Who is responsible for the violence in Nandigram?

Nandigram is burning for the third straight day as armed CPI-M activists battle it out to regain control over villages occupied by Trinamool Congress men.

CPM supporters are marching to recapture lost ground in Bhangabera, Ranichowk and Mahesh.

However, there have been no reports of violence so far but a warlike situation prevails with Trinamool Congress backed Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee opposing CPI-M cadres.

Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar was allegedly roughed up by CPM workers in Nandigram on Thursday when she tried to enter the village where people are opposing land acquisition for industries.

The question that was brought up by CNN-IBN show, Face The Nation was: Has the Left got it wrong on the Nandigram issue?

On the panel to try and answer the question was Head, CPI-M Economic Cell, Prasenjit Bose and Rajya Sabha MP, Trinamool Congres, Dinesh Trivedi.

So has the CPM really delayed in sending in paramilitary forces? In fact the paramilitary forces hasn’t been sent in even till today?

Prasenjit Bose said that the decision to send paramilitary forces did not entirely depend upon the CPM. “We have been demanding that the paramilitary forces to be sent and I think that the Centre should extend its cooperation to the State government in this matter,” said Bose.

Since the state-level leadership of the CPI-M wanted to send paramilitary forces and wanted to ensure that policemen go inside Nandigram, so was it really the Centre that was to be blamed?

“As far as the police is concerned it was unfortunate on March 14 that police fired and people died but the police wanted to go in anyways but they were resisted so that is why there was so much of clamour there regarding state repression. But the fact of the matter is that the state administration has not been allowed to function there for eight long months now,” said Bose.

So wasn’t there something that was wrong that is why the state administration was not allowed to function for eight months? Why was a party that was in power for more then three decades not able to control violence in a village?

Dinesh Trivedi brought up a point by saying that the entire state of Bengal had been ruled by terror for the last 30 years. As far as Nandigram was concerned the right perspective was to be understood.

“Nothing is wrong with Nandigram. The problem is with a place called Khejuri that is en route to Nandigram and now they are asking for force to be sent to Nandigram. The force actually needs to be sent to all the places of Bengal especially to a place called Khejuri,” said Trivedi.

Trivedi also pointed out that victims were in Nandigram but the people who were firing were in Khejuri.

“The people who need to be arrested and taken to task are the CPM goons aided by the police and the CPM machinery to kill the people of Nandigram,” said Trivedi.

Bose however, argued the point saying that the people of the country had seen the game played by the Trinamool Congress who worked in tandem with the Maoists there.

“For eight long months over 2, 500 CPM supporters are staying in relief camps. Who is stopping the police from entering there? Why is Mamata Banerjee not coming to the table with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. These are the questions that the Trinamool Congress has to answer the people of West Bengal today,” said Bose.

But how possible was it for people to get such expensive weapons as in AK-47? The state government was either involved in the clash or it was turning a blind eye towards it.

“If the police goes to Nandigram to take care of the situation then it is called state repression and when they don’t go then a conflict goes uncontrolled,” said Bose.

So was the Trinamool Congress hand in glove involved in the situation and it was trying to derive political mileage out of this?

Trivedi concluded by saying, “The entire world is now talking about Nandigram. The Governor of West Bengal, Justice Krishna Iyer and even the Home Secretary mentioned that it is the CMP goons who are firing the unarmed people of Nandigram. There is genocide going in Nandigram. Nandigram is worse than Gujarat with violence going on for the last so many months there.”

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