[DEBATE] : Fwd: [dalits] Dalits In News 09.12.07 (Exclusive)

[Jai Sen]

An update...

Begin forwarded message:

> From: ARUN KHOTE <arun.khote at gmail.com>
> Date:  December 9 2007 11:02:53 AM GMT+05:45
> To: Dalits in News <dalits at dgroups.org>
> Subject: [dalits] Dalits In News 09.12.07 (Exclusive)
> Reply-To: Dalits in News <dalits at dgroups.org>
>
> NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS is an Advocacy Platform  
> committed for Dalit Human Rights at the Grass root, National and  
> International levels. Dalits In News aims at sensitizing Civil  
> societies, HR Mechanisms and providing updates of HR violations on  
> Dalits for their Intervention.
>
> NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS
>
> NCDHR
>
> Dalits In News
>
> December 09, 2007
>
> EXCLUSIVE
>
> Hard Line News Media
>
>
> Dictatorship of the 'Proletariat?'
> http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/portal/2007/12/1854
> 'Operation Recapture' shows the ruthlessness of a victorious army  
> subjugating the conquered land. However, for how long can the CPM  
> dominate Nandigram by brute force? A graphic account of what really  
> happened
>
> Rajat Roy Nandigram/Kolkata
>
> It seems all quiet in Nandigram now. Around 1,200 CPM supporters,  
> who were driven out of their homes, have returned. The West Bengal  
> police, who were unable to enter the villages since March 14, 2007,  
> after the first 'police-CPM-engineered' massacre of villagers and  
> farmers in which 14 were 'officially' killed, are pumping their  
> chests. Paramilitary forces are conducting flag marches to reassure  
> the people. Relief workers, medical teams and media are being  
> allowed access. The roads and street-corners are adorned with red  
> flags of the CPM. Young, aggressive men in motorbikes are  
> patrolling the area — often operating as armed cadre of the ruling  
> party.
>
> The defeated and demoralised leaders of the Bhumi Uchchhed  
> Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) have fled to the neighbouring districts.  
> Some of them are still around, but they have taken shelter in a  
> relief camp. When things were at its peak, there were at least six  
> to seven relief camps sheltering over 15,000 people. Now, only one  
> relief camp is functioning at the BMT High School in Nandigram  
> Bazaar, where about 600-700 people are still waiting for their turn  
> to return home. Nandigram has been truly recaptured by the CPM.
>
> According to official estimates, the toll of 'Operation Recapture'  
> is pegged at four dead and 10 injured, while a few rape cases were  
> reportedly recorded with the administration. But unofficial  
> estimates put the death toll at 20 or more and BUPC claims that at  
> least 32 people are still missing. In the prevailing atmosphere of  
> several disappearances, eliminations, mistrust and fear, where the  
> state administration's role is not above suspicion, it is still  
> difficult to come to a realistic estimate.
>
> The arrest of Tapan Ghosh (CPM's West Midnapur district committee  
> member) and Sukur Ali (CPM's Garbeta zonal committee secretary),  
> while smuggling out three people with bullet injuries, gives  
> strength to the BUPC allegation that the CPM might have kidnapped a  
> number of injured people, later, killed them, and destroyed all  
> evidence. The criminal history of Ghosh and Ali is widely known.  
> They were arrested at Egra near Nandigram on November 10, when the  
> local TMC people gheraoed a convoy of four cars and found out that  
> injured people were being abducted.
>
> Since the CBI chargesheeted them as main culprits of the Chute  
> Angora murder case, they have been evading the law. On January 4,  
> 2001, at Chute Angora, five Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters  
> were murdered allegedly by CPM activists. The CBI investigation  
> found Ghosh and Ali as the masterminds of those killings and they  
> were chargesheeted along with 13 others. But the police,  
> incidentally, declared them 'absconders' — although they have been  
> prominently seen in many party programmes. Despite the court  
> declaring them proclaimed offenders and ordering their property to  
> be attached, nothing has been done to that effect. Indeed, even  
> now, after their arrest, CPM leaders like Benoy Konar (who has been  
> rather belligerent and crude recently) and Deepak Sarkar have  
> proclaimed that these two are "assets" of the party.
