The rural hinterland of West Bengal sits on the threshold of a rising surge of peasants’ movement. It has been triggered by the highhanded policy of the CPI(M) government of West Bengal towards grabbing, by hook or by crook, of lakhs of acres of fertile agricultural lands from peasants of different parts of the state to hand them over to monopolists and corporates of the country and abroad on the plea of industrialization but really encouraging building of luxurious housings, shopping malls and such others for the rich. If Singur of Hooghly district wrote the first chapter of this new episode of peasants’ struggles, Nandigram of East Midnapore (East Medinipur) district added in letters of blood an epoch-making chapter of resistance and resolve.

The rural hinterland of West Bengal sits on the threshold of a rising surge of peasants’ movement. It has been triggered by the highhanded policy of the CPI(M) government of West Bengal towards grabbing, by hook or by crook, of lakhs of acres of fertile agricultural lands from peasants of different parts of the state to hand them over to monopolists and corporates of the country and abroad on the plea of industrialization but really encouraging building of luxurious housings, shopping malls and such others for the rich. If Singur of Hooghly district wrote the first chapter of this new episode of peasants’ struggles, Nandigram of East Midnapore (East Medinipur) district added in letters of blood an epoch-making chapter of resistance and resolve. If the incidents of the two places during the last few months, particularly those at Nandigram which took place on March 14 and immediately after it, bared shockingly and shamefully the venomous fangs and the ugly face of a fascist force, bearing the name CPI(M), they have also brought out, in unequivocal terms and in outrageous bursts, the anger, anguish and condemnation from democratic-minded people of the entire state, from peasants-workers-students-teachers to the writers-artistes-cultural activists-intellectuals-scientists-medical, law and other professionals and others, from common men to the Governor, the constitutional head of the state.



The background

After the government had grabbed the land of peasants of Singur without notice, by force and through all sorts of dubious and fake records and measures and had tried to brutally suppress and stifle their protest with the help of the police force. People of Nandigram, by and large living on agriculture, became apprehensive when a notice of land acquisition was issued in the name of the Haldia Port Authority headed by Lakhsman Seth, the CPI(M) supremo of the region, apparently for a chemical hub by the Salem Group of monopolists of Indonesia for the SEZ project. The peasants en masse went to the local administration to know what it actually meant. The police and administration, visibly instigated by the local CPI(M) leaders pounced upon and lathicharged the peaceful peasants’ rally. That attack ignited the fire. Carrying the heritage of many militant left movements, Nandigram people retaliated and stood up resolutely against any attempt at grabbing of their extremely fertile land, which was the main, if not the only means of their life and livelihood. In face of their determined resistance, the chief minister of the government apparently backtracked; he admitted the notice was a mistake and no land will be acquired without people’s consent. However, representative of the Salem group declared after his talk with the government that their project at Nandigram was standing all right. Added to such examples of falsehood and duplicity on the part of the government, previous experience from different instances all over the state also prompted people of Nandigram to be apprehensive of attacks of CPI(M) goons and cadres, with or without support of police and administration. So they prepared themselves to offer stubborn resistance. They disrupted the link roads or bridges to prevent police and, under their cover, CPI(M) goons, from getting into their villages. That their apprehension was not baseless, was proved soon. CPI(M) goons tried to break through the resistance of peasants under the cover of darkness of winter night. But Nandigram peasants, who were once supporters, even activists of CPI(M), foiled their attempt through determined resistance though at the cost of six precious lives of villagers. Thousands of villagers then chased the miscreants across the river, that separates Nandigram from Khejuri. In Khejuri, they torched a local CPI(M) leader’s house from where the attack was conducted. The leader’s son was killed by the infuriated masses of peasants. From then on the Nandigram people showed example of unbending morale, true to their heritage and providing inspiration to peasants struggling in different parts of the state. Loss of lives of their kins and comrades did not make them lose their heart. They demanded that the government announce formally and properly that there will be no land grabbing and that police will not enter into the area before any settlement on the issue. Unable to achieve their end, the goons on the other hand, reportedly including notorious anti-socials of far and near hired at high costs, carried on incessant firing into the area from across the adjacent river or canal. The government and CPI(M) blew hot and cold; once if the chief minister aired assurance to peasants that no steps will be taken without their consent; at other moment, the same chief minister challenged any opposition to their plans, local leaders assembled goons, notorious from the dastardly killings of Keshpur-Garbeta a few years back or a senior leader of CPI(M) like Benoy Konar threatened to “make the life hell” for people of Nandigram. The latter, however, maintained their stand unwaveringly for over two months. And then came the black morning of March 14.



