Tension Mounts In Battleground Nandigram

Joydeep Sen Gupta

Nandigram

Panchayat polls in West Bengal are just three days away and tension is mounting at the battleground of Nandigram in east Midnapore district. Several people have been injured in clashes between the ruling CPM and the Trinamul Congress anti-SEZ supporters.

With leaders like Mamata Banerjee scheduled to campaign on Thursday, the administration is on alert to prevent further clashes.

Dozens of injured villagers have been admitted to Nandigram hospital following clashes in which they claim the aggressors were armed CPM cadres.

''We are being threatened by the CPM supporters. They have warned us that if we lose in the panchayat polls, nobody will survive. They are only capable of butchering people,'' said Arijit Jana, anti-SEZ supporter.

''Terror unleashed by CPM is incredible. They are creating all sorts of problems for us to prevent us from voting,'' said Radhakanta Sinha, husband of a Panchayat candidate.

Allegations are flying thick and fast between the CPM and the anti-SEZ, who are going to electoral battle on Sunday for 52 Zilla Parishad seats in East Midnapore district.

Last time, the Left had won 50 seats. The CPM claims the Trinamul supporters are crying foul of losing whatever little support they had.

''By force they captured the entire area. But now there is resistance and so they are crying. Also people are deserting BUPC or the Trinamul Congress. So they have become furious,'' said Shyamal Chakraborty, CPM MP.

The Home Secretary and the Director General of Police visited Nandigram on Tuesday to oversee poll arrangements. But the tension in Nandigram is palpable and is likely to escalate in the coming days.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080049210

Bengali Woman Stripped, Beaten and Chased by CPI(M) Activists

Nandigram On Boil Again

Saugar Sengupta Kolkata

The fierce turf war between the CPI(M) and the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) in the run-up to the crucial panchayat elections saw a woman being beaten, stripped and chased almost a km by CPI(M) activists on Monday, a replay of the shameful Guwahati incident last year. West Bengal PCC president PR Dasmunsi, meanwhile, has sought postponement of the May 11 elections in Nandigram in view of the continuing violence.

On Tuesday, two more BUPC women claimed to have met a similar fate for refusing to support the CPI(M). Minati Das, Kshama Das and Sandhya Das (all names changed) of Simulkundu village also alleged that the Nandigram police refused to lodge a complaint in this regard. But according to PTI, the State Government has ordered a CID probe into the incident.

The women alleged that hordes of CPI(M) cadre, led by local leader Mamata Das, were trying to force their menfolk into joining the CPI(M) processions. "When they refused, they were dragged out. When we protested, the CPI(M) cadre started beating and stripping us. We ran nearly a km with only tatters on us," they claimed.

A BUPC delegation later demanded immediate transfer of Nandigram officer in-charge Debashis Chakrabarty. However, East Midnapore SP S Panda said he had no information on the issue.

The CPI(M) denied the allegations, saying the party cadre were being framed to tarnish the Left Front's image and stall the election process.

CPI (M)'s East Midnapore district secretary AK Guria alleged that one of his comrades, Sheikh Javed, was shot at by the "rivals" which made the women flee in panic. "In the melee, some of them might have received injuries," he maintained. Meanwhile, a group of 25 BUPC candidates from Nandigram met the State Election Commissioner and asked him to provide adequate security for holding free and fair elections.

Meanwhile, PCC president PR Dasmunsi has written to Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, State Election Commissioner AK Gupta and the Union Home Secretary for postponing the May 11 panchayat elections in Nandigram in view of the violence there. He has warned that any move to "force" the election on people would deteriorate the situation.

With CPI(M) activists allegedly attacking BUPC workers for "daring" to contest the elections, the situation is worsening by the day. Earlier, in an apparent bid to woo Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the PCC president had requested the party supporters to vote for the firebrand leader's party at places where the Congress has not put up candidates.

Meanwhile, the State Government on Tuesday changed its proposal to remove police camps from Nandigram. State Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarty said no police camp would be removed. The Government was thinking in terms of deploying paramilitary personnel in the two Midnapores to conduct the polls, he added. "While the Nandigram officer in-charge would not be removed, the Government has decided to depute the Haldia SDPO in Nandigram to oversee the law and order situation," Chakrabarty said.

