Nandigram Myths Decoded: CBI Calls the Bluff

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.

Petro Chem ministry reviews PCPIR scheme

Anindita Dey / Mumbai

Business Standard, June 17, 2011, 2:18 IST

The department of petrochemicals at the Centre has started a review of its flagship scheme, the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIR).

Officials said the ministry aimed at creating a window for government funding support and had proposed this to the Planning Commission. It is evaluating the scope of budgetary funding into these projects, apart from the specified mode of VGF (viability gap funding and through public private partnership (PPP).

A committee of the ministry has proposed government grants in the form of gross budgetary support or tax breaks for investors coming into the zone. PCPIR is the flagship scheme of the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, with approved investments worth Rs 1,54,512 crore in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

Under the extant project guidelines, there is no budgetary support and the entire funding is to be done by the participants, which includes a government petrochemical public sector undertaking (PSU) as anchor investor. The VGF scheme provides financial support in the form of grants, one-time or deferred, to infrastructure projects undertaken through PPPs.

The review follows sluggish growth in the projected investment inflow into the various projects of the PCPIR zones approved across India. The ministry met state government reprentatives and have asked for inputs to modify the scheme so as to attract investment in the PCPIR zones.

Officials said a major reason for the slow inflow was recession in various parts of the world. Various state governments extended infrastructure support but very few have offered tangible funding help, apart from Gujarat, till date. Gujarat has notified the PCPIR under the rules for special investment zones and thus extended several tax-related advantages to incoming investors into its Bharuch PCPIR.

The ministry has also taken the initiative of organising major trade fairs in Europe and Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Mexico to attract foreign investment.

Till date, the Bharuch PCPIR in Gujarat has received Rs 70,000 crore of investments and the state government has completed 60-70 per cent of land development. Petronet LNG is setting up a 1,200 Mw power plant. ONGC Petro Additionals Ltd, a joint venture of ONGC and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, is the main anchor investor, with committed project investment of Rs 16,400 crore.

The investments are for a Rs 13,000-crore multi-feed petrochemical cracker and Rs 3,400-crore carbon extraction unit.

The newly approved PCPIR for Tamil Nadu, at Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, has received government support of Rs 5,120 crore. This will be part of investments in external infrastructure of Rs 13,800 crore, over and above an estimated investment of Rs 99,750 crore.The Visakhapatnam and East Godavari PCPIR in Andhra Pradesh has attracted additional investment of Rs 9,600 crore, apart from investment commitment of Rs 73,000 crore through its main or anchor investors — a consortium of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and GMR. The state government has committed Rs 2,132 crore for developing physical infrastructure, followed by Rs 10,565 crore from private parties and another Rs 6,334 crore through PPP.

Similarly, for the newly approved Orissa PCPIR at Paradeep, the anchor investor, Indian Oil Corporation, is setting up a 15-million tonne per annum refinery, likely to be commissioned in March 2012, at a cost of Rs 29,777 crore. The PCPIR is expected to attract total investment of Rs 2,77,734 crore.

Buddhadeb asks people to defeat Trinamool if they want peace

Khejuri, April 30, 2011: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday exhorted the people of Purba Medinipur to defeat the Trinamool Congress in the ensuing elections if they want peace. This district, which includes the Nandigram constituency, goes to the polls on May 3 in the fourth phase of Assembly Elections in West Bengal.

Addressing an election rally at Khejuri near Nandigram, Mr. Bhattacharjee said: “Get ready to resist any attempt to foment trouble on election-day. Wherever there is Trinamool Congress, there is unrest – if you want peace, defeat them,” he exhorted the gathering, warning that the Trinamool only brings about bloodshed.

Reassuring the gathering that none would be able to defeat the Left Front, he said that the Opposition was trying to break the people's morale by projecting themselves as the winners. “They are trying to dampen your spirits. Don't be disheartened. None can defeat the Left Front,” he said.

Nandigram agitation

Referring to the period of unrest during the Nandigram agitation, Mr. Bhattacharjee said that the State government had wanted this place to become another Haldia (the industrial hub in the same district). Haldia, he said was just another village till it was transformed by the Left Front government. It is now providing jobs to thousands of youths, he said.

‘No mistake made'

“We made no mistake in choosing Nandigram (for setting up industries). But the rumour-mongering Opposition set Nandigram ablaze. We built roads, they dug them up. We laid bridges, they set them afire. They created trouble by ushering in the Maoists here,” he said. “Many people of this area had to flee their homes due to the terror unleashed by the Trinamool,” said the Chief Minister.

Pointing out that the panchayat here, now being governed by the Trinamool Congress, was riddled with corruption, Mr. Bhattacharjee said that this could not continue and it was time for people to stand up for their rights.

“What do they want to change?”

