Massacre In Nandigram: Time to Rise Up!
The juggernaut of development threatens to roll on and on!
From Narmada to Nandigarm, Mumbai to Kashipur. No respite, no regard - for human lives and livelihoods! Corporate profit is the only thing that counts! Nothing else matters!
That’s why the struggle of WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA is indivisible! From Narmada to Nandigarm, Mumbai to Kalinganagar!
The history of resistance - against “development”, against “SEZ”, against “Sanghai”, against “big dams”, against forced eviction, against further pauperisation of the already poor, is thus being written all over the place in the blood and sweat of ours.
Nandigram is a burning leaf, still burning, from the pages of that ongoing history.
It is in a remote corner of West Bengal in East Medinipur district, 180 kms. From Kolkata. On January 3 this year a notification was issued by the Haldia Development Authority indicating that 19000 acres of cultivated land would be acquired for establishment of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the area to be developed mainly by the Salim group of Indonesia as a chemical hub. But the villagers of Nandigram protested and refused to budge and all hell broke loose. On March 14 the police came, and came the CPIM cadres from outside, to raid the villages. The villagers were fired upon. Official death toll stood at 14. But still the villagers refused to budge. And because of High Court intervention the raiders had to turn back. After a relative lull of about 8 months, large gangs of professional mercenaries came down heavily on the area on Nov. 5 early morning from all the sides to recapture Nandigram with sophisticated arms – gunning down people, burning huts, looting and raping. The state machinery deliberately looking the other way chillingly mimicking, in fact even surpassing, what had happened in Gujarat in early 2002. Roads were blocked. Journalists were stopped. So were social and political activists. Prominent and well-known respected figures were publicly roughed up.
The mayhem is still on. However, the operation recapture got virtually over in about a week. Thousands stand evicted, tens killed, innumerable huts burnt, women raped.
Under the circumstances, we the people of Mumbai voice our strongest protest against the state-sponsored mafia-raj, the rule of jungle in Nandigram.
We all demand that the West Bengal government must immediately:
I. Halt all violence, overt and covert.
II. Provide relief and rehabilitation for all those affected and full reparations for all the damages/losses caused.
III. Arrange a meeting involving all stakeholders including both political parties and non-party people’s organisations.
IV. Put in place an inclusive people’s committee representing all sections of the concerned people out of that meeting to monitor and oversee the measures to restore peace
V. Conduct an open credible enquiry into the violence perpetrated and punish the guilty. Fix the responsibility of state officials for dereliction of duties including those at the highest levels.
National Alliance of People's Movements, Shahar Vikas Manch, Gha Banao Ghar bachao Andolan, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Sarvahara Jan Andolan, Chemical Majdoor Sabha, Shramik Janata Sanghatan, Build, Focus on The Global South, Akshara Centre, Awash Adhikar Sanyukt Kriti Samiti, Nirbhay Bano Andolan, Yuva, Yuva Manch, Samata Vichar Prasarak Sansatha, India Centre for Human Rights and Law, Committee for Right to Housing, EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity) and others.
Peace is doable.
From Narmada to Nandigarm, Mumbai to Kashipur. No respite, no regard - for human lives and livelihoods! Corporate profit is the only thing that counts! Nothing else matters!
That’s why the struggle of WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA is indivisible! From Narmada to Nandigarm, Mumbai to Kalinganagar!
The history of resistance - against “development”, against “SEZ”, against “Sanghai”, against “big dams”, against forced eviction, against further pauperisation of the already poor, is thus being written all over the place in the blood and sweat of ours.
Nandigram is a burning leaf, still burning, from the pages of that ongoing history.
It is in a remote corner of West Bengal in East Medinipur district, 180 kms. From Kolkata. On January 3 this year a notification was issued by the Haldia Development Authority indicating that 19000 acres of cultivated land would be acquired for establishment of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the area to be developed mainly by the Salim group of Indonesia as a chemical hub. But the villagers of Nandigram protested and refused to budge and all hell broke loose. On March 14 the police came, and came the CPIM cadres from outside, to raid the villages. The villagers were fired upon. Official death toll stood at 14. But still the villagers refused to budge. And because of High Court intervention the raiders had to turn back. After a relative lull of about 8 months, large gangs of professional mercenaries came down heavily on the area on Nov. 5 early morning from all the sides to recapture Nandigram with sophisticated arms – gunning down people, burning huts, looting and raping. The state machinery deliberately looking the other way chillingly mimicking, in fact even surpassing, what had happened in Gujarat in early 2002. Roads were blocked. Journalists were stopped. So were social and political activists. Prominent and well-known respected figures were publicly roughed up.
The mayhem is still on. However, the operation recapture got virtually over in about a week. Thousands stand evicted, tens killed, innumerable huts burnt, women raped.
Under the circumstances, we the people of Mumbai voice our strongest protest against the state-sponsored mafia-raj, the rule of jungle in Nandigram.
We all demand that the West Bengal government must immediately:
I. Halt all violence, overt and covert.
II. Provide relief and rehabilitation for all those affected and full reparations for all the damages/losses caused.
III. Arrange a meeting involving all stakeholders including both political parties and non-party people’s organisations.
IV. Put in place an inclusive people’s committee representing all sections of the concerned people out of that meeting to monitor and oversee the measures to restore peace
V. Conduct an open credible enquiry into the violence perpetrated and punish the guilty. Fix the responsibility of state officials for dereliction of duties including those at the highest levels.
National Alliance of People's Movements, Shahar Vikas Manch, Gha Banao Ghar bachao Andolan, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Sarvahara Jan Andolan, Chemical Majdoor Sabha, Shramik Janata Sanghatan, Build, Focus on The Global South, Akshara Centre, Awash Adhikar Sanyukt Kriti Samiti, Nirbhay Bano Andolan, Yuva, Yuva Manch, Samata Vichar Prasarak Sansatha, India Centre for Human Rights and Law, Committee for Right to Housing, EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity) and others.
Peace is doable.
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