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CPI(M) recaptures area in Nandigram before panchayat poll

Nandigram (PTI): In a re-enactment of recapture of Nandigram in November last year, armed CPI(M) cadres on Monday took control of a stronghold of an opposition Trinamool Congress-backed outfit, spearheading an agitation against acquisition of farmland, ahead of next Sunday's panchayat poll.

East Midnapore district superintendent of police S Panda said Roynagar, Jambari and Simalkunda areas in Satengabari village witnessed violence with guns and bombs being used.
He, however, declined to identify the attackers.

The TC-supported Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee members said armed CPI(M) cadres on motorcycles hurled bombs and opened fire at Satengabari before capturing it, forcing 3,000 BUPC supporters to flee their homes.

After the recapture, the CPI(M) cadres attacked a relief camp where 300 BUPC members were sheltered at Maheshpur, they said.

Five BUPC supporters were missing after the attack, they alleged.

CPI(M) district secretariat member Ashok Guria admitted his partymen had carried out an operation but claimed it was to rescue three CPI(M) men.

He claimed a CPI(M) cadre was shot by BUPC activists and four others were injured. "They (BUPC) opened fire and our men retaliated."

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200805051968.htm

Clashes continue in Nandigram

Statesman News Service

NANDIGRAM:

Amidst the visit of a team of intellectuals to Nandigram, clashes continued today at several villages leaving several persons injured, including two Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) members who were shot at. A few houses of BUPC supporters at Gokulnagar,

Simulkundu, Sonachura, Kalicharanpur Kanungochawk and Adhikaripara were also vandalised by armed goons alleged to be CPI-M cadres at 12.30 p.m. today.

The injured people could not be brought to hospital immediately as the attackers kept the villages encircled for a few hours. Threats from CPI-M cadres have compelled many rival supporters to flee their houses and they have taken shelter in make-shift camps set up at Nandigram and other areas.

BUPC leaders alleged that the Nandigram police had taken a partisan role during today's incidents. Even, the CRPF jawans were prevented from taking action by the Nandigram OC, the leaders charged.

According to the locals who have taken shelter at Nandigram, a group of CPI-M cadres along with some outsiders sneaked into Sonachura village from Khejuri side, then started firing indiscriminately and hurling bombs.

When they attacked Maitypara, two villagers in a field were shot and injured. But none of the villagers dared to come to their aid and so they were left unattended there for hours.

Another group of CPI-M workers unleashed a reign of terror in the nearby villages of Gokulnagar, Simulkundu, Adhikaripara and Kanungochawk, BUPC leaders alleged.

The CPI-M’s district secretariat member Mr Ashok Guria countered with the allegation that Trinamul Congress workers attacked local party leader Mr Phani Jana at Balarampur last night. "They fired two rounds at him and later beat him up. Many of our supporters in Rainagar and Balarampur areas have fled from their houses and taken shelter at Boya," he said. The district superintendent of police Mr SS Panda meanwhile disparaged media reports of violence in the area, saying the situation is as serious as is being described.

"I have no reports that two people were shot at. The police are frequently patrolling the areas and the situation is under control," he said.

Meanwhile, members of the Forum of Artistes, Cultural Activists and Intellectuals and Swajan headed by artist Subhaprasanna, poet Tarun Sanyal and playwright Saoli Mitra met the Nandigram BDO Mr Santiram Ghorai and submitted a memorandum expressing concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Nandigram ahead of the panchayat polls. They also submitted a memorandum to the CRPF authorities in Nandigram. They demanded a peaceful poll and security for the common people in Nandigram.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=202444

West Bengal followed China in Singur, Nandigram

Recent incidents of state oppression in China prove that West Bengal government adopted the Chinese methodology to curb the peasants' revolt against acquisition of land in Singur and Nandigram.

by Sagarika Roy

THERE IS a proverb – the Indian communists seek for an umbrella when it rains in Moscow or Beijing. China has transformed. Maoism has been shelved inside closets. Communism as a whole has been trailing behind across the world after it got a severe jolt in the Soviet Union in the early nineties.

Still, communists in India, particularly in West Bengal seem not to deviate from their big brothers’ path. The Left Front government has been in power in the state for the last 30 years. The steps being taken by it in acquiring land for industry and commercial purposes by evicting thousands of farmers from their lands, appear to have taken a cue from recent Chinese formula of evicting peasants for land acquisition. This has been well expressed in Singur and Nandigram.