Ridiculing the Opposition's clamour for change, he quizzed: “What do they want to change — do they want to take land back from the marginal farmers to whom we gave land rights through land reforms?”

He said that the Eight Left Front government will take this process forward.

Commending the local girls for being well-educated, he said that the Eight Left Front government was keen to set up more colleges so as to empower the local youth.

THE HINDU, 30th April, 2011

INTERNECINE STRUGGLE WITHIN TRINAMULIS, ‘MAOISTS’ INTENSIFY

ONE KILLED AT SONACHURA

KOLKATA,23rd SEPTEMBER,2009: The killing of Nishikanta Mondal, the self-styled ‘terror of Sonachura,’ and the chief suspect in the brutal murder of comrade Sankar Samanta, has been condemned by Bengal state secretary of the CPI (M) Biman Basu who has also characterised the assassination as a direct fall-out of Trinamuli inner strife with a ‘Maoist’ conspiratorial connection visible.

At the same time, Biman, speaking to PD, was of the view that taking advantage of the death, the Trinamulis, of both factions, led respectively by the Abu Taher-Subhendu Adhikary clique and Mondal himself, had started to run riot, stepping up their misdeeds, not only at Sonachura where they already had unleashed a reign of terror, but also in adjoining Nandigram and Khejuri.

For a long time now, normalcy has been rare in the Nandigram-Khejuri-Sonachura localities. CPI (M) and LF workers have been repeatedly subjected to murderous assaults here and very many have been rendered homeless at the behest of the Trinamulis and the ‘Maoists.’ At the same time the latest fall-out amongst the Trinamulis over allocation of funds for the GP’s they run, had recently reached a fatal peak.

COUNTER-DEMOCRATIC ACTS
The gang of rank opportunists, the self-styled ‘Maoists’ joined in the fray for the loot – and the struggle turned bloody. Nishikanta was en route to some spot when at a desolate place his cell phone rang. The moment he stopped the motorbike he was riding to respond, shots rang out from the bushes – four found the target.

The assassination ‘format’ if it could be so-called strongly resembled a piece of ‘Maoist’ action, perhaps this time as an act of hired goons of one section of the Trinamulis, the section which had become vocal about the defalcation of money by Mondal -- and had led a deputation against him at the level of the district administration.

Biman Basu expressed his deep disapproval of the counter-democratic acts of commission being perpetrated by the ‘rainbow coalition’ of the Trinamulis, the SUCI, and the ‘Maoists’ in these areas, and he called upon all democratic-minded people to rise in sturdy denunciation of what had been going on for quite some time now in the Nandigram-Sonachura-Khejuri region.

2 CPI(M) supporters die, Nandigram bandh on Tuesday

Nandigram (West Bengal), June 22: Two CPI(M) supporters, severely beaten up by alleged Trinamool Congress men at Nandigram and elsewhere, died in hospital on Monday prompting the Marxists to call a 12-hour bandh in the area on Tuesday.

SP Pallab Kanti Ghosh said Keshab Das, stated to be a CPI(M) supporter, died at a Kolkata hospital late last night after being assaulted by unidentified persons the previous day.

Another CPI(M) supporter, thrashed by some men on June 13 at Moyna area, also died at a hospital today, the SP said.

The CPI(M) claimed both were beaten up by Trinamool Congress which wanted to finish off the Left Front activists from the district after the Lok Sabha elections.

The incidents followed cases of arson and recovery of arms from different parts of Khejuri last week with the Trinamool Congress wresting the erstwhile Marxist stronghold.

NANDIGRAM SLAMS 'SAVIOURS'

3 May 2009, 0522 hrs IST,

Caesar Mandal & Prithvijit Mitra, TNN

NANDIGRAM: Till a few months ago, they were the saviours and heroes to the people of this region, who fought against CPM and police. But today, having moved into the power corridors after rural polls, they are the most hated people in Nandigram, alienated from the masses at the same place where 14 people fell to bullets on March 14, 2007.

Reason? These Trinamool Congress leaders are today busy usurping power, paying little attention to development activities. Swadesh Das and Swadesh Adhikari were in the forefront of the movement against land acquisition for 11 months. They were part of the Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) action squad, warding off waves of attacks by CPM cadres. Today, they are afraid of entering the area following resistance from their own followers.

During the Nandigram movement, they had become household names in Sonachura, Adhikaripara, Gokulnagar and other villages along Talpati canal bordering CPM-dominated Khejuri. Camping there for months and fighting bullets with bullets, they became heroes. But now, a year and a half after the November 2007 CPM assault and less than a year after the panchayat polls, the likes of Das and Adhikari have become aliens in the land they once lorded over.

