The new development is worrying the Left.

For many devout Muslims owing political allegiance to CPM,

and other Left Front partners such as Forward Bloc, RSP, and the CPI

went to attend the Jamait Ulema-I-Hind's gathering in Baruipur and

Nandigram.

 [Times Of India,4February 2007]

A LAND OF LAMENTATIONVIDYUT CHAKRABORTY

Nandigram fiasco in East Midnapore (purbo Medinipur) of

West Bengal (Poschim Bango) left a scrimmage in the history

of mass movement of Bengal. A plan was there toward the

industrialization on the other bank of Haldi River facing the

glamour of the Haldia Port Area. It is a only port at the

proximity of Bay of Bengal. The old Calcutta Port is a river

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port less navigable for heavy cargo shipment. Industrialization

and Urbanization takes a quick go-through at ease in the port

area and lessen the smuggling activity in the area. Traders of

British (Serampore), Dutch(Chinsura), French(Chandan

Nagar) and Portuguese(Bandel) and others crumbled at the-

then navigable Hoogly river(called Bhagirathi/ Ganga)and

made ports on the banks. Beyond Calcutta Port there was

ancient Diamond Harbour. More ahead there is the junction of

Bhagirathi and Haldi River near to the mouth of the sea

(Mohana). Being near to the Mohana, salinity of water did

permit neither the land of Haldia nor the land of Nandigram

arable through out the year. So the earlier government

planned to plant a chemical hub and the vested interest of the

coastal zone incited a propaganda against the industrialization

and the then Chief Minister bowed to honour the wish of the

general mass stating If the people do not want there shall be

no industrial venture in Nandigram. Thereafter politics

created the whirlwind of rattling and battling, the peasantry

fell amidst the gun fire between the Police and the Extremist

leftist rightist combination. Nandigram became a free zone

without any governance except the thumb rule of the anti-Left

Front organization. Down the ages, the Tiwaris (Brajomohan

clan) ,the Nandas, the Pandas and the Samantha, era,

Jana ,Maity were the Hindu Population ruling over the Muslim

Peasantry( mainly fishermen community).Due to lack of

cultivation the herds therein were migrating ones settling in

Calcutta, Bombay and other urban areas for living hood and

thus created a very strong cultural heritage of plurality and

simplicity. Nandigram's teenage house-wife of primary

education level even in 1940 had have the strong awareness

of this heritage of drama, literature, social reform and

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advancements. Then it is an unnecessary euphoria that the

decadent polity gashed. Some people had fear for loosing

something, some had greed for looting something, some had

tears toshed on pauperism, some had dear lands to part in

high price. These are common in story of middle class lifestyle.

Then there was booty to be shared by politician and NGO; the

leftist government was also shaky to loose mass base on the

background of recession stricken industrialization.

The main point is that the Left Front government rose into the helm of West Bengal’s

political power riding on the popularity of Labour movement and Peasant’s struggle

against feudal lords and also of Food movement. The Front took some relief to the

poor peasants through land reforms. The total arable lands of the province have been

distributed to the poor farmers which is unique in the history of Indian peasantry. In

other provinces of India the peasantry means and includes land barons and bourgeoisie

big land owners. Most of the lands in Bengal are crops yielder; barren lands are

countable in numbers. For initiating industrialization one man cannot afford hectares of

land to a buyer, so many people have to sell land at a time which is possible only when

government takes the warranty of fare price to safeguard the peasants from the greed

of land- sharks and to do that the British left out Land Acquisition Act of 1894 with

some modification done by post independent India’s Union Government championed by

INC.But the current Union Government under the governance of the INC warranted

nothing on acquisition of peasant’s land-an item under concurrent list, used to be

acquired by the provincial government , though they warranted industrialization by the

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national and international business houses under their neo-reform policy

enforced against mass-movement led by the leftist. In Bengal leftist was locked into a

cleft stick. They dolled out lands to the poor peasantry, the peasants yielded crops that

landed West Bengal in first position in India , as a result the consumer market boosted

up to more or less Rs.20000 crore, and the industrial output has sunk to zero-core. The

other provinces rich in industry, mainly four in numbers, supply the requirements. Thus

the State has been grounded to an importing state lacking manufacturing units. There

lies the importance of Power plants, Steel plants, Motor factories, Chemical hubs, Roads

and Airports and IT hubs to arrange more employment for future generation. The needs

are still there not only for the eastern part but for all over India. The recession bars, the

policy hinders, the polity debars, the principle differs, the vastnesses of nation with

diversity disunite, so how one can fast forward to move alone. So Posco failed, Davol

backtracked, Noida land grab spilled. But to monolithic media, it is only the wretched

Nandigram that caused the ruin of Bengal. This village of ancient Tamralipto was

unknown in history but elegant in style.

