Prakash Karat

The events in Nandigram have been the subject of a heated controversy. A feature of this political tussle has been the concerted attempt to attack the CPI(M) on the grounds that it is taking an anti-peasant stance in favour of big companies. It is accused of using the police for this purpose.

The March 14 incident, when the police entered Nandigram and firing took place, have led to protests in West Bengal and in other parts of the country. At the national level, the BJP and its allies have focussed on this incident. Parliament was disrupted for five successive days.

The BJP and the Trinamul Congress (TMC) have demanded the imposition of Article 356 in West Bengal.

It is essential to understand what happened in Nandigram and the issues involved. First of all, it must be clear that the police action in Nandigram was not for any land acquisition.

It is true that the West Bengal government had considered certain areas within Nandigram for the proposed chemical hub to be set-up as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

However, there was no notification for land acquisition by the authorities at any stage. There was a notice by the Haldia Development Authority for public information regarding the likely location of the project. It is this notice which set off protests by people in the Nandigram Block I.

From January 3rd to March 14th, what happened within Nandigram Block I should be properly understood. From the time a gram panchayat office was attacked and the police party called in was also attacked by an armed mob, a chain of events took place which culminated in the police entry into the area two-and-a-half months later.

All bridges linking the roads to the area were destroyed. CPI(M) offices and the houses of party workers were burnt down or looted.

Most of the media and the political opponents of the CPI(M) have remained conspicuously silent about the operation to cleanse Nandigram of the CPI(M). It is shocking that intellectuals who claim to be on the Left have not condemned these cleansing operations which led to the brutal murder of Sankar Samanta, a CPI(M) panchayat member and Sunita Mondal, a school student.

The TMC-Jamiat-Naxalite combination which spearheaded the Bhumi Rakha Committee was able to keep the people mobilised with a fear that their land would be taken away, even though the Chief Minister had categorically stated that no land would be taken from Nandigram if the people do not want it.

Certain NGOs with international links and the anti-Communist media have lent full support to this enterprise.

It is these same elements who refused to attend all-party meetings called by the district administration.

One such meeting held on March 10 decided that the administration should move to restore normalcy in the area. It is in this connection that the police entered the area on March 14.

In the ensuing confrontation, 14 people died. The police were met with protests not only by the local people but from elements armed with bombs and pipe guns.

The deaths of ordinary people in police firing is deeply regrettable. But to link the police action to a drive to take over land from the peasants is a deliberate attempt to malign the CPI (M).

The issue of land acquisition and industrialisation in West Bengal is being viewed by interested quarters according to their own political and ideological predilections.

While some of the neo-liberal supporters of the SEZs are worried that the Nandigram incidents will lead to a setback for the setting up of SEZs in the country, naxalites of various hues and persons like Medha Patkar are hoping that industrialisation in West Bengal can be halted after the violence in Nandigram.

Both are on the wrong track. Bengal will not adopt the type of SEZs being set-up in Maharashtra, Haryana and other states where huge tracts of land are being given to corporates, with ample scope for real estate speculation. The Left parties have already spelt out the changes required.

The CPI(M) will not be daunted by the gang-up extending from the BJP to the Maoists. The CPI(M) has emerged as the leading contingent of the Left in West Bengal by steadfastly fighting back the attempts by the ruling classes to isolate the Party. But they have failed in the past and will fail again now.

Excerpted from an article originally published in People’s Democracy. The writer is General Secretary, CPI (M).