Since Trinamool’s victory in the rural polls, the leaders have been difficult to access. They confined themselves to the power corridors and forgot the dusty lanes. There are even charges of corruption against some of them. There is such resentment against the leaders for letting the people down that the two Swadeshs now avoid the villages for fear of reprisals. “Let’s not talk about Swadesh here. After Trinamool’s panchayat election victory, their presence is rare in these parts. A year has pas-sed, but there’s been no development work. Tube wells are yet to be repaired.

We have to walk over a kilometre to get water,” said private tutor Khokon Adhikari. Das is now in charge of the public works department of Nandigram-I panchayat samiti and Adhikari is known as a close comrade of leaders like Sheikh Sufian and Abu Taher. Tapasi Das, who had been hit by a tear gas shell during the police firing on March 14, 2007, is yet to get any compensation. “Days after the injury, I received Rs 30,000 from Kerala Congress. That was all. The government hasn’t provided any compensation. Nor have the Trinamool leaders organized any financial aid,” said Tapasi, who still limps.

Kanan, Khokon’s mother, uses the analogy of government relief. “When 10 barracks of flattened rice are despatched, only three reached the affected people. The case is similar here. Money disappears as it trickles down,” she said. Former BUPC leader Abdul Samad (now with Sidiqullah’s People’s Democratic Conference) says his comrades-in-arms, who had become Trinamool leaders, were behaving just like CPM earlier did.

ARMS CACHE RECOVERED FROM TRINAMULI'S HOUSE

KHEJURI: Trinamuli hooligans, about 50 in number, all armed with countrymade guns, swords, and knives, pounced on the stage from where the fisheries minister of the LF government, Kironmoy Nanda leader of the Socialist Party was to address a rally on the evening of 19 April. The venue was the Nonapara village at Nichaksaba area at Khejuri II GP. In the lead was the Sabhadhipati of the Midnapore east himself, one Ranjit Mondal, and a GP member of the locality, Debashis Das.

Led by Mondal and Das, the drunken goons had earlier issued threats to the people of the area, the GPs of which are now with the Trinamulis, as are the Panchayat Samities, not to go near the rally to be spoken to by Kironmoy. The hoods even cut down trees and attempted to barricade out Kironmoy. Then they suddenly realised that people were streaming in despite whatever evil deeds the Trinamulis had done, to their worst, and that the speaker himself was well on his way to the rally grounds.

Infuriated, the thoroughly desperate hooligans jumped up on the dais, and broke it completely apart with well-aimed blows from shovels, spades, and large hammers. Then they proceeded to tear down and desecrate the Red Flag, finally putting the entire stage to leaping flames by pouring petrol and lighting up matchsticks.

While the local CPI (M) leadership, out of considerations of safety, prevailed upon a completely exasperated Kironmoy from proceeding farther, the LF itself held not one but two succeeding rallies at the same grounds one in the evening the other late into the night, daring the Trinamuli goons to come forth if their courage or lack of it permitted them to do so. CPI (M) leader of the district and LF convenor of the Contai Lok Sabha seat Nirmal Jana has told us that protest rallies and marches are being held today 20 April throughout Khejuri and that such protestations shall be held all over Contai on 21 April.

Elsewhere, an arms cache was recovered by the police at Kendemari at Nandigram I called a ‘liberated zone’ by the ‘Maoists’ and their Trinamuli underlings. Sheikh Bacchu who is a history-sheeter and is a covert Maoist activist was caught red-handed while trying to smuggle arms into Khejuri, Kendemari and beyond.

The cache included one Italian Biretta 9mm pistol, one Italian Valtro 9mm pistol, plus one US Army-issue lightweight Smith & Wesson 9mm (Polymer Frame) pistol as well as several countrymade revolvers plus hundreds of cartridges, some packed into magazines, some carried loose in pre-sealed polythene bags.

One shudders to think what would have happened to how many innocents had not the miscreant with his deadly cache been apprehended. One recalls that just in the wake of the declaration of results of the 2008 Panchayat polls, two CPI (M) workers were killed at Kendemari at the hand of ‘Maoists’ and Trinamulis.

MAOISTS LAND MINE BLASTS: TWO SERIOUSLY INJURED

PURULIA,15th APRIL:A land mine burst with a deafening sound at Balarampur area in the district of Purulia seriously injuring two CPI (M) workers. The land mine was of the form of an improvised explosive device (IUD) packed with steel balls and nails that explode out with deadly effect once somebody steps on the spring-loaded trip wire.

The CPI (M) workers on their way back from fields when they tripped up the trigger and faced the wrath of the explosion. Eyewitnesses told us that the entire area had been plastered with ‘Maoist’ posters, which called, as is the wont of the people of that ilk, to boycott the polls, or else…. The two kisans injured in the blast are Samaj Mondal and Madan Mondal.

