After coming back to India, not only I have enjoyed cultural festivals in Bengal, but also went through regional shock, especially in my state, West Bengal.
Yes, I am talking about the infamous Nandigram Issue. In my post on 14th March, I condemned the stand of the State Govt and now again they have implemented their unscrupulous idea by state sponsored terrorism.
Pic Source: ABP newspaper (Homeless Destitute of Nandigram)
Who is the state govt and how they are ruling?
CMP (Communist Party) is ruling the state of West Bengal for last 3 decades. They have complete capture on the villages of WB and there is almost no opposition in many parts of the state. Though the common people of the big town and Kolkata wanted change many times, but CPM managed to win by their organizational integrity in the sub-urban and rural areas.
What is this organizational integrity?
Today in WB, every organizations of the normal life, be it the educational institutions or the employee unions, are directly controlled by communalists. Not only this, CPM has their own Cadars (armed workers), who threatens the opponents.
And now they use the Police on their own purpose. The state security forces are manipulated by the whims of CPM.
How was the industrialization and development in last 30 years?
Absolutely nothing compared to the timeframe. Lefts (CPM) were against of the Capitalism, big industrializations, computerizations etc. They always fought for the rights of farmers and labors. They locked out many jute factories in the bank of Ganges. The snatched lands from Jamindars(Landlords) and dived into the common people (that’s the reason they have strong holds in villages).
Recently Thanks to Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee who has taken many initiatives for industrialization. Many of us have respect for him and we managed to form biggest industrial hub of eastern India, especially IT hub in Kolkata.
But, time has shown that he is not perfect leader. The egotistic leader has done massacre in Nandigram issue. The holocaust, the forcefully capture of the place created an environment of uncertainty across Nandigram.
But, what is Nandigram Issue?
Let me briefly describe the issue. In a move to form Chemical Hub in the state, CPM wanted to accusation of land in Nandigram in low price. The lands are fertile and thousands of families used to survive by cultivation. Show the protested, formed their community. But, on 14th March, CPM wanted the accusations forcibly and Police fired on the common people, killed 14 local farmers.
After that heavy protest from the common people from different part of the state has taken the govt in back foot. They decided to build the chemical hub in other location. But, the egotistic govt wanted to take the revenge and attacked the general mass by armed caders, killing many of them and took control over the whole region. The press, opposition, media, central force have been stopped by CPM caders and turmoil reigned supreme in the province.
Lastly Chief minister told "They have paid back their own coins" - which is simply not acceptable in a democratic country. I hate this type of barbarism and revenged mentality.
Now what is the reaction of common people?
Common people across India condemned the brutal stand of the lefts, TMC called stick in WB and the whole state came to standstill. The cultural people of Kolkata, including famous media person, writers protested and they have been arrested for silent protest. Some TV channel has been threaten, CPM accused TMC(opposition party), TMC asked for CM’s resignation. BJP national leaders came and demanded Presidential rule in the state, intellectuals made protests and possession in Kolkata . CRPF(National force) has entered the site and took over control of the place.
What is my stand?
I want a change in the state govt. Lefts has done nothing significant in the state, the law-n-order, communication, infrastructure, environment is not suitable for proper industrialization and healthy life. They have got fairly enough time and now somebody else should get the chance to do something. CPM has deviated from their principle and communism is a flop theory. They have done many historical blunders, jeopardized the social system and now we desperately need a change. Let the common people arise awake and vote against the threats of bullets to overcome the political topsy-turvy.
23 comments:
This is extremely sad ...Ive been following it too..seems like the way China was under Communist rule..most of the state govts are pathetic ..Bangalore, Chennai..unfortunately the urban class had little or no say in it ..the vote bank is all from rural areas
Some CPM leaders seem intelligent, but I dont agree with their policies ..I feel they are not using their intelligence at all...unfortunately its all warped
The Communists are anti-national, pro-poverty (note: not pro-poor) and do not give a damn about involvement of people. They have proved it once again. Nandigram 2007 is not quite different from Gujrat 2003, just that it won't be criticized as heavily as Gujrat was. Why? Because the Reds control our weak Man-moron Singh government at centre. The party that once brutally condemned Nuclear tests in 1984 and 1998, is now campaigning against Indo-US deal citing that it will "harm our domestic nuclear programme". Hypocricy? But then these are Communists :)
hmmm big country like india has a lot of problems...
thanks for ur sweet comment!! :D
Pijush - a very timely post. This will help highlight the current sorry state of affairs.