In 2003, the government of Sanjiao town in Zhongshan province requisitioned a plot of land measuring more than 200 hectares of Panlong village for industrial development. Local people, though unwillingly, gave consent to the proposal. The town government provided compensation for land acquisition along with crop compensation to local villagers. The land was requisitioned in favour of a Hong Kong based business company to build factories at the price of 1,10,000 yuan per ’mu’. This was not disclosed as the villagers got compensated at a much lower rate – only a few thousands yuan per mu. Since the land was taken away, no effort for developing the land was taken. The peasants were promised employment in a proposed factory but even after three years, they did not get it because there was no response from the government or the business house for setting up the factory.

On January 10, 2006, thousands of villagers from Panlong village of Sanjiao town assembled at the office of the government. They claimed that it has cheated them in two ways . First, they have been given low compensation considering the rate at which the government sold the land to the business house. Second, they have not been provided any job as promised.

The second phase of the movement started on January 14 when they assembled at Nansan Road. A force of 2,000 policemen tried to break the blockade when some instigators threw bricks, stones and homemade bombs on police officers. Two police officers and three villagers were injured. In order to restore normal traffic and prevent the incident from escalating, the police arrested 25 suspected troublemakers. Four instigators were given a 15-day detention for disrupting traffic and the rest were discharged. The villagers claimed that police beat them at random, used weapons and a minor girl died in the attack. The government, however, refuted all allegations and said police was peaceful.

Afterwards, concerned departments of Zhongshan city and the Sanjiao town government responded actively to the reasonable demands of the petitioner villagers, meticulously persuaded and explained to them, and properly handled the problem.

Sanjiao town is an economically underdeveloped area in Zongshan, which is a commercial city in Guandong province of South China. Its proximity to Hong Kong has added advantage to its economic development, specially for the manufacturing industries. The city considers its eastern part, as a focus of development and to re-organise the fragmented industrialisation. However, the light and labour intensive industry imposes problem because of shortage of land in Zhongshan.

China’s growing economy is fuelling social tension. It is claimed that in Dongzhou, police shot a group of protestors against land seizures and 30 residents died in the shooting. The government refuted and admitted that only three died in the incident.

Recently, a wave of frequent, serious incidents linked to the problem took place in Guangdong too, only a few months before the initiation of the movement against land acquisition at Singur, followed by Nandigram in West Bengal. Both localities were under state government scanner for providing land to Tata Motors for manufacturing cars and an Indonesian Group for establishing a chemical Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

At Singur, the land requisitioned amounts to 1,000 acres where the state government tried to acquire 19,000 acres at Nandigram in East Medinipur without having any consent from local villagers. Both the areas became unstable and the government was shaken as opposition came from within the Left Front partners.

More particularly, Nandigram took the shape of a war zone as protests came from the residents of 38 villages. Several people died in police action and inter-party fights as well. The state government had to bid adieu to the proposed plots and announced that no land would be taken in Nandigram. However, at Singur, the opposition could not survive finally.

The incidents in China and in West Bengal have much resonance. The issue is same and in both places communist governments are in action. Both the governments are shifting to a new era with changed ideologies. Both the governments are sailing the same plank and their actions corroborate each other.

http://world.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=133306

Fear still reigns in Nandigram

Biswabrata Goswami

SONACHURA, April 23: In Nandigram’s villages, people still live in fear of the CPI-M and police. Opposition candidates who have filed their nomination papers for the forthcoming panchayat poll fear they may have to cancel their candidature should the pressure become unbearable.
Mr Sheikh Alam, a Trinamul leader, said: “It is not the CPI-M that we fear but the support it enjoys from police. Most of the attacks on villagers here took place in the presence of policemen. Given the deteriorating situation, we might withdraw our candidature at the last minute. We have intimated this to the local SDO.”

An aged woman draped in a saree slammed shut the window of her mud house when this correspondent asked for a reaction on the political scene in her home ~ Sonachura village, Nandigram. Others, who were nervously peeping out of their houses, did the same. A middle-aged man came out of his house and whispered, “Please don’t stay here for long. They will beat us and torture our women if they see us talking to outsiders. Even you may be attacked.”