They were rescued by a rather unlikely person in the shape of an owner of an illegal distillery of the area who was courageous enough to step around the several other trip wires stretched nearby and pull away the heavily bleeding men. Admitted to hospital nearby, the doctors give the two injured but a slim chance of survival. Nevertheless, we believe that they are tough kisans, and true sons of the soil, and that they shall pull through.

Bombs, guns found at congress leader’s house

MALDA: Within 24 hours of the blast, the Police stumbled upon a large cache of fire arms and bombs, plus bomb-making materials from the houses of a clutch of Congress leaders in Maldah district. Acting on a tip-off, the Police raided the house of Sheikh Siraj, a Pradesh Congress muscleman, at Jadupur under Kaliachak PS.

They found two large-calibre ‘pipe guns’ (that fire the banned .319 calibre ammunition) and a large quantity of deadly ‘socket bombs’ that have the capacity to kill dozens each. Siraj and his two ‘worthy’ sons also history sheeters and Pradesh Congress loyalists were taken into custody.

Interrogating Siraj the Police found another useful lead. Acting on it, they raided the house of Azahar Ali, a Pradesh Congress leader and a strongman of the area of Bamangram at Kaliachak, who was then, caught making IUDs and bombs. More than a 100 bombs and IUDs were recovered as were 20-odd socket bombs. There is no doubt that these weapons of killing were prepared by the Pradesh Congress stalwarts for the forthcoming phases of the Lok Sabha elections in Bengal.

Left goes digital, scripts Nandigram, Singur stories to win back rural Bengal

Express News Service

Posted online: Mar 28, 2009 at 0445 hrs

Kolkata : Stung by the growing strength of Trinamool Congress in rural West Bengal as exhibited in the last year’s panchayat polls, the ruling CPI(M) is now banking on digital mediums to reach to its grassroots supporters.

The CPI(M) does not want to make the two episodes - the Nandigram and Singur debacles — its Achilles’ heel and hence it has created CDs to put across the party’s view on industrialisation to the voters. All the 26,000-odd party units throughout the state have been asked to show the audio-video CDs in their respective areas.

“The idea is still in a preliminary stage,” says CITU state president Shyamal Chakraborty, in-charge of producing these CDs, adding that the party will produce a full length film on the issue.
Another reason for adopting the modern mass communication tool is that the CPI(M) lacks crowd-pullers and stalwarts like Jyoti Basu, sources say.

So, the party’s election strategists have decided to take the help of modern equipment to attract voters, especially the young voters in rural Bengal. The party has already produced a CD comprising Basu’s speech which will be distributed after April 16. “More are coming. The party has planned to make CDs of the conflict areas in Bengal politics,” said a senior leader of the CPI(M).

On Friday, one of the CPI(M)-backed directors of a city theatre gave a sneak preview of the proposed film on Singur to a select group of CITU leaders. “First, we will see this and then it will be distributed among the supporters,” said CITU state secretary Kali Ghosh.

Sources in the CITU said the rushes contain details on the case of Suhrid Dutta, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of masterminding the gruesome murder of teenager Tapasi Malik. “The film will show how he was implicated in the case,” said a leader. “Suhrid Dutta’s case has tarnished the image of the party, so we have to react. We think this issue is still alive in the minds of the people,” he added.

MAMATA RALLIES BEHIND HER UTTERANCES AT NANDIGRAM

Nandigram,14th March: Mamata Banerjee accompanied by truck-and-jeep loads of strong arm ‘supporters’ descended on Nandigram on 14 March. The small field at Hazarakata where she chose to address her faithful was not even one-third full as very few of the local folks would venture out at the fearsome sight of the kind of people accompanying her. The Maoists looked crestfallen. Mamata said interesting things. A few gems of samplers amongst many follow.

- ‘There would no PCPIR allowed at Nayachar even if “Rakesh Roshan” [father of actor Hritik Roshan] again visits the moon:’ Mamata also, in this connection, related at some detail the discussion that “Rakesh Roshan” allegedly had with the late Indira Gandhi from the moon. [What she tried to refer to of course, and in her own unique way, was the name of Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma of the IAF who had accompanied a US space mission when Indira Gandhi was the PM].
- ‘Another reason why the PCPIR would never be allowed to come up is that chemicals damage the eye, and I have proof of this.’
- “Even as I speak, the CPM is firing at us, across from Khejuri, only the sound is not heard”
- ‘CPM shall be upturned’ [?] if ‘Muslims stop running after them’
- Here is my manifesto [showing a thick bound book], but I shall not show it to you [smiles] as I have not read it myself
- The NREGA programme of late has been made dysfunctional in Midnapore east [where most GPs are run by her outfit].

The list is long and confusing and her sayings go on and on and on until we see the smattering of the local people who had made a late appearance quietly do a discreet disappearing act. The corporate media stay on as we make good our exit.