The way I see it, as a country (or a state) we are getting what we have chosen. In Bengal, the people have themselves kept the CPM in power for 30 years. In a country where there is widespread illiteracy, where votes are cast under the shadow of the gun or social ostracization - I wonder sometimes if the concept of democracy is a farce in itself. The educated few who realize the issue, simply don't have the numbers to bring about a change in power.
Once Bengal used to be a thriving industrial area - the CPM systematically shut them down. The opposition is no better either - when the CPM closed down industries, their heart supposedly bled. Now, the tables have simply turned. In the end all political parties survive by feeding off people's miseries. The more we suffer, the stronger they grow.
The 30 years of rule, a farcical Opposition without widespread support, effective and intelligent party organization, muscle & money power - everything combined has made the CPM so brazen today in Bengal. It is absolutely shocking to see the kind of brazen and belligerent statements made by the Chief Minister in the last few days.
@Backpakker,
Yes it is sad, and that’s why more than 100 thousand people came out yesterday in streets to protest the CPM fascism. They were not under any political umbrella; neither had any vested interests. They are some intellectuals and common people like me, who protests for autocracy.
I agree that it happens in big cities only, the rural part is under-developed and people have many constraints. The political parties exploit the condition there. Thus even though we get to know about the unscrupulous acts, we can hardly do anything.
“Some CPM leaders seem intelligent, but I dont agree with their policies .I feel they are not using their intelligence at all.” - Yes, I think the same way. When we got Buddhadeb, we thought we had a better CM; but time has proved it wrong. He is very egotistic and mean-minded (I feel sorry to say this – but the words he used in last few days are nothing but the words of fascist).
Thanks for sharing your opinion. I would like to know the view of every reader and put up a small protest against the left govt in WB.
@Priyank,
Thanks mate for your comment. You are very right.
I think Nandigram 2007 is worse than the Gujrat 2003. There 200 Hindus were killed by police, there was no armed party cadar and above all the pictures were clear to us as media was not banned.
Moreover, I like the administration of Gujrat just for there infrastructure, development. For industrialization the govt need to provide a suitable environment, which is not here in WB, but here we have good skilled resources and potentials.
Yes I think the UPA-Left is playing with each other. They both have clear political interest now. One has to pass the Nuke deal the other have to regain the position in Bengal. So, let the people suffer. Left has already passed yellow signal to Nuke deal and soon going to make it Green. They are simply the hypocrite and will protest for everything but will not take any responsibility for anything and contradict in many things.
@Niki,
You are right, big countries has many problems, I guess India has more than expected. We have to live with it, but what I have tried is to protest in my own way. Thanks for your nice comment.
@Ananda,
Yes, I haven’t gone in details in this post, coz many of us do not know the whole scenario. Its just a high level brief picture.
CPM has done many blunders; they never joined the central cabinet, even refused PM post. Then what for we elect them? Yes “It is absolutely shocking to see the kind of brazen and belligerent statements made by CPM political leaders”.
Now CPM is claiming that they started the industrialization process, but if you think rationally the rate of growth is average and the initiates are irreproachable. Look at the poor infrastructure we have. We are still lacking behind many states of India, forget about international standards.
You have pointed a very interesting subject about the authenticity of democracy. A country where huge percentage is illiterate (I also consider them illiterate who don’t understand the state of any affair up to a certain extent). The futility of democracy is a boon for the political parties in India and a veritable bane for common people.
If I had the power and authority to change Indian constitution, I would like to change the whole system and like to go for “Corporate Powers driven government”. Let the corporate giants to fight in democratic way. They have proper processes and very low scope for corruption. With proper balance sheet and metrics the evaluation will be made in every five years. Some independent international auditors can also be called these analyses.
I'm not well versed with the intricacies of the Indian political scenario, so I don't know if I am qualified to make a comment here.
However, I can say with certainty that whatever is happening in Nandigram is absolutely wrong.
Acquisition of land at unreasonable rates and rapid industrialization is detrimental to the inhabitants of Nandigram as well as the environment. My heart goes out to the poor people suffering there in the midst of a political struggle for power.
India has one problem...there is a large gap between the very rich and the very poor. Is there any way to distribute the wealth fairly? I mean arent there rich charity workers like Bill Gates in the US?
