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March17, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]Nandigram ,Re-Sukla,Panda, letter from Krishna Iyer >> |
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[1] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Mar 15, 2007 Subject: Nandigram: Governor Expresses Cold Horror / CPIM Blows Hot and Cold after Terror Campaign Flounders Nandigram: Governor Expresses Cold Horror / CPIM Blows Hot and Cold after Terror Campaign Flounders I/II. http://www.ibnlive.com/printpage.php? id=36068§ion_id=4 Governor says cold horror in Bengal CNN-IBN BENGAL ON THE BOIL: West Bengal governor GK Gandhi expressed shock over the incident. Kolkata: A day after the proposed special economic zone at Nandigram turned into a bloody battleground in which 11 people died in clashes, the governor of West Bengal Gopal Krishna Gandhi expressed shock over the incident. Without mincing words, Gandhi spoke about the state government's inability to handle the situation. In a press statement he said that the firing on Wednesday has filled him with a sense of cold horror. “Force was not used against terrorists or anti-national elements. I trust that the government will ensure that there is a no repetition of the trauma witnessed,” Gandhi said. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has called a 12-hour bandh on Friday protesting Wednesday’s incident, forcing board examinations in the state to be rescheduled. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has said that the police was completely inept in controlling public anger. The leader is expected to visit the troubled zone on Thursday. However, her attempt is likely to be foiled as the entire area in the east Midnapore district has been taken over by police personnel. The police, on Wednesday, had moved in to take charge of the area as the villagers had cut off Nandigram from the rest of the state for about two months. The villagers have been protesting the state government's move to acquire land for an Indonesian firm, which plans to set up a chemical hub in the area. A VIOLENT PAST * Most of the Special Economic Zones, including the one that was to be set up in Nandigram, are to be built on farmland. The violence in recent months has sparked a national debate over whether farms should be razed for factories. * All those killed on Wednesday were farmers, bringing the death toll in Nandigram since violence first erupted there to 18, a senior government official, Amit Kiran Deb told AP. * The trouble in Nandigram first erupted on January 7 after the leak of government plans to acquire 9,000 hectares of land in the area and build a petrochemical plant and shipyard in a Special Economic Zone. * The hastily formed Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh or Land Acquisition Resistance Committee, organized protests, which soon degenerated into violent clashes. * After a few days of violence, in which six people were killed, West Bengal government said it would reconsider its plans, and the Centre soon followed suit, temporarily suspending the approval of new Special Economic Zones. * Police in West Bengal, meanwhile, effectively abandoned Nandigram to the farmers, who turned their villages into bristling little garrisons, digging trenches across roads and erecting barricades to keep officers out. * But the area has since been plagued by sporadic clashes between members of the resistance committee and supporters of the CPI-M. II. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/is-the-left-to-blame-for-the-red-in-nandigram/top/36\ 074-4. html? xml&news=Is%20the%20Left%20to%20blame%20for%20the%20red%20in%20Nandig\ ram?&pubDate=Thu%2C+15+Mar+2007+10%3A38%3A38++0100&keyword=ibn_home Is the Left to blame for the red in Nandigram? CNN-IBN Posted Thursday , March 15, 2007 at 09:48 Updated Thursday , March 15, 2007 at 10:18 Eleven people died in clashes between anti-special economic zone (SEZ) protestors and police in West Bengal’s Nandigram village on Wednesday. The Centre has asked for a report from the state government on the violence and the Trinamool Congress, Bengal’s main Opposition party, has called for a strike in the state on Friday. Has the West Bengal Government handled the situation in Nandigram correctly? CNN-IBN’s Bhupendra Chaubey asked this question to a panel comprising historian Prof. Sumit Sarkar, CPI-M MP from Calcutta North East Mohammad Salim and Ambuja Realty chairperson Harsh Neotia on Face The Nation. Has the Bengal government erred? West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has insisted that the government will not forcibly acquire land for industries. But the CPI-M alleges that the protests in Nandigram are politically motivated and criminals are creating trouble in five gram panchayats. Sumit Sarkar, who has studied agriculture in Nandigram and is a Left supporter, said he found the CPI-M’s allegations difficult to believe. “When I visited Nandigram in the end of January for three days, I met hundreds of people who were against the SEZ. Women and children alleged they were protesting because their lands were being grabbed,” Sarkar said. The Chief Minister’s promise cannot be trusted. “Even if we were to believe in the assurance, it has come far too late. The police were first unleashed and the whole area was surrounded. Then an assurance came along; I obviously cannot believe in it,” Sarkar says. Nandigram has been a restricted-entry area for almost three decades. What has the CPI-M done too cool anger in this time? Mohammad Salim’s answer to this was that there is a law and order problem in Nandigram and not social unrest against SEZ. “This is not a question of land-acquisition