CPI (M) WORKER ATTEMPTED TO BE BURNT ALIVE AT NANDIGRAM

NANDIGRAM: In a vicariously cruel incident, Trinamuli goons sought to set fire to Uttam Bera, local committee secretary of the Bhekutia unit of the CPI (M) at Nandigram alive, deep into the night of 1 March. In fortuitous circumstances, Uttam managed to escape what was a sure and terrible death awaiting him.

Uttam himself told us that he was alone in his one-and-a-half stories mathkotha mud hut on that fateful night, his wife having gone to her mother’s place with their only girl child. The roof of the mathkotha is an inevitable and traditional construct of thatched roofing material of dried straw and wooden chips to hold them together.

The arsonists would surreptitiously climb atop the roof as Uttam slept the deep slumber of a daily wage earner, and then quickly spread highly flammable spirits and kerosene plus petrol on the roof and on the wooden window sills. The whole ensemble burst into a ball of flame with a vicious hissing noise.

Uttam woke up with a start at the sudden change in temperature (nights are chilly yet in east Midnapore), and had the presence of mind, and the deep courage, to leap down to the ground floor by jumping though the fatal ring of fire that was his nearest window. He identified in the bright light, as his much-beloved self-fabricated house burnt to cinders, the Trinamuli goons who had come in their dozens and who could flee in the dark of the mid-night.

Uttam has been target for long, says CPI (M) leader of the district secretariat Ashok Guria for Uttam is a popular Party organiser. We recall with regret the series of murders the Trinamulis have committed in 2008 of CPI (M) workers at Nandigram since they won the rural polls in the district.

21 May 2008 Khalek Mullick

6 August 2008 Niranjan Mondol

7 August 2008 Dulal Garudas

Besides, Joydeb Paik of Sonachura was shot thrice on 5 August 2008 but he somehow managed to survive, although the wounds had left him half-a-man that he was as far as strength and stamina are concerned. Biman Basu, state secretary of the CPI (M) has castigated the attempted murder of Uttam Bera in strong language.

Elsewhere we learn that more than 300 CPI (M) workers and sympathisers have been driven from home and hearth of late by the right-left combination at Nandigram in the area of the Sonachura and Kalicharanpur Gram Panchayats in a shocking replay of the fateful weeks and months of 2007.

Trinamool bags Nandigram, CPI(M) and Congress retained Para and Sujapur

BENGAL LEFT FRONT RETAINS PARA SEAT WITH INCREASED MARGIN

BENGAL ELECTS THREE WOMEN MLA’S


Para in Purulia abutting the Bankura border registered a big win for CPI (M) and Left Front. Minati (‘Minu’) Bauri from a low-wage working class family ran away victorious over her nearest combined opposition representative candidate of the divisive Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) by a margin of 40, 787 votes (over 35, 275 of margin polled in the last elections of 2006) increasing the CPI (M) vote percentage as well from 52.60 to 55.10). The combined votes pooled together by the opposition went down from 55917 to 51843. The BJP and the Trinamul-supported PDS candidates saw their deposit forfeited. What was that, again, and loudly please, this time, about the ‘adivasis-leave-the-side-of-the-Bengal-CPI (M)’ cant heard raucously in the corporate media, especially of late?

A skilful Party organiser, and a person who ran with firm efficiency the Mangalda-Moutod GP as its Gram Panchayat Pradhan, Minu is also an enthusiastic leader and organiser of the local units of the DYFI. Young men and women were expectedly in the accepted kind of celebratory mood. They shouldered up the wining candidate who had a visibly worn, Red shawl wrapped with care around her shoulders, and as plentiful swathes of Red gulal were thrown in the hastily-swerving wintry air of the bright western Bengal afternoon, smoke-screening the rural locale, Lal salaams, and lusty victory cheers were heard-- in Santhali as well as in Bengali and Hindi.

As far as Nandigram, was concerned, Biman Basu, state secretary of the Bengal, had earlier noted that a sub-terrain terror ran through the entire constituency. He was subsequently proved correct as masses of voters were forced to vote for the Trinamuli candidate or were kept away from the polling stations-- through an exercise of brute might.

The Trinamuli goondas took full advantage of the unfortunate fact that nearly all the GPs are now, post-rural polls, under their onerous anti-social control of the worst kind of the Trinamul Congress. Biman Basu spoke about probing into every aspect of the polls for all three seats in the weeks and months to come. He was speaking from Kochi where he was in the midst of attending a central committee meeting of the CPI (M).

This brings us to the third seat in the fray – at Sujapore in Maldah. Here, the combined right-wing candidate, the daughter of the standing MLA whose demise had brought about the present election to the seat, retained the seat for the Pradesh Congress, and thus maintained the family’s hold over the seat. Earlier, the seat had been held by the deceased MLAs’ brother and one-time central government minister A B A Ghani Khan Chaudhury.