>
> That CPM had mobilised forces from other districts to 'Liberate  
> Nandigram'. This was initially proved by Governor Gopalkrishna  
> Gandhi's public utterances: "Large number of armed persons from  
> outside the district have, it is undeniable, forced themselves into  
> villages in Nandigram Block 1 and 2 for territorial assertions."  
> Sukur Ali and Tapan Ghosh were among those outsiders. A few days  
> after the arrest of Ghosh and Ali, the CID arrested Selim Laskar, a  
> hardened criminal, from a guest house in nearby Geonkhali, an  
> hour's drive from Nandigram, and recovered a number of  
> sophisticated firearms from him. Selim is from South 24 Parganas  
> and has close ties with some senior leaders of the CPM there. Now,  
> some district party leaders are admitting that the CPM did mobilise  
> cadres and musclemen from West Midnapur, South and North 24  
> Parganas and Hoogly.
>
> The CPM 'recaptured' these villages between November 5 and 12. A  
> meticulous plan was drawn by the CPM leaders. According to party  
> sources, state secretariat member Shyamal Chakrabarty was entrusted  
> with overseeing 'Operation Recapture' by the state party  
> leadership. The state administration was kept in the loop, and  
> accordingly, on November 2, just when the CPM musclemen were  
> warming up for their final assault on Nandigram, the police were  
> moved out from all bunkers and camps around Nandigram. The only  
> police picket in Tekhali Bridge, the dividing line between the CPM  
> and BUPC, was withdrawn.
>
> The CPM brought in their musclemen from adjacent districts and  
> supplied them with firearms and local guides. All the entry points  
> were closed and supply lines of the BUPC cut off.
>
> Then the final assault began.
>
> When the entire state was busy celebrating the festival of  
> 'Kalipuja', the CPM cadres and musclemen with the tacit support of  
> the state police were preparing for a different kind of Diwali in  
> Nandigram. This time the CPM leaders and vigilant groups were well- 
> prepared: they were better armed and they used that to their  
> advantage. Realising that the BUPC strength was more concentrated  
> in Sonachura and Garchkaraberia, the CPM 'force' diverted its  
> attack on Satengabari, Takapura, Gokulnagar, Bhangabera and  
> Kalicharanpur. Once those villages fell to the CPM, they took a  
> number of villagers hostage and using them as a human shield  
> entered Sonachura and Garchakraberia.
>
> It is true that in the initial stage the BUPC tried to put up a  
> fight, but they were overpowered by superior firepower and armed  
> strength. On November 7, when the CPM forces broke through their  
> resistance and started entering into the heart of Nandigram, local  
> BUPC supporters sought police intervention. The officer-in-charge  
> of the Nandigram police station pleaded helplessness: "I have been  
> instructed by the SP not to send forces till five in the evening,  
> no matter how bad the situation is." Later, in Kolkata, Chief  
> Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya would justify this inaction of his  
> police forces by saying that after the March 14 incident it was a  
> conscious decision not to send the police there.
>
> On November 10, the final blow was dealt when the BUPC brought out  
> a number of unarmed processions in areas which were still under  
> their control to regain their moral and political ground and also  
> to draw attention of the outside world to their plight. According  
> to the villagers who participated in one procession, it was at  
> least 15,000 strong. The procession came under fire and they saw  
> several people falling on the ground or seriously injured after  
> being hit by bullets. This was, locals say, another massacre of  
> unarmed protestors, the details of which are still fuzzy.
>
> The last resistance of the BUPC was broken. The CPM cadres started  
> entering into villages. First came the motorbikes, then people came  
> on foot in processions and CPM's red flags started fluttering from  
> house tops, trees, lamp-posts — everywhere. Then it was time for  
> retribution.
>
> It is true that when the CPM cadres were forced to leave their  
> homes between January 3 and March 14, some of their houses were  
> looted and burnt by angry mobs. Now, the CPM started looting and  
> torching the houses of BUPC members.  Paying them back in the same  
> coin, as Buddhadeb Bhattacharya would say, publicly defending extra- 
> constitutional violence by the CPM cadre.
>
> Finally, after the houses burnt, hundreds turned homeless, the  
> reported killings, rapes, abductions, human shields and mass  
> beating, the CPM leaders in Kolkata announced with a tone of  
> finality that peace has been restored in Nandigram. The chief  
> minister echoed this moment of truth by asking the people who fled  
> their villages to return home without any fear.
