good to bring transparency in its style of functioning.
Both the CPI and the RSP have also registered their protests with the way the Government went about acquiring lands leading the Chief Minister to comment it had become a habit with the (CPI) leaders to give statements in order to get front page treatment in newspapers.
Apart from the Front partners the Chief Minister also came in for sharp criticism from within his party. Requesting anonymity a State committee member on Sunday said, "the way our Chief Minister is functioning it seems he will soon turn out to be the Gorbachev of CPI-M... one wonders how the party will fare in the next years Panchayat polls."
Notwithstanding the backlash the Chief Minister on Sunday put up a brave front saying, "Bengal unlike many other States has 62 percent land under agriculture. Only 1 percent land is fallow and there is no other way but to acquire some farmland for industrialization... we can't flee from this stage."
<b>HIGHLIGHTS </b>
Bullet injuries suggest import of sophisticated weapon perhaps from Bangladesh
Jamat ul Ulema e Hind alleges Government taking minority lands for industry
Jamaat had its head quarters at near Raotara neighbouring Egra but had only limited presence
The organisation only gained popularity after land grab movement
Naxalites equally involved in uprising
Buddhababu responsible for this civil war, says Manas Bhuian
Buddhababu's condition will be like that of Chandrababu Naidu if we go on taking farmlands forcibly: Forward Bloc
The Chief Minister is fast turning into the Gorbachev of CPI-M: anonymous Marxist leader
Why doesn't the Bloc quit the Front and join the Trinamool Congress: Central committee member Benoy Konar.
<b>BAREFACTS</b>
Nandigram Assembly seat is held by CPI
Trinamool has four Panchayts in its control
Police say making crude bombs has taken cottage industry proportion in the area covering Nandigram, Khejuri, Garbeta, Keshpur and a large number of people are involved in dacoity and highway robbery.
<b>OF MYTHOLOGY AND HISTORY BOOKS</b>
Locals claim Bharata, the brother of King Rama was visiting his maternal uncles at Nandigram when King Dasrath sent Rama to exile
In Khejuri is the country's oldest modern post office built during the Raj. The building is in a dilapidated shapeÂ
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