The black morning of March 14

Without being able to break through the organized resistance of Nandigram people and without trying for any peaceful solution through dialogue, the CPI(M) government took to the most heinous and cunning despotism. It unleashed a cleverly designed barbaric fascistic onslaught on the struggling peasants of Nandigram. A few thousands of police and para-military forces like the EFR, and shielded behind them, the CPI(M) goons, armed lethally and often in police uniform and using arms and arsenals used by the police force but wearing chappals to give away their identity, were let loose in a dastardly operation in the morning on March 14. It has now come out to the public that the operation was planned and ordered directly from the highest level of the police, administration and the government deciding upon indiscriminate and desperate firing in case of any resistance. In the plea of reestablishing the rule of law in Nandigram, as if it was not there in spite of all government offices and administrative work going on in perfect tune all these days, they decided to “occupy” the area by force. It has also come out that the ministers from other parties of the Front, even the core committee members of the Front coming from these parties were kept in dark about this invasion, though there was a meeting of the ministers going on exactly when the operation itself was in full swing. There were indications, if not open announcements, that there might be such a move very soon. As the report goes, even the district administration issued warning that anti-socials with all sorts of huge amount of arms were assembling in the area. Such warnings too went unheeded. Rather CPI(M), a party, that amply testified its fascistic creed on several previous occasions, chose this date the right moment. They knew that the Higher Secondary Examination, the largest school-leaving examination of the state that involved lakhs of students would start all over the state on 15th. So, they must have thought, any protest against their attack would not draw people’s sympathy and support. They however forgot that those who really stand on people’s support, can drive their views home into people even in such emergent situations.

The onslaught they perpetrated deserves no other definition but being called the most heinous massacre, a genocide, with hardly any parallel, that a government of an avowed democratic set-up has given effect to in independent India. It was such a grave event that even the Governor, the head of state could not but criticize it. With indications of attack in the air and brisk preparatory activities of the police and the CPI(M) goons going on around the region, people of Nandigram were also mentally and organizationally set to stand up against the attack. Thus, when the police-goons combine made moves, thousands of peasants, particularly the womenfolk and even children of peasant families came out in procession and tried to persuade police to retreat. Instead there happened the historic event of the state, that made everyone having a modicum of democratic sense shudder with awe and disgust. The police of a government that still bears a Marxist tag to befool people, charged upon the peaceful, unarmed protestors, that too mostly women and children. The ghastly scenes of the incident that came out on television proved that it was no less barbarous, in fact even more, than the infamous Jalianwalabagh massacre by the police of the British imperialist government. Nevertheless, the police had a perfect lay-out. They tear-gassed the demonstration profusedly and from behind the smoke-screen of the shells, they fired. All the victims of firing were found to have the injury above waist and even on the chest or the back. This clearly indicated that the motive was to kill, to murder the unarmed. Men and women killed from back, proved convincingly that the firing was done even on the fleeing crowd. Children were literally butchered. CPI(M) leaders including Sitaram Yechuri, or Brinda Karat tried to make people believe that the trouble was initiated by and the victims were outsiders; they dished out blatant lies that there was no question of land-grabbing in Nandigram and it was a simple case of political clash for extending control over the area. Recovery of large haul of arms and ammunitions including those used by police and those otherwise, alongwith CPI(M) flag and leaflets, police helmets, etc. from the ongoing probe, and arrest of 10 persons who have confessed to have been hired by the CPI(M) leadership for lakhs of rupees from different parts of the district to carry out operation of getting into and “occupy” Nandigram, all this prove glaringly how truthful the front-ranking leaders of CPI(M) are in their versions to the Press and people. Further, existence and movement of the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC standing for Committee for resisting eviction from lands), their massive support in the area cutting across the different sections of the society, are ample proof to check the veracity of the words of the fore-ranking national leader of CPI(M). The state party chief Biman Bose initiated the campaign later taken up by different CPI(M) leaders and the police officials that the police fired in self-defence in face of incessant firing from the members of BUPC. Surprisingly belying their claim, there has not been a single instance of police being injured by bullet, that the police could produce in public.