>
> This is not mere coincidence that the state administration  
> announced compensation for the victims of the March 14 police  
> firing at the same time when a largescale attack had already been  
> launched by CPM musclemen to recapture Nandigram. On hindsight, it  
> could be seen as a clever ploy to deflect attention from ground  
> zero to bureaucratic nitty-gritties.
>
> Indeed, only the governor of West Bengal was not misled by any such  
> move. On November 9, while the operation was going on, Gandhi  
> issued a statement castigating the state government for its  
> inaction and said in no uncertain terms that the forcible recapture  
> of Nandigram by outsiders was completely unlawful and unacceptable.  
> The state administration kept quiet but the CPM leadership blew its  
> top. A belligerent Biman Bose, the state secretary, alleged that  
> the governor was transgressing on his constitutional jurisdictions.  
> He uncannily reminded Gandhi that some of his predecessors could  
> not complete their term in West Bengal.
>
> While the civil society in Kolkata, West Bengal and across India  
> protested in outrage at this brazen violation of constitutional  
> norms and the State-sponsored violence in Nandigram, the CPM cadres  
> continued their organised, nasty and brutish operation. New Delhi  
> sent paramilitary forces at the behest of the state government, but  
> the CRPF was not allowed entry till 'Operation Recapture Nandigram'  
> was over.
>
> Even when the CRPF was deployed at Nandigram, the state police,  
> instead of assisting them, started putting up one obstacle after  
> another. Reports of friction between the state police and CRPF are  
> now widespread. With the entry of CRPF jawans as peacekeepers, the  
> people expected they would get protection from the continuous  
> intimidation and harassment unleashed by the CPM activists there.  
> Since the law permits the CRPF to operate only under the state  
> administration, they are dependent on the police on crucial matters  
> — restoring peace and the rule of law, locating troubled spots and  
> identifying known criminals, etc. To their dismay, the CRPF  
> discovered that the state police are not only uncooperative, but  
> they are often actively moving to subvert the process.
>
> When CRPF jawans arrested some CPM goons for intimidating  
> villagers, the state police came to their rescue. Some of those  
> arrested by the CRPF were released by the police. So much so that  
> the exasperated DIG, Alok Raj, complained against the police for  
> obstructing them in performing their duty. A CRPF officer said, "We  
> nabbed four persons on motorbikes and handed them over to the  
> police. They were released. We arrested a notorious criminal, Anup  
> Mondal, who has several criminal cases against him. He was released  
> by the police as well. We were told to bring about peace in the  
> area, yet, if we cannot instill confidence among the villagers, the  
> morale of our personnel will go down."
>
> Nandigram is calm now, though the sound of occasional firing can be  
> heard from Khejuri, the CPM stronghold. There are spontaneous  
> celebrations of the 'victorious CPM', who wants to hammer it into  
> the people's mind that CPM is and will remain the 'master and lord'  
> of that area. Locals are afraid of talking to outsiders. A number  
> of 'freshly burnt' houses standing along the ruins of the houses  
> burnt earlier stand as witness to the relentless violence and the  
> people's struggle against the SEZs.
>
> The CPM is now busy establishing its control here. Punitive taxes  
> or fines are being imposed on BUPC sympathisers. The local CPM has  
> issued diktats to the helpless people to fall in line. Simply put,  
> they will have to join the CPM, their processions and conform to  
> the rules set by the local party honchos. Those who were activists,  
> for them more brutal trials are awaited — their houses have been  
> looted and torched. In some cases, they were reportedly subjected  
> to physical harassment and torture forcing them to return to the  
> relief camp again.
>
> The operation shows all signs of the ruthlessness of a victorious  
> army trying to subjugate the conquered land. There is hardly any  
> attempt to win the hearts of the poor people who, till the other  
> day, were mostly with the CPM. Of the 17 gram panchayats, 10 are  
> with the CPM and rest with the TMC. The assembly seat of Nandigram  
> is with Left Front partner CPI. Till the time the government came  
> out with a notification for acquisition of land for setting up of a  
> chemical hub here, the people of Nandigram were not really in a  
> mood to rebel or resist. But, as members of the BUPC pointed out,  
> the fear of losing their land and livelihood forced the people to  
> unite in resisting the ruling establishment. Thus, among the top  
> ranking leaders of BUPC one finds Md. Sufian, sabhapati of the  
> Panchayat Samiti, and Abu Taher, both of them were once important  
> CPM leaders of the area.