or SEZ. It is a question about miscreants laying a siege on school buildings, colleges, villages or blocks. They can do anything because of their political affiliation,” Salim claimed. He blamed “anti-social elements” for the violence. “They are the Maoists, the Naxalites, Trinamool Congress, armed miscreants and hired goons.” Sarkar rejected Salim’s allegations. “I completely disagree with the statement. Many people who spoke to us said they have been supporters of the Left and they specifically mentioned the CPI(M). Nandigram has been a very old Communist base,” he said. SEZ trouble again The Bengal government first faced protests in Singur against the Tata Motors car project. Are its industrial and land acquisition policies flawed? Harsh Neotia said the government should not be flayed for wanting to set up industries. “It wants to develop Bengal just like other states of the country. This incident has, however, caused worry to everyone, including the industrial community.” “It is clearly evident that in this particular incident, the intelligence or the local people’s sentiment was not adequately comprehended or understood. But when it comes to industries and development, the government is not taking any step that can be considered awkward or unusual or that which should no be lauded, or given impetus to,” Neotia points out. Must the CPI-M say sorry? The party has blamed criminals and its rivals for the violence, but says it is sorry “for the death of innocents”. “But the question is about how the innocent people fear about their land being misused and abused. Miscreants have used the innocent villagers. I don’t know how many innocents were killed, how many miscreants were killed and how many policemen were killed. But any death is condemnable,” said Salim. As Nandigram has a Muslim majority population, does the CPI-M need to be even more careful? “It is not a question of Hindus or Muslims. It’s a question of land. Muslim organisations were hired to raise religious passion. Unfortunately because of the lack of awareness in our part, some people got misguided by religious leaders who were used as pawns in the political game,” Salim alleged. Is it all politics? Are political parties to be blamed for the violence and the villagers are being exploited? “What has happened in Nandigram or in Singur earlier cannot be explained at all in terms of instigation on machinations by Opposition parties even if they may like to do so,” said Sarkar. “I find it impossible to believe that people in a traditional Left centre will admit that they are CPI-M supporters and yet oppose it,” he said. The Bengal government says it is committed to rapid industrialisation of the state, but will this now become difficult? Neotia said industrialists must tread carefully when acquiring land for projects. “Land acquisition is going to be contagious because people’s livelihood is involved. All industrialists should understand this and be prepared to find an amicable solution to land acquisition.” “In this particular cases, people might have suspected that they won’t get a fair deal. If there is proper communication and they are adequately compensated, they can understand because that is how the state economy moves in other states as well,” he said. The Chief Minister says that the government needs to act quickly and in a visible manner. What are the kinds of visible steps that the West Bengal Government can take? Salim said Bengal has to concentrate on social sector and reform governance in Nandigram. “There is absence of governance in Nandigram and there has been no panchayat activity for long. The extreme Left and the extreme Right have blocked the panchayati system. A lot of progress has to be made in areas of health and construction. There are people who are opposing these activities of the Opposition, but they were driven out of the place.” ------------ [2] From: syed rahman <surahman2000@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Mar 15, 2007 Subject: The Ignoble Bias The Ignoble Bias http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=962&Itemid=58 By Soroor Ahmed That the capitalist West refuses to recognize the intellectual talent of the world outside its fold is a known fact. Men like John Stuart Mill and Macaulay did not even give credit to the early Muslims, Hindus or Chinese for the advancement they made in the field of mathematic, algebra, geography, science etc. They held Arab, Persian, Indian and Chinese civilizations much inferior to their own. But in the modern era perhaps nothing exemplify this bias better than Nobel Prizes to the individuals outside the West. Today the western media may praise China for all sorts of achievements, but till date not a single Chinese living in that country has got the Nobel Prize for anything. The five who got are only Chinese born living either in the United States or elsewhere. In fact one of them is Dalai Lama, who got it for Peace, and lives in India. Read full article http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=962&Itemid=58 ------------ [3] From: Pradip Kumar Datta <pradip200@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Mar 15, 2007 Subject: Centre clueless on number of B’deshis during last one 1 year only 5km fancing done and this is what our government is doing for solving illegel immigration problem. Pradip Centre clueless on number of B’deshis NEW DELHI: The Government is clueless on the number of illegal Bangladeshis residing in the country, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal told the Rajya Sabha today. “It is difficult to make a realistic estimate about the number of such illegal Bangladeshi immigrants as they enter surreptitiously and are