Alas! Nandigram is now famous in story but sick in vile.

It was not the people’s rage over the land grabbing attitude of the left Front

Government, it was that the media-hype, rumour-mongering of vested

interest, it was a conspiracy hatched by the native ambitious political rivals

and abetted by the reformist corporate conglomerates to uproot the socialist

governance of West Bengal. The combined forces were successful to reap the

civil war due to a persisting fight between the supporters of two political

dons and the strong enforcement of weak political strategy. Internal-

conflicts among the parties and partners of the Left Front owing to the

strategy of combat against land acquisition in all other states of India and

the strategy of land grabbing in West Bengal only. The Marxist parties were

suffering with dichotomy in the federal structure of the country and their

supporters and sympathizers were in two minds. A big confusion making

program was scheduled actually after land acquisition process in Singur

where in Tata Motors, a giant conglomerate in automobile industry, was

building a factory for small car.

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Foreign and Native media men were the invincible hands for support

The general mass always seek immediate solution of their problems, they do

not rely on theorization of the cause and remedy of the problems. There was

land reform in West Bengal some thirty years back and the Leftists did not

think of the land bank for industrialization. They did not make them

prepared to switch over to the subsequent phase of land reforms, the

obvious course of industrialization, what they tried to propagate at the

heated moment for recourse. The propaganda fell flat, instead the ant-

industrialization and anti-land grabbing hype took root to the minds pf

people who even been a city pent cried over the category of fertile non fertile

single-crop multi-crop arguments albeit accepting the need of

industrialization on the land that were non-existent, so there was satirical

comment of landing industry on air only. Nandigram was selected as Nirmal

Gram Panchayat (Clean Village Council) Award by the Central Government

Body and some officers from the concern department was on the way to the

village to bestow the award to the village council(Gram Panchayat).On the

same day the local Block Development officer, a junior Civil Servant under a

mysterious command of his hierarchy hung a notice of acquiring land for

Chemical Hub, the notice was unsigned by the Haldia Development Authority

under which in no way the BDO works for and by no means the HAD had the

authority and jurisdiction to act upon. The Flash News speeded like a

wildfire that some officers came to notify the land to be acquired as

published in the BDO office and the zeep of the officers was set into fire by

the angry mob and the officers were sent to nearby hospital. Mr.Sankar

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Samanta ,a Police officer was beheaded by the angry mob who tool over the

control and led anarchy. The Telegraph, on 4 January 2007 was headlined,

"False alarm sparks clash". According to the newspaper that village

council meeting at which the alleged land seizure was to be announced was

actually a meeting to declare Nandigram a "clean village," that is, a village in

which all the households had access to toilet

facilities.

The Nandigram SEZ controversy

started when the government of West Bengal

decided that the Salim Group of Indonesia

would set up a chemical hub under the SEZ

policy at Nandigram, a rural area in the district of Purba(East) Medinipur.

The villagers took over the administration of the area and all the roads to

the villages were cut off. The administration was directed to break the

Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee's (Land Acquisition Resistance

Committee’s) barricade at Nandigram and a massive operation with at least

3,000 policemen allegedly along with cadre of the CPI (M) the ruling party

was launched on March 14, 2007. BUPC amassed a crowd of roughly 2,000

villagers at the entry points into Nandigram with women and children

forming the front ranks. In the resulting mayhem, at least 14 people were

killed. There were rumours like the kids were torn into twos, the Mazhar-

Madrasa-Mosques were to demolished, massive rapes took places and the

dead bodies were made floated and buried in the nearby firth. The style of

eruption of agitation and alienation led Nandigram under virtual an island

from the main land and the old rivalry with the village Khejuri sharpened to

the edge. The then Chief Minister of Left Front requested the agitators to

calm down and to come down to normal way of life with the assurance that

in accordance with the people’s dissent there would not be any sort of

industrialization. But the opposition parties with the help of ultra extremists

groups and some NGO declaring themselves as good Samaritans poked their

interest into the turmoil, and the Nandigram was declared ‘Freedom’-

schools and offices and all such civic institutions were cut off to

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dysfunctional and the trenches turned the village into an isolated island.

