PRAGOTI

Such is the power of the media, that in recent months, the very names of Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal have become synonymous with forcible land acquisition by the state all over India. This is truly remarkable, because in fact no land was ever actually acquired for industrialisation in Nandigram after the violent protests against it. And it is widely acknowledged that the terms of acquisition of the 1000 acres required for the Tata automobile factory in Singur were the most favourable for the peasantry, of any such acquisition across India.

The recent spate of violence in Nandigram may at least be the reason for some elation to the CPI(M) and its supporters amidst the excruciating grief that the killings of two CPI(M) workers in two consecutive days (August 6th and 7th) have inflicted upon the comrades of the murdered persons. It will at least pierce the veil of “anti- SEZ movement” which the heinous politics of terror inflicted by the BUPC/TMC/Maoists was being branded with by the “liberal” free press of Bengal and India.

Saibal Bishnu and Chirashree Das Gupta argue that the attempts to build a 'coalition of the willing' by the opposition in West Bengal, despite its motley hues, is bound together by the common agenda of anti-communism.

People here have shed tears. We won't let this happen again. We want development, peace and amity in this area. All conspiracies to disrupt peace should stop. Children, with broad smiles on their sunny faces shall run delightedly to their schools spreading radiant sunshine all around.

The drums are beating once again. The drums of 14 March. But the beat is not the same as before. It doesn’t have the same effect that it had a year ago.

One year has passed since the Nadigram incident on 14th March, 2007. Now is the time to raise the question: what did these people die for? At whose interest? An effort to analyse the events of Nandigram and aftermath.

From B Prasant/INN

A reply to the falsehoods propagaded by Sumit and Tanika Sarkar