able to mingle easily with the local population due to ethnic and linguistic similarities,” he said in a reply. He admitted that various reports reveal Bangladeshi nationals have been using porous Indo-Bangladesh border to enter the country illegally. In the last three years from 2004, 16,551 Bangladeshis living illegally have been deported from Delhi, Jaiswal said. However, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have not given any information regarding the status of illegal immigrants residing in the NCR region, said the minister. To detect and deport foreign nationals, including Bangladeshis residing illegally, the State governments and UT administrations have been empowered under Section 3 (2) of the Foreigners Act, Jaiswal added. PTI Sentinel Assam ------------ [4] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Mar 15, 2007 Subject: Nandigram: An Appeal from the Barricade AN APPEAL FROM NANDIGRAM AND KOLKATA/ March 15, 2007 AS CPM RUNS AROUND FOR A SCAPEGOAT, POLICE & CADRES KILL 125 IN NANDIGRAM MASSACRE: PEOPLE CALL TO STAND BY STRUGGLE As the death count of March 14 carnage in Nandigram by the W. Bengal Police and CPM cadres has reached 125, the people, organizations and activists of Nandigram and Kolkata called upon all the people , who value the democracy, human rights and equality of freedom to come to Nandigram and be with the struggling people. Though the cadres of the ruling Communist Party (Marxist) are blocking the way, the High Court Order on March 15, asks the government to facilitate the people to visit the area for enquiry of help. "The people must show their resolve against the Fascist ways of the so called progressive government and party" said Samar Das, a senior activist from National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), W. Bengal. The ruling CPM through its cadres has imposed an undeclared censorship on the media and people. It is indulging in double crime – first by beating the Nandigram people to pulp and killing them. But it does not wish the nation or people to see what is happening. " Its like Stalinist days, when you are not allowed to say that there is injustice nor others are allowed to hear or film it", says Mr. Das. And the great Red-wash effort is on. Their cadres and their septuagenarian elite are afraid to own up the responsibility of this police action. The CPM bosses are making the same statements which a Narendra Modi or Sunderlal Patwa or Sharad Pawar make. Same 'outsider hand',. same 'Naxalites' and very same Opposition people 'who do not want to see W. Bengal to progress'. While the power holders in CPM have themselves ordered the large police contingent with a planned strategy of carnage on such a large scale, they are now finding everyone else to blame. If only repairs and 'restoring the civil society' had been their objective, did it need 3000 police force with AK-47 rifles? So they have devised the new excuse of 'people exploding bombs on police'. They are in power and that power to like totalitarian state. No one in W. Bengal can go to a Government hospital or school and college, if he or she is not in good books of the CPM boss in that area. And people making the bombs do not undertake protest actions. There was statewide denunciation of the CPM act. Its own allies in state government, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc called for 'bandh', while the Communist Party of India (CPI) severely criticized the carnage and the decision to send such large posse of police. The intellectuals, artists, social and political workers of all hues have rapped the state government action. The Governor, Mr. Gopal Gandhi, called the killing as " horror" and wanted the state government to restrain itself. It is Bloodbath, War on People. About 125-130 men, women and children were killed by the police and the cadres of the ruling Communist Party of India (CPM). Many dead bodies were thrown by police into the nearby river. The dead bodies of children were thrown onto the trenches dug by the villagers to stop any encroachment, and they were filled with soil to make roads – like post-Godhra carnage in Gujarat. According to the people the cadres and police have devastated the Sonachura village; they killed the people, drove them out, looted the houses and raped scores of women. People are seething with anger against the CPM cadres. It is bloodbath; it's a war on people " said Sumit Chowdhury, renowned writer and journalist. In fact all the villages are ransacked, devastated by the cadres and police. They have blocked entry to journalists and other organizations and one journalist was kidnapped and intimidated to keep quiet. Armed CPI(M) cadres are mixed with the police, fired upon villagers and then attempted to enter the villages. Another group of party activists cordoned off the entire area checked all vehicles to prevent journalists from entering the scene of violence. Several scribes were beaten up. "We wont allow the media to enter the village. So far you were running the show. Now it is our turn," East Midnapur CPM chief and M. P. Lakshman Seth said bluntly. On March 14, over a 2000-strong police force armed with AK 47 rifles attempted to enter Nandigram, which has been cut off from the rest of the state for over two months now by villagers resisting land acquisition for setting up an SEZ. The first barricade was put up by women and children who resisted the police from entering the villages. The police fired tear gas shells and then rubber bullets and finally live cartridges. The sudden raid came as a surprise for the villagers as they started running here and there to maintain a safe distance. It was a horrific sight as armed policemen were