December 2007 Edition
MEDHA Patkar, Anuradha Talwar and other activists were finally allowed entry into Nandigram on November 14. Earlier attempts to enter had been thwarted. On one occasion the activists, including Medha Patkar, were beaten up and their vehicles damaged. On November 14, however, they were allowed entry after the CPI(M) cadres had completed their operation in Nandigram. Patkar spoke to Civil Society shortly after the visit.
What is the situation in Nandigram?
There is the peace of the graveyard in Nandigram. Some 15,000 families have been pushed out of the villages, their homes burnt, the women assaulted. These people are now in makeshift refugee camps with very little food or shelter. The West Bengal government has sanctioned just Rs 2,000 or Rs 3,000 per family as relief. It is nothing. The camps are being run by the Bhoomi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) with very limited resources. Taking care of these people is the need of the hour. We also met 15 to 20 CPI(M) supporters who took us into villages and showed us the houses of some of their people that had been burnt. This is a much smaller number than that of those who have been pushed out. The CPI(M) supporters who were on motorcycles said they wanted the SEZ because it would give them jobs. It is the cadres who are in charge. The police are totally inactive. The CRPF, which is at the disposal of the state government, has not been properly deployed. In fact the CRPF commander has said that there is nothing left for his men to do now.
Prakash Karat has said that Maoists have been at work in Nandigram and therefore cadres had to be sent in to evict them. What do you have to say?
It is not correct. Too much credit is being given to Maoists. There may have been in the villages young people of different persuasions just as there may well be in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The fact is that this was a people’s movement against giving up their land. The BUPC had people from all parties in it, including former supporters of the CPI(M). I was often told by groups in Bengal about how undemocratic and intolerant the CPI(M) is here. I really did not believe it. But now I have experienced it for myself. The CPI(M) in Bengal must learn to be much more tolerant. They must realise that there is a role for an opposition in democracy. In Andhra Pradesh the CPI(M) has played the role of an opposition and won concessions from the government. Here in West Bengal, too, it must be ready to hear another point of view. There has been no response to all our offers of a dialogue for the past several months. We have repeatedly asked for talks to reduce the tension and restore peace, but neither the party nor the government has responded. The violence of the past few days in Nandigram has been an act of political vengeance and Laxman Seth the MP from here has said as much publicly. Even now as we visited a relief camp, one person was abducted. Attempts were made to pull a few BUPC supporters we took along with us into the villages off our jeep.
You have often taken the support of the Left. What has happened?
We have always seen the Left as playing an important role in our democracy and providing a challenge to globalisation, communal forces and so on. We continue to see ourselves as left of centre and secular.
CPI(M) leaders such as Prakash Karat have openly defended the violence in Nandigram while speaking on television. Buddhadeb Bhattarcharya has said the villagers have been paid back in their own coin and the CPI(M) taken an eye for an eye. Do you worry about what this means for our democracy?
It does worry me. We have fought against projects in other states, but haven’t faced such a situation. Even in the BJP-ruled states, with all the BJP’s communal biases, it hasn’t been so bad. The CPI(M) must realise that its cadres can’t do what they like and declare “The Red Sun has risen” because then the Sun of Democracy sets on the other side.
What should be done now to restore normalcy?
Civil society groups must move in. There is an urgent need for relief and medical relief in particular. Secondly, a political decision must be taken to stop the use of arms and intimidation. Everything rests on a political decision. The Congress should prevail upon the CPI(M), which is its partner. When we were stopped from entering Nandigram it was a political decision and similarly when we were allowed to enter it was a political decision. Thirdly, the Centre should intervene and ensure the safety of the families who have lost their homes as the National Human Rights Commission has directed the Union home ministry.
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