Police-CPI(M) goons trangressed all norms of civility and humanity

How many rounds of firing were there from the guns of thousands of police and goons deployed in the operation? Nobody will ever be able to make sure. There were dead bodies brought in series in all the adjacent hospitals of the East and West Medinipur districts; the figures kept on increasing. The Union Home Minister informed the Rajya Sabha a figure of six, as he received it from the state officials, while the unofficial reports flash at least 18 deaths. Even the partners of the Left Front government of the state, were giving much higher figures. But all these stand meaningless, as it comes out from the reports of local people that the police-goon combine have buried heaps of dead bodies in the pits and trenches on the roads, have dragged away many dead bodies to hide them and have even beheaded them and thrown them into the rivers and canals that were everywhere in this locality of southwest part of the state. At least 8 trekkers were seen to be moving away from Khejuri on the other side of river; all those were carrying dead bodies to be thrown outside the region; a fact that is corroborated from reports of 27 dead bodies found stuck up in the sand-island of the River Haldi, or even near the Bay of Bengal, at the mouth of a river. In addition and over and above these dastardly killings, was the fact that numberless women were mercilessly gang-raped both by the police and the goons and then killed; many were dragged away and were still missing; obviously they must have met with the same fate as was confirmed from the horrid tales of torture coming out from the few fortunate survivors, who spent two days unfound and thrown in jungles. In a word, it was the most atrocious and heinous massacre that the CPI(M) government have brought down on a democratic movement.

It must also be pointed out here that even in case of devastating wars, there prevails an accepted code that injured must be provided with adequate treatment. The code is mandatory, for any kind of clashes. But here in Nandigram, children have been killed by tearing them apart; dead have been beheaded; injured have been dragged; it has also been found on the TV, that when women rushed to see and rescue a victim of firing, they were severely lathicharged by the police.

But all these took place on the operation field. Over and above, thousands of peasants, a large section of which were women and children with grievous bullet or shell injuries on them were brought by local people themselves to the hospitals, rather their name-sakes, that exist without any proper medical facilities, namely adequate doctors, attending staff, medicines, blood , nor ambulance to shift them to other places and the like. Even these injured were left unattended, struggling not for life, but to die the most painful death. When doctors from outside, such as those belonging to the medical teams sent by our party or others offered their help did not get cordial reception from the authority. Immediately after the event and for about two complete days, CPI(M)-goons aided and abetted by the police cut off all outlets from the area; they even snapped telephonic connections. Hundreds of police and even para-military forces were deployed around the hospitals, who prevented the journalists, even the relatives and kins of victims to meet the latter; there was no list of dead or injured even with the hospitals concerned. Hundreds of people are still missing. So it is feared that many more dead remained unfound, or many more injured might have succumbed to their fatal injuries not only unfound, but also after they had been brought to the hospitals. It was also learnt from the locals that the police-CPI(M) goons did adopt a novel way of covering up their misdeeds; they opened up the stomachs of the corpses before throwing them into the river, so that they did not float up afterwards. What kind of culture, what kind of ethics the government and its administration has reflected in this whole scenario, in which they simply took this heartless, rather deliberately negligent attitude towards the dead or injured, found or unfound and including women and children, transgressing upon all norms of civility and humanity, that even the avowed imperialist war-mongers will think twice before taking to.