seen dragging villagers out of their houses and beating them. "It is like a war. I don't know where my family members are. I never expected such an attack from the policemen," Saber, one of the villagers of Gorchakraberia said. Around 10 am the entire area turned into a battlefield. "I can see every were bodies are scattered all over paddy field smeared with blood. Those who were injured are screaming for help but instead of providing any aid policemen were seen kicking them with their boots," Ehsan one of the local villagers told a journalist over telephone. Nandigram, Tamluk hospitals were ill-equipped to treat this barrage of injured people. Most of the victims are women and children (in school uniform too). Many contacts in Nandigram are putting the number of injured above 200. All these people were brought to the hospitals by the relatives and neighbors. Police on the spot have not helped even a single victim to avail medical help. There are many more injured lying in the interior villages, unable to move out for want of any means of transport and also for apprehension of getting killed if found by the marauders. The Plan The plan to push in police into the trouble-torn and tense area was chalked out by the CPI(M) top brass last Saturday. They were under pressure from the East Midnapur unit of the party led by MP Lakshman Seth who felt that the CPI(M) would permanently lose ground in the area unless barricades were removed and 'normalcy' was restored in Nandigram. A large section of the CPI(M) secretariat was also of the same view and felt that the manner villagers were keeping the administration paralyzed for over two months was creating a bad precedent. According to the strategy, the police was asked to remove resistance, enter the villages and 'restore law of the land'. They were to be followed by CPI(M) activists, who would "reinstall civil society" in Nandigram. According to Samar Das, unprecedented police force – more than 3000, came on the periphery of Nandigram, " Police were drawn from all districts in Bengal. They have what they wanted to do. Now, we must be here, to be with the Nandigram people - from all over India. " "No one is 'outsier' here. All are Indians and human beings. It is mischievous on part of Buddnadeb, Biman BAsu and their Sitaram Yechry to all others as outsiders. A true Marxist would never call anyone like that. Ask Sitaram Yechury, an M. P. from Bengal, where he is from? The CPM is becoming offenive out of its guilt complex" said Manav Kamnble, a prominent Dalit social activist in Pune, while addressing a meeting held on on March 15 to condemn the Nandigram carnage and announce Action 2007 of NAPM. Similarly. large numbers of activists and organizations protested at CPM office in Mumbai. The Sarovidaya activists protested in many district places in Maharashtra. These protests would go on increasing, till the CPM comes to senses and talks with the people. Sanjay Sangvai ------------- [6] From: "dn.rath" <dn.rath@gmail.com> Date: Thu Mar 15, 2007 Subject: SUCI demands immediate resignation of the culprit CPI(M)-led West Bengal government http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indiadebates/message/533 ---------- [7] From: SANSAD <sansad@sansad.org> Date: Thu Mar 15, 2007 Subject: Montreal police brutality mars international women's day celebration http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indiadebates/message/532 ------------- [8] Yogi In 'tears', But Can The Drama Whitewash His Black Deeds ? By Subhash Gatade http://www.countercurrents.org/gatade150307.htm There are very few moments in the house where one comes across instances where a tragicomedy unfolds itself. The zero hour in the Parliament on Monday (12 th March 2007) witnessed one such occasion when a MP of the BJP Yogi Adityanath broke down, and MPs from either side of the ruling dispensation rushed to console him and asked the chair to look at his 'grievances' At Least 20 People Killed In Police Firing In Nandigram By NAPM http://www.countercurrents.org/nandigram-napm150307.htm As per the latest information, thousands of Police on entering the area, this morning, started firing, and 20 at least are found killed while hundreds are wounded lying on the street. Police are forcibly taking away the dead bodies Deaths In Police Firing In Nandigram By Amnesty International http://www.countercurrents.org/amnesty150307.htm Amnesty International demands an impartial and independent inquiry into the excessive use of force at Nandigram now and the violence in Nandigram in January, promptly make the findings public and prosecute those accused of violence Land Acquisition In Bastar At A Critical Stage By Debaranjan Sarangi http://www.countercurrents.org/sarangi150307.htm The situation in Bastar is at a critical stage, with clashes on 27-28 Feb trying to force land acquisition for Tata's steel plant. The "manufactured civil war" pursued by Salwa Judum continues with at least 80,000 tribal refugees in what are virtually concentration camps --------- [9] From: PREETU NAIR <preetunair@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Mar 15, 2007 Subject: Vacancies in Goa University Interested parties may contact directly Application forms can be downloaded from University website www.unigoa.ac.in Interesting articles by Preetu Nair: http://goadourada.blogspot.com/ ----------------- |
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| << March15, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]Lanka ,Shilpa Shetty ,Nepal news ,Bengal SEZ etc |
March17, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]Nandigram ,Re-Sukla,Panda, letter from Krishna Iyer >> |
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