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News of Jan
5, 2007
CPI-M Cadres the New
Cops
in Forbidden Nandigram
Kolkata/Nandigram,
Jan 5
Want to visit Nandigram in India? Well ask the Communist Party of
India-Marxist (CPI-M) for permission. Two days after a farmers'
uprising against land acquisition in this East Midnapore
constituency of West Bengal, "outsiders", including media persons,
were prevented from entering the area chosen by the government for a
chemical hub and special economic zone (SEZ) with Indonesia's Salim
group over 14,000 acres.
Journalists alleged they were stopped at a distance of 9 km from
Nandigram, about 150 km from Kolkata, by CPI-M men who 'patrolled'
the area as angry residents moved about with swords, staves and
other weapons in a free for all.
The CPI-M activists have set up 'check posts' at places on way to
Nandigram to 'scrutinize' the entry of people even though the
administration has not yet imposed Section 144 CrPC.
"There would be a large number of arrests in the area after the
situation returns to normal. We will take action soon," Home
Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy told reporters.
CPI-M leader in Nandigram Surapati Debnath told a Bengali news
channel that faced resistance in the area: "We had to set up these
check points because many outsiders are entering the area and
fomenting trouble."
The villagers meanwhile are guarding the area to prevent entry of
policemen.
Sensing trouble, the police are showing restraint for the time
being.
Six people, including students of Jadavpur University and New
Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), were arrested from
Nandigram after the flare-up.
On Wednesday, the police had to fire several rounds to quell
frenzied villagers at Nandigram who set a police jeep on fire,
heavily injured cops, blocked roads with boulders and demolished a
bridge to prevent police access to their areas after word of land
acquisition notification spread.
The situation has remained explosive since then, prompting Chief
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and the CPI-M to go on the back foot
even as Left Front constituent CPI (the Nandigram Assembly seat is
held by the CPI) criticised the former for its land acquisition
policies.
In East Midnapore, the government reportedly has eyed over 22,000
acres of land for industrial projects.
On July 31, the West Bengal government signed an agreement with the
Salim Group to implement various developmental projects, including a
mega chemical industrial estate, spread across 10,000 acres in a
50:50 joint venture.
Construction of a four-lane road bridge over the Haldi River, from
Haldia to Nandigram, has also been planned. The proposed bridge
would provide a link between Haldia and the proposed chemicals SEZ
in Nandigram.
IANS
News of Jan
5, 2007
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