Design becomes evident

But the design does not end in a simple attack on the protestors. Traditionally a left citadel, Nandigram became an icon of unbending resistance to the CPI(M) and their government’s effort to grab their fertile farm lands. This has lead CPI(M) to totally lose ground in and around Nandigram in the last few months. Fearing a bleak prospect in future panchayat or other elections, CPI(M) took resort to the treacherous duplicity, an incomparable admixture of cunningly dished out cold assurance and carefully hatched and cleverly concealed clandestine plan for taking hold of the area and the farmlands there, by force and intimidation, even annihilation of anybody opposing them. Totally isolated from people, they chose their mainstay in the brute force of administraion-police-goon combine. Thus, after attacking the peaceful demonstration of peasants and breaking through their resistance, the unholy alliance made their intention clear. The police set up camps in the areas, where they could not enter a few days back, only to help the CPI(M) goons to carry on the ransacking of the villagers’ houses, raping their women and murdering the organizers of the resistance. The footage of electronic media clearly held out all these misdeeds of theirs. CPI(M) leaders and goons were also aware of this. This was reflected when reporter and cameraman of one channel covering the incident on the 14th were beaten up cruelly, even found missing for a length of time, their telephone was snatched, camera smashed; even telecasting of some channel was gagged — all this came out glaringly on the small screen.



West Bengal roars with protest and condemnation

Despots and fascists always and ultimately fail in their counting. CPI(M)’s design also fell through. Across the entire length and breadth of the state and across all the sections of people of its society, there were strong condemnations of police atrocities. Students, teachers, intellectuals, scientists, professionals, including law-professionals of the High Court and district courts, came out in spontaneous outburst against this heinous fascistic onslaught of the CPI(M) and their police. It appeared that the conscience of the people of this state was duped during this three-decade long rule of CPI(M). At one stroke of this inhuman fascistic act of CPI(M), that dormant conscience regained its fervour and courage. The bandh called by all opposition parties on March 16, in which SUCI took a main initiative, was not only spontaneous and all-out throughout the state. It was a remarkable turn-around from the character of many bandhs of the near past, in which confused by the incessant propaganda of the monopoly- backed media and as also the industrial houses, a sizeable section of population was tending to become passive or even hostile to this form of movement. But this time, atrocities perpetrated by the police and CPI(M) goons whipped up people to stand erect in protest. Many of our comrades were arrested and sustained grievous injuries in districts in course of conducting propaganda on the Bandh day. But in spite of such attacks people, in large numbers and in all parts of the state, voluntarily joined the propaganda squads and processions of our party. While the police and the CPI (M) goons pounced upon our gatherings, for example at Shyambazar in north Calcutta, common people bravely intervened, resisted the attackers and practically chased away the CPI (M) hooligans from the area. Aged middle class persons came forward to vehemently argue with the police on the streets of Calcutta, when the latter was indiscriminately lathi-charging and arresting the picketers and even bystanders. That such public involvement in favour of a political party was unprecedented was unambiguously admitted by the TV channels. People jeered at the comment of the CPI(M) leaders on the bandh, attesting to the fact they have lost all credibility in the state. Our party also observed a state-wide Martyrs’ day on March 17 by wearing black badges, erecting martyr’s columns and observing two minutes’ silence at 12 Noon. On 19th March, there were massive demonstrations throughout the state and gherao of SDO and DM offices.Not only in West Bengal, Nandigram incident has drawn unequivocal protest from different parts of India. As a part of All India protest day at the call of SUCI, protest demonstrations were held in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Barak Valley of Assam and elsewhere.



