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West Bengal : Nandigram continues to burn

	December 10, 2007

The Nandigram cauldron continues to simmer with the recovery of five half-burnt bodies from graves in Khejuri’s Bamanchak village on December 5. There is suspicion that bodies were of the victims killed during the violence between CPI(M) cadres and followers of the Bhoomi Uchched Pratirodh Committee which has been fighting land acquisition in the area. Both sides are claiming that the bodies are of their supporters, though they have not been identified so far.



“We had a tip off that five bodies were buried at the spot. We along with a team of CRPF and CBI went there and found the bodies,” said Midnapore (East) SP S S Panda.



The SP was not sure about the identity of the bodies. “Five people died while making bombs on October 28. These might be their bodies or it might be the bodies of those killed in distur¬bances on November 6,” Panda said.



It’s learnt that a CRPF patrol stumbled upon a makeshift grave under a pile of wood ash. They spotted five charred and decomposed bodies in the grave.



The grisly find led to a fresh war of words between the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress which had backed the Bhoomi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) in its fight against the government and CPI(M) over land acquisition.







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Nandigram, a mistake : Buddha admits



After defending the CPI (M)’s violent recapture of Nandigram for the past several weeks, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday, Dec. 4, went into the regret mode. Conceding that Nandigram was an “administrative and political” failure, he said the happenings had taught the state government a few lessons.



“We have to ensure that Nandigram does not repeat itself. We have learnt lessons from Nandigram that we have to take people into confidence before embarking on any adventurous venture. It is true that we have failed in Nandigram. It was an administra¬tive and political failure,” the Chief Minister told reporters in New Delhi.



The Chief Minister, who received some verbal caning from Left fellow travellers and his rivals over his unwholesome remarks - “they (CPI(M)’s political rivals) have been paid back in the same coin” - admitted that his statement was uncalled for. “I should not have said that. I want peace for all,” he said. Bhattacharjee also tried to make amends for his party’s attack on Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi for criticising the action in Nandigram by describing him as a “nice person.” The Governor had termed the events in Nandigram as “unlawful”.



Observers say the Chief Minister has apparently come a long way from his defence of his party workers in Nandigram in the face of protests against his party from outside and within the Left Front as well. Acknowledging differences with the allies, Bhattacharjee expressed the hope that it would be sorted out. “It’s not like the UPA. The Left Front has a long history,” he said.



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Allies not sure of CPI(M) sincerity



The allies of the CPI(M) in the ruling Left Front in West Bengal have welcomed the Chief Minister’s admission of adminis¬trative and political failure in Nandigram, but are keeping their fingers crossed on whether the CPI(M) would chart a new course while pursuing the drive for industrialisation. State CPI secretary M.K. Majumdar said, “We do not know how sincere his admission is, but we welcome it.”



Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh said the course of the state’s development cannot be decided by the CPI(M) alone. He said it is good in politics to admit follies, but was not sure if “they have really learnt the lesson.”



The RSP said that there should be no hasty step on the Nayachar Chemical Hub which had been originally planned in Nandi¬gram.



Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who was in New Delhi last week, launched a fresh attack on the CPI(M) led Left Front government in West Bengal and on the Centre. She said that political compulsion does not mean that one continues to harbour atrocities on the minorities and the public in general and do nothing to provide them justice. Referring to what she called “atrocities on the people of Nandigram,” Mamata Banerjee called upon the Centre to intervene and restore normalcy at ground zero.



Mamata Banerjee put in an appearance in the Lok Sabha on Dec. 5 and sought to raise the Nandigram issue amidst protests from CPI(M) members. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee told Mamata Banerjee that she could raise the issue provided proper notice had been given. The House was adjourned for half an hour be¬cause of a verbal duel between the Trinamul Congress leader and CPI(M) members.



Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was in the national capital to attend the CPI(M) politburo meeting, also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and briefed him about the Nandigram situation, among other matters.





Do not equate Left with communal forces : Karat



CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said that intel¬lectuals who compared the Nandigram incidents in West Bengal to Gujarat under Narendra Modi, do not understand the meaning of fascism. Speaking in Kolkata on Dec. 6, he called such attempts as nefarious.



Karat said that the ‘face of fascism’ was visible in Gujar¬at between 1992 and 2002 when ‘communal mobilisation led to helpless people being targeted and massacred only for the selfish pursuit of power.’



The CPI(M) general secretary was speaking at a discussion organised by the Sports and Youth Welfare department of the State government, on the relevance of December 6, the day the Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya 15 years ago.



“We should not allow any political party to use religion for political mobilisation or use religious issues to intrude into the secular space of the country,” Karat said.



Accusing the Congress government at the Centre of ‘inaction’ when the Babri Masjid was demolished, Karat said that while the ‘culpability’ for the incident lay primarily with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindutva forces, the Narasimha Rao government was “also culpable and complicit in letting this dark, dastardly thing happen.”





Governor calls for punishment to Nandigram culprits



Even as the CPI(M) continues to rage against the judiciary for its intervention in the Nandigram issue, West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi said the State Government should honour the High Court’s directions and punish the wrong-doers.



Gandhi, who visited the violence-hit village on Sunday, Dec. 2, empathised with the victimised people. “It will take time for the trauma of people to subside... Normalcy is returning, but not an easy process,” said Gandhi.



A team of the National Commission of Minorities that visited Nandigram has come down heavily on the State Government. The Commission had said that it found “serious incidents of molesta¬tion of women and rape of minor girls” in Nandigram. The Commis¬sion also said that it was a pre-planned attack on the people of the village, executed with the connivance of the State Govern¬ment.





BJP, Left pinpricks lead to deferment of legislation



With the BJP not agreeing to the passage of two Constitution Amendment Bills relating to Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, the Government was forced to refer the Bill to a Parliamentary Stand¬ing Committee. The decision came on Dec. 4 after leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani conveyed to the UPA Government as well as West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee that the BJP was opposed to Parliament passing the Bills in a hurry. The Bills were aimed at granting autonomous status to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.



The Government had pressed for early passage of the Bills because of fears that any delay might lead to deterioration in the law and order situation in Darjeeling.



In a bid to persuade the BJP to agree to the passage of the Bills granting sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had met senior BJP leader L.K. Advani at his residence on Dec. 3. But Advani said that he was most upset by the manner in which the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha since it was not listed in the main business or the revive business for the day, and was introduced as supplementary business on Friday, Nov. 30.





Government forced to withdraw Puducherry Medical Institute Bill



Backtracking on the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Bill was not the only embarrassment suffered by the Manmohan Singh Govern¬ment last week. On Wednesday, Dec. 5, the BJP and the Left teamed up to force Health Minister Ramadoss to withdraw the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute Medical Education and Research, Puducherry Bill, 2007. Brinda Karat of the CPI(M) pressed for an amendment to be introduced in the Bill to ensure that the exist¬ing fee structure will not be altered.



The Bill sought to turn the Institute into an institution of national excellence on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and the Post Graduate Institute (PGI), Chandigarh.



On another Bill, the Unorganised Sector Workers’ Social Security Bill also, the Left appears to have got its way. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour has suggested large scale changes and additions in the exiting Bill. This would require the Government to return to the drawing board.



The committee expressed displeasure over the fact that the government ignored the National Commission on Enterprises on Unorganised Sector recommendations for two separate legislations - one for the agricultural sector workers and the other for non-agricultural workers. The Bill was introduced in the Monsoon Session amidst protests from the Left. Both the CPI(M) and the CPI had conveyed strong reservations on the legislation to the Congress-led UPA.