In the Nandigram-I block of Midnapore East, “they” are CPI-M cadres. A few days before “normalcy” returned to these villages following the CPI-M’s bloody recapture of Nandigram in early November last year, the political scene was quite different from what it is now. The entire area was a stronghold of the Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Committee (BUPC). But after re-establishing their political dominance, the CPI-M is now desperately trying to hold on to these villagers by following a three-pronged strategy.

First, they chalked out plans to win the villagers’ faith by implementing various Central development schemes. They allocated huge funds for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and various health schemes through panchayats.

Secondly, they worked insidiously to break the Opposition’s unity. Foreseeing a split in the BUPC over selection of candidates for the forthcoming panchayat poll, they filed the nomination of a Trinamul Congress leader in Nandigram I panchayat samity, Mr Ranjan Patra, as an independent candidate backed by the Left Front. The CPI-M leadership here tactfully nominated many new candidates who are mostly members of anti-Left Front families in those areas to cut a large piece out of the Opposition’s vote-bank.

Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee has decided to keep both the BJP and the Congress at a distance during the panchayat polls. As most anti-Left parties are also members of the BUPC, there are rifts in the Opposition; many Opposition candidates have filed nominations as independents, which has helped the CPI-M to penetrate into Nandigram’s villages.
Thirdly, the CPI-M is unleashing “silent” terror among supporters of the Opposition. They have planned to enlist the help of local police to arrest prominent Opposition workers and leaders in connection with old cases ahead of the polls.

The CPI-M has been successfully able to unite its partners and solve seat-sharing disputes. Of 115-gram panchayat seats in Nandigram, the CPI-M has fielded 75 candidates, the CPI has fielded 33, the RSP three, the FB two and the SP has fielded two candidates. Of 27 panchayat samity seats, the CPI-M has filed nominations in 21, the CPI in five and the RSP in one, while in the two Zilla Parishad seats, the CPI-M and the CPI have fielded one candidate each.

Although the CPI-M-sponsored terror in Nandigram had united the Opposition and the CPI-M lost heavily in school committee elections, the Opposition will not be able to retain their influence unless they can retain their unity in the panchayat poll.

CPM likely to bag 4,000 seats without contest

Express news service
Posted online: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 01:33:23

kolkata, April 22 The ruling CPM is likely to manage victory without a contest in nearly 4,000 gram panchayat seats in the first phase of panchayat elections. Like last year, the trend is being seen in Hooghly and West Midnapore districts on a large scale.

Hridesh Mohan, the election observer in Hooghly, told the State Election Commission on Tuesday that a large number of Opposition candidates have withdrawn their nominations and the trend is continuing.

S N Roychowdhury, Secretary of the SEC, said: “We are unable to get a clear picture for the number of seats where there won’t be any contest. But we expect the number to be less than last polls.”

Sources in the SEC said after the final figure comes, the number of uncontested seats would exceed 4,000. The number was 11,000 last time. The trend is seen in Goghat, Khanakul, Jangipara, Arambag in Hooghly district and in some blocks of West Midnapore. “There were no elections in these areas last time. We think the trend will continue. Because we are getting information of large-scale withdrawals from Hooghly,” said Roychowdhury.

Meanwhile, Opposition TMC alleged that the CPM is forcing its candidates to withdraw nominations at gunpoint.

“The district administration and the police are turning a deaf ear to our pleas for help,” said Partho Chatterjee, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly.

Roychowdhury said: “The Commission cannot force someone to file or withdraw nominations. Our observers talked to individual candidates who said they were withdrawing papers willingly. We have got complaints. But none of them are so specific that we can ask the police to intervene.”

Till last reports came in, a total of 1,25,118 candidates had filed their nominations for 41,513 gram panchayat seats. For 8,798 panchayat samity seats, 26,917 candidates will contest and for 748 zila parishad seats, 3,703 candidates filed their nominations.

For further protection to candidates in some parts, the SEC claimed to have made arrangements at the SDO office instead of Block offices for filing nominations in Hooghly and West Midnapore. “But this seemed to have no effect as there are so many withdrawals,” said an official of the SEC.

The SEC needs 3,25,000 personnel for the polls. This time, it will not recruit schoolteachers and women.