West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s attempt to portray her state as an investment friendly destination through the third edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit took a hit, when three days ahead of the gala event, violence broke out at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district over a land acquisition dispute. The pitched fight between police and farmers broke out after villagers who had earlier sold their land to the government had a change of mind. The farmers alleged that they were not told that the land was meant for a power grid which, they claimed would destroy their crops, kill fish in ponds and turn their women infertile.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The irony is hard to miss. What the Trinamool Congress did during the Singur and Nandigram movement has returned to haunt them. The TMC’s modus operandi of taking every protest to the street and shutting the door on negotiations has found other claimants now. After the initial spurt of violence, none of the TMC local leaders tried to disabuse the villagers’ minds of the specious arguments put forward to scrap the power project spread over 13 acres of land. 

The two deaths during the protest have made matters worse. Rather than enforce the rule of law, the Mamata government chose to hastily withdrawal its forces from the area. The risks of applying force in a volatile situation, and losing the minority support, which has always been proved to be a crucial factor in Bengal election results, appear to have guided the government’s strategy. A week later, on Tuesday the road blocks to Bhangar has been finally lifted after TMC vice president Mukul Roy  talked to local leaders over phone and brokered peace, assuring them the project would be scrapped.

While the TMC government has decided to go easy on the issue so that it cools down with time, the Opposition, is ready to rake it up in every way possible for reaping political dividend. Not only have Congress and CPI(M) leaders visited Bhangar multiple times, CPM supporters protested outside the Global Business Summit venue. So the protestors at Bhangar believe that just like Mamata Banerjee stood by those who lost land at Singur and Nandigram, they have their share of political support as well to fall back upon.

It is suspected that the factional clashes within TMC are one of the reasons behind the Bhangar uprising. The villagers maintain that TMC strongman Arabul Islam was pulling the strings behind the scenes because he is miffed at the precedence given to Abdur Rezzak Mollah, the former CPM leader, who joined the TMC and is now a party MLA from the same place. While the two leaders have refrained from making public comments, their close circle of associates have publicly expressed their disinclination to work with each other.

At the epicentre of the violence, the movement against the proposed power plant is led by Kalu SK, a local TMC leader. He has the backing of Leftist parties, human rights organisations and students unions. Kalu claims to be working for the good of the people but it is also true that he has had his share of clashes with Islam in recent times. Amid the prevailing tension in the area, the student community in Bhangar is a big loser as schools have remained closed since January 17. Those who are to appear for Board examinations are at their wits end because though schools claim to have completed the syllabus, they rely on tuition teachers who have fled to escape ‘police atrocities’. 

Residents in Bhangar say that the area has a history of political violence breaking out once in a while. With no elections slated any time soon, they are unsure whether the violence will have any electoral bearing. Some are of the opinion that Mamata had been riding a tiger and now does not know how to disembark without becoming a prey to it. But it is equally true that if the party supremo comes calling and raises the honorarium paid to Muslim clerics marginally, or even assures to do that, many in the community will be ready to forget the violence and form a beeline to vote for ‘didi’.