The Nandigram SEZ controversy, which caused the Nandigram massacre, started when the West Bengal government decided that the Salim Group of Indonesia^[1][2][3] would set up a chemical hub under the SEZ policy at Nandigram, a rural area in the district of Purba Medinipur. The villagers took over the administration of the area and all the roads to the villages were cut off. The administration was directed to break the Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Commitee's (BUPC) resistance at Nandigram and a massive operation with at least 3,000 policemen was launched on March 14, 2007. However, prior information of the impending action had leaked out to the BUPC who amassed a crowd of roughly 2,000 villagers at the entry points into Nandigram with women and children forming the front ranks. In the resulting mayhem, at least 14 people were killed. The Government of West Bengal also known as the State Government of West Bengal, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of West Bengal and its 19 districts. ... The Salim Group is Indonesias big­gest conglomerate with assets including Indofood Sukses Mamur, the worlds largest instant noodle producer, and Bogasari, a larg­e flour-milling operation [1]. The group was founded by Sudono Salim. ... The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... , For the recent controversy over the proposed chemical hub of the Salim Group under the SEZ policy which led to the massacre of at least 14 villagers, see Nandigram SEZ controversy Nandigram is a rural area in Purba Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal. ... Midnapore East is one of the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. ...

Background

The Salim Group was founded by Sudono Salim closely associated with Indonesian ex-president Suharto. Sudono Salim (Chinese: 林绍良, Liem Swie Liong or Lim Sioe Liong) (born 10 September 1915), an ethnic-Chinese Indonesian (Chinese Indonesian) of Hok-Chia (Fu Qing Province in China) origin, is considered one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Indonesia, although it is widely suspected that his successes are through bribery... Suharto GCB (born June 8, 1921) is a former Indonesian military and political leader. ...

The chemical hub would require the acquisition of over 14,000 acres (57 km²) of land. The special economic zone would be spread over 29 mouzas (villages) of which 27 are in Nandigram.^[4]Probodh Panda, a CPI MP from the district has said that most of the land to be acquired is multi crop and would affect over 40,000 people.^[5]Expectedly, the prospect of losing land and thereby livelihood raised the heckles of the predominantly agricultural populace.^[6] The villagers, who had been predominantly supporters of the party in power, CPI(M), turned against it and organized a resistance movement under the banner of the newly formed Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee or BUPC (literally, Committee for the Resistance to Eviction from Land)^[7].

Partners in the ruling Left Front and even sections of the CPI(M) party including the Minister for Land and Land Reform, have expressed reservations on the project.^[8]

In defence of the project, the state government states that it was won by competing with 9 other Indian states^[9]. Being in the vicinity of Haldia Petrochemicals & IOC refinery, which, the CPI(M) claimed, had earlier led to 100,000 jobs being created through downstream projects, the party argued that this is the best place to build a hub from the point of view of supply-chain integration.^[10]

The Salim Group sought around 35,000 acres (140 km²) of land for a series of ambitious projects.^[11] Apart from the special economic zone (which is a 50:50 joint venture with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation) it has been assigned the construction of the 100 km long 100 m wide Eastern Link Expressway and construction of a four-lane road bridge over the Haldi River, from Haldia to Nandigram, has also been planned. The proposed bridge would provide a link between Haldia and the proposed chemicals SEZ in Nandigram.^[12] The Barasat-Raichak expressway and the Raichak-Kukrahati bridge, will connect Haldia to National Highway 34. , Barasat (Bangla: বারাসাত) is a city in the outskirts of Calcutta, West Bengal, India and is the district head quarter of the district North 24 parganas. ... Raichak is a small town in South 24 Parganas district of the Indian state of West Bengal. ...

The decision to award of the expressway to the Salim group has however courted controversy^[13] since the preliminary work for the same, including a feasibility study^[14]was contracted out earlier to the renowned JICA^[15]. The Agency was kept in the dark about the change in plan until it was announced publicly by the chief minister^[16]. A feasibility study is a preliminary study undertaken to determine and document a projects viability. ... The Japan International Cooperation Agency (独立行政法人国際協力機構 dokuritsu gyōseihōjin kokusai kyōryoku kikō) is an independent governmental agency that coordinates official development assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. ...

The events of March 14 2007

The administration was directed to break the BUPC's resistance at Nandigram and a massive operation with at least 3,000 policemen was launched on March 14, 2007. A group of armed and trained CPI(M) cadres wore police uniforms and joined the forces^[17]. However, prior information of the impending action had leaked out to the BUPC who amassed a crowd of roughly 2,000 villagers at the entry points into Nandigram with women and children forming the front ranks. In the resulting mayhem, at least 14 people were killed.^[18]

Immediately following the March 14 carnage voluntary teams of doctors visited the Nandigram health centre, the district hospital at Tamluk and later, the SSKM hospital and compiled a comprehensive report^[19] Tamluk is an ancient city of West Bengal state in India, near the Rupnarayan River. ...

Few journalists were able to access the area, with their access being restricted by 'checkposts' manned by CPI(M) party cadre^[20]; two belonging to a news channel were briefly abducted^[21].

