CPM`s Nandigram recapturing unlawful: Governor

Kolkata, Nov 10: In an indictment of the West Bengal government and the ruling CPM, Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Friday termed "unlawful" the manner of recapturing of villages in Nandigram. Meanwhile the CPI(M) has slammed the Governor over his remarks and has called for an emergency meet in the state following which there will be a press conference.

In an indictment of the West Bengal government and the ruling CPM, Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Friday termed "unlawful" the manner of recapturing of villages in Nandigram. "The most accurate description for Nandigram is the one used by state home secretary that it has become a war zone. No government or society can allow a war zone to exist without immediate and effective action," Gandhi said in his statement.

"The manner in which the recapture of Nandigram villages is being attempted is totally unlawful and unacceptable," the Governor said in a release amid reports that the CPM has forcibly seized most areas in the village where the party is battling against the Trinamul Congress-backed Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), which is resisting farmland acquisition for industries.

"Even as of 4 pm on Friday, I have received calls from responsible persons in Nandigram saying that several huts are ablaze. A large number of villagers have taken refuge in the local high school in Nandigram bereft of food and personal security," he said.

"A large number of armed persons from outside the district have, it is undeniable, forced themselves onto villages in Nandigram block 1 and 2 for territorial assertion. Thousands of villages have consequently been intimidated into leaving their homes," he said.

Referring to the attack on social activist Medha Patkar and her supporters on her way to Nandigram on Thursday, the Governor said the treatment meted out to Patkar and her associates "was against all norms of civilised political behaviour".

Gandhi said he found it unacceptable that while Nandigram has been ingressed with ease by armed people, on the one hand, political and non-political persons trying to reach it were violently obstructed. He said the ardour of Diwali has been dampened in the whole state by the events in Nandigram.

Pointing out that he had been in touch with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee following talks with leaders of parties, including Trinamul Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee, the Governor said he had requested the state to take immediate steps to check violence.

Ironically, the day the governor pulled up the government for the violence, CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu sang a different tune, saying peace was returning to Nandigram. Basu said there was no need to hold an all-party meeting over clashes in the village.

"It is a good news that representatives of the BUPC and our men (CPM leaders) went to the meeting (by the district administration at Nandigram on Thursday). Senior administration and police officials were present and peace is returning," he said after the CPM state secretariat meeting here.

Meanwhile, Siddiqulla Chowdhury, general secretary of the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind that participated in protest rallies against the land acquisition, was arrested with 30 aides on way to Nandigram.

Bureau Report