I heard that right now teh richest man in the world is an Indian. Wud he consider doing some charity?
Keshi.
@Celine,
I appreciate your comment, its simple but you have told the basic truth. We all are apolitical but sometime these controversies force us to decide whether I belong to “We or They” (the way CM of WB differentiated common people). And now you can see clear division in political ideology here, mainly in urban areas.
Coming back to the grievances of common people in Nandigram. Now 2000 people are homeless and they are in refugee camps, only because they protested against CPM and refused to give their land. Many of them have been killed (unofficial count 200). Then what is the use of law and order? The futility of democracy has been revealed through Nandigram incident.
Though the equation is much complex, I have just generalized it for your understanding.
I am also praying for peace and solidarity in the region, so that the common people heave the sigh of relief. Thanks for your kind words.
@Kesi,
Thanks for your comment. Actually I am not supporting your view as it is a broad level simplification of a complex state, coz I don’t believe in communism. It’s a flop theory (proved globally). They mere financial help can not solve the problems; rather we need to be a developed nation first. We need proper infrastructure, health-education-job for all of us to eradicate the poverty from root.
Yes, Mukesh Ambani is the richest person of the World and may be some more will join the list soon, but we can not say India is really shining as the focus of the political parties are totally confined on their vote bank, so they want some uneducated poor people who can be easily derived. Moreover Ambani’s are helping so many common people to be rich indirectly as millions of people are investing in reliance. So the industrialists want the common people to be richer for better society. I have nothing against him.
Well, Bill Gates is also doing right thing by doing charity and investing his money in betterment. The most important thing is to take ownership of something, to educate poor people, to set up small scale business models for villagers. That’s the real help and NRIs are trying these things now in India, but there is clear lack of initiatives from many political parties.
Take care Keshi and hope you will appreciate my view point.
Pijush, thank you for your explanation.
I watched a movie today (Anwar) in which an interesting angle was the socio-political scene that leaves no room for human values. I thought of Nandigram a few times through the course of the movie since it showed how the wily politicians manipulate and play their dirty games and walk around free creating an atmosphere that provokes so much of discord in the society.
Hi Pijush, I have completed your tag of the things I want to do before I die. You can check it now. Thanks:)
On the issue you have mentioned, I would have loved to share my thoughts on it, but I don't want to do it on this very issue publicly, maybe privately we can discuss it, as it is a very lengthy issue & the problem has more than it meets to the eye, so I don't want to take a stand as of for now.
shameless that's what these so caled CPIM is....it's ruined the state with it's hypocrisy all these years......but the blame lso lies on people of the state..theyhave voted for the governent all these years.....
@Celine,
“Anwar” is a great movie, I liked the way it vividly exposed Indian political system. But as usual common people didn’t understand the movie. The political parties will keep on playing the games and we the Morons will suffer. Thanks for your comment, Take care.
@Kalyan,
Thanks for picking up the tag. I will check soon. Waiting to get internet connection in my flat, and then I will be regular in Blogosphere.
Yes, I agree the issue is lengthy and complicated. I may have done bit of generalization, but still I will emphasize on the fact that CPM is mainly responsible of mismanagement and Nandigram Violence. Even now they are blaming High Court (High Court has told that the issue has been handled in unconstitutional way) for the verdict against them, and claiming that the State Governor is politically biased. That means they don’t care about constitution and democracy, which is not acceptable to me.
COOOOOL!! would u please give me indian citizenship? :D
@Shooting star,
“but the blame lso lies on people of the state..theyhave voted for the governent all these years” -- I can understand why you made this comment. It’s an obvious thought that comes in anyone’s mind, who is far from the state of WB.
But the real facts are following.
1) CPM hardly get the majority vote in Kolkata and big towns of WB. (Exception was last election as Mamata lost faith of common people).
2) There is no opposition in the State. The so called opposition is TMC, lead by crazy Mamata, who herself don’t know whether her party is with UPA(Congress) or NDA(BJP).
3) The CPM vote bank comes from the villages, where people don’t have the audacity to vote against the Lefts.
4) There is huge crisis of good political leaders in opposition, BJP is not that strong in WB and Congress has spitted into two parts.
5) Moreover, the CPM cadars play an important role in election. Votes are done on the gunpoint and bullets in rural areas. Police is playing on the hands of CPM. So you can not blame the educated people and intellectuals for choosing CPM.