Blood deaths and anarchy continued for a few months as if the two sides,

Leftist backed forces and the anti Leftist block, were in vow to go back to the

battle field of the medieval war zone. The Left Front government which was

formed through the continuous struggle by the peasants against the

feudalism struck with a blow from the peasants’ protest against them did not

function and sat idle till the Assembly Election was declared in April 2011.

Foreign press and foreign aids came up to heal the wounds and injury; they

were pioneered by the local press and NGOs not to the wretched victims of

Nandigram side but not to the homeless poor leftist peasants who migrated

to the Khejuri side. Nandigram’s struggle wrote a history and everywhere in

West Bengal people under the leadership of the opposition party raised

blockade on land acquisition for industry and the inflow of investment in the

State was stopped. The history marked the State a non-productive zone for

investment and the opposition party swiped the poll and came to power with

havoc majority in May2011.The Leftist rule for over 34 years span in a

federal democratic structure of India had a great fall. This debacle can be

compare with the basics of the fall of the Soviet.

The opposition party supreme who staged the movement is now chieftain of

the affairs of the State is crying for land to cosmetic makeup as pro-industry

campaigner is now crying for land and not getting a square area for the

dream land bank.

People of Nandigram reaped nothing out of it -no industry for scope of

employment, not an acre of good crops but the red flag is scared to flatter in

the air of in Nandigram only. The good rich men do not enter there with high

pride. The chapter of euphoria is now over and the dry politics reign over.

Follow Links : The vedio footage & Films directed by the Ms Anindita Sarbadhikari on Nandigram

1. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8074711989640985072

2. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3924953024386968311&hl=en

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3. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8022234047270357934

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against feudal lords and also of Food movement. The Front took

some relief to the poor peasants through land

reforms. The total arable lands of the

province have 18

beendistributed to the poor farmers which is unique in

the history of Indian peasantry. In other provinces

of India the peasantry means and includes land

barons and 19

bourgeoisie bigland owners.

Most of the lands in Bengal are crops yielder,

barren lands are countable

innumbers. For initiating

industrialization 20

one man cannot afford hectares of land to abuyer, so many people have

to sell land at a time which is possible only

whengovernment takes the warranty

of fare price to 21

safeguard the peasants from the

greed of land- sharks and to do that the British left

out Land Acquisition Act of

1894 with somemodification

done by post 22

independent India’s Union Government

championed by INC.But the current Union Government

under the governance of the

INC warranted nothingon

23

acquisition of peasant’s land-an

item under concurrent list,

used to be acquired by theprovincial government , though they warranted

24

industrialization by the national

andinternational business

houses under their neo-reform

policy enforced against mass-movement led by the leftist.In

25

Bengal leftist was locked into a cleft stick. They dolled out lands to the

poor peasantry,the peasants yielded crops that landed West Bengal in first position in

India , as a 26

resultthe consumer market boosted up

to more or less Rs.20000 crore,

and the industrialoutput

has sunk to zero-core. The other provinces rich in industry, mainly

27

four innumbers, supply the

requirements. Thus the State has been grounded to an importingstate

lacking manufacturing

units. There lies the importance of

28

Power plants, Steelplants, Motor factories, Chemical hubs, Roads and Airports and IT hubs to arrange

moreemployment for future

generation. The needs are still

29

there not only for the eastern partbut for all over India. The recession bars, the policy

hinders, the polity debars,

theprinciple differs, the vastness of

nation with 30

diversity disunite, so how one can fastforward to

move alone.So Posco failed, Davol

backtracked, Noida land grab spilled. But to

monolithic media , itis only the

31

wretched Nandigram that

caused the ruin of Bengal.Tthis

village of ancient Tamralipto was

unknown in history but elegant in

style. Alas!Nandigram

32

is now famous in story but sick

in vile.

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