About the results Left Front Chairman Biman Basu (now in Kochi) to call for “introspection and learning.” Mr. Biman Basu said the party would seriously review the Nandigram poll outcome. Mr. Basu, who is also a member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau, said the party would go deep into the results to see whether there were any organisational lapses or whether the Left Front failed to counter the electoral tactics of its rivals. He alleged that the Trinamool unleashed a rein of terror in Nandigram and that people were not able to cast their votes without fear.

Nandigram by-poll held under Trinamool terror: BIMAN BASU

Kolkata, 6th January, 2009: West Bengal's ruling Left Front chairman Biman Basu on Tuesday said the by-election in troubled Nandigram constituency was marred by opposition Trinamool Congress threats to voters.

"Apparently everything was very peaceful in Nandigram during the assembly by-poll Monday. But the Trinamool Congress activists threatened innocent villagers of dire consequence and asked them not to cast their vote in the by-poll," Basu told a press conference here.

Nandigram, around 150 km from here, saw prolonged blood letting over land acquisition for a proposed chemical hub project in 2007. Basu said: "Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) polling agents could not reach five polling booths - 141, 146, 139, 151 and 170 - as they were threatened by Trinamool Congress activists. Later with the help of the police and district administration they could enter those polling stations."

According to state Election Commission officials, more than 81 percent of votes were cast in East Midnapore's Nandigram assembly by-election. Police said there was no report of violence or untoward incident during the peaceful election process.

"Trinamool Congress activists also beat up villagers at Sonachura and Kalicharanpur locality and tore off their Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC)," Basu claimed. He said more than 1,000 people could not cast their vote in the by-poll in Nandigram. "The election was not conducted in a fairly manner almost in 53 polling booths," he alleged.

Trinamool unleashing silent terror, says CPI(M) local leaders

Nandigram, 6th January: The CPI(M) has accused the Trinamool of unleashing ‘silent terror’ among villagers in Nandigram. The party also admitted that they have little chance of winning the by-elections.

“How can we win the election in this situation? More than 3,000 of our supporters were not allowed to come out of their houses. Many were driven out of Nandigram,” said CPI(M) zonal secreatry of Nandigram Ashok Bera.

The CPI candidate for Nandigram, Paramananda Bharati alleged that their supporters were beaten up in Reyapara and Sonachura area and four of them had to be hospitalised. “Armed miscreants, supported by Trinamool, went from door-to-door in many areas and attacked our supporters. They were not allowed to cast their votes. Had they voted, the result would have been in our favour,” Bharati said.

CPI(M) leaders claimed that they have approached the Election Commission and the police with hundreds of such complaints on Monday, but no action has been taken yet. The CPI(M) also failed to post their polling agents at nearly 60 booths. At various booths in Jalpai, Hazrakata, Kendamari, Sonachura, Kalicharanpur, even CPI(M) cadres were absent. Booth camps were also not erected at many places.

“We could not put up the camps nor post our agents. Our cadres are afraid and no one wants to be posted at the booths,” said Harun-al-Rashid, CPI(M) former Gram Panchayet Upo-Pradhan of Jalpai. “At booth numbers 168 to 173, our supporters were not allowed to come out of their homes. At other booths, Trinamnool supporters snatched the voter-identity cards from our supporters,” said Bera. “ We have told the administration regarding this,” he added.

The Trinamool, however, alleged that the CPI(M) attempted to terrorise villagers. “CPM cadres have attacked and injured four of our supporters at Reyapara and assaulted many others at different places,” Trinamool leader and MLA from Contai (South) Suvendu Adhikari said. “They, however, could not muffle the voice of the people and now at the face of defeat they are making absurd allegations,” he added. Trinamool candidate Firoza Bibi said: “The Opposition tried to create disturbance but they could not do it due to the presence of the police. We will surely win the elections.”

Unmatched security cover marks Nandigram by-poll

Nandigram, 4 th January, 2009 : An unprecedented security cover has been thrown across politically sensitive Nandigram with 15,000 Central forces deployed to man just 176 polling booths ahead of the assembly by-poll on Monday.

District magistrate (DM) and returning officer Choten Dhudup Lama said seven companies (each company of 1,000) of the Border Security Force and eight of the Central Reserve Police Force have been deployed in Nandigram I and Nandigram II blocks, which translated into 85 Central force personnel per booth.

Besides, 2,000 policemen have also been deployed, she said, adding that all the 176 booths in the area were declared sensitive. Central forces and police were maintaining logs of all vehicles plying in the area and interrogating drivers. Central forces were deployed in all the rural market areas.