Though such a turn of events was not entirely unexpected, the scale of the action left the state stunned. Trinamool Congress estimates put the toll at 50. PWD minister Kshiti Goswami of the RSP, a Left Front constituent, said 50 bodies were taken to hospital, but it was impossible to ascertain how many were actually dead.^[22] In response to this, The CPM party has also stated that 2,500 CPM members and supporters and their families were driven out of the area and displaced into relief camps as a result of unrest. It has accused the Jami Raksha Committee - a coalition of activists from various parties who oppose land acquisition - of armed attacks on relief camps which led to three deaths as well as a series of murders and a gangrape.^[23] Common abbreviation of All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress, earlier West Bengal Trinamool Congress, (WBTC), was a political party in West Bengal, India, led by Mamta Banerjee. ... Party flag Announcement of the 17th RSP National Conference in Pondicherry RSP-UTUC flagpole in Allepey, Kerala RSP poster in Kerala, honouring historical RSP leader T.K. Divakaran RSP mural in Agartala RSP election propaganda in Amarpur, Tripura Revolutionary Socialist Party is a Marxist-Leninist political party in India. ...

Veteran Naxalite leader Kanu Sanyal opined that in the name of Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Committee, Trinamool has established a reign of terror in Nandigram.^[24] Map showing the districts affected by the Naxalite movement Naxalite or Naxalism is an informal name given to radical, often violent, revolutionary communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement. ... Kanu Sanyal Kanu Sanyal is one of the founding leaders of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) formed in 1969. ...

Fresh violence erupted in Nandigram on 29 April caused the West Bengal Human Rights Commission to step in.^[25]. A team of intellectuals and theatre personalities from Calcutta was attacked by CPM cadre on their return trip after disbursing relief material collected from the people in various parts of the state.^[26]

The deaths in Nandigram have led to a great deal of controversy on the left in India. ^[27] The federal police say they have recovered many bullets of a type not used by police but in widespread use in the underworld.^[28]

Reactions

Gopal Krishna Gandhi, the present governor of West Bengal, criticised the state government over its handling of the Nandigram incident, speaking of his "cold horror" in a press statement. His statement was taken suo moto cognisance of by the Kolkata High Court following which an enquiry by the CBI has been ordered.^[29] However, there have even been accusations of the CBI's failure to ensure a thorough investigation.^[30] Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the youngest grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, was appointed in 2004 as the governor as the West Bengal. ... The CBI emblem. ...

An editorial in the The Indian Express said that the party machinery has become the "sword arm of an industrialisation policy that involves settling complicated property rights issues."^[31] The Indian Express is an Indian newspaper owned by Ramnath Goenka. ...

Renowned novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay, a friend of the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya also felt that the industry is necessary but state violence was barbaric. ^[32] Social activist Medha Patkar had visited Nandigram on 7 December 2006 to protest against land acquisition.^[33] Other renowned persons who joined protests against the project and the genocide carried out on 14 March 2007 to implement it include Magsaysay and Jnanpeeth Award-winning author Mahasweta Devi, Booker Prize-winner Arundhati Roy, film director and actress Aparna Sen, theatre personalities Shaonli Mitra and Bibhas Chakraborty, painter Suvaprasanna, songwriter and singer Kabir Suman and many others. Sunil Gangopadhyay was born on September 7, 1934 at Faridpur in what is now Bangladesh. ... Buddhadeb Bhattacharya the mass murderer of Nandigram (Bengali: ) (born March 1, 1944) is an Indian Communist politician, who has served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal (India) since November 6, 2000. ... Medha Patkar (Marathi:मेधा पाटकर) is a social activist from India. ... Magsaysay is the name of several places in the Philippines: Magsaysay, Davao del Sur Magsaysay, Lanao del Norte Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro Magsaysay, Palawan Ramon Magsaysay, Zamboanga del Sur Ramon Magsaysay was the third President of the Philippines. ... Jnanpith Award (pronounced Gyanpeeth Award) is the highest literary honour presented by the Government of India. ... Mahasweta Devi (born 1926 in Dacca now known as Bangladesh) is an Indian writer. ... The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known as the Man Booker Prize, or simply the Man Booker, is one of the worlds most important literary prizes, and awarded each year for the best original novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland in... Suzanna Arundhati Roy[1] (born November 24, 1961) is an Indian novelist, writer and activist. ... Aparna Sen (née Dasgupta) (Bengali: অপর্ণা সেন Ôporna Shen) (October 25, 1945 - ) is a Bengali Indian actress and film director and mother of actress Konkona Sen Sharma. ... Kabir Suman (born 1950), is a Kolkata-based modern Bengali singer-songwriter, guitarist, poet, journalist and TV presenter. ...

The CPM has currently adopted the public position that land acquisition will not be made without the consent of the people of Nandigram. The proposed SEZ has ostensibly been shelved following the March 14 police action.^[34] This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Location shift

After the bloodshed at Nandigram, and the stiff resistance from opposition parties and Left Front partners over land acquisition, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on 3 September expressed the government's preference for the sparsely populated island of Nayachar, 30 kilometres from Haldia, to set up the much talked-about chemical hub.^[35] Left Front election propaganda in Kolkata 2004 DSP-meeting in Kolkata West Bengal Left Front Committee meeting for solidarity with Tripura Left Front is an alliance of Indian leftist parties. ... , For the controversy over the proposed chemical hub see Nandigram SEZ controversy Nayachar is an island in the Hooghly River, off Haldia in Purba Medinipur in the Indian state of West Bengal. ...

November 2007 violence

A fresh round of violence came up in November 2007. On November 12, 2007, the National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the West Bengal Government directing it to submit a factual report on the conditions prevailing in Nandigram. ^[36]

External links

• Nandigram links, photos, videos and regular updates from Sacred Media Cow
• Nandigram Information - facts, details, accounts - updated regularly

References