>
> It won't be out of place if we compare the Keshpur experiment with  
> the current scenario. Around 2000-2001, CPM and TMC fought a  
> pitched battle in Keshpur and Garbeta in West Midnapur. The TMC,  
> with initial support from the locals, drove out CPM activists and  
> established control over a vast terrain with the help of musclemen  
> and smuggled arms. Hence, they won the Pashkura Lok Sabha by- 
> election. The CPM took some time to regroup and then hit back with  
> full backing of the state government.
>
> Led by Sushanta Ghosh, a minister in the Left Front government and  
> assisted by Tapan Ghosh, Sukur Ali and others, they recaptured the  
> area by mustering a bigger force. While the bloody turf war between  
> the ruling party and the opposition was going on, there was not a  
> single voice of protest from the civil society in West Bengal or  
> elsewhere.
>
> Unlike Keshpur, this time, the fear of losing their land and  
> livelihood to the proposed chemical hub has united CPM and TMC  
> supporters of Nandigram, among other, ordinary farmers, women,  
> Dalits and Muslims, who constitute the majority here. The BUPC  
> leadership comprises the TMC, CPM dissidents, Congress, SUCI and  
> other groups and individuals. Initially, the BUPC decided to act  
> together irrespective of their individual party colours. But after  
> March 14, when the Bhattacharya government announced that it won't  
> be pushing the chemical hub in Nandigram, it tasted its first major  
> success. And with that a new turf war started within the BUPC.
>
> Ignoring their earlier commitment, TMC leaders began to control the  
> movement under the party with an eye on panchayat elections  
> scheduled in May, 2008. Around that time, Kanu Sanyal, veteran  
> Naxalite leader, noticed with shock that overnight Nandigram had  
> been turned into a TMC bastion, with TMC flags fluttering from  
> every visible corner. Later, TMC leader Shubhendu Adhikari  
> reportedly announced that no political party other than the TMC  
> would be allowed to function here.
>
> Reportedly, the BUPC was started collecting money from the locals  
> for buying guns and ammunitions. Not all of these were voluntary  
> donations. Rather, it is being said that people of doubtful  
> allegiance were levied with punitive taxes. By resorting to these  
> tactics, the BUPC leadership gradually turned this once popular  
> movement into a factional one. Hence, when the CPM started their  
> onslaught in a planned manner, the BUPC resistance crumbled rapidly.
>
> However, for how long can the CPM dominate Nandigram by brute  
> force? The numbers of the dead and raped are still unfolding. Fact- 
> finding teams are slowly disclosing names and details of the dead  
> and wounded. Nandigram has become an epitome of resistance all over  
> India and across the world — resistance against big corporate  
> globalisation at the expense of poor farmers. And one thing is  
> certain, Nandigram can't be turned into a Keshpur.
>
> Earlier, the CPM used to enjoy a kind of moral authority; they were  
> accepted as the main arbitrator on behalf of the poor in West  
> Bengal. Now, that image has come under a cynical scanner. Though  
> under siege, Nandigram will always remain a symbol of people's  
> rebellion and resistance.
>
>
>
> ARUN KHOTE
> Secretary- Media
> National Campaign On Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR)
> 8/1, 2nd Floor, South Patel Nagar,
> New Delhi-110008
> Ph: 011- 25842249 /25842250
>          0- 9350183802
> email: arun at ncdhr.org
>          arun.khote at gmail.com
>          ncdhr at vsnl.net
> Website: www.ncdhr.org
>
> Our struggle is not for wealth or for power. Our struggle is for  
> freedom. Our is a struggle for the reclamation of Human personalty.  
> – Baba Saheb Dr. B. R Ambedkar --- You are currently subscribed to  
> dalits as: jai.sen at vsnl.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to  
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______________________________

Jai Sen
jai.sen at cacim.net
CACIM, A-3 Defence Colony, New Delhi 110 024, India
www.cacim.net
Ph : +91-11-4155 1521, 2433 2451

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