Remarkable role of writers, artistes, cultural activists, professionals

Remarkable also was the part played by renowned artistes, writers, poets, film and theatre personalities, educationists, scientists, teachers, law and medical practitioners and such others. One and all they decided to take up whatever means of protest they had at hand. They held a historic convention in Calcutta on 28 February, formed from there the ‘Forum of Artists, Cultural Activists and Intellectuals’ platform for sustained struggle, established its branches in the districts, raised funds for the kins of genocide victims and thousands of hapless people still surviving, walked on the streets of Calcutta and district towns, silent at the ghastliness of beastly torture perpetrated by the custodian of the law themselves or the hired mercenaries whom CPI(M) claims as their cadres, or vocal in solidarity with the struggling peasants. They protested by surrendering coveted literary awards bestowed on them by the CPI(M) government, severed connections with the government-run bodies or institutes. Thus famous historians Sumit Sarkar, Tanika Sarkar and Pradip Datta, the veteran poet and writer Tarun Sanyal surrendered the Rabindra Award and donated the prize money to the funds being raised for the genocide victim peasants of Nandigram. They even asked the government to strike off their names from the list of awardees. Eminent dramatists, actors and other personalities who were the members of the West Bengal Natya Academy resigned en masse : they included from veterans like Bivas Chakaraborty, Manoj Mitra, Meghnad Bhattacharyya, Asok Mukherjee, Chandan Sen to the youngs like Kaushik Sen, Bratya Bose, Suman Mukherjee and others. Writers were refusing awards from the government or declining from joining any programme by the government; for instance well-known poet Sankha Ghosh, tendered his resignation from the post of Vice-President of the Bangla Academy, Ashrukumar Sikdar, the writer, resigned also from the Bangla Academy, Anita Agnihotri, another eminent writer surrendered the Somen Chanda Award and the award money, Shashi Anand resigned from membership post of the West Bengal Film Development Corporation; Nabinananda Sen from the advisory board of Nandan Advisory Committee. Even from beyond the boundary of the state, eminent personalities like Justice VR Krishna Iyer, Medha Patekar, Irfan Habib, Anuradha Talwar, Arundhati Roy and others as also students, researchers and scientists working abroad have also expressed their solidarity with the peasants, condemned the government and police action, and even demanded punishment of the chief minister as it is demanded by Justice Iyer. Many of them, like Medha Patekar have taken all pains to actively come out in support of the peasants.

Here a few points must be added on the ongoing CBI probe into the Nandigram incident, being carried out at the emergent order issued by the Calcutta High Court. The probe has already brought out revealing evidences from the words of the victims and from their direct investigative efforts in and around the area. Reportedly at one single spot, they have jumped upon a huge haul of arms and arsenals, accompanied by CPI(M) party flags, leaflets etc., and more strikingly helmets and other accessories that are only used by the police. They have arrested at least 10 people from the spot, who have confessed to be CPI(M) cadres brought there from different places other than the locality. All this came from a brickyard, which was used as a centre for carrying out the attack. The evidences unequivocally corroborate the allegations that CPI(M) activists, in disguise of police and using materials of the force were largely involved in the operation to “occupy” Nandigram to quote the expression from the Home Secretary, an active accomplice of the event. The CBI team has already revealed, though in a fraction only, the gravity and ghastliness of the situation. Yet it is feared in all quarters that the way the administration is cleverly non-cooperating with the team, the way the party CPI(M) is pushing its cadres to submit concocted versions of the incident, the terror they are maintaining in the area to prevent the real victims from coming out with their accounts, the way the Congress ministers and leaders of the UPA government at the centre are parroting the reports and accounts provided to them by the CPI(M) government, precisely the force that has perpetrated the crime, the way those UPA leaders and ministers are appeasing the CPI(M) on which it depends for its survival: in face of all these CBI would never be keen to find out the total truth.



