Click to play videoThe nation's eyes are on Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, how she carries out the agitation and how long she can hold on to it. Everyone is also wondering whether Singur will become a landmark on this fight between agriculture and industry, the fight between the city and the countryside in India. In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN's National Affairs Editor, Diptosh Majumdar, Mamata Banerjee says she is hopeful of a solution to the Singur crisis if the Left government in the state cooperates. The Trinamool leader alleges CPM workers are provoking her party workers, but asserted that the Trinamool won't be provoked.
Diptosh Majumdar Where is this all heading Ms Banerjee?
Mamata Banerjee Well you see, you must appreciate the fact that a bad propaganda is going on. We are fighting a battle against state-sponsored terrorism as also money power -like advertisements and media and television - and mafia power.
Diptosh Majumdar Are you suggesting that the media is giving you bad publicity at this point and time?
Mamata Banerjee They are not showing the reality. They are just showing the minus points of our agitation, not the truth. You see, please appreciate that we are not against any individual industrialist or any industry. Our position is very clear. We say let both industry and agriculture smile but not at the cost of the other. In Singur, the West Bengal government and the TATAs forcefully evacuated the land, then imposed Section 144 here and then they deputed more than 30,000 policemen to capture this land. After that, I started my hunger strike which lasted for 26 days and then the government gave me the assurance that nothing further will be done without talks. The Prime Minister and the West Bengal Chief Minister requested me to withdraw the hunger strike for my health was deteriorating.
Diptosh Majumdar So is this a betrayal of sorts?
Mamata Banerjee Yes. I still have the Prime Minister and Chief Minister's letters of assurance. It's been two years to this and now the Chief Minister says let us face the people's verdict, the Panchayat elections, which we did.
Diptosh Majumdar You won the Panchayat elections everywhere.
Mamata Banerjee Yes, we won in 15 out of 16 gram sabhas. We have won all zila parishads and all panchayat samitis.
Diptosh Majumdar Do you see that as a reflection that people are with you, that they are against the Singur project?
Mamata Banerjee Yes. Even here where the agitation is being held people are in favour of agriculture. They are not against industry buut don't want to give fertile land to it. We said to the government, please accept the people's verdict. They said no. So we said okay, then we have to go in for agitations and movements and all.
Diptosh Majumdar Did people's verdict mean that the plant would have stayed here and the ancillary unit would have shifted elsewhere?
Mamata Banerjee That was not the people's verdict. They want their agricultural land back. It is very fertile and Singur was a model agriculture village. The TATA project has covered two rivers, can you imagine that? One of them comes from River Damodar and they have been concreted.
Diptosh Majumdar So the entire geography and topography of the area is being changed. However, you had accepted that the plant can stay here but the anciallry units cannot be continuous and adjacent. But what is it that provoked the TATAs statement even as everyone was meeting the Governor on Tuesday?
Mamata Banerjee You see, we had appealed to the government that let's look for a solution whereby both industry and agriculture can stay side-by-side. The TATAs wrote to me saying that 600 acres of land was enough for them, so I said okay, give the remaining 400 acres to agriculture. I said shift your ancillary units on the opposite the road where 500 acres of land is available. I had said that for connecting both plant and ancillary units, TATA can set up a small underpass. If they don't have the money, we will be to the people to pay for an underpass or a small flyover.
Diptosh Majumdar So you would have been happy here with one underpass or flyover?
Mamata Banerjee Yes. The TATAs have come here with a lot of subsidies. There are no income tax, sales tax, VAT or cess, no electricity charge, free water, free land, free infrastructure. No one knows till today what was the treaty that the TATAs and the state government signed. I wonder what they are hiding. Also I think TATA should have accepted my reasonable offer. Please remember I am trained in trade union activities and ILO activities. All these threats of "we are not working" and "we are pulling out" simply means that TATA does not want to give salary to the people who are working.
Diptosh Majumdar So you think TATAs will stay on and this is just a ploy and a pressure tactic?
Mamata Banerjee Yes. If there are big industrialists, they should look towards the human faces and consider others too. We want to see them happy, but is not their duty to see that others are also happy? Why are they blackmailing us?
Diptosh Majumdar In their statement the TATAs said that entire atmosphere in Singur is not conducive to industrial growth. What is happening in Singur is a situation which they have not faced anywhere in India. What do you have to say to that?
Mamata Banerjee Then why did they leave their Dhaka and Kalinganagar projects? They should think before releasing such goody-goody statements. We are all humans. No one is fighting for individual interest here. People here are dying from starvation now that their land has been taken. The TATAs should think.
Diptosh Majumdar Even as we speak, the Governor is setting up a committee to look into the issue. What do you think is the solution till then?
Mamata Banerjee The Governor is a nice man. We are agreeable with his solutions. If he intervenes, he should have people from both sides presenting their cases.
Diptosh Majumdar Will you move an inch from your stance that the ancillary units should be shifted?
Mamata Banerjee I said that they can move to adjoining places. In these places, the Panchayat Samitis are very important and the TATAs will have to take permission for any ancillary or any infrsatructure building there. The Panchayat Samitis have told me that 500 acres of land is available for the TATAs. What is the harm? Why can't they accept this? It's just like having a main Parliament and then assemblies in every state.
Diptosh Majumdar There is a qualitative difference here from what happened in Nandigram. That time everyone came out in support of you. At that point, CPM cadres really seemed to be beating up ordinary people, but in Singur they have been extremely restrained. Would you agree to that?
Mamata Banerjee All people are with us, except a few who have been bought over by the TATAs. I have seen many media houses being taken over by TATAs because they have the money for advertisements. We don't because we are downtrodden people. All the people who supported Nandigram are with us.
Diptosh Majumdar You have the intellectuals with you but does it mean that you are finally breaking the big Left bastion in West Bengal and coming to where the Left is really powerful, the rural area? Is Trinamool Congress now going to get more seats from rural Bengal?
Mamata Banerjee That people will decide, we hope for the best. This time though, the margins will have narrowed. People won't accept all this. See the CPM people are attacking our camps since the morning. Why? We are peaceful people carrying out a Satyagraha movement. All Leftist, Socialists, Samajwadi Party, Indian Muslim League, PDS party and even Janta Dal (United) are with us. Ours is a unique, colourful umbrella. This is a combined fight and we will win the fight.
Diptosh Majumdar Singur is becoming a gathering point for a lot of people in this country who are looking at this fight between the city and the countryside. If you become the Chief Minister of the state, how will you form your industry and agricullture policies?
Mamata Banerjee The Singur movement has conquered the hearts of the people of the world. Our message to the world is that we want greenery to be saved. We want a nice environment and save natural assets. We want to work for the common people, the working class and for farmers and without farmers you cannot live. For industries we would probably set up land banking, because industries come as a package of large scale, medium scale, small scale, cottage industries and agro-based industries. This will be a land management policy where industrial land is available. We want both to be safe. These two sides of the coin should be satisfied and work in tandem.
Diptosh Majumdar So can we conclude that there is no solution in sight?
Mamata Banerjee We are optimists, we hope for the best and maybe a solution may come.
Diptosh Majumdar Hope for the TATAs to climb down or Ms Banerjee to climb down?
Mamata Banerjee We don't want to be the winner. Let the people be the winners.
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