“All our arrangements are complete and we expect free and fair polls. We will allow nobody other than polling agents and voters inside the booths,” Lama said. She said as all the booths have been declared sensitive, the polling process in all of them will be recorded on camera. Each booth would have a micro observer and six senior observers would monitor them. The DM would personally supervise the polling process.

The by-poll has been necessitated by the resignation of the Communist Party of India (CPI) member of legislative assembly Muhammad Ilyas following a sting operation exposing his alleged involvement in a corruption case.

The by-poll, scheduled for 30 December but postponed due to security considerations, will decide the fate of six contestants. The main contenders are Parmananda Bharati of the CPI and Firoza Bibi of the Trinamool Congress.

Central forces for Nandigram by-elections

Kolkata, 2 January, 2009: Around 15 companies of central forces are being sent to Nandigram for the Assembly by-elections to be held on January 5, according to West Bengal Chief Secretary Ardhendu Sen.

Mr. Sen, who took over from Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, told reporters at the Secretariat that of these, seven would be from the Border Security Force and the rest from the Central Reserve Police Force. The Director-General of Police as well the Chief Election Officer held meetings with local officials in Nandigram on Friday.

Inspector-General (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said there would be armed police in every booth and high-range security measures would be put in place, but did not elaborate. The West Bengal government had asked the Centre to send 20 companies of central forces for three by-elections including Nandigram.

Nandigram by-polls deferred for security reasons

KOLKATA, 22nd December, 2008: By-elections in West Bengal’s Nandigram and Sujapur assembly constituencies scheduled for December 27 have been deferred for security reasons and will be held on January 5, 2009.

“The decision has been taken by the Election Commission with the purpose of ensuring an adequate deployment of security forces there on the date of polling, ” the Chief Electoral Officer, Debashis Sen, told mediapersons on Monday.

Nandigram is considered a sensitive constituency given its recent turbulent past. The area has been in the spot-light ever since the start of eleven months of intermittent violence in 2007 between supporters of the Left parties and those of the Trinamool Congress-led Bhoomi Ucched Pratirodh (Resistance against Eviction for Land) Committee even after the State Government had called off its plans to set up a chemical hub in the face of protests over land acquisition from a section of the local population.

Video coverage

Considering its recent history the Election Commission has decided that the entire polling process will be video-graphed. “The entire elections will be recorded as Nandigram is considered a very sensitive constituency and in view of the fears expressed from various quarters of irregularities during voting,” Mr. Sen said.

In an unprecedented move, video cameras are to be installed in each of the 226 booths where polling will take place. “We are putting in place extreme steps to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling and companies of the Central Police Force will be deployed there,” Mr. Sen said.

The Deputy Election Commissioner, R. Balakrishnan, reviewed the election preparations there on Sunday. “Specially trained micro-observers hand-picked by the central observer will be present in each of the booths.”

The concept of having such micro-observers during elections was put into practice for the first time recently during Assembly polls in some States “but this is the first time they will be on stationary duty in all booths,” he added.

Ex-CPI MLA found guilty of taking bribe

KOLKATA, 26 Nov, 2008: An Assembly committee has found former CPI legislator Sheikh Illias Mahammad guilty of accepting money from the representatives of a fake NGO. The report was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday by committee chairman Gyan Singh Sohanpal.

"The committee is of the view that there is reason to believe that the member had accepted money/bundle of notes from the reporters of NE Bangla channel, posing as representatives of an NGO," the report said.

Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim, however, said since Mahammad had already resigned as an MLA, there was nothing more the House could do. Following the sting operation by the TV channel, Trinamool Congress moved a motion of breach of privilege and contempt of the House against Mahammad, the MLA from Nandigram.

He was shown accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a reporter posing as an NGO worker. Mahammad was also shown issuing a certificate to the NGO.

PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT is the NEED OF THE HOUR: BIMAN BASU

Biman Basu, secretary of the Bengal unit of the CPI (M) spoke to People’s Democracy on the recent developments at Singur and Nandigram. At both places, disruptionist elements of the reactionary right and the sectarian left are determined to stop the process of development through murder, mayhem and worse.

PD: Bimanda, CPI (M) workers are being killed at Nandigram, mayhem is being carried out there, and in the meanwhile, the Singur motor vehicles factory has come under fire from a section of the Bengal opposition who demand that 400 acres of acquired land should be returned to ‘rightful owners?’ How would you react to all this?

Biman Basu: As I was telling you just now, the need of the hour is not strife, not attack and counter-attack, slandering and mayhem, harassment of the people and disruption of development. Without peace and amity, no development work, especially pro-people development work can take place.