Thanks for the comment and keep coming.
@Niki-chan,
Come to India, you will be welcomed, but telling you frankly that it is hard to survive. Take care.
Hi Pijush!
Your post and comments section are as "open eyes" to many.
Very sad.
I cannot write my opinion, this is much difficult for me but I support you voice.
I wish the best to all people living in your beautiful country - India.
A wonderful thoughtful post indeed, Pijush!
And what an unfortunate state of affairs!
:(
Hi Pijush,
I’ve tagged you for a game. It's simple and easy and I hope you'll play it.
Celine
@Krys,
Thanks for your nice comment. I too hope that we will live happily and peacefully one day. May god bless all of us. Take care
@MM,
Thanks mate and yes, its really unfortunate for a growing state. Hope the left will realize their mistake and will try to do better for the state. Take care
@Celine,
Thanks for tagging me and I will pick it now, but will post tomorrow. Keep smiling
Pijush, I 'ne been wanting to comment on this post. I must commend you for it, very clearly and passionately written, now i have a clear picture of what 's been going on.Its really a shame.I think the whole of India should rise up and support the poeple of Nandigram.
I missed the IBN coverage. The photographer was really very brave. Why isn 't the UPA doing anything?
Hi,
You said so many things n those r very timely as well.....but then ,as I realised,we - the 'so-called' intelectuals do NOT givin' importance some major-points...
As u said,
I want a change in the state govt. Lefts has done nothing significant in the state,
I hope u don type it as a TMC suporter but as acommoner....NOW,do ya (n others)realised why ALL these things happened??
Is it due to some blasted decision of CPM or due to some oppotunitist of TMC to prove their xsiistence as a opponent??
Thing is b it Nabdigram OR Riz-Priyanka issue....ALL THOSE politicians who shows their 'deepest sympathy' to the victims OR talkin' abt Humanity etc .....ALL R b***dy idiots who r lookin' 4 Vote-Banks n nothin' else..:-((
They have no feeligs 4 suffers,rather they wanna make a good fortune (political) on this...even some News Channels (specially STAR Anand) r making cash on this 'sentimental' issues....they r real b**t***!!!
ALL we need is SOME major change in pple's mind set-up ,more involvement in social-things (NOT by blasted casual-tarkoo only)!!
Honestly,Before askin' for any change,we have to ...I repeat, we have to understand/realise the real-plot that our Politicians are palyin' with us,with our feelings n we, like a silly duck, trapped ourself in that .....
BUT THEN,In a country of emotional/intelectual fools...it's the ONLY future! :-/
P.S.- It was me,,,,SagNik.
@Amrita,
Thanks very much for your words and I am delighted as you got my point.
UPA condemned it, but as they are dependent on Left for the govt in center and Nuke deal, they are reluctant to jump on the issue and address the concern. Take care
@Dara,
What a Name? Why and what for you changed the name?
No No, I am not TMC supporter; rather I dislike Mamata for her crazy attitude. She is whimsical, opportunist and switch between UPA/NDA. She can not rule the state for sure; we need better leader in opposition. But I still believe that we need change in State govt, for the monopoly. The Autocracy of CPM is dragging us to hell in many areas.
And I still believe that not enough development has been done here and left is responsible for that. You can say the incumbency factor may have influenced me a bit, but as you correctly pointed out that “real-plot that our Politicians are palyin' with us,with our feelings n we, like a silly duck, trapped ourselves in that” - I agree with you. The incident/riot of minority community, that happened yesterday proved it again.
Yes the real problem was the political opportunism and wrong handling. My point was there can be Maoist or TMC extremists, but it’s not wise to take the law n order in hand just to “pay back their own coins”. I condemned the attacks of cadres and police on common people and the way the whole story is managed is awful.
“country of emotional/intellectual fools” – I don’t agree with you in this point. We should not take the emotions of so many people lightly. When the intellectuals are supporting the lefts, then they are the proud of Bengal and now they are fool!!
I guess democracy in India is failure as we have huge uneducated people (who don’t understand the issues and vote for whatever has been told by their community).
I proposed “Corporate Driven Democracy” in my first comment, which could have been a better solution, but will never result in reality :-)
Thanks for your views and always welcome for any criticism.
thanks a lot for the detailed report
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