By Nilotpal Basu
HISTORY is cruel; in its own way, it squares
up the truth. Seven years back, a rural tract in West Bengal – Nandigram – shot
to prominence. It resonated across the
country. The cyber world took it beyond the national boundary and drew
international attention. Political observers attributed electoral nemesis of
the three decade electoral sway of the Left to the developments in
Nandigram. Nandigram was seen as the
‘diabolical’ anti-peasant face of the Left in Bengal. And overall, it
contributed to undermine the credibility of the Indian Left.
What was the background of the unfortunate
developments that unfolded in Nandigram in the early days of 2007? The government of West Bengal in its attempt
to industrialize the state had zeroed in on the Petroleum Investment Region
scheme mooted by the central government; taking advantage of incentives of the
scheme to facilitate the petroleum investment hub where Nandigram would be the
core. The requirement for the scheme was a large amount of land. The locational advantage of Nandigram was its
proximity to port city Haldia and existing oil refinery and petro-chemical
complex. These existing facilities provided important infrastructure to locate
the petroleum investment zone. That agricultural land in Nandigram suffered
from salinity, forcing people to migrate for work was another factor which
weighed in favour of developing industrial activities in the region.
However, the decision of Left Front
government did not find major support from the people. A major factor which
affected the mood of the people was the lack of communication. The
comprehensive consultative exercise which ought to have helped galvanise
popular opinion for industrial activity failed to fructify. And this
communication deficit was compounded by a tendentious propaganda blitz by the
opposition. A rainbow coalition emerged to oppose acquisition of land for the project.
Taking advantage of the uncertainty that
emerged, the broad platform virtually took physical control over the proposed
project land. The platform took to violence; digging up roads and blowing up
bridges, the entire area went out of the writ of the state government. The law
and order situation became captive to these forces. Several killings ensured
that discourse on the industrialization agenda could not reach the people.
Discussion and debate towards any informed conclusion was the casualty.
CATCH-22 SITUATION
It was a catch-22 situation for the state
government. Given the broad opposition to the project and the related issue of
land acquisition, it became clear that without concurrence of people, it was
impossible to go ahead with the project; notwithstanding its importance in the
overall context of the industrialization agenda. Thus, between January and
March 2007, atmosphere of uncertainty and anarchy prevailed in the area. In February itself, the state government and
the chief minister announced that there will be no land acquisition against
wishes of the people. But despite that,
the opposition was unrelenting and carried on their violent and lawless ways
making the area incommunicado to the state government. The state government was
found helpless in ensuring the right of the entrapped citizens.
And, this was the backdrop of 14th March
2007. A police party which entered the area to restore communication to
re-establish rule of law was confronted with. The consequent unfortunate police
firing and related incidents resulted in the loss of 14 persons; widespread
condemnation against ‘forcible acquisition’ followed.
Nandigram became the symbol around which
opposition to the Left government galvanized.
From Maoists on the Left to communal forces of all hues on the Right
combined. With TMC spearheading the opposition, its supremo and present chief
minister Mamata Banerjee shot into national fame. She became the icon of the
anti-Left forces not only nationally but also internationally. Those who were
pathologically opposed to the Left catapulted her to lead against hitherto
electorally invincible Left; so much so, that she featured on the cover of Time
magazine.
Ironically, the Left in India, which had been
in the forefront of the struggle for agrarian reforms and land redistribution,
was shown as having betrayed that legacy. The overall neo-liberal policy
environment featuring large-scale takeover of agricultural land by corporate
sharks came to be equated with what happened in Nandigram on the 14th of March.
Of course, there have been several reasons
which led to the setback of the Left in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and
assembly elections in 2011; but Nandigram was widely seen as the trigger which
set out the course for undermining the credibility of the Left.
Much as they attempted to explain their
approach, the Left failed in getting its message across. Even before the Left
Front government could order any independent probe into the firing on 14th
March, the Kolkata High Court, at the insistence of the opposition, ordered a
CBI probe.
LF GOVT VINDICATED
Finally, the propaganda blitz that led to
institution of CBI probe has come full circle. On 18th December 2013, the CBI,
after almost seven years of investigation, filed a chargesheet before the
court. The findings could not be any
greater indictment of the then opposition led by TMC and its mercurial leader
Mamata Banerjee. The CBI findings completely vindicate what the Left government
had contended at that point of time.
The CBI chargesheet reveals – “Investigation
has disclosed that efforts were made by the district administration and the
police officers to normalize the situation in Nandigram. Many meetings were
organized between the administration, leaders of the opposition parties and
BUPC”; Bhumi Uchhhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) being the umbrella organisation
spearheaded by the TMC which led the agitation in Nandigram. But, the CBI has
now opined that –“However, there was no visible improvement in the law and order
situation which remained out of control for the District Civil and Police
administration”.
Detailing about how bad the situation was
between January and March, 2007, the chargesheet states -“During this period at
least 56 FIRs were registered at Nandigram and Khejuri police stations relating
to violence, arson, loot and murder etc. The period also witnessed death of 11
persons and injuries to at least 25 persons due to these clashes. A police Sub
Inspector namely Sadhu Charan Chatterjee was kidnapped and killed by the mob,
police jeeps were burnt and police weapons were looted. The cases registered
could not be investigated by the local police as the local police were unable
to enter into the villages during this period”.
The chargesheet comprehensively calls the
bluff that the police entry was ‘clandestine’. The chargesheet categorically
states that - “On 12.03.2007, the state home secretary briefed the press, in
which he informed them about the proposed police action in Nandigram”.
Subsequently, “it was decided that the police operation would be conducted on
14.03.2007 at three places in Nandigram”.
The firing was ‘after all attempts to
disperse the crowd’ who blocked the police entry through requests over PA
system, lathicharge, firing of tear gas and firing in the air ‘failed’.
The chargesheet also nails down the claim
that there were hundreds of people killed, with gory charges of children and
women being torn apart and their bodies smuggled out. The chargesheet
categorically points out that ‘opposition consciously spread rumours’ and
‘organised armed men’ to take on police which led to the unfortunate
firing. As if to add salt to injury, the
CBI rejected the plea of the TMC that the political leadership of the Left was
responsible. In fact, despite these
findings, the current state government and the chief minister has refused to
allow CBI to proceed against police and civil officials whom they found to
violate some procedures, insisting that Left leadership must be investigated.
The CBI is no ‘holy cow’. Neither has it done
anything spectacular to erase the impression that it is not insulated from
political interference having earned the description of ‘caged parrot’. But, TMC and Ms Banerjee have forgotten that
for almost six and a half years during which the CBI was carrying out its
investigation, it was they who were in company with the ruling Congress – both
in the state and the centre. The state
government had every opportunity to inform CBI towards an ‘informed conclusion’
in course of last almost three years; not to forget that this CBI investigation
on firing in Nandigram was essentially at their own behest.
Therefore, it is an irony that truth has
finally come through the CBI chargesheet. Those who had chronicled contemporary
events during that period will hopefully revisit conclusions that they had
drawn on Nandigram – and, more importantly, on the Left and its intentions.