Allow me to give you a few other instances of larger dimensions but of similar nature. When the Sino-Indian border dispute took place in 1962 over the identification of the border, the eponymous ‘McMahon Line,’ what was it that the Communist Party did? It spoke strongly in favour of negotiations between China and India, between the Chinese government and the Congress-led Indian government. Although for saying this, the Communist Party leaders were promptly put behind bars.

We shall give the example also of the fratricidal, almost religious war in Lebanon where Beirut was rendered into a bombed, ruined city. There, too, negotiations took place and the issue was sought to be, and finally was, then settled amicably. Similarly, one could tackle the bleeding Kashmir and its unique problem – through peaceful negotiations, as we say, ‘across the table.’ What prevents a dialogue taking place on the Singur and the Nandigram issues?

On the question of return of the land, Nirupam, our Industries minister has already said how difficult it is to gather together scattered parcels of land and then find the owners, and then organise a fresh compensation – the task is an improbable one, without rhyme or reason the demand is being made for motivated reasons.

An industry is being set up at Singur. A motor vehicles factory is coming up, 85 per cent and more work has been completed. The factory will generate a lot of employment. The solution to the violence impasse started anew is a dialogue, dialogue with the state government with a free and open mind.

The opposition especially the Trinamul Congress has won many seats at Singur at the gram panchayat and panchayat samity level. It devolves on them to ensure that the wheel of development does not slowly stop. The onus is on them, the opportunity is for them to serve the people in a constructive manner. And this is not done by making demands that are unreal and impractical.

PD: What would you say about the Nandigram killings, Bimanda? CPI (M) leaders, workers, and supporters are murdered in a series of attacks of late.

BB: Well, I would still hold that peace and development go hand-in-hand. I denounce the killings strongly – there are no words strong enough to express my condemnation. I despise politics of individual assassination and yet, I appeal to the party and the persons concerned at Nandigram who are responsible for these inhuman acts, to desist from the initiative that encourages the poor to kill the poor.

Anti-social elements are brought in, under the protection and patronage of the Trinamul Congress and the Maoists and our men killed, injured, wounded, harassed, driven away, and Party offices as well residences (hutments and little else) are burnt to cinder. This must be stopped.

Trinamul Congress controls the zillah parishad. The people have voted them in there. Are they not responsible for carrying forward the amicability of the earlier months during the end of the last year and the beginning of the New Year in the run up to the rural polls?

PEACE IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR

We need peace, we need amicable environment, we need responsible behaviour from the opposition, and we want dialogue to be scheduled or multi-partite, at Nandigram and at Singur. Peace should prevail over everything.

I hear that the Trinamul Congress leadership has called for a dialogue with the entrepreneurs building the motor vehicles project at Singur. Would it not have been better had they spoken to the state Left Front government first? Our Industries minister has already called for such a dialogue.

KILLINGS CONTINUE

In the meanwhile, the killing goes on at Nandigram, and elsewhere, too. In a barbaric assault in the afternoon of August 6, a combination of marauders belonging to the Trinamul Congress and the Maoists ambushed and killed comrade Niranjan Mondal, secretary of the local committee of the Rajaramchawk unit of the CPI(M). Comrade Niranjan was also a primary teacher in a school near to his place of residence.

A few hours earlier to the dastardly murder, Joydeb Paik, local committee secretary of the Sonachura unit of the CPI(M) was shot and left severely injured in his own residence. He is battling for life at a local hospital. Bengal chief minister has convened on August 8, an all-party meeting on the Nandigram violence towards establishment of peace there. There are lingering doubts as to the participation of the main opposition party in Bengal, the Trinamul Congress at that meeting for they have boycotted all such meetings in the past, recent and otherwise.

When a procession of the CPI(M) was proceeding along a narrow village path at a place near Adhikaripara, Trinamul Congress assassins attacked with guns and sharp weapons. In the assault that followed, a CPI(M) supporter, comrade Dulal Garudas was shot and killed. The houses of two CPI (M) workers, Badal Mondal and Anup Mondal were set on fire and burnt to the ground. The 24-hour bandh that Nandigram witnessed at the call of the CPI(M) was a complete success, proving the alienation of the Trinamul Congress, the SUCI, and the Maoists from the toiling masses.

At Midnapore west, at Lalgarh, the scene of many crimes committed against the CPI(M) by Maoists and their lackeys, a daily wage earner belonging to the poorest of the poor and a brave CPI(M) worker, comrade Fakir Karanga was shot repeatedly on head and chest in the Dharampur area on August 7. He was left dead in a bleeding heap – ‘revolution accomplished’ - the ‘stalwart’ killers then took off their chappals and ran away as fast as they could, shooting back occasionally at the villagers who had by then come rushing out and were on a hot chase.

The Maoists disappeared beyond the border and into a forest patch of a neighbouring state. They had been guided all the way by local units of the Jharkhandi party.

B. PRASANT

07.08.08