Defying hoodwinking of government, movement goes on

Singur-Nandigram episodes are far from being settled. The government and CPI(M) are still trying to hoodwink people. They are washing their hands off by only expressing that the incident was ‘sad’; they announce withdrawl of police in phases, in the same way as Bush announces withdrawl of soldiers from Iraq in phases. While the whole state demands resignation of the CPI(M) government and its Chief minister, they, including their leaders like the General Secretary of CPI(M) Prakash Karat ignore it with cool, calculated indifference. Instead, they try to confuse people by their arguments, that there was no rule of law during the last two months in Nandigram and that their supporters were driven away from there. The police operation was meant to establish the rule of law and reinstate their displaced cadres and supporters. It has already been mentioned that the routine administrative work was all the time on during this period. It has also been indicated what made the villagers try to prevent police from entering into their area; they feared that the force will have the hoodlums in their trail, in disguise of police or else. That their fear was not baseless has been proved beyond doubt. It was those hoodlums or their accomplices inside Nandigram area, who fled from the area, afraid of people’s wrath. And it is for these reasons, to make road for those goons to reenter and “occupy” the area, as the Home Secretary describes the purpose, under the cover of equally criminal police force that CPI(M) and its government undertook such a reprehensible heinous inhuman act, and now even in the face of country-wide condemnation are dishing out pointless arguments to confuse people. On the other hand, people of Nandigram under the leadership of the BUPC could rise up against the CPI(M) goons once again. It remains for them to realize the plain facts. Sweat of their brow has made the land of Nandigram fertile. The land has provided the milk of life for them. Now when that land is being snatched away from them on the plea of fake industrialization, they cannot but rise up in determined resistance. The brute force of the fascist CPI(M) has brought unthinkable sufferings on them. We assure them, on behalf of people of the entire state, that they are not alone in their fight. All their tears and blood have soaked deep into the soil of not just their locality or the district; beneath the cover of the fertile land of the entire state which harbours, nurtures and promotes protest and resistance their tears and blood have spread from the Himalaya to the Bay of Bengal, from the rough rocky lands of the west to the soft, muddy fields of the east. It has rejuvenated the fighting spirit of people that is not going to be cowed down or befooled by the tricks and sticks of CPI(M). It has resurrected the conscience of the democratic-minded people. The entire West Bengal including the hapless people of Nandigram and Singur, simmering with indignation, must now prepare for a long sustained organized struggle not just at Singur or Nandigram, but anywhere and everywhere throughout the state if the government dares to grab lands of peasants. We raise the demand on their behalf that the government must immediately scrap SEZ projects, must declare that no fertile agricultural land will be acquired in the name of fake industrialization, really intending to develop luxurious real estates, shopping malls, swimming pools, hotels and such infrastructural facilities for tourist entertainment, must return to the Singur peasants the lands already grabbed from them; the government must arrest and stringently punish those responsible for the attack and the genocide at Nandigram, must provide the victims adequate compensation and must immdietaly take all steps to trace out those of Nandigram area still missing. At the same time, the peasants, be it of Singur or Nandigram or elsewhere in the state as also the people at large must realize that to fight for life and livelihood against a fascist force of the kind of CPI(M), aided and abetted by, that is backed by and working for the capitalist class of the land and abroad and their henchmen, it is necessary to develop people’s own power, by forming people’s committees at the grassroot level, develop and strengthen the volunteer force and carry on the movements united and organized. At the same time, it is very important that the question of who leads the struggle must be attended to. It is painful that even in this movement costing so many lives, such forces as are basically rightist, have already sneaked into and have made room. So, the struggling peasants must recall the warnings raised by the great proletarian leader Comrade Shibdas Ghosh that to reach its cherished ends, any mass movement must have the revolutionary leadership established before it. Only thereby it can be freed of anti-people rightist or such social democratic forces that can lead the movement astray with a view to fulfilling their own petty parliamentary interests and thus to serving the same capitalist class, for which CPI(M) is now working. It is only a movement under a revolutionary leadership, that can develop on such lofty morale and culture that will steel people to make settled facts unsettled, to make the fiercest enemy beat retreat.

It is the people who speak the last word. Victory awaits for them to wrest it!

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