11-19-2007, 10:52 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Letter to NHRC tells tale of 'rapes, mayhem, lies' in Nandigram </b>
Pioneer.com
Santanu Banerjee | New Delhi
A letter from Paschim Banga Khet Majdoor Samity (PBKMS) to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) detailing torture by CPI(M) cadre in Nandigram has accused senior CPI(M) leaders of provoking party activists.
"With death tolls mounting and scores missing, kidnapped and displaced, and increasing murderous violence by CPI(M) cadre, we request the NHRC to immediately take action to relieve the sufferings of the people in Nandigram, East Mednipore district, West Bengal," the letter said.
To underscore the involvement of top CPI(M) leaders, the letter said: "In midst (ongoing tension and occasional skirmishes), fuel was added to the fire when on November 04, 2007 the CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat prescribed: Dum Dum Dawai (severe bashing -- a slogan of the 60s advocating public thrashing for the corrupt) as a solution and blamed the leaders of Opposition parties for the continuing trouble in Nandigram in a rally speech in AIDWA at Dum Dum in the northern fringe of the city in the presence of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The violence and attacks started intensifying and on November 05, 2007 hundreds of CPI(M) gunmen rained bombs and fired shots in Nandigram from Khejuri side."
The letter not only spoke of killings, planned massacres, but also rapes of women by party cadre. It also exploded the myth that first casualty in CPI(M) camp happened when five cadre of the party died on October 28 night while they were making crude bombs.
Fresh violence broke out on November 02, 2007 where CPI(M) cadres from Khejuri started firing while policemen deployed in the area turned a blind eye. All entry points to Nandigram were sealed off by CPI(M) cadre and there were attempts to take control over villages which BUPC was holding sway over, the letter said.
Incidentally, the body has been working for the welfare of West Bengal farmers for the last 20 years.
Meanwhile, All India Progressive Women's Association general secretary Kumudini Pati and president Srilata Swaminathan, in a statement, said CPI(M) PB member and former leader of AIDWA Brinda Karat acted in the most callous and irresponsible way by making a shameful <b>public appeal to her 'comrades' to administer the Dum Dum Dawai to those fighting against corporate land grab in Nandigram</b>.
They said her inciting cadre to perpetrate violence on innocent people reminded us of the likes of Uma Bharati inciting Sangh Pariwar activists to demolish disputed structure in Ayodhya.
<b>AIPWA has demanded that the cases of molestation, rape and abduction of women and girls -- now in hundreds -- must be seriously investigated by the CBI and their medical examinations should be done and statements recorded, including that of gangrape victim Sabina Begum of Sadengabari and two teenage girls of Maheshpur.</b>
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Pioneer.com
Santanu Banerjee | New Delhi
A letter from Paschim Banga Khet Majdoor Samity (PBKMS) to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) detailing torture by CPI(M) cadre in Nandigram has accused senior CPI(M) leaders of provoking party activists.
"With death tolls mounting and scores missing, kidnapped and displaced, and increasing murderous violence by CPI(M) cadre, we request the NHRC to immediately take action to relieve the sufferings of the people in Nandigram, East Mednipore district, West Bengal," the letter said.
To underscore the involvement of top CPI(M) leaders, the letter said: "In midst (ongoing tension and occasional skirmishes), fuel was added to the fire when on November 04, 2007 the CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat prescribed: Dum Dum Dawai (severe bashing -- a slogan of the 60s advocating public thrashing for the corrupt) as a solution and blamed the leaders of Opposition parties for the continuing trouble in Nandigram in a rally speech in AIDWA at Dum Dum in the northern fringe of the city in the presence of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The violence and attacks started intensifying and on November 05, 2007 hundreds of CPI(M) gunmen rained bombs and fired shots in Nandigram from Khejuri side."
The letter not only spoke of killings, planned massacres, but also rapes of women by party cadre. It also exploded the myth that first casualty in CPI(M) camp happened when five cadre of the party died on October 28 night while they were making crude bombs.
Fresh violence broke out on November 02, 2007 where CPI(M) cadres from Khejuri started firing while policemen deployed in the area turned a blind eye. All entry points to Nandigram were sealed off by CPI(M) cadre and there were attempts to take control over villages which BUPC was holding sway over, the letter said.
Incidentally, the body has been working for the welfare of West Bengal farmers for the last 20 years.
Meanwhile, All India Progressive Women's Association general secretary Kumudini Pati and president Srilata Swaminathan, in a statement, said CPI(M) PB member and former leader of AIDWA Brinda Karat acted in the most callous and irresponsible way by making a shameful <b>public appeal to her 'comrades' to administer the Dum Dum Dawai to those fighting against corporate land grab in Nandigram</b>.
They said her inciting cadre to perpetrate violence on innocent people reminded us of the likes of Uma Bharati inciting Sangh Pariwar activists to demolish disputed structure in Ayodhya.
<b>AIPWA has demanded that the cases of molestation, rape and abduction of women and girls -- now in hundreds -- must be seriously investigated by the CBI and their medical examinations should be done and statements recorded, including that of gangrape victim Sabina Begum of Sadengabari and two teenage girls of Maheshpur.</b>
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